Abstract: A system is provided that uses small carrier vehicles that operate along electrified guide ways and use standardized connections to automatically carry passenger cabins, freight loads and automobile platforms to desired destinations. The connections are made to upper ends of posts that extend from front and rear portions of each carrier vehicle and up through a narrow centrally located slot in the guide way. The guide way provides a protected environment for error-free data transmissions made through closely spaced inductive couplings between monitoring and control circuits along the guide way and control circuits of the carrier vehicles. Control circuitry is provided to obtain highly reliable control of vehicle speed and of starting, stopping and merge operations. Automobiles are securely held on platforms which are so handled as to permit rapid loading and unloading operations.

Abstract: A method is provided for transferring control of a railway vehicle from a controlling wayside controller that controls a first zone within which the railway vehicle was previously positioned, to an adjacent wayside controller that controls a second zone within which the railway vehicle has traveled, wherein the second zone is adjacent to the first zone and separated from the first zone by a predetermined boundary in a communication based signaling system. The method utilizes information requests and control transfer requests that are transmitted and received by each of the controlling wayside controller and the adjacent wayside controller and the railway vehicle in accordance with method steps which are performed asynchronously, independently, and in parallel for each of the controlling wayside controller, the adjacent wayside controller, and the railway vehicle.

Abstract: A system is provided that uses small carrier vehicles that operate along electrified guideways and use standardized connections to automatically carry passenger cabins, freight loads and automobile platforms to desired destinations. Front and rear bogies of the vehicles pivot about front and rear vertical turn axes and carry direction control wheels that cooperate with guide ribs along tracks for selective control of movement to either of two exits from a Y junction. Electric power can be supplied through upper and lower track structures which can be of laminated construction. The guideway provides a protected environment for error-free data transmissions made through closely spaced inductive couplings between monitoring and control circuits along the guideway and control circuits of the carrier vehicles. Control circuitry is provided to obtain highly reliable control of vehicle speed and of starting, stopping and merge operations.

Abstract: A system is provided that uses small carrier vehicles that operate along electrified guideways and use standardized connections to automatically carry passenger cabins, freight loads and automobile platforms to desired destinations. The connections may include electrical connections for power and communication and they are made to upper ends of posts that extend from front and rear portions of each carrier vehicle and up through a narrow centrally located slot in the guideway. Transfer vehicles operate to transfer loads between the carrier vehicles and storage positions and may be controlled to move in either of two transverse directions or to rotate in a turntable operation. Control circuitry is provided to obtain highly reliable control of vehicle speed and of starting, stopping and merge operations.

Abstract: A system is provided that uses small carrier vehicles that operate along electrified guideways and use standardized connections to automatically carry passenger cabins, freight loads and automobile platforms to desired destinations. The connections are made to upper ends of posts that extend from front and rear portions of each carrier vehicle and up through a narrow centrally located slot in the guideway. The guideway provides a protected environment for error-free data transmissions made through closely spaced inductive couplings between monitoring and control circuits along the guideway and control circuits of the carrier vehicles. Control circuitry is provided to obtain highly reliable control of vehicle speed and of starting, stopping and merge operations.

Abstract: A system is provided that uses small carrier vehicles that operate along electrified guideways and use standardized connections to automatically carry passenger cabins, freight loads and automobile platforms to desired destinations. Front and rear bogies of the vehicles pivot about front and rear vertical turn axes and carry direction control wheels that cooperate with guide ribs along tracks for selective control of movement to either of two exits from a Y junction. The guideway provides a protected environment for error-free data transmissions made through closely spaced inductive couplings between monitoring and control circuits along the guideway and control circuits of the carrier vehicles. Control circuitry is provided to obtain highly reliable control of vehicle speed and of starting, stopping and merge operations.

Abstract: A power supply system for a long-stator drive, whose stator winding along a path for a magnetic levitation train is subdivided into several controllable stator segments. The stator segments are controllable via at least one segment switch on at least one section cable system running along the stator segments. At least one frequency transformer is provided per section cable system, with the frequency transformer(s) arranged in at least one substation along the stator segments. Each frequency transformer generates a supply voltage system for the stator segments, with the nominal voltage in the section cable system being greater than the nominal voltage of the stator segments. At least one matching transformer is connected between the section cable systems and the stator segments, through which the nominal voltage of the section cable system can be transformed down to the nominal voltage of the stator segments.

Abstract: This invention relates to railway track circuits. An active track circuit termination unit (4) is connected to the rails and, via a transmitter unit (4a), transmits signals into the rails to terminate track circuits (A,B). The transmitter unit also transmit data signals, for example track circuit signals, into the track circuits.

Abstract: A virtual block system is provided in which a section of track is represented by a zone having a plurality of virtual track circuits. Communication between wayside and the vehicle is established within the zone, and may be used to provide the initial position of the vehicle to the carborne equipment. The carborne equipment can then calculate and up-date its position within the zone by using its initial position and sensor information relative to its movement within the zone. The actual position within the zone can be transmitted from the vehicle to the wayside equipment. The wayside equipment converts the actual position within the zone to a virtual track circuit occupancy. The wayside equipment may also use the train length to calculate one or more virtual blocks as being occupied. The wayside unit outputs the occupancy status, occupied or unoccupied, to the wayside interlocking equipment. The wayside equipment generates profile data which can be transmitted to the vehicle.

Abstract: In a railway signalling system, to achieve inter-vehicle headway spacing for railway vehicles (1) travelling on a track (T), there are a) control of vehicles by fixed block signalling and b) control of vehicles by moving block signalling via communication between vehicles. The moving block signalling occurs within a moving block control zone of the track and the fixed block signalling occurs outside that zone, there being the facility of two-way data transmission between vehicles throughout the moving block control zone and the fixed block signalling system not preventing a further vehicle from entering the mowing block control zone when another vehicle is already in that zone and receiving a transmission via the moving block signalling system.

Abstract: The invention is a conveyor control system having self-propelled vehicles having wheels, each driven by a motor (14) to move along rails. The system includes power rails (18) for supplying power to the vehicle (12) and at least one command rail (20, 21) which transmits a command signal indicative of requested speed. The command rail (20) includes of isolated sections of rail for carrying different command signals along each isolated section to enable the vehicle (12) to travel at different speeds dependent on which section of rail the vehicle is within. The command signal is in the form of a digital half-wave signal on two rails (20, 21). The digital signal is in the form of half-waves each representing a bit of binary coding. The digital signal may include three-phase half-wave coding in order to obtain four bits of coding from a single rail. Each vehicle (12) includes a control circuit (22) which interprets the command signal to drive the vehicle (12) at the requested speed.

Abstract: The apparatus of this invention is a broken rail detection system that detects rail and/or rail breaks in dark territory track sections, i.e. track sections that do not have signalling systems. In one embodiment of this invention a system is disclosed in which a communications link exists between the ends of the track sections and in another embodiment of this invention no communications link exists between the ends of the track sections.

Abstract: A railway vehicle control system particularly, but not exclusively, suitable for controlling single track working. Transponders are located at fixed positions along the track such as at intersections, points and so on, and a vehicle is provided with sensors for detecting the transponders. A central control office supplies information concerning an identifying characteristic of the next transponders expected to be detected, when this happens the event triggers apparatus on the vehicle to communicate with the central office which then supplies information to identify the next transponder. The same sequence of events ensues as each successive transponder is passed. The transponders may be staggered alternately to opposite sides of the track for identification purposes. If the expected transponder is not detected but instead a different transponder is encountered, then a vehicle safety function such as the emergency brakes, may be brought into operation.

Abstract: A vehicle transportation system which includes a self-propelled vehicle for propulsion along a track through a plurality of predefined sequential track zones. The vehicle receives power and control signals from a plurality of electrical buses which are positioned adjacent to the track and extend through the track zones. The buses for indicating presence of a vehicle within a zone and for arresting vehicle motion, as well as one of the velocity control buses, is segmented or discontinuous between adjacent zones, and bus segments are directly electrically connected or jumpered between adjacent zones for controlling vehicle motion and avoiding collision with a stalled vehicle.

Abstract: An electric power supplying system for a continuous transit system by magnet (CTM) in which magnets attached to under parts of a certain number of cars comprising the trains and energized regularly are attracted to magnetic belts of a plurality of magnetic belt conveyor units arranged at predetermined intervals along a running track thereby successively drawing and running the trains. There is provided a trolley wire which is divided at least into a certain number of insulated sections at intervals of a predetermined block section length and a predetermined no-load current is supplied to the insulated sections of the trolley wire. When the current flowing to each insulated section of the trolley wire is within a predetermined range, the magnetic belt conveyor unit group corresponding to a block section following the insulated section with respect to the direction of train movement is operated.

Abstract: The present invention provides a track circuit for AC electrified railways, formed by the two rails (R.sub.1,R.sub.2) of a railway section and comprising a transmitter (E) connected to one end of the track circuit for generating therein an alternating signal of given frequency and a receiver (R) connected to the other end for controlling the operation of a track relay (RV). A number of capacitive impedances (Z.sub.1,Z.sub.2, . . . Z.sub.n) with parallel inductance and capacitor (each having a middle point (3) connected to the ground) are connected between the rails (R.sub.1,R.sub.2) while being spaced apart over the whole length of the track circuit with a given pitch (P), depending on the values of the impedances, so that the transmission attenuation of the circuit at the operating frequency is always less than the transmission attenuation of a circuit having the same length formed by a rail with ground return.

Abstract: Reversal of the established traffic direction is initiated by a request for an entering train movement at the existing exit end of the single track stretch. This deenergizes the adjacent traffic line circuit section in the new direction. Line circuit deenergization cascades section by section through the stretch to the other end. At each location, the active traffic direction register relay is deenergized but the magnetic stick traffic relay holds in its established traffic position. At the new exit end, reception of the deenergization signal reverses positions of the traffic and direction register relays if the new approach track circuit is clear. This initiates the transmission of line circuit energy in the opposite direction. At each intermediate location, reception of this opposite direction line energy energizes the other direction register relay if the approach track circuit is clear.

Abstract: A fail-safe magnetic sensing arrangement including a first and a second object relatively movable in relationship to each other. The first object includes a magnetic structure having a permanent magnet and a pair of pole pieces to develop a magnetic field. The second object includes an a.c. oscillator which is coupled to an amplifier by a saturable reactor transformer and the amplifier feeds a negative d.c. maker which normally energizes a relay except when the saturable reactor transformer is saturated by the magnetic structure which signifies that the second object is in the vicinity of the first object.

Abstract: A digital code rate generator comprises a digital number generator driven by a clock running at an appropriate frequency. Preferably the digital number generator is arranged to simultaneously generate digital representations for a plurality of different numbers. These different digital representations are provided to a selector which passes one of said digital representations to an accumulator. The accumulator continually sums the digital representations provided to it by the selector. An output of the accumulator is connected to an overflow detector which is distinctively operated when the sum of the digital representations provided to the accumulator exceeds the capacity of the accumulator. By selecting the frequency of the clock and the particular digital representation which passes the selector, the rate of operation of the overflow detector can be controlled. The output of the overflow detector thus comprises any one of a number of selectable digitally generated code rates.

Abstract: There is disclosed a double rail track circuit for use within a railroad block or each cut section of a block. Adjacent cut sections, or blocks, are separated by insulated rail joints. A transmission line having terminals accessible at each joint is provided. The transmission line has impressed thereon a modulated carrier signal to provide a reference signal at the modulation frequency. The reference signal derived from the carrier is coupled to one end of each block, or cut section, in such a manner that the signals of adjacent blocks, or cut sections, are out of phase with respect to each other. A synchronous detector is coupled between the transmission line and the rails at the other end of the block, or cut section, to compare the phase of the signal at the other end, with the anticipated signal phase. Band-pass filters may be used between the rails and the synchronous detector and between the transmission line and the synchronous detector and which do not pass common frequencies.