JP7752566B2 - Train configuration information extraction device, train configuration information extraction system, and train configuration information extraction method - Google Patents

Description

This disclosure relates to a train configuration information extraction device, a train configuration information extraction system, and a train configuration information extraction method that extract equipment installed on a train.

Trains are equipped with numerous pieces of equipment, including inverters, power units, and gate control units. When a failure occurs in equipment, the operating status of not only the failed equipment but also other equipment may need to be referenced to identify the cause of the failure. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses technology that clearly visualizes the operating status of equipment, making it easier to identify the cause of the failure based on the operating status of the failed equipment and other equipment.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-139950

Equipment installed on a train may be transferred to another train for use. As a result, equipment installed on a train may have been used in the past in a different combination with other equipment than the one currently used. If it were possible to identify the equipment that had been used simultaneously with the faulty equipment in the past, it may be easier to identify the cause of the failure. However, the technology disclosed in Patent Document 1 above does not allow for identification of other equipment that had been used simultaneously with the faulty equipment in the past.

The present disclosure has been made in light of the above, and aims to provide a train configuration information extraction device that allows users to easily extract equipment installed on a train and other equipment that has been used simultaneously in the past.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the objectives, the train configuration information extraction device disclosed herein is a train configuration information extraction device that extracts multiple pieces of equipment installed on a train, and includes a designated equipment acquisition unit that acquires information indicating designated equipment, which is equipment specified from the multiple pieces of equipment; a designated time acquisition unit that acquires information indicating a designated time period; an equipment extraction unit that extracts information indicating equipment in the same row, which is other equipment installed on a train that had the designated equipment installed at the designated time period; and an output unit that outputs the extracted information indicating equipment in the same row as extracted information.

This disclosure has the advantage of providing a train configuration information extraction device that allows a user to easily extract equipment installed on a train and other equipment that has been used simultaneously in the past.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of equipment installed on a train, which is extracted by the train configuration information extraction device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a train configuration information extraction system according to a first embodiment. 1 is a conceptual diagram of information stored in a tree structure in a storage unit according to the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the information shown in FIG. 3 in the form of table information. FIG. 1 is an image diagram of information stored in a tree structure in a storage unit according to the first embodiment, showing a state in which equipment has been replaced; FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the information shown in FIG. 5 in the form of table information. FIG. 1 is an image diagram of information stored in a tree structure in a storage unit according to the first embodiment, showing a state in which a serial number has been input. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the information shown in FIG. 7 in the form of table information. 1 is a flowchart showing a procedure for extracting equipment in the same row by an extracting unit according to the first embodiment. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a train configuration information extraction device according to a first embodiment.

The train configuration information extraction device, train configuration information extraction system, and train configuration information extraction method according to embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Embodiment 1.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of equipment installed on a train, which is extracted by the train configuration information extraction device according to the first embodiment. The train 1 is, for example, a group of multiple cars 3 coupled together and running on a track 2. The train 1 is given a train set name to distinguish it from other trains 1, and this train set name is also simply referred to as a train set. The cars 3 are equipped with various components (equipment) necessary for operation, and in the first embodiment, these components and the elements collectively made up of these multiple components are referred to as equipment 4. The car 3 is given a car name so that it can be distinguished from other cars 3.

For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the equipment 4 mounted on a vehicle 3 includes a power unit 10 and a gate control unit 20. The equipment 4 is mounted on each of the multiple vehicles 3.

Figure 2 is a diagram showing the train configuration information extraction system according to the first embodiment. The train configuration information extraction device 30 includes a memory unit 40, a buffer 45, an acquisition unit 50, an extraction unit 60, an output unit 70, an input device 5, and an output device 6. The buffer 45 is a temporary memory unit that temporarily stores information.

The memory unit 40 stores information about the equipment 4 of the train 1 in a tree structure. Figure 3 is an illustration of the information stored in a tree structure in the memory unit in embodiment 1. Figure 3 shows that VVVF inverter devices 80A and 80B are installed in cars 3 with car names "4001" and "4201" included in a train with a train formation name of "4051F."

VVVF inverter devices 80A and 80B each have equipment groups such as first group 91A and 91B and second group 92A and 92B. First group 91A and second group 92A are stored in memory unit 40 as child equipment of VVVF inverter device 80A, and first group 91B and second group 92B are stored in memory unit 40 as child equipment of VVVF inverter device 80B.

Group 1 91A includes equipment 4, power unit 101 and gate control unit 201; group 2 92A includes equipment 4, power unit 102 and gate control unit 202; group 1 91B includes equipment 4, power unit 103 and gate control unit 203; and group 2 92B includes equipment 4, power unit 104 and gate control unit 204.

In other words, it can be seen that train 1, whose formation name is "4051F," is equipped with power units 101-104 and gate control units 201-204 as equipment 4.

Figure 4 is a diagram showing the information shown in Figure 3 in the form of table information. The tree-structured information shown in Figure 3 is stored in the storage unit 40 as table information as shown in Figure 4. The table information includes an ID (Identification) column 401, a VER column 402, a parent ID column 403, a parent VER column 404, a train formation column 405, a vehicle column 406, an equipment name column 407, a model name column 408, a serial number column 409, and an update date column 410, and the information entered in each column is stored in association with one another.

The ID column 401 contains a unique number assigned to each device, group, and component. The VER column 402 contains information indicating the version of the input information for each piece of equipment 4. In this embodiment 1, a number is entered and one is added each time the information is updated. The parent ID column 403 contains information indicating the ID of the parent equipment. For example, for the power unit 101, the parent ID column 403 contains "2," which is the ID of group 1 91A. Equipment with "null" entered in the parent ID column is the highest-level equipment that does not have a parent equipment. In this embodiment 1, the VVVF inverter devices 80A and 80B are described as the highest-level equipment. The highest-level equipment is determined by the tree structure stored in the memory unit 40. In other words, the highest-level equipment is equipment that does not have a parent equipment in the tree structure stored in the memory unit 40. For example, in the example of Figure 4, if a vehicle does not have a parent facility, and an ID is assigned to the vehicle and the ID assigned to the vehicle is stored in the parent ID field for the VVVF inverter device 80A, etc., the highest level facility will be the vehicle. Furthermore, if an ID is assigned to the formation and the ID assigned to the formation is stored in the parent ID field for the vehicle, the highest level facility will be the formation. Also, in the first embodiment, the facilities extracted by the train configuration information extraction device are described as power units and control units as examples, but the components that further constitute the power unit may also be considered as facilities, or vehicles, devices, or groups may also be considered as facilities.

The train formation name of train 1 on which the equipment is installed is entered in the train formation field 405. In this embodiment 1, "4015F" is entered in the train formation field 405. The vehicle name of vehicle 3 on which the equipment is installed is entered in the vehicle field 406. In this embodiment 1, "4001" or "4201" is entered in the vehicle field 406.

The equipment name of each piece of equipment is entered in the equipment name column 407. The equipment name of each piece of equipment is the name listed in the equipment column, group column, and component column in Figure 3. The model name column 408 is entered with the model name of each piece of equipment. If the model name is unknown, no information needs to be entered in the model name column 408. The serial number column 409 is entered with the serial number of each piece of equipment. If the serial number is unknown, no information needs to be entered in the serial number column 409.

The update date column 410 contains the date on which each piece of equipment was installed or the date on which the information for each piece of equipment was updated. Equipment information is updated, for example, when an unknown model number is identified and entered. When the update date information is updated, the version information in the VER column is also updated and the number indicating the version is incremented by one. In the example shown in Figure 4, all update dates are January 1, 2001. The reason the update dates for all pieces of equipment match is that January 1, 2001 was the date on which Train 1, with train set name "4051F," began operation.

Next, tree-structured information and table information are shown for when equipment 4 is exchanged between different cars 3 in the same train. Figure 5 is an illustration of information stored in a tree structure in the memory unit in embodiment 1, showing the state after equipment has been exchanged. Figure 6 is a diagram showing the information shown in Figure 5 in table information.

In the example shown in Figures 5 and 6, the power unit 101 installed in vehicle 3 with vehicle name "4001" has been replaced with the power unit 103 installed in vehicle 3 with vehicle name "4201".

At this time, the table information stored in the memory unit 40 is rewritten as shown in Figure 6. In Figure 6, the shaded columns indicate columns where the information has been updated. Because the parent equipment of the power unit 101 has changed from group 1 91A to group 1 91B, the information in the parent ID column 403, which indicates the ID of the parent equipment, is updated (see column 403a). More specifically, the ID of group 1 91A, "2," is changed to the ID of group 1 91B, "9."

The date on which the equipment was replaced is entered in the update date column 410 of the power unit 101. In the example shown in Figure 6, the equipment was replaced on April 1, 2001, and "2001/4/1" is entered in the update date column (see column 410a).

In addition, because the information on the power unit 101 has been updated, the value entered in the VER column 402, which indicates the version of the information on the power unit 101, is incremented by 1. Specifically, the version is changed from "1" to "2" (see column 402a).

Because the parent equipment of power unit 103 has changed from group 1 91B to group 1 91A, the information in parent ID column 403, which indicates the ID of the parent equipment, is updated (see column 403b). More specifically, the ID of group 1 91B, "9," is changed to the ID of group 1 91A, "2."

The date on which the equipment was replaced is entered in the update date column 410 for the power unit 103. The date entered in the update date column 410 is the date on which the equipment was replaced with the power unit 101, so the same "2001/4/1" as in the update date column 410 for the power unit 101 is entered (see column 410b).

In addition, because the information on the power unit 103 has been updated, the value entered in the VER column 402, which indicates the version of the information on the power unit 103, is incremented by 1. Specifically, the version is changed from "1" to "2" (see column 402b).

When the table information is updated, the information before the update for the updated equipment is not discarded. As shown to the right of the table information in Figure 6, the information for the power units 101, 103 before the update is copied and stored in the memory unit 40 as past history information. Even when equipment is removed from the train 1 and stored in a warehouse, the information about the removed equipment is not discarded, but is copied and stored in the memory unit 40 as past history information.

Next, tree structure information and table information are shown for when no equipment replacement has been performed, but information has been updated by entering specification information such as the serial number of equipment 4. Figure 7 is an illustration of information stored in a tree structure in the storage unit in embodiment 1, showing the state after the serial number has been entered. Figure 8 is a diagram showing the information shown in Figure 7 in table information.

In the examples shown in Figures 7 and 8, the serial number of VVVF inverter device 80B, which was unknown when train 1 began operation, has been identified and the information has been updated. No equipment replacements or the like have been made, so there are no changes to the tree structure. However, as shown in Figure 8, the serial number column 409 for VVVF inverter device 80B has been updated (see column 409a), and the version information in the VER column 402 has accordingly been updated from "1" to "2" (see column 402c). The update date column 410 has also been updated to the date the serial number was entered (see column 410c). Note that VVVF inverter device 80B is a parent facility with child facilities, but even if the version of VVVF inverter device 80B is updated, the versions of the child facilities are not updated.

The information before the update for the updated equipment is not discarded. As shown to the right of the table information in Figure 8, the information for the VVVF inverter device 80B before the update is copied and stored in the memory unit 40 separately from the table information.

As can be seen from Figures 3 to 8, train 1, with the train set name "4051F," began operation on January 1, 2001, power unit 101 and power unit 103 were replaced on April 1, 2001, and the serial number of VVVF inverter device 80B was entered on April 15, 2001.

Returning to Figure 2, the acquisition unit 50 functions as a designated equipment acquisition unit that acquires information indicating designated equipment, which is equipment 4 designated from among multiple pieces of equipment 4. The information indicating designated equipment is, for example, equipment 4 that has experienced a failure during operation of the train 1, and is information input by operating the input device 5, etc. The input device 5 may be, for example, a keyboard operated by the user who inputs information, or may be a touch panel of a terminal device.

The acquisition unit 50 also functions as a designated time acquisition unit that acquires information indicating a designated time. In this embodiment 1, the designated time is a year, month, and date. The designated time indicates the time when the designated equipment was used, and, like the information indicating the designated equipment, is information that is input by operating an input unit (not shown). For example, when the designated equipment breaks down, it may be necessary to identify equipment 4 that was used at the same time as the designated equipment at a certain time in the past in order to identify the cause of the failure. In such cases, the above-mentioned certain time in the past is specified as the designated time.

The extraction unit 60 functions as an equipment extraction unit that extracts information indicating equipment in the same train, which is other equipment 4 that was installed on the train on which the specified equipment was installed at the specified time. Figure 9 is a flowchart showing the procedure for extracting equipment in the same train by the extraction unit in embodiment 1.

The following explanation will take as an example a case where the specified equipment is power unit 103 and the specified date is April 10, 2001. In this case, it is necessary to understand the table information shown on the left side of Figure 6, but the information stored in the memory unit 40 has been updated to the information shown in Figure 8, and the table information shown in Figure 6 cannot be directly referenced. Therefore, the information to be searched is the latest information, which is shown in Figure 8.

Here, the extraction unit 60 first extracts information about the designated equipment stored in the memory unit 40 that has an update date that is both before the specified time and closest to the specified time, and then searches for parent equipment of the designated equipment that existed before the specified time based on that information (step S1). There are two pieces of information about the power unit 103 shown in Figure 8, and the most recent information with an update date before the specified time is the information on the right, which is past information. Therefore, this information on the right is the search target. In the information that is the search target, "9" is entered in the parent ID column 403 for the power unit 103 (see column 403c), so group 1 91B, which has "9" entered in the ID column 401, is searched for as the parent equipment.

The extraction unit 60 checks whether the searched parent equipment has further parent information, and if parent information is found (step S2, Yes), it searches for that parent equipment. Since "8" is entered in the parent ID column 403 of group 1 91B, VVVF inverter device 80B, which has "8" entered in the ID column 401, is searched for as the parent equipment.

If "null" is entered in the parent ID field 403 and there is no further parent information, such as for the VVVF inverter device 80B searched for as the parent equipment (step S2, No), the VVVF inverter device 80A is stored in the buffer 45 as the highest level equipment with no parent information (step S3). Steps S1 and S2 trace the parent equipment of the specified equipment.

Next, the extraction unit 60 searches for child equipment of the top-level equipment (step S4). That is, the extraction unit 60 searches for equipment with "8" entered in the parent ID field 403 as child equipment. If a child equipment is found (step S5, Yes), the extraction unit 60 stores the child equipment in the buffer 45 as the relevant equipment (step S6). Then, the extraction unit 60 searches for equipment with the ID of the child equipment entered in the parent ID field 403 as further child equipment (step S4). This process is repeated until no child equipment remains (step S5, No). Here, the second group 92B is searched for as a child equipment of the VVVF inverter device 80B, and the power unit 104 and gate control unit 204 are searched for as its child equipment and stored in the buffer 45. The gate control unit 203, which is a child equipment of the first group 91B, is also searched for and stored in the buffer 45.

Next, the extraction unit 60 searches for equipment at the same level in the tree structure as the top-level equipment (step S7). Equipment at the same level is equipment for which "null" is entered in the parent ID field 403, similar to the VVVF inverter device 80B. If equipment at the same level is found (step S7, Yes), the found equipment in the same row is stored in the buffer 45 (step S6), and further child equipment is searched for (step S4). Here, the VVVF inverter device 80A, for which "null" is entered in the parent ID field 403, is searched for as equipment at the same level and in the same row, and stored in the buffer 45. The first group 91A, the second group 92A, the power units 101 and 102, and the gate control units 201 and 202 are searched for as child equipment in the same row, and stored in the buffer 45. Steps S4 through S7 trace the top-level equipment and the child equipment of the equipment at the same level as the top-level equipment.

If no equipment on the same hierarchical level is found (step S7, No), duplicate equipment is deleted from the information stored in buffer 45 (step S8), and the information in buffer 45 is output to output unit 70 (step S9). As described above, the search for child equipment is not limited based on the update date, and multiple pieces of equipment with the same ID exist in the information to be searched, so duplicate equipment may appear in the search results. For example, in Figure 8, the two pieces of information for power unit 101 both have update dates before April 10, 2001, which is the specified time period, so two pieces of information are extracted for power unit 101. In step S9, all but the most recent version of the duplicated information is deleted. By going through the steps described above, the table information for the specified time period, i.e., the table information shown in Figure 6, can be output to output unit 70 as information on equipment in the same hierarchy.

The output unit 70 outputs the information extracted by the extraction unit 60 to the output device 6. The output device 6 is, for example, a printer or a display. A printer prints the extracted information, while a display displays the extracted information on a screen. The format of the printout or display may be a tree structure as shown in Figure 3, or a table format as shown in Figure 4. The information may be output from the output unit 70 to the output device 6 via a network such as the Internet.

Figure 10 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of a train configuration information extraction device according to the first embodiment. The train configuration information extraction device 30 includes a processor 7 that executes various processes and a memory 8 that stores information. The processor 7 and memory 8 can send and receive information to and from each other via a bus 9.

The storage unit 40 and buffer 45 are realized by the memory 8. The processor 7 functions as the acquisition unit 50, extraction unit 60, and output unit 70 by reading and executing the programs stored in the memory 8.

The processor 7 is, for example, an example of a processing circuit, and includes one or more of a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a DSP (Digital Signal Processor), and a system LSI (Large Scale Integration).

Memory 8 includes one or more of RAM (Random Access Memory), ROM (Read Only Memory), flash memory, EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), and EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory). Memory 8 also includes a recording medium on which a computer-readable program is recorded. Such recording medium includes one or more of non-volatile or volatile semiconductor memory, magnetic disks, flexible memory, optical disks, compact disks, and DVDs (Digital Versatile Discs). Memory 8 may include multiple elements, such as RAM and ROM.

The train information extraction device 30 described above allows users to easily extract configuration information for equipment that was installed on trains in the past in order to understand the status of the equipment, so past operational information can be used in addition to current information. For example, when identifying the cause of an equipment failure, using past operational information can sometimes make it easier to identify the cause. In addition, information about equipment that has been removed from the train 1 is stored in the memory unit 40 as past history information, so even equipment that is not currently in use can be extracted without omission.

In addition, when information is updated, train configuration information can be extracted using a database that stores only the past information for that equipment. This allows the amount of data stored in the memory unit 40 to be reduced compared to when all information, including equipment that has not been updated, is stored as past information each time information is updated. Therefore, even if a train like train 1 is equipped with a large amount of equipment, the amount of data to be stored can be reduced.

In addition, even if duplicate information about the same equipment is extracted during the search process, unnecessary information is deleted when the information is output, allowing the user to easily understand the operating status.

In this embodiment, the extraction unit 60 functions as an equipment extraction unit that extracts information indicating equipment in the same train, which is other equipment 4 installed on the train 1 on which the specified equipment was installed at the specified time. Here, the common parent equipment of the equipment in the same train extracted by the extraction unit 60 is referred to as the common parent equipment. For example, the common parent equipment of the equipment in the same train extracted by the extraction unit 60 shown in Figure 6 is train set 4015F. In other words, in this embodiment, the common parent equipment is train 1 (train set), but it may also be car 3 or VVVF inverter devices 80A, 80B. The common parent equipment can be set appropriately depending on the configuration information of the equipment that the user wants to extract.

When the common parent facility and the highest-level facility are set on the same hierarchical level, the train information extraction device 30 can omit step S7 shown in Figure 9, thereby reducing the processing load. When the highest-level facility is set on a lower hierarchical level than the common parent facility, the extraction unit 60 can extract child facilities of the common parent facility by performing step S7 shown in Figure 9.

The configurations shown in the above embodiments are merely examples, and may be combined with other known technologies, or different embodiments may be combined with each other. Parts of the configuration may also be omitted or modified without departing from the spirit of the invention.

1 Train, 2 Track, 3 Vehicle, 4 Component Equipment, 5 Input Device, 6 Output Device, 7 Processor, 8 Memory, 10, 101, 102, 103, 104 Power Unit, 20, 201, 202, 203, 204 Gate Control Unit, 30 Train Configuration Information Extraction Device, 40 Storage Unit, 45 Buffer, 50 Acquisition Unit, 60 Extraction Unit, 70 Output Unit, 80, 80A, 80B VVVF Inverter Unit, 91A, 91B Group 1, 92A, 92B Group 2, 401 ID Column, 402 VER Column, 403 Parent ID Column, 404 Parent VER Column, 405 Formation Column, 406 Vehicle Column, 407 Equipment Name Column, 408 Model Name Column, 409 Serial Number Column, 410 Update Date Column.

Claims (7)

A train configuration information extraction device that extracts a plurality of pieces of equipment mounted on a train,
a designated facility acquisition unit that acquires information indicating designated facility that is the facility designated from among the plurality of facilities;
a designated time acquisition unit that acquires information indicating a designated time;
an equipment extraction unit that extracts information indicating other equipment in the same row that was installed on the train on which the specified equipment was installed at the specified time;
an output unit that outputs the extracted information indicating the equipment in the same row as extracted information;
A train configuration information extraction device comprising: Further comprising a storage unit in which a plurality of facilities are stored,
the storage unit stores the facility, the date when information about the facility was updated, and the parent facility of the facility in a tree structure in which the facility is associated with the date when information about the facility was updated, and
The train configuration information extraction device according to claim 1, characterized in that the equipment extraction unit traces parent equipment of the specified equipment before the specified time, searches for top-level equipment that does not have parent equipment, and traces child equipment of the top-level equipment to extract it as the equipment in the same train. The train configuration information extraction device described in claim 2, characterized in that the equipment extraction unit searches for the highest-level equipment on the same hierarchical level that is equipment on the same hierarchical level as the highest-level equipment of the specified equipment, and then traces the child equipment of the highest-level equipment on the same hierarchical level to extract it as the equipment in the same train. The storage unit stores version information indicating a version in association with the equipment,
The train configuration information extraction device according to claim 3, further comprising an update unit that, when information about the facility is updated, updates the version associated with the facility and stores information about the facility before the update in the storage unit as is in the version before the update. The train configuration information extraction device described in claim 4, characterized in that, if the extracted equipment in the same row overlaps, the equipment extraction unit deletes information about the equipment in the same row whose version is not the latest from the extracted information. The train configuration information extraction device according to any one of claims 1 to 5;
an input device that transmits the input designated equipment and designated time to the designated equipment acquisition unit and the designated time acquisition unit;
A train configuration information extraction system comprising: A train configuration information extraction method for extracting a plurality of pieces of equipment mounted on a train, comprising:
acquiring information indicating designated equipment that is the equipment designated from among the plurality of equipment;
acquiring information indicating a specified time;
extracting information indicating other equipment in the same train that was installed on the train on which the specified equipment was installed at the specified time;
outputting the extracted information indicating the equipment in the same row as extracted information;
A train configuration information extraction method comprising: