BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

It is well-known to arrange railway operating elements along a railway line for the purpose of controlling railway operation, said railway operating elements generally being actuators or sensors. In order to supply the railway operating elements with power from an electrical power source, the railway line may in this case easily be several kilometers long, with the result that it is also necessary to supply the railway operating elements with energy over this distance. Depending on the length of the railway line, the conductor cross-section used for the power supply and other conductor characteristics, as well as on the respective power requirements of the railway operating elements, there is a greater or lesser voltage drop along the energy transmission section containing the railway operating elements. Very complex and comprehensive measures must therefore be taken to ensure an adequate voltage is available at the respective deployment location of the railway operating elements, which requires in particular a precise project planning and configuration process.

Each of the railway operating elements must not only be individually supplied with operating energy, but must also ensure a reliable exchange of information. In a new generation of railway operating elements, use is made of intelligent railway operating elements in which energy and information exchange are managed separately. In this case the information associated with the railway operating elements is subject to stringent safety requirements, although the information is not available until after an adequate input voltage is applied. The power supply is monitored at best by a diagnostic system lacking particular safety characteristics. In order to have the correct information at their disposal, microprocessor-based diagnostic systems used require a defined supply voltage, though said voltage is not yet present at the time the railway operating elements are activated. It may also happen in the event of a fault that a status message issued by a diagnostic system, if present, may possibly no longer be received in time due to an absence or failure of the energy supply, e.g. as a result of a line break or if there is a reduction in the voltage due to an insulation defect. Other fault sources which make a diagnosis impossible even when the correct supply voltage is present are also conceivable.

In the prior art, the power supply for railway operating elements arranged along a railway line is planned, dimensioned, fine-tuned if necessary, and inspected by an expert in a comprehensive project planning and configuration process in the course of the installation. For that purpose, use is made of switched-mode power supplies having what are termed wide-range inputs that tolerate certain voltage fluctuations at the input. An interruption to the power supply can also be compensated for by means of local energy stores.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object underlying the invention is to propose a method for supplying power to railway operating elements arranged on a railway line which can be implemented in a time-saving and cost-effective manner.

In order to achieve this object, in the method according to the invention for supplying power to railway operating elements arranged on a railway line, with a terminal station provided with a power supply device and with at least one substation that is connected to the terminal station and has a power supply subunit for at least one respective connected railway operating element, the current consumption in the substation is modified by means of an input-side control unit of the substation, said modification being defined in increments, with corresponding modification of the voltage of the power supply subunit to match the rated voltage of the railway operating element at the substation, with simultaneous generation of a coded message, wherein a control device of the terminal station, in response to the coded message, modifies its output voltage accordingly while attaining the rated voltage for the railway operating element at the power supply subunit, and the power supply subunit is connected to the railway operating element when the rated voltage is reached.

An essential advantage of the method according to the invention is that it provides a power supply for railway operating elements arranged on a railway line that is self-actuating in the manner of a feedback control system, thereby enabling a reduction in complex project planning and configuration processes. By means of the method according to the invention it is therefore possible to introduce a power supply for railway operating elements arranged on a railway line in a time-saving and cost-effective manner.

The method according to the invention is not only suitable for supplying operating energy to railway operating elements having a single substation connected in series with the terminal station, but advantageously is also suitable for supplying further substations, in that a control arrangement having a downstream further power supply subunit of a further substation is connected to a further control unit of the one substation, which further control unit can be connected to the control unit, and the current consumption in the further substation is modified by means of the control arrangement of the further substation, said modification being defined in increments, with corresponding modification of the output voltage of the control device of the terminal station and of the voltage at the power supply subunit to match the rated voltage of the railway operating element of the further substation, with simultaneous generation of a coded message, wherein the further power supply subunit is connected to the railway operating element when the rated voltage is reached.

In this case there is of course no restriction to the use of one further substation, but rather a plurality of substations may be provided along a railway line, this obviously being dependent on the voltage that is provided in total at the terminal station in order to distribute said voltage to the various substations.

The control unit and also the control arrangement of the substation and of further substations may be implemented in different ways; it is deemed advantageous if switchable power-consuming loads are used in the control unit and in the control arrangement in order to modify the voltage in defined increments and in order to generate the coded messages.

It has furthermore proved advantageous if the coded messages formed during the execution of the method according to the invention are monitored in the terminal station.

With the monitoring of the coded messages in the terminal station, there is advantageously brought about the further possibility of signaling a line break if a coded message fails to arrive, which line break can then, where applicable, be detected in an associated interlocking.

It is furthermore advantageous in the method according to the invention that an insulation defect is signaled if an expected voltage increase fails to occur.

An error message may advantageously also be generated by means of the method according to the invention if the rated voltage of the respective railway operating element is exceeded in the substation and the rated voltage of the respective railway operating element cannot be reached in the last substation.

The invention further relates to a power supply for railway operating elements arranged on a railway line and sets itself the object of implementing such a power supply in a functionally reliable manner.

This object is achieved according to the invention by means of a power supply for railway operating elements arranged on a railway line, with a terminal station provided with a power supply unit and with at least one substation that is connected to the terminal station and has a power supply subunit for at least one respective connected railway operating element, in which an input-side control unit of the substation modifies the current consumption in the substation, said modification being defined in increments, with corresponding modification of the voltage of the power supply subunit to match the rated voltage of the railway operating element of the substation, with simultaneous generation of a coded message; in this case a control device of the terminal station, in response to the coded message, modifies its output voltage accordingly while attaining the rated voltage for the railway operating element of the further power supply subunit, and the power supply subunit is connected to the railway operating element when the rated voltage is reached.

A functionally reliable power supply for the further railway operating element can be realized by means of such an embodiment of the power supply device according to the invention.

In the power supply according to the invention, the embodiment is not limited to a terminal station having a single substation, but rather a further power supply subunit of a further substation is advantageously connected to the power supply subunit on the output side and the current consumption in the further substation is modified by means of a control arrangement of the further substation, said modification being defined in increments, with corresponding modification of the output voltage of the control device of the terminal station and of the voltage at the power supply subunit to match the rated voltage of the railway operating element of the further substation, with simultaneous generation of a coded message; in this case the further power supply subunit is connected to the railway operating element when the rated voltage is reached.

There is by no means a restriction to the use of a single further substation only, but rather a plurality of substations may be provided along a railway line, this of course being dependent on the voltage that is provided in total at the terminal station in order then to distribute said voltage to the various substations.

With the power supply according to the invention it is furthermore advantageous if the control device, the control unit and the control arrangement have switchable power-consuming loads for modifying the voltage in increments and for generating the coded messages.

