Patent ID: 6905180

Claim:
A Method for monitoring the effectiveness of braking systems of rail vehicles, the steps comprising: determining whether a driver's brake request is present; determining vehicle speed; determining actual deceleration of the vehicle from the vehicle speed; comparing the actual deceleration with a desired deceleration; determining actual braking forces at one or both of individual wheels and axles; comparing the actual braking forces with desired braking forces which are required for reaching the desired deceleration when a deviation between the desired deceleration and the actual deceleration exceeds a defined tolerance value; determining actual slip values at one or more of individual wheels and axles comparing the actual slip values with a defined minimal slip when the actual braking forces are lower than the desired braking forces; summing the actual slip values of one or more of individual wheels and axles to a summation slip signal; initiating one or more of a safety braking and switching-off of a braking-force-limiting of brake-force-reducing device of the braking system when a defined desired slip is not reached.