US 12,466,447 B1
Battery powered locomotive
Pete Claussen, Knoxville, TN (US); Scott Gatewood, Knoxville, TN (US); Michael Thomason, Knoxville, TN (US); and Todd Burchette, Knoxville, TN (US)
Assigned to Knoxville Locomotive Works, Inc., Knoxville, TN (US)
Filed by Knoxville Locomotive Works, Inc., Knoxville, TN (US)
Filed on Jun. 23, 2025, as Appl. No. 19/245,486.
Application 19/245,486 is a continuation of application No. 19/188,285, filed on Apr. 24, 2025, granted, now 12,365,367.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/721,099, filed on Nov. 15, 2024.
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. B61C 17/06 (2006.01); B60L 50/52 (2019.01); B61C 9/38 (2006.01); B61H 9/06 (2006.01); H02J 1/14 (2006.01); H02J 7/14 (2006.01); H02P 3/14 (2006.01)
CPC B61C 17/06 (2013.01) [B60L 50/52 (2019.02); B61C 9/38 (2013.01); B61H 9/06 (2013.01); H02J 1/14 (2013.01); H02J 7/1423 (2013.01); H02P 3/14 (2013.01); B60L 2200/26 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A locomotive, comprising:
a power bus comprising an auxiliary bus, a battery bus, and a traction bus, the power bus for providing a voltage to components of the locomotive when the locomotive is operating in a motoring mode, a charging mode, or a dynamic braking mode, wherein the auxiliary bus is selectively connected to the battery bus, and the battery bus is selectively connected to the traction bus;
a plurality of batteries connected across the battery bus for providing power to the battery bus when the locomotive is operating in the motoring mode, and receiving power from the battery bus when the locomotive is operating in the charging mode and the dynamic braking mode;
one or more traction motors, each traction motor comprising an armature winding and a field winding that are selectively connected in parallel across the traction bus, the one or more traction motors operable to receive power from the traction bus when the locomotive is operating in the motoring mode, to provide charging power to the traction bus when the locomotive is operating in the dynamic braking mode, and to receive no power from the traction bus when the locomotive is operating in charging mode;
a charging source connected across the auxiliary bus for providing charging power to the auxiliary bus, wherein the charging power is less than power requirements of the one or more traction motors when the locomotive is operating in the motoring mode; and
a power dissipation device selectively connected across the power bus for receiving and dissipating excess power from the power bus when the locomotive is operating in the dynamic braking mode,
wherein the auxiliary bus is connected to the battery bus when the locomotive is operating in the charging mode, and
wherein the battery bus is connected to the traction bus when the locomotive is operating in the motoring mode and when the locomotive is operating in the dynamic braking mode.