Vehicle Axle Slip Coordination for Accurate Forward Speed
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle systems experience significant loss of traction and braking capacity due to the use of idle axles to determine forward speed, particularly in sliding conditions, which is problematic in both railway and road vehicles.
Innovation Solution
A system that utilizes a plurality of control means associated with vehicle axles to generate sliding signals and share rotation data, allowing for the identification of a 'dynamic' idle axle only when all axles are sliding, thereby maintaining traction and braking capacity while determining forward speed.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If an idle axle is used to determine forward speed, then measurement precision is improved, but traction and braking capacity are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically selects which axle serves as the reference axle based on real-time sliding conditions detected by control means. When sliding is detected on all axles, one axle is temporarily designated as idle for measurement; when sliding stops, that axle resumes its normal function. This dynamic adaptation resolves the contradiction by making the idle axle status conditional rather than permanent.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the operational parameter of axles from static (either always idle or always driven) to dynamic (switching between idle and driven states). By monitoring sliding conditions and adjusting the operational state of axles accordingly, the system achieves accurate speed measurement only when necessary while maintaining full traction and braking capacity during normal operation.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple electronic units control different axles, then control versatility is improved, but the risk of multiple idle axles increases causing excessive power loss
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the control functions of multiple electronic units into a coordinated system where all control means share information about sliding conditions. This coordination ensures that even when multiple units are involved, only one axle is designated as idle at any given time, preventing the compounding power loss that would occur if each unit independently created its own idle axle.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback mechanisms where control means communicate sliding signals to each other. This feedback loop allows electronic units to coordinate their idle axle selections, ensuring that the overall system maintains maximum traction and braking capacity by limiting idle axles to one at a time, thus resolving the power loss issue while preserving control versatility.
Data Source
AI summary
Described is a system for determining the forward speed of at least one vehicle, comprising control means, each associated with at least one axle, and a communication means for transmitting signals or values between the control means. At measurement instants successive in time, each control means generates a corresponding sliding signal of the respective at least one axle. At a sharing instant, each control means transmits the respective sliding signal, and in the no-sliding condition, the value of a quantity related to the rotation of the respective axle or its own estimated forward speed of the vehicle to the other control means. When all the sliding signals indicate a sliding condition, one of said control means controls first braking means associated with one of the axles, so as to reduce a braking force applied to said axle.