State monitoring device

Abstract

To achieve a mechanism capable of monitoring a control voltage of a point control relay without affecting a function of the point control relay.SOLUTION: The point 1 to be controlled by the point control relay 11 is provided with a current sensor 15 for measuring a current flowing through a control line to the point control relay 11 in a non-contact manner, and a temperature sensor 17 for measuring a temperature in the point 1 in which the point control relay 11 is installed. The central unit 30 includes a calculation part 371 for calculating a voltage between the control lines L1, L2 on the basis of current values measured by the current sensors 15 and coil resistance values of the point control relays 11 according to temperatures measured by the temperature sensors 17, and monitors the control voltage on the basis of the voltage calculated by the calculation part 371.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a status monitoring device that monitors the control voltage of a point control relay. [Background technology]

[0002] A point machine functions to change the route of trains by switching switches on railway tracks. In the maintenance of a point machine, it is very important to understand the state of its point control relay. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a maintenance data collection device that measures measurement items including a control relay voltage, which is the control voltage of the control relay, and collects the measurement results as maintenance data. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2011-225216 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, directly connecting a sensor that measures voltage to the cable (control line) that applies the control voltage to the point control relay by electrical wiring could affect the point control relay, which operates at a few tens of mA, increasing the risk of impairing the original point control function.In particular, any effect that could result in erroneous switching of the point machine must never occur.

[0005] The problem to be solved by the present invention is to realize a mechanism capable of monitoring the control voltage of a point control relay without affecting the function of the point control relay. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] A first invention for solving the above problems is a status monitoring device that monitors the control voltage of a point control relay, wherein a point machine controlled by the point control relay is provided with a current sensor that non-contactly measures a current flowing through a control line to the point control relay and a temperature sensor that measures a temperature inside the point machine in which the point control relay is installed, and the status monitoring device further comprises a calculation unit that calculates a voltage of the control line based on a current value measured by the current sensor and a coil resistance value of the point control relay that corresponds to the temperature measured by the temperature sensor, and monitors the control voltage based on the voltage calculated by the calculation unit.

[0007] According to the first aspect of the present invention, the voltage of the control line can be calculated based on the measured current value measured by the non-contact current sensor and the coil resistance value of the point control relay corresponding to the measured temperature inside the point machine measured by the temperature sensor, and can be monitored as the control voltage of the point control relay. This makes it possible to realize a mechanism for monitoring the control voltage of the point control relay without affecting the function of the point control relay.

[0008] A second invention is a status monitoring device in which, in the above invention, the current sensor is capable of measuring the positive and negative of the current flowing through the control line, the calculation unit determines the direction of conversion based on the positive and negative of the measured current value, calculates the voltage of the control line for each direction of conversion, and monitors the control voltage for each direction of conversion based on the voltage for each direction of conversion calculated by the calculation unit.

[0009] The control voltage of the point control relay can vary depending on the switching direction of the point machine. According to the second invention, the switching direction can be determined based on the positive or negative status of the measured current value, and the voltage of the control line can be calculated for each switching direction. Therefore, it is possible to monitor the control voltage of the point control relay for each switching direction.

[0010] A third invention is a condition monitoring device in the above invention, further comprising a memory unit that stores the temperature characteristics of the coil resistance value in an updatable manner, and the calculation unit calculates the coil resistance value corresponding to the measured temperature based on the temperature characteristics.

[0011] The point control relay may be replaced due to a failure or an update. According to the third aspect of the present invention, it is possible to calculate the coil resistance value from the measured temperature by appropriately updating and using the temperature characteristics of the coil resistance value. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of an entire system including a status monitoring device. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of a central device and a point machine. [Figure 3] 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing performed by the central device. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of a field terminal according to a modified example. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0013] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described below, and the forms to which the present invention can be applied are not limited to the following embodiments. In addition, in the description of the drawings, the same parts are given the same reference numerals.

[0014] Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of an entire system including a status monitoring device of this embodiment. Fig. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of a central unit 30 and a point 1 as a status monitoring device. The status monitoring device of this embodiment is configured as the central unit 30. The central unit 30 is communicably connected to field terminals 10 associated with the points 1 (1-1, 2, 3, . . .) to be monitored via a communication network N, and monitors the control voltages of the point control relays 11 in each of the points 1 (1-1, 2, 3, . . .). A current sensor 15 and a temperature sensor 17 are provided in the points 1 (1-1, 2, 3, . . .) to be monitored.

[0015] An operation command to switch the point machine 1 is issued by applying a predetermined voltage to the point control relay 11 from the equipment room via a pair of control circuits L1 and L2. At that time, the polarity of the voltage applied to the control circuits L1 and L2 is reversed depending on whether the switch is to the normal position or the reverse position. For example, when switching to the normal position, current flows from the control circuit L1 to the control circuit L2, and when switching to the reverse position, current flows from the control circuit L2 to the control circuit L1. The point control relay 11 is a magnetic holding relay that switches polarity depending on the polarity of the voltage applied to its coil and retains that state, thereby memorizing the switching control direction.

[0016] Since it is dangerous if the point machine 1 is accidentally switched when a train passing through the switch approaches or when a train is on the switch, the control lines L1 and L2 are short-circuited on the equipment room side so that the point control relay 11 will not reverse poles (be locked) even if noise or the like accidentally gets mixed into the control lines L1 and L2.For this reason, it is assumed that no work such as measuring the voltage of the control lines L1 and L2 will be performed except during times when trains are not running.

[0017] Because a current flows from one of the pair of control lines L1 and L2 to the other, a current sensor 15 is provided for one of the control lines L1 and L2. The current sensor 15 is a non-contact current sensor that can measure the current flowing through it by clamping it to the outside of a cable (electric wire). For example, the current sensor 15 can be configured using a clamp-type current sensor that clamps one of the power supply lines (e.g., L2 in FIG. 2) to measure the current. The positive and negative signs of the current flowing through the pair of control lines L1 and L2 are reversed depending on whether the direction of change is normal or reverse. In this embodiment, in order to determine the direction of change from the measured current value, the current sensor 15 is configured as a sensor that can measure a bidirectional current and can distinguish between positive and negative currents.

[0018] The temperature sensor 17 is installed inside the housing of the point machine 1 and measures the temperature inside the point machine 1. The temperature measured by the temperature sensor 17 is output to the field terminal 10 as needed.

[0019] The field terminal 10 is installed in an appropriate location such as inside the housing of the corresponding point 1 or inside an adjacent tool box. The field terminal 10 acquires a measured current value measured by a current sensor 15 in the corresponding point 1, and also acquires a measured temperature measured by a temperature sensor 17 in the corresponding point 1. Then, the field terminal 10 transmits (outputs) the acquired data (measurement information) of the measured current value and the measured temperature to the central device 30 via the communication network N as needed.

[0020] The central unit 30 is installed in a control center or the like. For each point machine 1 to be monitored, the central unit 30 monitors the control voltage of the point control relay 11 in that point machine 1 by using measurement information received (input) as needed from the field terminal 10 of that point machine 1. As shown in FIG. 2 , the central unit 30 includes an operation unit 31, a display unit 33, a communication unit 35, a processing unit 37, and a storage unit 39.

[0021] The operation unit 31 is realized by an input device such as a button switch or a touch panel, and outputs an operation signal according to an operation input to the processing unit 37. The display unit 33 is realized by a display device such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) or a touch panel, and performs various displays according to a display signal from the processing unit 37. The communication unit 35 is realized by a wired or wireless communication device, and connects to a communication network N to communicate with an external device (for example, the on-site terminal 10).

[0022] The processing unit 37 is realized by, for example, an arithmetic circuit such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or a control board including the arithmetic circuit, and performs various arithmetic processes based on programs, data, etc. stored in the storage unit 39 to control the operation of the central device 30. In this embodiment, the processing unit 37 includes a calculation unit 371 and a monitoring unit 373.

[0023] The calculation unit 371 determines whether the switching direction is normal or reverse based on the positive or negative measured current value of the measurement information received from the field terminal 10. Then, the calculation unit 371 calculates the voltage applied between the control lines L1 and L2 based on the measured current value of the measurement information and the coil resistance value of the point control relay 11 according to the measured temperature.

[0024] Here, the coil resistance value of the point control relay 11 varies depending on the temperature inside the point machine 1. Furthermore, there are individual differences in the coil resistance value. For this reason, in this embodiment, temperature characteristic data 420 indicating the temperature characteristics with respect to the coil resistance value is prepared in advance for each point machine 1 (each point control relay 11) to be controlled, and is stored in the storage unit 39 in an updatable manner. The point control relay 11 in the point machine 1 may be replaced due to a failure or an update. When the point control relay 11 is replaced, the temperature characteristic data 420 related to that point machine 1 is updated with temperature characteristic data corresponding to the replaced point control relay 11.

[0025] When the calculation unit 371 receives measurement information from the field terminal 10, it refers to the temperature characteristic data 420 related to the point 1, calculates the coil resistance value from the measured temperature of the measurement information, and uses it to calculate the voltage applied between the control lines L1 and L2.

[0026] The monitoring unit 373 monitors the voltages of the control lines L1, L2 calculated by the calculation unit 371 as the control voltage of the point control relay 11. Because the control circuits inside the interlocking device (not shown) in the equipment room are different when the point is switched to the normal position and when it is switched to the reverse position, the voltage applied to the point control relay 11 may also differ depending on the switching direction. For this reason, the control voltage of the point control relay 11 may be monitored for each switching direction. In this case, the monitoring unit 373 accumulates and stores the calculated voltage between the control lines L1, L2 in the monitoring data 430 related to the corresponding point 1 as control voltage data for the switching direction determined in calculating the voltage (control voltage data 431 for the normal switching direction or control voltage data 433 for the reverse switching direction).

[0027] The storage unit 39 is realized by a storage medium such as an IC memory, a hard disk, etc. The storage unit 39 stores in advance or temporarily stores each time processing is performed programs for operating the central unit 30 and realizing various functions of the central unit 30, as well as data used during execution of the programs.

[0028] In this embodiment, the storage unit 39 stores monitoring data 400 for each point 1 to be monitored. The monitoring data 400 stores temperature characteristic data 420 and monitoring data 430 in association with a point ID 410 for identifying the point 1. The monitoring data 430 stores control voltage data 431, 433 for each switching direction for monitoring the control voltage of the point control relay 11 for each switching direction, that is, normal and reverse. The control voltage data 431, 433 cumulatively store control voltage values ​​in chronological order in association with date and time.

[0029] [Processing flow] Fig. 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing performed by the processing unit 37 in the central device 30. Fig. 3 shows the flow of processing focusing on one point 1, and in actual processing, the processing unit 37 performs the processing of Fig. 3 for each point 1 to be monitored.

[0030] In this process, first, the calculation unit 371 determines whether the switching direction is normal or reverse based on the positive or negative sign of the measured current value of the measurement information received from the point 1 (step S1).

[0031] Next, the calculation unit 371 refers to the temperature characteristic data 420 related to the corresponding point 1, and calculates the coil resistance value of the point control relay 11 from the measured temperature of the received measurement information (step S3).The calculation unit 371 then calculates the voltage between the control lines L1 and L2 based on the measured current value of the received measurement information and the coil resistance value calculated in step S3 (step S5).

[0032] Then, the monitoring unit 373 sets the voltage calculated in step S5 as the control voltage of the point control relay 11, accumulates and stores the control voltage data 431 or 433 for the switching direction determined in step S1 in the monitoring data 430 of the corresponding point machine 1, and monitors the control voltage for each switching direction (step S7). If the control voltage indicates an abnormal value, the monitoring unit 373 performs control so as to issue a predetermined notification.

[0033] As described above, according to this embodiment, the current flowing through the pair of control circuits L1, L2 to the point control relay 11 can be measured without contact. Because the measurement is performed without contact, there is no risk of erroneous switching of the point machine. The voltage of the control circuits L1, L2 can be calculated based on the measured current value and the coil resistance value of the point control relay 11 corresponding to the measured temperature inside the point machine 1, and can be monitored at any time as the control voltage of the point control relay 11. In addition, the switching direction can be determined based on whether the measured current value is positive or negative, and the control voltage of the point control relay 11 can be monitored for each switching direction. This makes it possible to realize a mechanism for monitoring the control voltage of the point control relay 11 without affecting the operation of the point machine 1.

[0034] Furthermore, temperature characteristic data 420 of the coil resistance value is stored in the storage unit 39 for each point 1 (each point control relay 11). When calculating the voltage between the control circuits L1, L2, the coil resistance value can be calculated from the measured temperature by referring to the temperature characteristic data 420 stored for that point 1. When the point control relay 11 is replaced, the temperature characteristic data 420 for that point 1 can be updated to temperature characteristic data indicating the temperature characteristic of the coil resistance value after replacement. Therefore, the voltage between the control circuits L1, L2 can be calculated with high accuracy from the measured current value and the measured temperature.

[0035] The temperature characteristic data 420 may be automatically updated by calculating the change in the coil resistance value from the change in the measured current value before and after the replacement of the point control relay 11.

[0036] In the above embodiment, the central unit 30 is exemplified as the status monitoring device. However, the control voltage of the point control relay 11 may be calculated and monitored individually on the point machine 1 side. Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the field terminal 10b in this modification.

[0037] 4, the field terminal 10b includes an operation unit 110, a display unit 130, a communication unit 150, a processing unit 170, and a storage unit 190. In the field terminal 10b, the processing unit 170 includes a calculation unit 371 and a monitoring unit 373. The storage unit 190 stores monitoring data 400 related to the point 1. According to this modification, the field terminal 10b calculates the voltage between the control lines L1 and L2 related to the corresponding point 1, and can monitor the calculated voltage for each switching direction as the control voltage of the point control relay 11. The monitoring results are transmitted from the field terminal 10b to the central device 30b as needed.

[0038] 4, the function of the calculation unit 371 may be provided in the field terminal 10b, and the function of the monitoring unit 373 may be provided in the central device 30b. In that case, the field terminal 10b transmits (outputs) the switching direction determined by the calculation unit 371 and the calculated voltage to the central device 30b as needed. Then, the monitoring unit in the central device 30b monitors the control voltage of the point control relay 11 for each switching direction for each point machine 1 to be monitored.

[0039] Furthermore, the field terminal 10b, which is a status monitoring device, may be configured to include the current sensor 15 and the temperature sensor 17. [Explanation of symbols]

[0040] 1 (1-1, 2, 3,...) point machine, L1, L2 control line, 11 point control relay, 15 current sensor, 17 temperature sensor, 10, 10b field terminal, 30, 30b central device, 37 processing unit, 371 calculation unit, 373 monitoring unit, 39 memory unit, 400 monitoring data, 410 point machine ID, 420 temperature characteristic data, 430 monitoring data, 431, 433 control voltage data, N communication network

Claims

1. A status monitoring device that monitors a control voltage of a point control relay, The point machine to be controlled by the point control relay includes: a current sensor that measures, in a non-contact manner, a current flowing through a control line to the point control relay; a temperature sensor that measures the temperature inside a point machine in which the point control relay is installed; and is established, a calculation unit that calculates a voltage of the control line based on a current value measured by the current sensor and a coil resistance value of the point control relay according to the temperature measured by the temperature sensor; and monitoring the control voltage based on the voltage calculated by the calculation unit.

2. the current sensor is capable of measuring whether a current flowing through the control line is positive or negative; the calculation unit determines a direction of change based on whether the measured current value is positive or negative, and calculates a voltage of the control line for each direction of change; monitoring the control voltage for each of the switching directions based on the voltage for each of the switching directions calculated by the calculation unit; The condition monitoring device according to claim 1 .

3. a storage unit that stores the temperature characteristic of the coil resistance value in an updatable manner; Further provided with The calculation unit calculates a coil resistance value corresponding to the measured temperature based on the temperature characteristics. The condition monitoring device according to claim 1 or 2.

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