阅读说明：本技术 用于轨道车辆的至少一个储能器充能的方法和装置 (Method and device for charging at least energy stores for rail vehicles ) 是由 C.亨塞尔迈耶 A.谢弗-恩克勒 于 2019-07-16 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明涉及一种用于控制用于轨道车辆的至少一个储能器的充电的过程的方法,其中,所述储能器用于给轨道车辆的驱动装置供应电能并且所述储能器的充电借助布置在轨道路网的线路段的受限的区域中的电导体进行,并且其中,由在路段侧的充电装置可以向所述导体施加充电电压,否则在该导体上施加低电压。(The invention relates to a method for controlling a process for charging at least energy stores for rail vehicles, wherein the energy stores are used to supply electrical energy to drives of the rail vehicles and the charging of the energy stores takes place by means of electrical conductors arranged in a limited region of a line section of a rail network, and wherein a charging voltage can be applied to the conductors by a road-section-side charging device, and otherwise a low voltage is applied to the conductors.)

method for controlling a process for charging at least energy stores (TB) for rail vehicles (TZ), wherein the energy stores are used for supplying electric energy to a drive of the rail vehicle and the charging of the energy stores takes place by means of an electric conductor (LT) arranged in a restricted area of a line section of a rail network, and wherein a charging voltage can be applied to the conductor by a charging device (SLV) on the section side, otherwise a low voltage is applied to the conductor,

wherein the content of the first and second substances,

with respect to the start of the charging process,

-at least current collectors (SA) connected to a vehicle-side charging device (FLV) are connected to the electrical conductors,

connecting an electrical load (L) to the current collector after a detection of a low voltage being applied to the conductor by a vehicle-side charging device,

-ending the application of the low voltage and applying the charging voltage to the conductor after recognizing by the road section side charging device that the load current flows in the conductor, and

-disconnecting the electrical load (L) from the current collector after recognition by the vehicle-side charging device that no lower voltage is applied to the conductor anymore, and

-electrically connecting a charging regulator (LR) of the vehicle-side charging device, which is electrically connected to the energy store, to the power receiver after it has been recognized by the vehicle-side charging device that a charging voltage is applied to the conductor.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein,

for the end of the charging process:

-reducing the flow of the charging current by means of the charging regulator to below a predefined threshold or disconnecting the charging regulator from the current collector, and

after the charging device on the route side recognizes that the charging current is below the threshold value or that no more charging current flows in the conductor, a low voltage is applied to the conductor again.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein,

-the current collector is electrically connected to the conductor when the rail vehicle is driven into the region of the line section, and/or

-the electrical connection of the current collector to the conductor is disconnected when the rail vehicle exits from the region of the line section.

4. the method of the preceding claim, wherein,

if the rail vehicle has a plurality of current collectors for the start of the charging process, the application of the low voltage is only terminated by the road-side charging device if all the current collectors used for the charging process are electrically connected to the conductor.

5. the method of the preceding claim, wherein,

the vehicle-side charging device signals the track-side charging device about the authentication of the rail vehicle, the number of current collectors used for the charging process and/or information about the electrical connection of this current collector or these current collectors to the conductor.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein,

the information is signaled by conductors in a wired fashion.

Device arrangement for controlling a process for charging at least energy stores (TB) for supplying electric energy to drives of rail vehicles (TZ), having 7,

-a road-section-side charging device (SLV) which is connected to an electrical conductor (LT) arranged in a restricted area of a line section of the rail road network, and

-a vehicle-side charging device (FLV) connected to the energy storage and to at least current collectors (SA) for connection to the electrical conductors,

wherein the content of the first and second substances,

in order to control the start of the charging process,

-a control device (ST) provided with said road-section-side charging means for selectively applying a charging voltage or a low voltage to said electrical conductor,

-a control device (ST) equipped with said vehicle-side charging means for recognizing the application of a low voltage on said conductor and connecting an electrical load (L) to said current collector,

the control device of the road-side charging device is also designed to recognize the flow of the charging current in the conductor, to terminate the application of the low voltage and to apply the charging voltage to the electrical conductor, and

the control device of the vehicle-side charging device is also designed to recognize the application of the charging voltage to the conductor, disconnect the electrical load from the power receiver and electrically connect a charging regulator (LR) electrically connected to the energy store to the power receiver.

8. The device arrangement of claim 7,

in order to control the end of the charging process,

the vehicle-side charging device is also designed to reduce the flow of the charging current below a predetermined threshold value by means of the charging regulator, or to disconnect the charging regulator from the electrical current collector, and

the road-side charging device is also designed to detect that the charging current is below this threshold value or that a low voltage is applied to the conductor after no more charging current flows in the conductor.

9. The device arrangement according to claim 7 or 8,

the vehicle-side charging device is also designed to electrically connect the current collector to the conductor when the rail vehicle enters the region of the track section and/or to electrically disconnect the current collector from the conductor when the rail vehicle exits the region of the track section.

10. an apparatus arrangement according to claims 7 to 9, wherein,

in addition, for the control of the start of the charging process, if the rail vehicle has a plurality of current collectors,

the track-side charging device is designed to terminate the application of the low voltage only when all the current collectors used for the charging process are connected to the conductor, or

The vehicle-side charging device is designed to connect an electrical load to at least current collectors only when all current collectors used for the charging process are connected to the conductor.

11. an apparatus arrangement according to claim 7 to 10,

the vehicle-side charging device is also designed to signal information about the authentication of the track-side charging device with respect to the rail vehicle, the number of current collectors used for the charging process and/or about the electrical connection of one or more of the current collectors to the conductor.

12. The apparatus arrangement of claim 11,

the vehicle-side charging device and the road-side charging device are each designed to signal or receive the information via a conductor.

13, charging device (FLV) in a rail vehicle (TZ), which charging device is connected to at least energy stores (TB) for supplying energy to the drive of the rail vehicle and can be connected via an electrical power Supply (SA) to an electrical conductor (LT) arranged in a restricted region of a line section of a rail network,

the charging device has a control device (ST) for controlling the start of a charging process for charging the energy store, wherein the control device is designed to recognize the application of a low voltage to the conductor, to connect an electrical load (L) to the current collector after recognizing the application of the low voltage, to recognize the application of the charging voltage to the conductor, and to disconnect the electrical load from the current collector after recognizing the application of the charging voltage and to electrically connect a charging regulator (LR) which is electrically connected to the energy store to the current collector.

14. The charging device of claim 13,

the control device is also designed to control the end of the charging process by reducing the flow of the charging current to below a predetermined threshold value or by disconnecting the charging regulator from the current collector.

15, kinds of rail vehicles (TZ) with

-at least electric drive means,

-at least energy storages (TB) for supplying the drive with electrical energy,

-at least current collectors (SA) for connection to electrical conductors arranged on the route side, and

-a charging device (FLV) according to claim 13 or 14.

16, charging device (SLV) on a rail network, which charging device is connected to an electrical conductor (LT) arranged in a limited region of a line section of the rail network and applies a charging voltage to the conductor during a charging process and applies a low voltage to the conductor outside the charging process,

the charging device has a control device (ST) for controlling the start of a charging process for charging at least energy stores (TB) of the rail vehicle (TZ) via the conductors, wherein the control device is designed to recognize a flow of a charging current in the conductors and, after recognizing the flow of the charging current, to terminate the application of the low voltage and to apply the charging voltage to the conductors.

17. The charging device of claim 16,

the control device is also designed to control the end of the charging process, after it has been recognized that the charging current in the conductor is below a predetermined threshold value or that there is no longer a charging current, to apply a low voltage to the conductor.

Technical Field

The invention relates to methods for controlling the charging of at least energy stores of a rail vehicle, rail vehicles having an equipment arrangement and a device on the track side and/or on the vehicle side for carrying out the methods, and rail vehicles having such a device on the vehicle side.

Background

Electrically driven rail vehicles, in particular trams, suburban trains, city trams or locomotives, are conventionally supplied with electrical energy by means of overhead lines or supply rails arranged along the rail network. In order to realize the operation of such rail vehicles in the rail network without electrification or without complete electrification, in particular in order to span the so-called last few miles, these rail vehicles are increasingly being equipped with electrical energy stores, in particular drive batteries or a combination of drive batteries and high-power capacitors. The permissible capacity of such electrical energy stores is limited due to the installation space required for the installation and the additional weight load in the rail vehicle. The limited capacity results in the need to charge the energy storage during normal driving operation of the rail vehicle. In the case of rail vehicles for passenger transport, the charging process can be carried out, for example, using the time period during which the rail vehicle is parked at a station, in order to avoid the additional delay caused by the charging process leading to a possible lengthening of the travel time for the passengers. For this purpose, a charging facility, in particular a charging device, can be arranged in the station area, which is suitable for charging the energy storage of the rail vehicle.

For example, EP 2576277B 1 discloses charging an energy store of a vehicle, in particular a rail vehicle, by means of a charging station. The position location of the vehicle is detected by using the position detection means and the conclusion of the entry into the charging station and the subsequent exit from the charging station is determined therefrom. An electrical connection between the power receiver of the vehicle and the energy-powered overhead line or supply rail is established and again broken as a function of this conclusion. In order to avoid high currents and high voltages and, in particular, arcing when establishing and breaking the electrical connection between the power receiver of the vehicle and the overhead line or the power supply rail, the voltages of the energy store and of the energy source are brought closer to one another before the connection is established, i.e., the current is reduced, and the current between the energy store and the energy source is influenced before the connection is broken in such a way that no current or only a small current flows when breaking. Furthermore, a switch can be provided which switches on and off the energy source of the charging station depending on the position of the vehicle, wherein this position is detected by a stationary sensor.

Disclosure of Invention

The object of the invention is to provide a method, a device arrangement, an arrangement and a rail vehicle which are advantageous with respect to the known methods for charging an energy store in a rail vehicle.

According to a th aspect of the invention, is proposed a method for controlling a process of charging at least energy stores for rail vehicles, the energy stores being used to supply electrical energy to a drive of the rail vehicle and the charging of the energy stores taking place by means of electrical conductors arranged in a limited region of a line section of the rail network, furthermore, a charging voltage can be applied to the conductors by a road-section-side charging device, otherwise a low voltage is applied to the conductors, at least current collectors connected to the vehicle-side charging device are connected to the electrical conductors for the start of the charging process, the electrical loads are connected to the current collectors after a low voltage is recognized to be applied to the conductors by the vehicle-side charging device.

The method according to the invention involves simple communication between the vehicle-side and the track-side charging devices by means of voltage and current using the track-side conductor for supplying the charging current, it is advantageously ensured in particular that, when the current collector of the rail vehicle is electrically connected to the conductor, a generally higher charging voltage is applied to the conductor, so that prevents possible electrical flashovers and protects humans and animals, since the charging voltage is applied only when the rail vehicle is within the range of the conductor, and otherwise a low voltage is applied which is not harmful to humans.

Rail vehicles are designed in particular as motor trains for short-haul and/or long-haul transport of passenger traffic. However, the advantages of the method according to the invention also occur in the same way in other vehicle types, in particular in urban trams, subways, locomotives or other types of rail vehicles.

The energy store of the rail vehicle is, for example, designed as a so-called traction battery, however, in the same way it is possible to design the energy store as a combination of or more supercapacitors, in particular a plurality of battery blocks, the capacity of the energy store being designed such that the electrical energy supply to the drive of the rail vehicle is ensured over a defined travel distance.

In addition to the drive, the energy store can also be used to supply so-called auxiliary operating devices of the rail vehicle, in particular air conditioning systems for cooling and heating the passenger compartment, wherein the auxiliary operating devices can also be supplied in a known manner by an intermediate circuit of the converter or directly by the energy store, in particular by an auxiliary operating device inverter. If a charging current is fed into the intermediate circuit and the charging regulator and the auxiliary operating device are both supplied by the intermediate circuit, the auxiliary operating device can be supplied with energy by means of the charging current during the charging process.

Depending on the capacity of the energy store and the length of the route to be traveled by the rail vehicle or of the corresponding route section, a route-side charging device and electrical conductors connected thereto are provided, which can charge the energy store with a sufficient amount of electrical energy for further travel over the next route sections or for further travel to the next charging devices.

The length of the conductor connected to the charging device is, for example, substantially equal to the length of the platform of the station, but it can also extend beyond the platform on the side or on both sides, at least, the length of the conductor is dimensioned in such a way that, when the rail vehicle is parked at the station, the power receiver of the rail vehicle can reliably establish an electrical connection with the conductor without the rail vehicle having to be positioned along the platform for this purpose .

In contrast to the known overhead lines used in the prior art for charging processes described at the beginning, the potential danger of people and animals caused by touching the supply rail is avoided in the track bed or in the vicinity of the track bed, in order to prevent this danger, according to the invention, a Low Voltage is applied to the electrical conductor, in addition to the time period of the charging process, since a Low Voltage, generally an alternating Voltage of less than 25V or a direct Voltage of 60V, is used, a contact protection device specific to is not required, when a so-called Protective Extra Low Voltage (PELV) is applied, the electrical conductor should preferably be arranged on the side of the track vehicle facing the boarding area for passengers, in order to reduce the potential danger of the electrical conductor, for example, carrying an alternating Voltage V or a subsequent direct Voltage of the electrical conductor, such as a direct Voltage 600, during the charging process, in order to reduce the potential danger of the electrical conductor, for example, during the charging process.

The vehicle-side power receiver can be designed according to known power receivers, as is used for contacting the aforementioned power supply rail. The current collector usually has a pantograph which is swept laterally from above or from below over the supply rail and in this way establishes an electrical connection. The electrical conductor and the current collector can be arranged in the rail region or on the vehicle in such a way that, when the rail vehicle is driven into the region of the track section in which the conductor is arranged, a mechanical contact and thus an electrical contact are automatically established and, when the rail vehicle is driven out of the region or when the terminal of the conductor is reached, the electrical contact is again broken. Alternatively, the contact connection is made, for example, even when the vehicle is stopped, wherein it can be made automatically or manually by the vehicle driver. The movement of the current collector or pantograph, which is sometimes required, in the direction of the conductor or away from the conductor can take place, for example, by means of known electric, pneumatic or hydraulic actuators.

The vehicle-side charging device has, for example, a known voltage sensor, by means of which the application of a low voltage to the conductor can be detected. After the low voltage has been detected, the charging device on the vehicle side connects the load to the current collector according to the invention. The load can be designed, for example, with a resistor of a predetermined size for regulating the current of the upstream power semiconductor. The switching on of the load causes a specific load current to flow in the conductor, which load current is detected or detected, for example, by means of a known current sensor in the track-side charging device. The detection or detection of this flowing load current results in the application of a low voltage to the conductor being terminated in the road-side charging device. The low voltage is no longer present on the conductor and is again detected by the voltage sensor of the vehicle-side charging device, and the load connected to the current collector is disconnected or switched off in order to avoid possible damage to the electronic components when the charging voltage is subsequently applied. The higher charging voltage subsequently applied to the conductor is detected by means of a voltage sensor of the vehicle-side charging device, and the current collector is finally electrically connected to the charging regulator directly or via the aforementioned intermediate circuit, whereupon a charging current flows and the energy store of the rail vehicle can be charged.

In particular, the "connection of a specific load by the vehicle-side charging device" ensures that the subsequent connection of the charging voltage is only performed if the specific charging current is detected by the road-side charging device, but the connection of the charging voltage is not caused by currents, for example, due to the contact of a conductor by a person or an animal.

According to a further development of the invention, the flow of the charging current is reduced to below a predefined threshold value or the charging regulator is disconnected from the current collector for the end of the charging process by means of the charging regulator. After the charging device on the road section side recognizes that the charging current is below the threshold value or that no charging current flows in the conductor anymore, a low voltage is applied to the conductor again.

After the energy store has been sufficiently charged and/or after the expiration of a time period specified for charging, the charging regulator reduces the charging current in the flow such that the charging current is below a predefined threshold value. Alternatively, the charging regulator may be disconnected from the current collector in order to completely terminate the flow of the charging current. When the charging regulator is connected directly to the current collector, this disconnection can be effected by the disconnection of a correspondingly designed switch, which can also be switched under load. If, as described above in the example, both the charging regulator and the charging current are connected to the intermediate circuit, the current collector should accordingly be disconnected from the intermediate circuit in order to avoid a possible flow of the charging current, for example to the auxiliary operating device. This can likewise be done by a switch which can be switched under load and is designed accordingly. The fact that only a charging current below the threshold value flows or no more charging current flows is detected by the road-section-side charging device by means of the current sensor, and the application of the charging voltage is subsequently terminated and a low voltage is again applied to the conductor. The application of the low voltage is in turn detected by the vehicle-side charging device by means of a voltage sensor. The charging device on the vehicle side thus makes it possible to disconnect the electrical connection of the current collector to the conductor without the risk of flashover. The above-described step of switching in the load according to the invention is not subsequently carried out again after the detection of a low voltage.

According to a further refinement of the method, the current collector is electrically connected to the conductor when the rail vehicle is driven into the region of the track section in which the conductor is arranged, and/or the current collector is electrically disconnected from the conductor when the rail vehicle is driven out of the region of the track section.

Even by using the time during which the rail vehicle is already or still in the region in which the conductors are arranged, but is still in motion or resumes motion, the time period available for charging the energy store can advantageously be extended and thereby, for example, the amount of storable electrical energy can be increased. Furthermore, when the charging current is fed into the intermediate circuit of the drive device as described above, this energy can even be used for a starting process, in which a current flows, which normally subjects the energy store to a high load. As also described above, if the auxiliary operating device of the rail vehicle is also supplied with power by the intermediate circuit, the auxiliary operating device can be supplied with charging current in the same manner for a longer period of time, which likewise results in a smaller load on the energy store.

In particular, when using a charging current for the starting process of the rail vehicle, it must be ensured that, when the current collector is disconnected from the conductor or by reaching the end of the conductor or is controlled, a charging voltage is no longer applied to the conductor, since otherwise there is a risk of flashover. It is therefore necessary to reduce the charging current by means of the charging regulator in the vehicle-side charging device or to disconnect the charging regulator from the current collector before this occurs, so that before the current collector is disconnected from the conductor, sufficient time remains for recognizing that no more charging current is flowing from the road-side charging device and for applying a low voltage to the conductor again.

According to a further development of the invention, for the start of the charging process, if the rail vehicle has a plurality of current collectors, the application of the low voltage is terminated only by the track-side charging device when all the current collectors used for the charging process are electrically connected to the conductor.

In the case of the motor train units described as examples above, the individual drive units can be arranged, for example, in the end train, the energy storage devices of the drive units being charged independently of one another by the individual power receivers and the vehicle-side charging device, furthermore, the rail vehicle can also be formed by two motor train units which are connected to form train units, each motor train unit having or more drive units and energy storage devices.

In particular, if a charging voltage is already applied during the travel of the rail vehicle into the area in which the conductor is arranged, the above-described procedure according to the invention is carried out after the -th electrical contact of the current collector with the conductor and the charging voltage is caused to be applied by the road-side charging device.

According to a further refinement of the method, the vehicle-side charging device signals the track-side charging device about the authentication of the rail vehicle, the number of current collectors used for the charging process and/or information about the electrical connection of this current collector or these current collectors to the conductor.

In particular, when the rail vehicle has a plurality of current collectors, both signaling the number of current collectors to be connected for the charging process and signaling the respective connection state of the current collectors to the conductors, which enable the charging voltage to be applied from the track-side charging device only when all current collectors specified for the charging process are connected to the conductors, alternatively, when a database with step-by-step information about the respective rail vehicle and/or rail vehicle model is present in the track-side charging device, for example, the number of current collectors can also be signaled implicitly to the track-side charging device by the authentication information of the rail vehicle, in particular an unambiguous authentication code of the rail vehicle and/or rail vehicle model.

If the rail vehicle has a plurality of vehicle-side charging devices, for example in the case of the above-described multi-locomotive traction, this signaling is carried out, for example, by charging devices, preferably by charging devices whose current collectors are first electrically connected to the conductors, in order to advantageously ensure that information about the number of current collectors and, if appropriate, the respective state of the current collectors is provided as early as possible to the road-section-side charging devices, and in order to reduce the risk of charging voltages being applied to the conductors before all current collectors provided for the charging process are connected to the conductors.

The knowledge of the conductor length can be used in particular to reduce the charging current before reaching the end of the conductor or to disconnect the charging regulator from the current collector, when the charging current is used for the starting process, in time, in order to cause a low voltage to be applied to the conductor by the road-side charging device before the connection of the th current collector, in particular in the direction of travel, is disconnected from the conductor.

According to a design based on the above-described further development, the information is signaled by means of conductors in a wired manner.

Advantageously, the conductor for the electrical connection of the road-side charging device to the vehicle-side charging device is thereby also used as a medium for transmitting the information, in particular in the above-described refinement, so that it is not necessary to transmit this information via, for example, a separate radio interface. Such signaling via conductors is performed in accordance with a cable-based Communication protocol, in particular a known protocol for so-called Powerline Communication. These protocols also enable independent signaling by a plurality of vehicle-side charging devices, wherein the signal isolation is performed, for example, by time and/or frequency modulation.

According to a second aspect of the invention, device configurations are proposed for controlling a process for charging at least energy stores for rail vehicles, wherein the energy stores are used for supplying electrical energy to a drive of the rail vehicle, wherein the device configurations have a road-side charging device, which is connected to electrical conductors arranged in a limited region of a line section of the rail network, and a vehicle-side charging device, which is connected to the energy stores and at least current collectors for connection to the electrical conductors.

According to an improved embodiment of the device arrangement, in order to control the end of the charging process, the vehicle-side charging device is also designed to reduce the flow of the charging current below a predetermined threshold value or to disconnect the charging regulator from the current collector by means of the charging regulator, and the route-side charging device is also designed to recognize that a charging current below the threshold value flows in the conductor or no longer flows in the conductor, and to apply a low voltage to the conductor again. If necessary, the vehicle-side charging device may control the disconnection of the electrical connection between the power receiver and the conductor, in addition to the recognition that a low voltage is applied to the conductor.

According to a further refinement of the device configuration, the vehicle-side charging device is also designed to electrically connect the current collector to the conductor when the rail vehicle is driven into the region of the track section and/or to electrically disconnect the current collector from the conductor when the rail vehicle is driven out of the region of the track section.

According to a further development of the device arrangement, in order to control the start of the charging process, if the rail vehicle has a plurality of current collectors, the track-side charging device is additionally designed to terminate the application of the low voltage only when all current collectors used for the charging process are connected to the conductor, or the vehicle-side charging device is designed to connect the electrical loads to at least current collectors only when all current collectors used for the charging process are connected to the conductor.

According to a further refinement of the device layout, the vehicle-side charging device is also designed to signal the road-side charging device about the authentication of the rail vehicle, the number of current collectors used for the charging process and/or information about the electrical connection of one or more of the current collectors to the conductor.

According to a design of the device layout based on the above-described modified design, the vehicle-side charging device and the road-side charging device are each designed to signal or receive such information via a conductor.

The invention relates in a third aspect to a charging device in a rail vehicle, which is connected to at least energy stores for supplying power to a drive of the rail vehicle and can be connected via a current collector to an electrical conductor arranged in a limited region of a line section of a rail network, the vehicle-side charging device having a control device for controlling the start of a charging process for charging the energy stores, wherein the control device is designed to recognize the application of a low voltage on a conductor, to connect an electrical load to the current collector after recognizing the application of the low voltage, to recognize the application of a charging voltage on the conductor and to disconnect the electrical load from the current collector after recognizing the application of the charging voltage and to electrically connect a charging regulator, which is electrically connected to the energy store, to the current collector.

According to an improved design of the vehicle-side charging device, the control device is also designed to control the end of the charging process, to reduce the flow of the charging current to below a predetermined threshold value by means of the charging regulator, to disconnect the electrical connection of the charging regulator from the current collector and to disconnect the electrical connection of the current collector from the conductor after recognizing that a low voltage is again applied to the conductor.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention, the rail vehicle has at least electric drives, at least energy stores for supplying the drives with electrical energy, a current collector for connection to an electrical conductor arranged on the track side, and a vehicle-side charging device according to the third aspect of the invention.

Such rail vehicles can be designed in particular as motor trains, locomotives, urban light rails, subways or other known rail vehicles for short-and long-distance traffic.

The invention relates in a fifth aspect to a charging device on a rail network, which is connected to electrical conductors arranged in a limited region of a route section of the rail network and to which a charging voltage is applied during a charging process, and to which a low voltage is applied outside the charging process, the route-side charging device having a control device for controlling the start of a charging process for charging at least energy stores of the rail vehicle via the conductors, the charging process being intended to be passed, wherein the control device is designed to recognize a flow of the charging current in the conductors and, after recognizing the flow of the charging current, to end the application of the low voltage and to apply the charging voltage to the conductors.

According to a further development of the route-side charging device, the control device is also designed to control the end of the charging process, after detecting that the charging current in the conductor is below a predetermined threshold value or that there is no longer a charging current, to apply a low voltage to the conductor.

Drawings

The invention is further illustrated at in accordance with an embodiment wherein:

figure 1 shows a schematic side view of a rail vehicle,

figure 2 shows a schematic diagram of the vehicle-side and road segment-side components required for the charging process,

figure 3 shows a line section of a railway network with two stations and corresponding road-side charging devices,

figure 4 shows the flow of the charging process for a rail vehicle with current collectors,

fig. 5 shows a flow of a charging process for a rail vehicle having two current collectors.

For clarity, the same reference numerals are used in the drawings for components that function the same or nearly the same.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 schematically shows a rail vehicle, which is designed, for example, as a motor vehicle TZ., which is generally composed of two trailing locomotives EW and or more intermediate locomotives MW arranged between the two trailing locomotives EW each having a carriage WK which is supported on a rail GL of the rail network via a chassis, in particular a bogie, in fig. 1 the trailing locomotive EW has, for example, two traction wheel bogies TDG, while the intermediate train has two driven wheel bogies LDG, which differ from the driven wheel bogies LDG in particular in that or more axles of the bogie are driven by electric drive motors or traction motors and thus ensure the propulsion of the rail vehicle.

The exemplary trail car EW of this multiple unit TZ has other components for driving the vehicle in addition to the traction motor and the traction wheel bogie TDG. These components include a converter SR having a traction inverter WR powered by a dc voltage intermediate circuit ZK, which controls the respective rotational speed and torque of the traction motor in the traction wheel bogie TDG. The dc voltage intermediate circuit ZK is in the example of fig. 1 again supplied with electrical energy from an electrical energy store, in particular a so-called traction battery TB, via a dc transformer GW. The dc converter GW is designed here, for example, as a so-called step-up chopper, which converts the initial voltage of the traction battery TB into a generally higher dc voltage of the intermediate circuit ZK. In addition to the traction inverter WR, auxiliary operating devices of the motor vehicle train unit TZ, which are not shown in fig. 1, for example, air conditioning systems for air conditioning of the passenger compartment in the passenger compartment WK of the train, can also be supplied with power by the intermediate circuit ZK, wherein these devices can likewise be connected to the intermediate circuit ZK by means of a dc transformer or an auxiliary operating device inverter depending on the respective operating voltage.

The control of the components of the drive unit and of the other components of the motor train unit takes place, for example, in a known manner by means of a central drive control unit AST.

Fig. 2 shows exemplary further components in the motor train unit TZ of fig. 1 and road-side components for charging the traction battery TB, the road-side charging device SLV is connected to a road-side energy source EQ, which is also connected to a conductor LT, via which the road-side charging device SLV is supplied with electrical energy for the charging process, the conductor LT is designed, for example, as a known supply rail and is arranged in the region of the track bed, in fig. 2, the conductor is arranged, for example, centrally and elevated with respect to the track, whereas a further arrangement of the conductor, in particular laterally to the track, can be realized in the same manner, the vehicle-side charging device FLV is connected to the traction battery TB and to the power receiver SA, by means of which the vehicle-side charging device FLV can be electrically connected to the conductor LT, the power receiver SA is arranged on the train tail, in such a way that, for example, a mechanical contact between the pantograph and the conductor LT can be reliably established, if necessary, by means of a known, yet unaltered actuator shown in fig. 2.

The control device ST of the vehicle-side charging device FLV can also be implemented as part of the drive control unit AST described with respect to fig. 1, such a control device being implemented in a known manner as a circuit having or more processors and at least data memories for storing control software and control-required information.

Outside the charging process, a low voltage or a protective extra low voltage is applied to the conductor LT by the low-voltage system KS of the route-side charging device SLV. The low-voltage system KS can be supplied, for example, by an energy source EQ, or alternatively can be embodied as a battery with a downstream transformer, which can in turn be charged with the electrical energy of the energy source EQ. The low voltage generated by the low voltage device KS can be a direct voltage or an alternating voltage and has a stable voltage in the voltage range between 25V and 60V, for example, according to the regulations for protecting very low voltages. If necessary, the low voltage need not be continuously applied to the conductor LT, but is applied when the motor train unit TZ approaches the region in which the conductor LT is arranged. This can be ascertained in a known manner by detecting the current position of the motor train unit, for example when driving over suitable sensors arranged at a defined distance from the region in the track bed.

, once the electrical power receiver SA of the motor train unit TZ has been electrically connected to the conductor LT, for example, when entering the area and, if necessary, under the control of the control device ST, the application of a low voltage is detected by means of the voltage sensor SS in the vehicle-side charging device, after the low voltage has been detected, an electrical load L is connected to the electrical power receiver SA under the control of the control device ST, this can be done, for example, by means of a corresponding switching of the converter U of the vehicle-side charging device FLV, the connected load L, for example, having a resistance of a defined resistance value and a power semiconductor connected upstream, leads to a regulated current in the conductor LT, this current is detected by means of the current sensor SS in the road-side charging device SLV, and the application of a low voltage by means of the low-voltage device KS is then stopped under the control of the control device ST of the road-side charging device SLV.

Next, again under the control of the control device ST, a charging voltage supplied by a charging voltage device LS is applied on the conductor LT. This can be done in the same way by switching of the converter U, which establishes an electrical connection between the charging voltage device LS and the conductor LT. The charging voltage device LS generates a charging voltage from the supply voltage provided by the energy source EQ, for example under the control of the control device ST. Depending on the supplied supply voltage and the desired charging voltage, the charging voltage device LS is selected or controlled accordingly. If the supply voltage and the charging voltage are both ac voltages, an ac transformer can be used as the charging voltage device LS, for example, which converts the supply voltage into the desired voltage level of the charging voltage. Conversely, if a direct voltage is used as charging voltage, a rectifier may be used, for example, which performs the conversion from an alternating voltage to a direct voltage, also providing the desired voltage level of the charging voltage.

The application of the charging voltage to the conductor LT is detected by the vehicle-side charging device FLV by means of the voltage sensor SS, the electrical load L is then disconnected from the current collector SA, and the charging regulator LR is connected to the current collector SA. This can also be effected by the control device ST in a controlled manner by means of a corresponding switching of the converter U. The charging regulator LR regulates the battery charging voltage and the charging current, in particular under the control of the control device ST, as a function of the current state of charge and other parameters of the traction battery TB that may influence the charging process.

In the example of fig. 2, the charging regulator LR is connected directly to the traction battery TB as part of the vehicle-side charging device FLV, it being possible here to use the same electrical connection of the traction battery TB for electrical connection to the dc transformer GW as in the example of fig. 1, however, alternative designs of the charging regulator LR and also the arrangement of the charging regulator LR in relation to the other components of the converter SR are equally possible if the charging voltage is a dc voltage and corresponds to the voltage level of the dc voltage intermediate circuit ZK, the charging voltage can also be applied to the intermediate circuit ZK and the dc transformer GW performs the function of the charging regulator LR.

When it is determined by the charging regulator LR or by the control device ST that the traction battery TB is sufficiently charged or the time available for charging has expired, the charging regulator LR is disconnected from the current collector SA, so that no charging current flows into the charging regulator LR or the intermediate circuit ZK. The disconnection can also be controlled by the control device ST by means of a corresponding switching of the converter U. The current sensor SS recognizes that no more charging current is flowing from the link-side charging device SLV, and the application of the charging voltage is terminated and the low voltage of the low-voltage device KS is applied to the conductor again under the control of the control device ST of the link-side charging device SLV. The end of the application of the charging voltage is effected, for example, by disconnecting the charging voltage device LS from the conductor LT, and the reapplication of the low voltage is effected by connecting the low voltage device KS to the conductor LT. This disconnection and connection can again take place under the control of the control device ST by means of a corresponding switching of the converter U in the road-side charging device SLV.

The reapplication of the low voltage to the conductor LT is detected by the vehicle-side charging device FLV by means of the voltage sensor SS. The control device ST thus knows that the disconnection of the current collector SA from the conductor LT is safely possible and controls, for example, an actuator (if any) of the current collector SA, which mechanically removes the current collector SA from the conductor LT and establishes a sufficient distance. If, in particular, the current collector SA automatically establishes and breaks contact with the conductor LT when entering and exiting the region of the track section or track section in which the conductor LT is arranged, the control device ST ensures that no flashover occurs as a result of the voltage potential to which the charging voltage is still applied.

Alternatively to the above example, the motor train unit TZ may also have a plurality of current collectors SA. This can be the case, for example, in the case of multi-train traction with a corresponding drive assembly and a corresponding traction battery TB in each train trailer. Preferably, the vehicle-side and road-side charging devices FLV, SLV have a respective communication device KOM. This device can be used to signal information for authentication of the motor train unit or the motor train unit model from the communication device KOM of the charging device FLV on the vehicle side to the communication device KOM of the charging device SLV on the road section side. The transmission of information takes place here, for example, via the conductor LT using a known Communication protocol, in particular the so-called Powerline Communication protocol. The control device ST of the route-side charging device SLV can also derive the number of power collectors SA of the motor train unit TZ from the signaled identity of the motor train unit or of the motor train unit model, for example, if the number of power collectors SA of the motor train unit TZ clearly matches the identity of the motor train unit or of the motor train unit model and is stored in the memory device of the control device ST. Knowing the number of current collectors SA is particularly important for the control device ST to control the application of the charging voltage on the conductor LT only when all current collectors SA are electrically connected to the conductor.

In addition to the direct or indirect signaling of the number of current collectors SA of the motor train unit TZ, it is also possible to signal the number of current collectors used for the initial charging process, in particular if this number does not correspond to the total number of current collectors SA of the motor train unit TZ at , which may occur, for example, when only or two traction batteries TB are to be charged, so that only their current collectors SA are electrically connected to the conductor LT.

As an alternative to the above-described transmission of information via the conductor LT, the communication between the charging devices FLV, SLV or their control devices ST is also carried out on a radio basis. For this purpose, the control device ST in the charging devices FLV, SLV must have or be connected to a corresponding radio interface. Communication protocols which are possible for such radio communication are, for example, protocols based on the known IEEE 802.11 or GSM-R standard.

Fig. 3 shows an exemplary line section of a rail network, in which a section-side charging device SLV and a conductor LT. are arranged in the region of the stations HS in each case in a known manner for passengers to board and disembark from the exemplary motor vehicle train unit TZ, the conductor LT is arranged in the track bed of the track GL in accordance with the above description, the conductor LT also extends on both sides over the length of the stations HS, in particular over the length of the stations, in order to extend the time period available for charging the traction battery of the motor vehicle unit TZ, and also to input energy via the conductor for the starting process of the motor vehicle unit TZ , the traction battery of the motor vehicle unit TZ being supplied with electrical energy at least via the conductor LT during the stay in the stations HS, as a result of which the drive and, if necessary, the auxiliary operating device of the motor vehicle unit is supplied with electrical energy sufficient for the subsequent travel of the motor vehicle unit TZ in the travel direction FR to the lower stations HS, where the traction battery can be charged again at stations.

In the example of fig. 3, like , the electric multiple unit TZ is composed of two end trains, only the first end train in the direction of travel FR having a drive and an electric power receiver, the electric power receiver is arranged on the third end train in such a way that its pantograph automatically comes into mechanical contact with the conductor LT and thus electrically connects the vehicle-side charging device to the conductor LT and the section-side charging device SLV, in the upper view, the electric multiple unit TZ is moved into the region of the station HS and the electric power receiver of the preceding end train is brought into contact with the conductor LT, the method is operated in accordance with the above description and a charging current is applied from the section-side charging device to the conductor LT, if the process is running fast enough, the traction battery of the electric multiple unit can be charged by means of the charging current during the time of the movement into the station and until the electric multiple unit TZ stops in the station conductor LT, and the current is applied from the lower conductor to the lower conductor of the electric power receiver, the electric power receiver is applied to the lower conductor of the electric power receiver, and the electric power receiver is applied to the lower conductor of the electric power receiver, the electric power receiver is applied to the electric power receiver, the electric motor vehicle is applied to the electric motor vehicle.

In the example of fig. 5, the electrical power unit TZ, which in this case is composed of two trailing trains and two intermediate trains arranged between the trailing trains, each has a drive with a traction battery and an electrical power receiver, can also be coupled in the same way, for example, two electrical power units shown in fig. 4, to form train units, in the example of fig. 5, the electrical power receiver of the trailing train does not automatically establish a mechanical contact with the conductor and thus an electrical contact is established, but rather in the region of the section in which the conductor is arranged, for example, a charging device on the vehicle side or manually controlled by the vehicle driver, comes into contact with the conductor, in the example of fig. 5, the information about this region, in particular the starting and end points of the conductor and/or the length of the conductor, for example, is signaled to the electrical power unit by a road marking arranged on the road marking side, the correspondingly compatible receiver on the electrical power unit receives the transmission of the information, the starting point of the conductor, for example, by transmitting an exact position coordinate or spacing relative to the position of the conductor, in the electrical power receiver, the electrical power unit, can be signaled to the electrical power unit by a mechanically connected to the electrical power receiver, in the mechanical and thus the electrical power unit, the electrical load is also signaled to the trailing train is not yet, as shown, as the electrical load is signaled to be electrically connected to the electrical power unit in the mechanically connected to the trailing train conductor 365, as the second electrical power receiver, as shown in the second electrical power receiver, as the electrical power receiver, the electrical power unit, the electrical load is signaled to the electrical load conductor 365, the electrical load is signaled to the electrical power receiver, as the electrical load is not signaled to be electrically connected to the electrical load conductor 365, as shown in the electrical load, as the electrical load is also signaled to the electrical load is signaled to the electrical load, as shown in the electrical load.

In the fifth view of fig. 5, the front train trailer and the rear train conductor have already left the area of the conductors, the rear train trailer and intermediate train conductors have already left the area of the conductors, and the rear train trailer and the conductors of the intermediate train have already been mechanically disconnected from the traction battery.

It can be seen from the example of fig. 5 that, since the current collectors are at both terminals of the motor train unit, the time for entering and exiting the area of the station is less for charging the traction battery and for starting than in the example of fig. 4, since, as described above, the application of the charging voltage can or must be carried out only after the conductor is contacted by the current collector located furthest behind in the direction of travel, and a reapplication of a low voltage can or must be carried out before the conductor is disconnected by the furthest current collector.