Claims:We Claim:
1. A movement control system (101) for stopping movement of a rail vehicle, the movement control system (101) comprises:
at least one switch unit (102) located on outer structure of a rail vehicle, wherein the at least one switch unit (102), when actuated, is configured to generate a control signal; and
a braking unit (104) of the rail vehicle configured to stop movement of the rail vehicle upon receiving the control signal from the at least one switch unit (102).

2. The movement control system (101) as claimed in claim 1, further comprises:
a relay unit (103) coupled between the at least one switch unit (102) and the braking unit (104), the relay unit (103) configured to, when the control signal is generated, establish connection between the at least one switch unit (102) and the braking unit to transmit the control signal from the at least one switch unit (102) to the braking unit (104).

3. The movement control system (101) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rail vehicle is a locomotive.

4. The movement control system (101) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least one switch unit (102) is one of a push switch and a pull switch.

5. A method for stopping movement of a rail vehicle, the method comprising:
generating, by at least one switch unit (102) located on outer structure of a rail vehicle, a control signal when the at least one switch unit (102) is actuated;
stopping, by a braking unit (104) of the rail vehicle, movement of the rail vehicle upon receiving the control signal from at least one switch unit (102).

6. The method as claimed in claim 5, further comprising:
when the control signal is generated, establishing connection between the at least one switch unit (102) and the braking unit (104) using a relay unit (103) coupled between the at least one switch unit (102) and the braking unit (104), to transmit the control signal from the at least one switch unit (102) to the braking unit (104).

7. The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the rail vehicle is a locomotive.

8. The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the at least one switch unit (102) is one of a push switch and a pull switch.
, Description:TECHNICAL FIELD
The present subject matter is related in general to controlling rail vehicle, more particularly, but not exclusively to a movement control system for stopping movement of a rail vehicles in emergency situations.

BACKGROUND
Currently, in conventional rail vehicles, emergencies may arise anytime during course of a journey. Usually, emergencies may occur when there is a possibility of accident to be caused by the rail vehicle, or when there is a presence of a hazard inside the rail vehicle and so on. In such times, a sudden stopping of the rail vehicle may be necessary. In the conventional rail vehicle, stopping of the rail vehicle may be achieved by including emergency switches inside the rail vehicle. Such emergency switches may be pull switch or push switch. An emergency switch needs to be actuated to activate brakes of the rail vehicle and stop the rail vehicle. Further, there may be multiple emergency switches accommodated inside the rail vehicle such that the emergency switches are accessible to driver and passengers of the rail vehicle. Specifically, the emergency switches may be present in every compartment, driver room and guard room of the rail vehicle. Thus, the emergency switches are provided only to people present inside the rail vehicle to avoid any crises.

Rail vehicles such as locomotives are used in industries, for example, steel industries to carry out certain works like moving heavy steel pipes, plates, rods, workers and so on from one area to another area internally. The locomotives may run inside areas where humans are often present and workers in the industry may move around rail tracks. Many roads run parallel to the rail tracks and locomotives crosses junction of the roads. It may not be possible to barricade the rail tracks or have any safety measures to avoid any mishap or accidents. Like in the conventional rail vehicles, the emergency switches are provided only for people i.e., passengers inside the locomotives to avoid mishap. It may be possible that the people inside the locomotive may not be aware or may miss out situations or crisis happening in surroundings of locomotive. The situations could be a person crossing the rail tracks, workers repairing rail tracks, driver and signal man error and so on. Thus, workers or passer-by outside the locomotive do not have a provision to stop the locomotive and prevent any mishap or accidents. These concerns continue to exist in the locomotives and industries including the locomotives. Thus, preventing any kind of crises occurring due to the locomotives.

The information disclosed in this background of the disclosure section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.

SUMMARY
In an embodiment, the present disclosure relates to a movement control system for stopping movement of a rail vehicle. The movement control system comprises of at least one switch unit and a braking unit. At least one switch unit is located on outer structure of a rail vehicle. Upon actuating the at least one switch unit, a control signal is being generated. The control signal from the at least one switch unit of the rail is being received by the braking unit to stop movement of the rail vehicle.

In an embodiment, the present disclosure relates to a method for stopping movement of a rail vehicle. The method comprises of generating a control signal when at least one switch unit is actuated. The at least one switch unit is be located on outer structure of the rail vehicle. Upon receiving the control signal from the at least one switch unit the braking unit stops movement of the rail vehicle.

The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments, and features described above, further aspects, embodiments, and features will become apparent by reference to the drawings and the following detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this disclosure, illustrate exemplary embodiments and, together with the description, serve to explain the disclosed principles. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. The same numbers are used throughout the figures to reference like features and components. Some embodiments of system and/or methods in accordance with embodiments of the present subject matter are now described, by way of example only, and regarding the accompanying figures, in which:

Figures 1a and 1b show exemplary environments of a movement control system for stopping movement of a rail vehicle, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

Figures 2 and 3 show circuit diagrams implemented in a movement control system for stopping movement of a rail vehicle, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

Figure 4 shows an exemplary embodiment for stopping movement of a rail vehicle, in accordance with some embodiments of present disclosure; and

Figure 5 illustrates a flowchart showing exemplary method for stopping a movement of a rail vehicle, in accordance with some embodiments of present disclosure;

It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that any block diagrams herein represent conceptual views of illustrative systems embodying the principles of the present subject matter. Similarly, it will be appreciated that any flow charts, flow diagrams, state transition diagrams, pseudo code, and the like represent various processes which may be substantially represented in computer readable medium and executed by a computer or processor, whether such computer or processor is explicitly shown.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION
In the present document, the word "exemplary" is used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any embodiment or implementation of the present subject matter described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments.

While the disclosure is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiment thereof has been shown by way of example in the drawings and will be described in detail below. It should be understood, however that it is not intended to limit the disclosure to the forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the disclosure is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternative falling within the spirit and the scope of the disclosure.

The terms “comprises”, “comprising”, or any other variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a setup, device, or method that comprises a list of components or steps does not include only those components or steps but may include other components or steps not expressly listed or inherent to such setup or device or method. In other words, one or more elements in a system or apparatus proceeded by “comprises… a” does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of other elements or additional elements in the system or method.

The terms “includes”, “including”, or any other variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a setup, device, or method that includes a list of components or steps does not include only those components or steps but may include other components or steps not expressly listed or inherent to such setup or device or method. In other words, one or more elements in a system or apparatus proceeded by “includes… a” does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of other elements or additional elements in the system or method.

In the following detailed description of the embodiments of the disclosure, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which are shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the disclosure may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the disclosure, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. The following description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense.

Present disclosure relates to system and method for stopping movement of a rail vehicle. The system comprises one or more emergency switches, relay switches and a braking system to avoid any mishap or any crises due to the rail vehicle. The one or more emergency switches may be located on outer structure of the rail vehicle. The at least one emergency switch when actuated may provide a control signal. The control signal is then transmitted to the braking system. The movement of the rail vehicle is thus stopped by the braking system on receiving the control signal. By the proposed system and method, a safe journey or work environment may be provisioned preventing any occurrence of accidents or crises due to the rail vehicle.

Figures 1a and 1b show exemplary environments 100a and 100b of a movement control system 101 for stopping movement of a rail vehicle, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. The environment 100a may include the movement control system 101 comprising a switch unit 102, a relay unit 103, and a braking unit 104. The environment 100a may be environment of an industry such as steel industry or an automobile which use rail vehicles for one or more operation inside the industry. The rail vehicles may be used for hauling raw materials like steel, sand, rubber and so on used for manufacturing of auto parts, transporting finished goods like new cars, light trucks and so on. In an embodiment, the proposed system 101 may be implemented for a rail vehicle such as rail trucks, locomotive, passenger rail cars and the like, to avoid any mishap or crises in surroundings of the rail vehicle. The at least one switch unit of the movement control system 101 may be a single switch unit 102 or may include plurality of a switch units 102.1, 102.2, …...102.N as shown in the environment 100b of Figure 1b. The plurality of switch units 102.1, 102.2, …...102.N may be located on outer structure of the rail vehicle to stop the moving rail vehicle and prevent any accidents or mishap in surroundings of the rail vehicle.

When at least one switch unit from the plurality of switch units 102.1, 102.2, …...102.N is pressed or pulled by a person or passer-by on the ground, the at least one switch unit may be actuated. Control signal from the at least one switch unit may be generated, upon the actuation. The relay unit 103 is an electrically operated switch, consisting of a set of input terminals for a single or multiple control signals. In the movement control system 101, the relay unit 103 may be used to control a circuit by an independent low-power signal or to control several circuits by one signal. In an embodiment, the relay unit 103 comprises of relay switches and relay contacts. In an embodiment, the relay unit may be used to establish connection between the at least one switch unit and the braking unit 104. Upon receiving the control signal via the relay unit 103, the braking unit 104 may be configured to stop the movement of the rail vehicle. The braking unit comprises of many different components that work together to stop the rail vehicle in a controlled manner, when required.

An exemplary embodiment illustrating circuit diagram of the movement control system 101 is shown in Figure 2, Consider, the movement control system 101 for the rail vehicle comprises six switch units. In an embodiment, the plurality of switch units may be referred to as emergency switches. The circuit diagram consists plurality of emergency switches 201.1, 201.2…201.6, a first relay switch 202 and a second relay switch 203. The first relay switch 202 and the second relay switch 203 may together be referred as relay switches 202 and 203. In an embodiment, as shown in Fig. 2, the relay switches 202 and 203 are connected in parallel with each other. In an alternate embodiment, the plurality of emergency switches 201.1, 201.2…201.6 may be connected in series with each other. Further, the plurality of emergency switches 201.1, 201.2…201.6 may be in series connection with the relay switches 202 and 203 to form first part of circuit of the movement control system 101. Each of the plurality of emergency switches 201.1, 201.2…201.6 may either be a pull type of switch or push type of switch. The pull type of switch may be pull cord switch, rope pull switch and so on. The push type of switch may be pushbutton, rotary switch, slide switch and so on. In an embodiment, power supply to the plurality of emergency switches 201.1, 201.2…201.6 and the relay switches 202 and 203 may be provided from integral powering system of the rail vehicle. When the person or passer-by from the ground foresees a mishap that may occur, the person can access and actuate at least one of the plurality of emergency switches 201.1, 201.2…201.6. Actuation may be achieved by either pushing or pulling at least one emergency switch from the plurality of emergency switches 201.1, 201.2…201.6, based on type of switch unit. Upon pushing or pulling the at least one emergency switch that is located on outer structure of the rail vehicle, the at least one emergency switch gets actuated and generates the control signal. In an embodiment, the control signal may be a pulse or frequency of electricity used for activation of a circuit.

The relay switches 202 and 203 may be coupled between the emergency switches 201.1, 201.2…201.6 and the braking unit 104. The relay switches 202 and 203 may be configured to establish a connection between the at least one emergency switch and the braking unit 104. The relay switches 202 and 203 transmit the control signal from the at least one emergency switch to the braking unit 104. Upon receiving the control signal from the at least one emergency switch, the braking unit 104 is configured to stop the movement of the rail vehicle. For example, Figure 3 shows an exemplary embodiment of a braking unit 300 for stopping movement of the rail vehicle. In an embodiment, the braking unit 300 may include, but is not limited to, an air tank 301, a magnet valve 302, a brake valve 303, a brake cylinder 304 and brake shoe 305. A first relay contact 306 and a second relay contact 307 may be connected to the magnet valve 302. The first relay contact 306 and the second relay contact 307 are together referred to as relay contacts 306 and 307. In an embodiment, the relay contacts 306 and 307 may be in Normally Open (NO) state i.e., there is an open contact when the relay contacts 306 and 307 are not energized. When electrical current is applied to the relay contacts 306 and 307, state of the relay contacts 306 and 307 may change to close state. For controlling movement of the rail vehicle, the relay contacts 306 and 307 are connected to the relay switches 202 and 203. In an embodiment, initially, the relay contacts 306 and 307 are in open state to prohibit flow of the control signal through the relay switches 202 and 203. Upon receipt of the control signal, the relay contacts 306 and 307 are in close state to establish the connection.

In an exemplary embodiment of the braking system 300, the air tank 301 may be filled with air pressure. The magnet valve 302 is normally closed prior to actuation of the at least one of the emergency switches. When the person from the ground foresees a mishap that might occur, the person pushes or pulls the at least one emergency switch. Thus, the at least one emergency switch gets actuated and generates a control signal. When the at least one emergency switch is actuated, the relay contacts get closed forming a complete circuit. The relay switches 202 and 203 establish a connection between the at least one emergency switch and the braking unit 300. The control signal is then transmitted from the at least one emergency switch to the braking unit 300 via the relay switches 202 and 203. The magnet valve 302, which is normally closed gets magnetized on receiving the control signal and the valve opens. The air in the air tank 301 passes through the magnet valve 302, the brake valve 303 and the brake cylinder 304. From the brake cylinder 304, the air is let onto the brake shoe 305 to cause pressure on the brake shoe 305. Thus, due to the pressure on the brake shoe 305, the brake shoe 305 may in turn stop the movement of the rail vehicle. Thereby, occurrence of mishap or crises may be avoided.

In an embodiment, the braking unit 300 could be a hydraulic braking system, electromagnetic braking system, servo braking system, mechanical braking system and so on. The proposed movement control system 101 may be implemented with alternate circuitry known in the art, to control the movement of the rail vehicle. In an embodiment, the plurality of emergency switches 201.1, 201.2…201.6 may be contacts which are in NO state. When at least one of the emergency switch is actuated, the plurality of emergency switches 201.1, 201.2…201.6 may change to close state and may allow transmission of pre-generated control signal to the braking unit 300.

Figure 4 shows exemplary embodiment for stopping movement of a rail vehicle, in accordance with some embodiments of present disclosure.

In an embodiment, the movement control system 101 may be configured to stop the movement of a rail vehicle. The exemplary environment 400, includes a rail vehicle such as a locomotive 401, rail track 402, plurality of switch units 403.1……….403.4, and workers 404.1 and 404.2 on ground. The exemplary environment 400 may be environment of an industry where the locomotive 401 is used for transporting raw materials and finished goods inside the industry. In such environment, speed of the locomotive 401 may be slow. The movement control system 101 stops the movement of the rail vehicle to prevent any crises or mishap. For example, in the environment 400, consider first worker 404.1 may be working on repairing of the rail track 402 without the knowledge of approaching locomotive 401 towards him. Meanwhile, second worker 404.2 may see any mishap or accident that might occur by the approaching locomotive 401. The second worker 404.2 can either push or pull at least one switch unit from the plurality of switch units 403.1……….403.4, located on outer structure of the rail vehicle. In an embodiment, each of the plurality of switch units 403.1……….403.4 may be located towards engine of the locomotive 401, on outer body of each compartment of the locomotive 401, near doors and windows of the locomotive 401 and so on. In an embodiment, the location of the plurality of switch units 403.1……….403.4 may be chosen such that the plurality of switch units 403.1……….403.4 are easily accessible to people around the locomotive 401. When at least one switch unit from the plurality of switch units 403.1……….403.4 is actuated, the control signal is generated. The control signal is transmitted via the relay unit 103 from the at least one switch unit to the braking unit 104. Upon receiving the control signal generated by the at least one switch unit, the braking unit 104 stops the movement of the locomotive 401. Thus, preventing occurring of mishap due to the locomotive.

Figure 5 illustrates a flowchart showing exemplary method for stopping the movement of the rail vehicle, in accordance with some embodiments of present disclosure.

At block 501, when at least one switch unit, located on outer structure of the rail vehicle is actuated from the ground, the control signal may be generated. The relay unit 103 coupled between the at least one switch unit and the braking unit 104 establishes a connection between the at least one switch unit and the braking unit 104. Thus, the control signal is transmitted from the at least one switch unit to the braking unit 104.

At block 502, the braking unit 104, may be configured to stop the movement of the rail vehicle on receiving the control signal from the at least one switch unit.

The order in which the method 500 is described may not intended to be construed as a limitation, and any number of the described method blocks can be combined in any order to implement the method. Additionally, individual blocks may be deleted from the methods without departing from the scope of the subject matter described herein. Furthermore, the method can be implemented in any suitable hardware, software, firmware, or combination thereof.

Advantages

An embodiment of the present disclosure provides an emergency switches on outer structure of a rail vehicle for the worker to avoid any mishap in surrounding of an industrial environment. By placing the switch units on the outer surface, the switch units may be easily accessible to people on ground for actuating the switch units during emergency situations.

An embodiment of the present disclosure provisions a safe environment without any occurrence of a crises due to the location of emergency switch outside a rail structure.

An embodiment of the present disclosure reduces the need for expense and space using relays. Relays reduces high amperage wiring and switches which are costly.

The terms “an embodiment”, “embodiment”, “embodiments”, “the embodiment”, “the embodiments”, “one or more embodiments”, “some embodiments”, and “one embodiment” mean “one or more (but not all) embodiments of the invention(s)” unless expressly specified otherwise.

The terms “including”, “comprising”, “having” and variations thereof mean “including but not limited to”, unless expressly specified otherwise.
The enumerated listing of items does not imply that any or all of the items are mutually exclusive, unless expressly specified otherwise.

The terms “a”, “an” and “the” mean “one or more”, unless expressly specified otherwise.

A description of an embodiment with several components in communication with each other does not imply that all such components are required. On the contrary a variety of optional components are described to illustrate the wide variety of possible embodiments of the invention.

When a single device or article is described herein, it will be readily apparent that more than one device/article (whether or not they cooperate) may be used in place of a single device/article. Similarly, where more than one device or article is described herein (whether or not they cooperate), it will be readily apparent that a single device/article may be used in place of the more than one device or article or a different number of devices/articles may be used instead of the shown number of devices or programs. The functionality and/or the features of a device may be alternatively embodied by one or more other devices which are not explicitly described as having such functionality/features. Thus, other embodiments of the invention need not include the device itself.

The illustrated operations of Figure 5 show certain events occurring in a certain order. In alternative embodiments, certain operations may be performed in a different order, modified, or removed. Moreover, steps may be added to the above-described logic and still conform to the described embodiments. Further, operations described herein may occur sequentially or certain operations may be processed in parallel. Yet further, operations may be performed by a single processing unit or by distributed processing units.

Finally, the language used in the specification has been principally selected for readability and instructional purposes, and it may not have been selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter. It is therefore intended that the scope of the invention be limited not by this detailed description, but rather by any claims that issue on an application based here on. Accordingly, the disclosure of the embodiments of the invention is intended to be illustrative, but not limiting, of the scope of the invention, which is set forth in the following claims.

While various aspects and embodiments have been disclosed herein, other aspects and embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The various aspects and embodiments disclosed herein are for purposes of illustration and are not intended to be limiting, with the true scope and spirit being indicated by the following claims.

Referral numerals:
Reference Number Description
100a and 100b Exemplary environments
101 Movement control system
102 Switch unit
102.1…102.N Plurality of switch units
103 Relay unit
104 Braking unit
201.1, 201.2…201.6 Plurality of emergency switches
202 First relay switch
203 Second relay switch
300 Braking unit
301 Air tank
302 Magnet valve
303 Brake valve
304 Brake cylinder
305 Brake shoe
306 First relay contact
307 Second relay contact
400 Exemplary environment
401 Locomotive
402 Rail track
403.1……….403.4 Plurality of switch units
404.1 First worker
404.2 Second worker