The invention concerns a method and an apparatus to verify, modify, manage and plan superstructures for underground, tram and railway lines and similar, as set forth in the main claims.
To be more exact, the invention refers to a method and an apparatus to collect and memorize in a single relational database all the data, detected over time, relating to the state of the lines involved, together with the design information, and information on the maintenance operations already carried out and on the use of the lines themselves, in order to allow the analysis and graphic representation of the current state of the lines and its evolution, and also to study the phenomena of wear and the performance results by means of processing models, employed in the relational database.
The European patent application EP-A-0953491, in the name of the present Applicant, disclosed a method and apparatus to detect anomalies in rails, providing detection means able to detect the geometric and wear parameters both of each rail inspected and also of the two rails of the same track, and to transform these parameters into digital data which are memorized, at least temporarily, in a first memory. The nominal or design values of the geometric parameters are memorized in a second electronic memory and an electronic processor is associated with the detection means and to the two electronic memories in order to compare the digital data detected with the nominal values. A third memory is provided to memorize the data relating to the pre-set tolerances of the above-mentioned nominal values. Moreover, the electronic processor is able to display the data relating to the tolerances, together with the result of the above-mentioned comparison in order to show whether any one of said digital data is within or outside the pre-set tolerances.
This state-of-the-art machine, although it has brought considerable improvements with respect to the prior art, is not able, however, to satisfy the ever-increasing needs of analyzing and displaying the current and historic state not only of a single track but of an entire network of underground, tram and railway lines or similar.
US-A-5,867,404 discloses a method and an apparatus for monitoring defects in a railway with a computer system, wherein the method includes the steps of determining positional data and status data for a railway; comparing historical status data to the status data to determine a defect for the railway, the defect having a defect type; displaying an image of a particular geographic area on a display that includes a location corresponding to the positional data; determining an icon associated with the defect type; and displaying the icon associated with the defect type on the display. However, in this known method, the treated data and information are not sufficiently precise, because they are based on information acquired by a data acquisition module through an accelerometer and a tilt sensor both disposed on board of the rail car and which provides only car movement information. In other words, the information about any defects of the railways are not acquired directly, analysing the railway itself, but indirectly, analysing the movement of the rail car. The data acquisition module comprises also a global positioning sensor (GPS) able to provide location information of the rail car with an insufficient positional accuracy of about 15 meters under non-steady state conditions.
The present Applicant has devised, designed and embodied this invention to satisfy these requirements in this field, and to obtain further advantages.
The invention is set forth and characterized in the main claims, while the dependent claims describe other characteristics of the invention.
The main purpose of the invention is to achieve a method and an apparatus which allow to know the real situation of the tracks of a line, or of a network of lines, point by point over its whole extension, no matter how great, with reference to the exact position on the layout, and to be able to prepare a maintenance program which will take into account the priorities of intervention, especially according to working safety.
Associated with the main purpose, another primary purpose of the invention is to achieve a method and an apparatus which will allow to increase the reliability and safety of the installations, and also the travelling comfort for the passengers, and to reduce to a minimum the vibrations which, as everybody knows, have negative effects on the buildings and works near the lines.
Another primary purpose of the invention is to achieve a method and an apparatus which, thanks to the processing models implemented or able to be implemented in the relational database, allow to make a study of the typical phenomena of wear, with regard to the parameters which influence the origin and development thereof, in order to be able to program and put the necessary technical devices into operation to reduce them.
A further primary purpose of the invention is to achieve a method and an apparatus which will allow to optimize the maintenance operations over the entire network of lines concerned, and consequently to reduce the costs of said operations, since it will be possible to prevent them from being carried out at random, or at points or in sections which do not really require it, or not as a priority.
Equipment to diagnose and detect the various data are of a conventional type, for example as described in the above-mentioned EP-A-0953491, and are able to acquire, in dynamic phase along the lines, all the raw data (acquisition on-line), which are subsequently processed on the ground, in off-line mode, by the apparatus and the method according to the invention.
The architectural hardware of the apparatus according to the invention has been designed and perfected according to the particular structure of the data to be analyzed and to be able to make available, also to third parties, the technical data processed, which can thus facilitate and optimize the planning of maintenance to existing installations, and also to design new railway installations, with the appropriate tramway type implementations.
The apparatus according to the invention is completely modular, that is, it allows to initially install only those devices or equipment which are necessary for a given line or network of lines, leaving the possibility open of any other addition or subsequent expansion.
To be more exact, the apparatus according to the invention comprises a main electronic processor (server) where the historic data archive is maintained by means of a relational database, which contains the following information stored in historic form, with the spatial resolution of at least one datum for every metre of the line:
In the relational database it is also possible to insert data relating to the vibrational-acoustic detections to correlate them with those relating to geometry, wear, waving and suchlike.
The main processor is able to allow the combined analysis and representation of all sizes. The main representations include:
Each of the representations can be activated by means of sensitive areas actuated by keyboards or by means of a movable pointer (mouse), so that it is possible to access, easily and immediately, detailed data, accessory information and photographic images, and also to show the relations between the graphics represented.
The data detected by the acquisition equipment, on each line, like the geometric data (gauge, super-elevation, skew, longitudinal and transverse alignments, wear on the rails in the transverse section, longitudinal profile of the rail wear, amplitude of the waving wear of the rails, traversing height and wear of the contact wire of the aerial network supplying electricity), waving and wear, are transferred to the relational database with resolution, precision and coherence of the position where they are detected, so as to allow the historic analysis and the correlation of the data detected and the design data which are already memorized in the relational database.
The transfer of the data detected, from the detection equipment to the relational database, can take place with any conventional means, either by means of removable magnetic supports (floppy disk, JAZ disks or suchlike) or on-line. Moreover, the data detected and their processing allow to construct, more easily and in a much more reliable manner than has ever been possible until now, maintenance programs for the installations, to draw up estimates for the purchase of materials and stocks of material, to compile periodic management budgets, for example annual or long-term.
The relational database thus set up also allows to use the data memorized therein in numerical form, in order to study the typical phenomena concerning fixed installations, their evolution over time and their correlation with the different parameters of the line. This application is very important in order to develop, according to the experience acquired and the quantity and quality of the data available, plans for new systems of superstructures which will take into account the need to reduce pollution from vibrations and from noise.
The method according to the invention provides that electronic files of a standardized format are created, according to set fields, so that they can be imported directly into the database. Alternately, the data files can use other formats, for example corresponding to those used by data-acquisition systems already in existence before the apparatus according to the invention, for which a dedicated pre-processing and import function exists.
These and other characteristics of the invention will be apparent from the following description of a preferred form of embodiment, given as a non-restrictive example with the aid of the attached drawings wherein:
With reference to Fig. 1, an apparatus 10 to verify, modify, manage and plan superstructures for underground, tram and railway lines and suchlike according to the invention comprises a main electronic processor (server) 11, which in turn comprises a double central processing unit (CPU) 12, for example 500 MHz, a Read Only Memory (ROM) 13 in which the management programs of the CPU 12 are memorized, a first Random Access memory (RAM) 14 of the dynamic type, for example 640 megabyte (MB), a mass Random Access Memory 15, consisting for example of a large capacity "hot swap" disk, for example 36 gigabyte (GB), expandable to 128 GB, a tape unit 16, for example of the 24 GB DAT type, and a JAZ type disk unit 17, for example 2 GB.
One or more computerized work stations 20 are connected to the server 11, each one comprising a central processing unit (CPU) 21, for example 450 MHz, a Read Only Memory (ROM) 22 in which the management programs of the CPU 21 are memorized, a Random Access Memory (RAM) 23, for example 128 MB, a mouse 24, a unit 26 to process a removable data support, a keyboard 27, a printer 28 and a display unit or monitor 29. Between the CPU 21 and the monitor 29 there is a conventional type graphic interface 30, for example PV-WAVE.
The mass memory 15 is able to contain a relational database 31 (Fig. 2) in which all the design data of the lines which make up the network are inserted, including the data relating to the allowed tolerances, and also all the data detected on the lines.
In order to be advantageously modular and expandable, the apparatus 10 is structured so that the functions of interaction with the user on the one hand are separated from the management and processing functions on the other hand. The exchange of information takes place according to the flow shown schematically in Fig. 2, where it can be seen that between the relational database 31 and the graphic interface 30 there is a numerical processing step 32 and that between the latter and the relational database 31 there is either a pre-processing step 33 or a step 35 of interapplication communication.
Each work station 20 operates according to a known operating system, for example LINUX.
The database management system "PostgreSQL" is used for example to manage the archive data; the integrated graphic and numerical analysis system "PV-WAVE visual numerics v. 7.0" is used for analysis and graphic representation; the language C is used for the functions of pre-processing and interaction between the relational database 31 and the graphic interface 30.
The interaction of the apparatus 10 with the user occurs with a window system and the user's choices are guided preferably by menu structures. Using the mouse 24 facilitates access to selection and the relative commands, reducing the use of the keyboard 27 to a minimum.
The architecture of the apparatus 10 is structured in a hierarchy of components of a conventional type, which achieve the different functions starting from the module which embodies the main window (Fig. 3) in which the menus are accessible relating to the different types of function up to the simplest component such as, for example, an error message signal.
Each component is associated with a specific user-interface function, and the program for the CPU 12 is also made in modules, also using the structural constraints imposed by the language used. The main window (Fig. 3), for displaying the information to the user by means of the monitor 29, comprises a first central zone 40, a plurality of lateral zones 41 and a lower zone 42.
The graphic representations or drawings of the network, the individual line, the individual section of line, or the individual component considered, are able to appear in the central zone 40, which is much more extensive than the zones 41 and 42, in order to know the relative data, both detected data and design data (Figs. 4-8); icons and messages which give access to other functions are able to appear in the lateral zones 41, and writings or captions are able to appear in the zone 42.
To be more exact, when the main menu appears (Fig. 3), the lateral zones 41 comprise a first zone 41a dedicated to access the pop-up menu, in order to choose the graphic representation, which in turn allows different possibilities, such as the representation of the general schematic plan, that of the graph of the reduced data and so on; a second zone 41b dedicated to access the pop-up menu for the functions of representing the historic developments; a third zone 41c dedicated to access the pop-up menu for the functions of up-dating the database 31; a fourth zone 41d dedicated to access the pop-up menu for the functions of managing the database 31; and a fifth zone 41e dedicated to access the pop-up menu for the functions of documentation.
The construction of and access to the relational database 31, achieved by means of C functions, according to the specifications of the PostgreSQL packet, allow to perform the following functions: creation of Tables from the relational database 31 itself; insertion of data in the different Tables; up-dating of individual records of the Tables; data selection from the tables according to the relations established by the different functions achieved or by the operator.
With reference to Fig. 4, an example of a graphic representation can be seen wherein the zone 40 shows the network of the three Milan Underground lines, managed by the present Applicant (Lines 1, 2 and 3) with the relative layouts and the relative stations.
With a command on the mouse 24 or the keyboard 27 the options associated with the zones 41 appear on the monitor 29, as shown in Fig. 5. By clicking with the mouse 24 on any one of the underground lines shown in Fig. 4, for example on line 1, we obtain in zone 40 the graphic representation of Fig. 6, which shows the geometric plan and the structural plan of the section of the so-called even track from the point -441.0 to the point 19601.4 m.
By clicking with the mouse 24 on any icon whatsoever of the zones 41, we obtain the information corresponding to that icon and relating to the section of track displayed in the zone 40, such as for example the data on the longitudinal alignment right and left, the gauge and the super-elevation (Fig. 7) of that particular section of track. By clicking again with the mouse 24 on the appropriate icon, it is possible to display, for example in graphic form (Fig. 8) the data detected on a particular day and contained in the archive of the relational database 31.
With another command of the mouse 24 it is possible to display on the monitor 29 and print with the printer 28 all the data, both in graphic and numeric form, relating to the selected section of line.
It is clear that modifications and/or additions may be made to the apparatus and method to verify, modify, manage and plan superstructures of underground, tram and railway lines and suchlike as described heretofore, without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention.
It is also clear that, although the invention has been described with reference to a specific example, a skilled person in the art shall certainly be able to achieve many other equivalent forms or versions of apparatuses and relative methods to verify, modify, manage and plan superstructures for underground, tram and railway lines and suchlike, all of which shall come within the field and scope of this invention.