Railroad crossing monitoring device and railroad crossing system

Abstract

To provide a railroad crossing monitoring device capable of suppressing unnecessary issuance of warning when detecting an intruding object in a railroad crossing.SOLUTION: When it is determined that an intruding object is present in a railroad crossing based on a sensor signal input by a laser sensor (S5; Yes), a control device issues warning about the presence of the intruding object to a host device (S12) if an emergency call satisfies conditions to be required (S6, S9; Yes).SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a monitoring device for ensuring safety at railway crossings, and a railway crossing system equipped with the device. [Background technology]

[0002] Various technologies have been proposed for monitoring devices that detect when a vehicle that has entered a railroad crossing becomes unable to move due to a wheel slip or other reason and remains on the crossing, and then send an alert to a higher-level device to stop train operations. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2017-214022 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] At certain crossings, known as "crossings that never open," pedestrians may try to force their way through even after the barriers have lowered. When this happens, a person is detected within the monitoring area, and an alert is immediately sent to a higher-level device. Depending on the system configuration, this may cause the train to make an emergency stop, disrupting stable train operation.

[0005] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned situation, and its purpose is to provide a railroad crossing monitoring device that can prevent unnecessary alerts from being issued when an intrusion object is detected at a railroad crossing, and a railroad crossing system equipped with such a device. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] According to the railroad crossing monitoring device of claim 1, when the alarm control unit determines that an intruding object is present at the railroad crossing based on a sensor signal input from the intruding object sensor, the alarm control unit notifies a host device of the presence of the intruding object if the conditions for deeming an emergency call necessary are met. Note that "intruding object" here includes animals, etc. With this configuration, even if the alarm control unit recognizes an intruding object, it will not notify the host device unless the conditions are met. Therefore, unnecessary alarms can be suppressed when the presence of an intruding object does not lead to an emergency, contributing to stable train operation.

[0007] Also The alarm control unit sets a condition that the early warning period has elapsed since the descent detection unit detected that the crossing barrier has been lowered. The early warning period is a period during which an alarm is withheld even if an intruding object is detected. In other words, once the early warning period, which is a certain amount of time after the barrier is lowered, has elapsed, the situation is considered to be highly urgent. Therefore, if the presence of an intruding object is detected after the early warning period has elapsed, an alarm is issued appropriately. The length of the early warning period is set for each railroad crossing, taking into account the diameter of the reference pole or the expected movement speed of an intruder depending on the surrounding environment.

[0008] Claim 2 According to the described railroad crossing monitoring device, if the alarm control unit determines that an intruding object is present before the early warning period has elapsed, the condition is that the length of time the intruding object has been present exceeds the alarm suspension period. In other words, if the presence of an intruding object is detected before the early warning period has elapsed and the object remains on the railroad crossing until the alarm suspension period has elapsed, it can be said that a high-urgency situation exists. Therefore, even within the early warning period, an alarm can be appropriately issued depending on the high-urgency situation.

[0009] Furthermore , claim 1 According to the described railroad crossing monitoring device, a reference object is placed between the intrusion sensor and the monitoring area. pole A laser sensor is used to irradiate the laser beam onto the target. pole If an object is present between the target and the reference object, the laser beam will be irradiated onto the target. pole When the object is no longer detected, the intrusion can be detected.

[0010] Claim 3 The railroad crossing system described in claim 1 comprises a drive unit that raises and lowers the barrier pole, a lifting / lowering control unit that controls the drive unit in response to an input state of a train detection signal that indicates that a train is approaching the railroad crossing, and Or 2 The level crossing monitoring device is equipped with the above-mentioned level crossing monitoring device. The alarm control unit of the level crossing monitoring device also has the function of a lifting / lowering control unit. With this configuration, the function of controlling the lifting / lowering of the barrier pole and the function of monitoring the level crossing can be integrated to efficiently configure a level crossing system. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a railroad crossing system according to an embodiment. [Figure 2] Flowchart showing the processing contents of the control device [Figure 3] State transition diagram showing the processing contents of the control device [Figure 4] A diagram showing a vehicle passing through a railroad crossing [Figure 5] A diagram showing a person passing through a railroad crossing DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0012] An embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in Fig. 1, a railroad crossing 1 is a road that crosses an up line 2U and a down line 2D of a train track, with a crossing gate 3U installed on the up line 2U side and a crossing gate 3D installed on the down line 2D side. The crossing gate 3 is equipped with a barrier rod 4 and an elevator 5 arranged on the base end side of the barrier rod 4. The drive of the elevator 5 is controlled by a control device 6.

[0013] When the control device 6, which is the lift control unit, receives a train detection signal from a train detection unit (not shown), it drives the elevator 5 to lower the barrier rod 4, which normally has its tip raised, thereby closing the level crossing 1. Then, when a train passes the level crossing 1, it drives the elevator 5 again to raise the tip of the barrier rod 4 and open the level crossing 1. In addition, a descent notification signal indicating the descent of the barrier rod 4 is input from the elevator 5 to the control device 6, which acts as a descent determination unit. This control device 6 also functions as an alarm control unit for the level crossing monitoring device.

[0014] Laser sensor 7L is located on the upper left side of Fig. 1, and laser sensor 7R is located diagonally at the lower right. Also, three reference poles 8L1, 8L2, and 8L3, which serve as reference objects, are located on the left side of Fig. 1, and three reference poles 8R1, 8R2, and 8R3 are located on the right side. Laser sensor 7L periodically emits laser light within a range that captures reference poles 8R1, 8R2, and 8R3, and laser sensor 7R periodically emits laser light within a range that captures reference poles 8L1, 8L2, and 8L3, for example, every several tens of milliseconds. The area of ​​the railroad crossing 1 between laser sensor 7 and reference pole 8 is a monitored area 9.

[0015] The sensor signal of the laser sensor 7 is input to the control device 6. The laser sensor 7 receives the laser light irradiated onto the reference pole 8, thereby measuring the distance value to the reference pole 8. When an intruder such as a vehicle enters the monitoring area 9 and blocks the laser light irradiated onto the reference pole 8, the distance value changes, allowing the control device 6 to detect the intruder. Details of this are disclosed in Patent Document 1. The above constitutes the railroad crossing system 11.

[0016] Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. As shown in Fig. 2, when the gate rod 4 starts to descend or an alarm at a railroad crossing (not shown) starts to sound (S1; Yes), the control device 6 starts timing of an alarm prohibition timer (S2). Then, when the alarm prohibition timer times out (S3; Yes), the control device 6 starts timing of an early warning period timer (S4). The time until the alarm prohibition timer times out is set so as to prohibit the issuance of an alarm until the gate rod 4 has finished descending.

[0017] Next, the control device 6 determines whether an intruder has been detected in the monitored area 9 based on the sensor signal input from the laser sensor 7 (S5). If an intruder has not been detected (No), it determines whether the early warning period timer has timed out (S6). If an intruder is detected or discovered before the early warning period timer times out (S5; Yes), it starts timing the alarm suspension timer (S7). It then determines whether the intruder that was once detected is no longer detected or has disappeared (S8).

[0018] As shown in Fig. 4, when a vehicle enters the monitoring area 9 within the railroad crossing, its presence is detected when, for example, the line of sight between the laser sensor 7R and the reference poles 8L2 and 8L3 is blocked. If the vehicle continues to intrude from the state shown in the figure, it will also be detected by the laser sensor 7L. On the other hand, as shown in Fig. 5, if a person enters the monitoring area 9, assuming a human body diameter of 20 cm and a walking speed of 4 km / h, it will take 0.18 seconds for the person to pass through the reference pole 8 and block the line of sight of the laser sensor 7.

[0019] If an intrusion is detected in step S8 (No), it is determined whether the alarm suspension timer or early warning period timer has timed out (S9). If neither timer has timed out (No), it is determined whether the line of sight of the reference pole 8 has been blocked at this point (S10). If the line of sight is not blocked (No), the process returns to step S8, and if an intrusion is no longer detected here (Yes), the process returns to step S5. If the line of sight is blocked in step S10 (Yes), the process returns to step S7.

[0020] While the early warning period timer is counting, an alarm is not issued immediately even if an intruder is detected, but is temporarily suspended. The suspension time is set for each crossing, taking into account the diameter of the reference pole 8 and the expected speed at which an intruder is moving depending on the surrounding environment. If the line of sight of the reference pole 8 is blocked in step S10 during suspension, the alarm suspension timer is restarted because there is a possibility that a person or small animal may be moving within the crossing.

[0021] Furthermore, at crossings where the barriers 4 frequently descend or take a long time to descend, there may be many pedestrians attempting to pass through the crossing even when the barriers 4 have begun to descend. Therefore, a hold period is provided to prevent an alarm from being issued at that stage. Furthermore, by providing a hold period, the timing of the signal notifying that the barriers 4 have descended can be absorbed. As shown in Figure 4, at a crossing with one lane each, the barrier 4 on the vehicle's entrance side descends first, followed by the barrier 4 on the exit side. In this case, even if a signal is input to the control device 6 when the barrier 4 begins to descend first, the hold period absorbs the time it takes for the barrier 4 that began descending later to fully descend, thereby preventing false alarms. At crossings where a signal notifying that the barriers 4 have begun to descend cannot be obtained, a signal to sound an alarm can be used instead.

[0022] When the alarm hold timer or early warning period timer times out (S6, S9; Yes), it is again determined whether an intrusion has been detected (S11). If the determination is "Yes," the control device 6 issues an "intrusion detected" alert to the higher-level device (S12). If an intrusion is not detected (S11; No), the device remains on standby. The time until the alarm hold timer times out corresponds to the alarm hold period. Furthermore, if the early warning period timer times out, the device transitions to the immediate alarm period.

[0023] While waiting in step S11, if a train passes the crossing and raises the barrier 4, it is determined whether or not an "intruding object" alarm is being issued (S13), and if it is not being issued (No), the process returns to step S1. If it is being issued (Yes), the alarm state is canceled (S14). In the above process, if the status of "Yes" in step S5 and "No" in step S8 continues, an alarm will be issued if the alarm hold timer times out, even if the early warning period is still in progress. Also, if the status of "No" in step S5 continues, after the early warning period timer times out, an alarm will be issued immediately when an intruding object is detected. These are the conditions under which a report is deemed necessary. Note that FIG. 3 is a state transition diagram corresponding to the flowchart shown in FIG. 2.

[0024] As described above, according to this embodiment, when the control device 6 determines that an object is present at the crossing based on the sensor signal input from the laser sensor 7, it notifies the host device of the presence of the object if the conditions for deeming an emergency call necessary are met. This configuration can contribute to the stable operation of trains by suppressing unnecessary calls when the presence of an object does not pose an emergency.

[0025] Specifically, the condition for the control device 6 is that the early warning period has elapsed since it detected the lowering of the barrier rod 4. In other words, once a certain amount of time has elapsed since the barrier rod 4 was lowered, it can be said that the situation is highly urgent, and therefore if the presence of an intruder is detected after the early warning period has elapsed, an alert can be issued appropriately.

[0026] Furthermore, if the control device 6 determines that an intruding object is present before the early warning period has elapsed, the condition is that the length of time the intruding object has been present exceeds the alarm suspension period. In other words, if the presence of an intruding object is detected before the early warning period has elapsed and the object remains present at the crossing until the alarm suspension period has elapsed, it can be said that the situation is highly urgent. Therefore, even if the early warning period is still in progress, an alarm can be issued appropriately depending on the level of urgency.

[0027] This makes it possible to prevent unnecessary alerts from being issued, for example, if a small animal or the like that has entered a railroad crossing passes through the crossing in a short time during the early warning period. Also, if a vehicle derails on the crossing during the early warning period, and the length of time that the intruder is detected exceeds the alert suspension period, the necessary alert can be issued immediately.

[0028] The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above or illustrated in the drawings, but can be modified or expanded as follows. The control unit that controls the elevation of the barrier rod 4 and the control unit that issues an alarm when an intrusion object is detected may be configured as separate units. The trigger for moving to step S13 may be "disappearance of the intruding object." One or more intrusion sensors may be installed. [Explanation of symbols]

[0029] In the drawing, 1 indicates the railroad crossing, 2U indicates the up line, 2D indicates the down line, 3 indicates the crossing gate, 4 indicates the gate pole, 5 indicates the elevator, 6 indicates the control equipment, 7 indicates the laser sensor, 8 indicates the reference pole, and 11 indicates the railroad crossing system.

Claims

1. an intrusion sensor that outputs a sensor signal indicating whether or not an intrusion object is present within the railroad crossing; a notification control unit that, when determining that an intrusion object is present within the railroad crossing based on the sensor signal, notifies a higher-level device of the presence of the intrusion object if a condition for deeming an emergency call necessary is satisfied; and A descent detection unit that detects that the barrier pole of the railroad crossing has been lowered, the intrusion sensor is a laser sensor that irradiates a laser beam onto a reference pole across a monitoring area, the alarm control unit sets the condition that an early warning period has elapsed since the timing of the detection, A railroad crossing monitoring device in which the length of the early warning period is set for each railroad crossing taking into account the diameter of the reference pole or the expected movement speed of an intruder depending on the surrounding environment.

2. The railroad crossing monitoring device of claim 1, wherein the alarm control unit determines that the intruder is present before the early warning period has elapsed, and sets the condition as the length of time the intruder has been present exceeding the alarm suspension period.

3. A drive unit that raises and lowers the barrier rod; a lift control unit that controls the drive unit in response to an input state of a train detection signal that indicates that a train is approaching a railroad crossing; The railroad crossing monitoring device according to claim 1 or 2, A railroad crossing system in which the alarm control unit of the railroad crossing monitoring device also has the function of the lift control unit.

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