FORM 2
THE PATENTS ACT, 1970 (39 of 1970)
As amended by the Patents (Amendment) Act, 2005
&
The Patents Rules, 2003
As amended by the Patents (Amendment) Rules, 2006
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(See section 10 and rule 13)
TITLE OF THE INVENTION
An axle-counter system for determining direction of travel of a rail-bound vehicle in
multiple-diversion point zone of a rail-section
APPLICANT
Crompton Greaves Limited, CG House, Dr Annie Besant Road, Worli, Mumbai 400
030, Maharashtra, India, an Indian Company
INVENTOR
Namjoshi Yogendra of Crompton Greaves Ltd , Electronic Development Centre, Global R&D, Crompton Greaves, limited, Kanjurmarg, Mumbai-400042, Maharashtra, India, Indian National

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to digital axle-counter systems and
more particularly, to digital axle-counter system for determining direction of travel of a rail-bound vehicle in railway signalling.
DESCRIPTION OF THE BACKGROUND ART
With the advancement in semiconductor technology, various
railway signalling and traffic control systems are adopting programmable digital electronics towards making systems compact, scalable and maintainable. One of the common electronic devices in railway signalling is a Digital Axle Counter System (DACS) used in guide rails. The DACS delivers additional features, apart from the basic requirement of track occupancy, viz. wheel counts, direction, speed, length of the train etc. The conventional digital axle counter design typically consists of two transmitters and two receivers sensing design, or otherwise called as double wheel detectors.
As well known, there are one or more diversions/junctions within
one or more two-ended sections of the railway tracks. For each of the diversions there is also a dedicated transmitter-receiver sets on the guide rails of the railway tracks. Each of the sensor sets are electrically connected to a corresponding equipment box that are interconnected with each other, typically via long distance communications such as voice frequency modems. Each of these equipment boxes are safely located within a location box positioned at some distance from the railway tracks. Further, each of the equipment boxes is also electrically connected to a central controlling unit that is accessible by railway personnel. When occupancy of a section of the railway track by the railway locomotive is sensed by any of the sensor sets in a particular

direction, the sensing signal is transmitted to its corresponding equipment box. This equipment box transmits the direction relevant signals to the neighbouring equipment box within the section of the railway track.
However, the problem occurs when there are one or more additions
of diversions within the two-ended section of the railway track and when scalability of such sections of railway tracks is required. For each of the diversions there has to be added a dedicated set of transmitter-receiver set, which has to be connected with a corresponding equipment box located generally within a separate location box. Further, this equipment box is connected with a neighbouring equipment box by a long distance communication and also to a central controlling unit that is situated at a remote location. To connect this equipment box to the central controlling unit long distance communication, for e.g., modem, is used. As these additions of diversions span to hundreds of kilometres, the engineers and railway men face huge inconvenience in installing such diversions. Further, installing of long distance communications in the overall DACS add up to additional costs during installations and a lot of human intervention is required. Furthermore, along with the above costs, installation of location boxes to house the equipment box also adds to cost and inconvenience.
As a result, scalability of such systems becomes a huge issue when
it comes to the present DACS technology. Thus, it is highly desirable that a novel DACS is devised that immediately addresses at least some of the above mentioned problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the invention is to provide scalability of the DACS
when one or diversions are added in the two-ended section of railway tracks.
Another object of the invention is to provide scalability to the DACS for addition of several point sections with one or more diversions in the section of railway tracks.
Another object of the present invention is to have minimal human
intervention in scaling up of the DACS.
Yet another object of the present invention is to incur lesser cost
when multiple diversions are added in future within a single or multiple detection point(s) based section of the railway track under the DACS.
Accordingly disclosed herein is an axle-counter system installable
on a two-ended single section railway track having at least one diversion for determining direction of travel of a rail-bound vehicle including a first wheel counter and a second wheel counter disposed parallel to guide rails and at opposite ends of the railway track section, the first and the second wheel counters electrically coupled to a corresponding equipment box positioned at a distance therefrom, each of the equipment boxes including a scalable communication card having at least two long distance and one short distance communication ports, the two equipment boxes being connected with each other through one of the long distance communication ports for updating direction of travel of the rail-bound vehicle between the first and the second wheel counters, and a third wheel counter disposed adjacent to guide rails of the at least one diversion and electrically coupled to another equipment box having a similar scalable communication card as that of the first and the second wheel counters, the

another equipment box positioned proximal to the equipment box of the second wheel counter and connected therewith through short distance communication port for updating direction of travel of the rail-bound vehicle between the third and the second wheel counters.
According to various embodiments of the present invention, the
equipment box electrically connected to the first wheel counter is disposed within a first location box whereas, the equipment box electrically connected with the second and the another wheel counters is disposed within a common, second location box.
According to various embodiments of the present invention,
another diversion formed in between the single section of railway track, wherein a fourth wheel counter being disposed parallel its guide rails, and wherein the wheel counter is electrically coupled to a corresponding equipment box disposed within the location box having the equipment boxes of the second and the another equipment boxes, the fourth equipment box having a similar scalable communication card as that of the other communication cards.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description
and the following detailed description of the present embodiments of the invention are intended to provide an overview or framework for understanding the nature and character of the invention as it is claimed. The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated into and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate various embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles and operation of the invention.

A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The above-mentioned and other features and advantages of the
various embodiments of the invention, and the manner of attaining them, will become more apparent and will be better understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1 shows a schematic layout of a section of railway track
having at least one diversions and at least three intercommunicating digital axle counter sets according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic view of an equipment box disposed
within each of the digital axle counter sets of FIG. 1 and having a communication card for processing signals relating to direction of travel of a rail-bound vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 3 shows schematic view of a communication card of FIG. 2
used within the equipment box of the first digital axle counter set;
FIG. 4 shows schematic view of a communication card of FIG. 2
used within the equipment box of the second digital axle counter set; and
FIG. 5 shows schematic view of a communication card of FIG. 2
used within the equipment box of the third digital axle counter set; and
FIG. 6 shows a schematic layout of a section of railway track
having at least two diversions and at least four intercommunicating digital axle counter sets according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
FIG. 1 shows a schematic layout of a two-end section 100 of a
railway track having at least one diversion 102 therein using the Digital axle counter system (DACS) according to an embodiment of the present invention. Preferably, such an implementation may be used in railway signalling system alongside the railway tracks for controlling traffic of rail-bound vehicles. The two-end single section 100 of the railway track may consist of one, two, three, or four point detection under dead ends, diversions, and junctions. Preferably, the distance of the two-end single section 100 of the railway track may be between the ranges of 1-20 kilometres. The embodiments of the present invention deals with multiple configuration and scalability of single section 100 axle counter equipments which are generally used in two-end single section railway signalling system.
As seen in FIG. 1, the axle-counter system is installable on the two-
end single section railway track having at least one diversion 102. For the configuration having at least one diversion 102 within the section 1 OOof the railway track, there are at least three axle counter sets used, namely set A, set B, and set C. For the purposes of explaining the various embodiments of the present invention, each of the axle counter sets include a combination of wheel counters (not shown) and it is corresponding equipment box 106 (FIG. 2). Set A incorporates the first wheel counter and a first equipment box 106, set B incorporates a second wheel counter and a second equipment box 106, and accordingly set C has a third wheel counter and a third equipment box 106. Preferably, the first equipment box 106 is positioned within a first location box (not shown) and the second equipment box 106 is positioned within a second location box (not shown). The second location box also houses the third equipment box 106 and positioned in proximity to the second equipment box

106. As a result, the second location box is common to both the second and the third equipment box 106. Additionally, in the following description, it is assumed that the rail-bound vehicle is travelling in the west direction.
Preferably, set A and set B are disposed at the two ends of the two-
end section 100 of the railway track, whereas the set C is disposed at the guide rails 104 of the atleast one diversion 102. Each of the sets include at least two/three pairs of sensor (not shown) disposed along the section lOOof a guide rails 104 and positioned in spaced apart relationship with each other. Further, each of the sensors is also disposed in a direction parallel to the guide rails 104. Preferably, each of the sensors comprises of a transmitter and a receiver (not shown), a signal conditioning circuit (not shown) and a logic circuit (not shown). Typically, the sensors may be electrically connected to one or more corresponding wheel detection processors 108 (FIG. 2) disposed within the corresponding equipment box 106 in known manner. Further, during operation, the sensor output signals from each of the sensors are sequentially processed into the corresponding wheel detection processors 108 when activated due to sensing of occupancy of vehicle and its direction of travel.
FIG. 2 shows a schematic view of an equipment box 106 disposed
within each of the set A, set B, and set C. A wheel detection processor 108 forms a part of the equipment box 106. Along with the wheel detection processor 108, there are other software and hardware components intercommunicating with each other such as, a scalable communication card 110, display processor 112 108, sensing circuit 114, power supply 116, included within each of the equipment box 106. Each of the equipment boxes 106, within their corresponding location boxes, is positioned at a predetermined distance of at least 10 metres from the guide rails 104.

When the rail-bound vehicle is travelling in the west direction on
the two-end section lOOof the railway track, set B acts as a source for updating set B about the direction of travel of the rail-bound vehicle in the west direction. However, when the rail-bound vehicle is approaching set A in the west direction, then set C updates set B and accordingly set B updates the set A about the direction of travel. In another embodiment of the present invention as shown in FIG. 6, where there is a second diversion 124 is included in the single section 100 of the railway track, a set D updates set C and accordingly set B updates the set A about the direction of travel. Thus, set B acts as a point of contact for the set A to receive update regarding direction of travel of the rail-bound vehicle.
It is to be noted that each of the equipment boxes 106 have exactly
the same construction and the configuration for purpose of providing advantage of scalability in future expansion within the two-end single section lOOof the railway track. Further, each of the set A, set B, and set C has a similar ready-to-use detachable scalable communication card 110 that may be plug-in and plug-out of the corresponding equipment boxes 106. Reference is now made to FIGS. 3, 4, and 6 that explain the construction and configuration of the scalable communication card 110 disposed within the equipment boxes 106 of set A and set B, respectively. A plurality of communication ports are disposed within each of the communication cards 110. As seen, there are at least two long distances communication ports LA, LB, and Lc and one short distance communication port SA, SB, and Sc within each of the communication card 110 of set A, set B, and set C. The long and short distances communication ports used within each of the communication cards 110 are the ones that are well known in the art.

Reference will now be given to FIGS. 1 and 4-6 that illustrates
signalling of direction of travel of the rail-bound vehicle on the two-end section lOOof the railway track with at least one diversion 102. Set A is disposed on one end of the section of the railway track in the west direction whereas set B is disposed on the other end in the east direction. As seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, one of the long distance communication port LA of the set A is electrically connected with one of the long distance communication port LB of the set B, preferably via a voice frequency modem 118 known in the art. The second long distance communication port LA and the second long distance communication port LB of the set B is connected to a 'reset box 120' that acts as a control unit (not shown). Preferably, the reset box 120 is accessible to a station master who could reset the setting of the wheel counters and its corresponding equipment box 106 of the set A or set B if an error is reported by the wheel detection processor 108, shown in FIG. 1. Thus, when the rail-bound vehicle approaches in the west direction and passes set B, the long distance communication port LB updates the long distance communication port LA about the direction of travel. The short distance communication ports SA and SB may be connected preferably via RS 485 chip 122 with the short distance communication ports of future sets during future expansion and therefore they are marked as Fs
Reference will now be given to FIGS. 4 and 6 that explain
intercommunication between the communication cards 110 of the set B and set C. As noted above, the third equipment box 106 is positioned within the second location box and in the proximity of the second equipment box 106. The short distance communication port SB of set B is electrically connected with a short distance communication port Sc of set C (FIG. 6.) via a RS 485 chip 122. Thus, when the rail-bound vehicle is travelling on the guide rails 104 of the diversion 102 and is

approaching set A, the short distance communication port Sc of set C updates the set B via the short distance communication port SB of set B. Thus, instead of directly connecting the set C with set A, which could have only being done via modems 118 and incurred cost, the set C is connected to set B via short distance communication. Thus, a skilled person will appreciate the benefit that is being derived out of this arrangement. Moreover, both the equipment boxes 106 of set B and set C are disposed within the same location box and therefore leads to addition cost savings. Additionally, now there is no need to connect the set C to the reset box 120 via long underground costly modems 118 as set C directly interacts with set B. In various embodiments of the present invention, provisions could be made to ensure that any problem experienced in set C could be conveyed to the reset box 120 via set B. The long distance communication ports Lc of set C could be utilized during future expansion of the section.
FIG. 6 shows a single two-end section 100 of the railway track
having a second diversion 124, according to another embodiment of the present invention. A fourth set D is disposed in a similar manner adjacent the railway track of the second diversion 124. The fourth equipment box 106 of the set D is also disposed within the second location box. Further, as seen in FIG. 5, the short distance communication port So of set D updates the short distance communication port Sc of set C. Thus, when the rail-bound vehicle is travelling on the guide rails 104 of the second diversion 124 and is approaching set A, the short distance communication port SD of set D updates the set C via the short distance communication port Sc of set C, which in turn updates the set B via the short distance communication port SB of set B. Further set B communicates set A in the manner explained above. Thus, instead of directly connecting the set D with set B or set A, which could have only being done

via modems 118 and incurred cost, the set D is connected to set C and subsequently to set B via short distance communication to save on the installation cost of both the modems 118 and the location boxes.
As evident, the above embodiments that relate to a two-end single section of the railway track may be very easily replicated depending on the need of the expansion. Further, due to the fact that the communication cards are ready-to-use and detachable they could be easily plug-in and plug-out of the corresponding equipment boxes if required.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus it is intended that the present invention cover the modifications and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

We Claim:
1. An axle-counter system installable on a two-ended single section railway track having at least one diversion for determining direction of travel of a rail-bound vehicle comprising:
a first wheel counter and a second wheel counter disposed parallel to guide rails and at opposite ends of the railway track section, the first and the second wheel counters electrically coupled to a corresponding equipment box positioned at a distance therefrom, each of the equipment boxes including a scalable communication card having at least two long distance and one short distance communication ports, the two equipment boxes being connected with each other through one of the long distance communication ports for updating direction of travel of the rail-bound vehicle between the first and the second wheel counters; and
a third wheel counter disposed adjacent to guide rails of the at least one diversion and electrically coupled to a third equipment box having a similar scalable communication card as that of the first and the second wheel counters, the third equipment box positioned proximal to the equipment box of the second wheel counter and connected therewith through small distance communication port for updating direction of travel of the rail-bound vehicle between the third and the second wheel counters.
2. The axle counter system according to claim 1, wherein the equipment box electrically connected to the first wheel counter is disposed within a first location box whereas, the equipment box electrically connected with the second and the another wheel counters is disposed within a common, second location box.

3. The axle counter system according to claim 1, wherein the long distance communication between the equipment boxes of the first and the second wheel counters is a voice frequency modem.
4. The axle counter system according to claim 1, wherein the short distance communication between the equipment boxes of the second and the third wheel counters is a RS 485 chip.

5. The axle counter system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one diversion is formed in between the two-ended single section of railway track.
6. The axle counter system according to claim 1, further including another diversion formed in between the two-ended single section of railway track, wherein a fourth wheel counter being disposed parallel its guide rails, and wherein the wheel counter is electrically coupled to a corresponding equipment box disposed within the location box having the equipment boxes of the second and the another equipment boxes, the fourth equipment box having a similar scalable communication card as that of the other communication cards.
7. The axle counter system according to claim 6, wherein the fourth equipment box is electrically connected to the third equipment box via a short distance communication port.

8. The axle counter system according to claim 1, wherein the other long distance communication of the first and the second communication boxes is connected to the a rest box accessible at a nearby station.