Patent ID: 7931344
Filing Date: 2011-04-26
Classification: B60T

Abstract:
1. A locomotive brake system comprising: a plurality of electronic air brake (EAB) controllers included on a locomotive connected to and controlling at least a train brake pipe and a locomotive brake pipe and being interconnected by an EAB communications network; a locomotive interface device included on the locomotive and connected to the EAB communication network and configured to interface with both EAB network signals and signals issued from a remote locomotive controller (RLC) configured to communicate with the locomotive interface device, wherein the RLC includes a remote control transmitter (RCT) provided remote from the locomotive and configured to enable remote operation of the locomotive by an operator not on the locomotive; and a system controller included on the locomotive and connected to the EAB communications network, the system controller configured to control both the configuration of the locomotive EAB controllers for an EAB mode and a remote mode of the locomotive brake system, wherein the remote mode of the locomotive enables the remote operation of the locomotive by an operator not on the locomotive, and wherein the system controller is further configured to assemble EAB network signals for communication between the RLC configured to communicate with the locomotive interface device and the plurality of locomotive EAB controllers, whereby the plurality of locomotive EAB controllers control the at least one train brake pipe in response to signals from the RLC, wherein the locomotive interface device includes a plurality of constituent interface devices configured to connect to and communicate with each other via the EAB communication network using RLC signals and configured to each have an RLC port for connection to the RLC, wherein one of the constituent interface devices is a primary device which interfaces the EAB network signals and the RLC signals of the plurality of constituent interface devices.