Method and apparatus for applying railway ballast

• US 20050278982A1
• Filed: 06/17/2004
• Published: 12/22/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 06/17/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Herzog Contracting
• Original Assignee: Herzog Contracting
• Inventors: Bounds, Ivan E., Shirk, Tony, Herzog, Stanley M., Bedingfield, Stephen, Harris, Pat, Laughlin, Dan, Pogglemiller, Randy, Schmitz, Ron
• Granted Patent: US 7,152,347 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 37/104
• CPC Class Codes: E01B 27/02 Placing the ballast; Making ballastway; Redistributing ballasting material; Machines or devices therefor; Levelling means

Abstract

A method and apparatus for spreading ballast along railways makes use of an inertial measurement system to determine where to apply ballast from a hopper car. A variety of techniques can be used to determine the location and speed of the ballast spreading train, including manual or automated visual techniques, laser technology, radar technology, radio frequency transponders, magnetic sensor, thermal imaging and aerial photogrammetry. The invention also contemplates “on the fly” surveys and terrain profiling using lasers or radar.

Claims

1. A method of applying ballast to a bed of a railway having ballast spread zones deficient in ballast at known locations, said method comprising:

transporting along said railway a railcar that carries ballast and has a ballast door which can be opened to discharge ballast to said bed and closed to prevent ballast discharge;

providing a controller for opening and closing said ballast door;

establishing a plurality of reference markers along the railway at fixed locations;

visually detecting when the railcar reaches each of said reference markers;

manually signaling the controller each time it is visually detected that the railcar has reached a reference marker to update the controller with current location data; and

activating said controller to effect opening of said ballast door when the railcar reaches a spread zone and closing of said ballast door when the railcar reaches the end of a spread zone, thereby applying ballast to each of said spread zones.

2. A method of applying ballast to a bed of a railway having ballast spread zones deficient in ballast at known locations, said method comprising:

transporting along said railway a railcar that carries ballast and has a ballast door which can be opened to discharge ballast to said bed and closed to prevent ballast discharge;

storing visual images of known locations situated along the railway;

using a visual imaging device to capture current visual images as the railcar is transported along the railway;

comparing said current visual images with said stored visual images to determine a current location of the rail car each time a current visual image matches a stored visual image; and

using the current location of the railcar to effect opening and closing of said ballast door in a manner to apply ballast from the railcar to each of said ballast spread zones as the railcar traverses them.

3. A method of applying ballast to a bed of a railway having ballast spread zones deficient in ballast at known locations, said method comprising:

transporting along said railway a railcar that carries ballast and has a ballast door which can be opened to discharge ballast to said bed and closed to prevent ballast discharge;

establishing a plurality of reference locations along the railway at known locations;

directing a laser beam at each reference location approached by the railcar;

receiving a reflected laser beam reflected from each reference location;

using said reflected beam to determine the current location of the railcar relative to each reference location approached by the railcar; and

using the current location of the railcar to effect opening and closing of said ballast door in a manner to apply ballast from the railcar to each of said ballast spread zones as the railcar traverses them.

4. A method of applying ballast to a bed of a railway having ballast spread zones deficient in ballast at known locations, said method comprising:

transporting along said railway a railcar that carries ballast and has a ballast door which can be opened to discharge ballast to said bed and closed to prevent ballast discharge;

establishing a plurality of reference locations along the railway at known locations;

directing a radar signal at each reference location approached by the railcar;

receiving a reflected radar signal reflected from each reference location;

using said reflected radar signal to determine the current location of the railcar relative to each reference location approached by the railcar; and

using the current location of the railcar to effect opening and closing of said ballast door in a manner to apply ballast from the railcar to each of said ballast spread zones as the railcar traverses them.

5. A method of applying ballast to a bed of a railway having ballast spread zones deficient in ballast at known locations, said method comprising:

transporting along said bed a railcar that carries ballast and has a ballast door which can be opened to discharge ballast to said bed and closed to prevent ballast discharge;

situating a plurality of radio frequency transponders along the railway at known locations;

transmitting a radio frequency signal from the railcar toward each of said transponders approached by the railcar;

transmitting from each transponder a response signal in response to receipt of a radio frequency signal transmitted from the railcar;

receiving each response signal to determine the distance of the railcar from the transponder to determine the current railcar location; and

using the current location of the railcar to effect opening and closing of said ballast door in a manner to apply ballast from the railcar to each of said ballast spread zones as the railcar traverses them.

6. A method as set forth in claim 5, wherein each transponder is an active device having a power source.

7. A method as set forth in claim 5, wherein each transponder is a passive device using power from a received signal to transmit said response signal.

8. A method of applying ballast to a bed of a railway having ballast spread zones deficient in ballast at known locations, said method comprising:

transporting along said railway a railcar that carries ballast and has a ballast door which can be opened to discharge ballast to said bed and closed to prevent ballast discharge;

magnetically sensing known magnetic characteristics of said bed to determine the current location of the railcar along the railway; and

using the current location of the railcar to effect opening and closing of said ballast door in a manner to apply ballast from the railcar to each of said ballast spread zones as the railcar traverses them.

10. A method of applying ballast to a bed of a railway having ballast spread zones deficient in ballast at known locations, said method comprising:

transporting along said bed a railcar that carries ballast and has a ballast door which can be opened to discharge ballast to said bed and closed to prevent ballast discharge;

sensing known thermal characteristics along the roadway to determine the current location of the railcar along the roadway; and

using the current location of the railcar to effect opening and closing of said ballast door in a manner to apply ballast from the railcar to each of said ballast spread zones as the railcar traverses them.

9. A method as set forth in claim 10, including the step of placing a plurality of magnetic devices along the railway at known locations, said step of magnetically sensing comprising sensing changes in the local magnetic field each time the railcar reaches one of said magnetic devices to thereby determine the current location of the railcar.

11. A method of applying ballast to a bed of a railway from a group of interconnected railcars each carrying ballast and each having a ballast door operated by a controller to fully open the door for discharge of ballast to the bed, partially open the door for discharge of ballast at a lesser rate than in the fully open condition of the door and close the door to prevent ballast discharge, said method comprising:

transporting said group of interconnected railcars along the railway;

visually detecting when a zone along the bed that is being approached by the group is deficient in ballast and the extent of ballast deficiency at said zone;

signaling the controller of the approach of said zone and its location and the extent of ballast deficiency; and

activating the controller to at least partially open at least one door to discharge ballast from at least one railcar at a rate sufficient to make up the deficiency of ballast at said zone, and thereafter close said at least one door.

12. A method of surveying a railway bed to determine the locations of zones of ballast deficiency, said method comprising:

obtaining a terrain reference profile of the bed indicative of a bed in which there are no zones of ballast deficiency;

obtaining a current terrain profile indicative of the current bed profile; and

comparing the current profile with the reference profile to determine the location of each zone in which there is ballast deficiency.

13. A method of applying ballast to a bed of a railway, said method comprising the steps of:

(a) transporting along the railway a train that includes a railcar carrying ballast which can be discharged from the railcar to the railway bed;

(b) from an airborne location, capturing current images along the railway to detect ballast spread zones that are deficient in ballast and the location of each of said ballast spread zones;

(c) transmitting from said airborne location to the train information indicating the location of each of said ballast spread zones; and

(d) using said information to discharge ballast from said railcar at the location of each of said ballast spread zones while the railcar is traveling along each of said ballast spread zones.

14. A method as set forth in claim 13, wherein step (c) comprises transmitting said information directly from said airborne location to the train, said information being analyzed at the train to determine the location of each ballast spread zone.

15. A method as set forth in claim 13, wherein step (c) comprises:

transmitting said information from said airborne location to a base station located on the earth, said information being analyzed at said base station to determine the location of each ballast spread zone; and

transmitting information indicating the location of each ballast spread zone from said base station to the train.

16. A method as set forth in claim 13, wherein said airborne location is on a satellite.

17. A method as set forth in claim 13, wherein said airborne location is on a manned aircraft.

18. A method as set forth in claim 13, wherein said airborne location is on an unmanned aerial vehicle.

19. Apparatus for applying ballast to a bed of a railway having ballast spread zones deficient in ballast at known locations using a railcar that carries ballast and has a ballast door which can be opened to discharge ballast to the bed and closed to prevent ballast discharge as the railcar travels along the railway, said apparatus comprising:

a visual imaging device on said railcar operable to capture visual images along the railway as the railcar travels along the railway;

means for comparing the visual images captured by said visual imaging device with reference visual images representing selected locations along the railway; and

means for effecting the opening of said ballast door when one of said known locations is reached based on comparison of the captured visual images with the reference visual images, and for otherwise closing said ballast door.

20. Apparatus for applying ballast to a bed of a railway having ballast spread zones deficient in ballast at known locations using a railcar that carries ballast and has a ballast door which can be opened to discharge ballast to the bed and closed to prevent ballast discharge as the railcar travels along the railway, said apparatus comprising:

a plurality of reference locations along the railway at known positions;

a laser for directing a laser beam at each reference location approached by the railcar;

means for receiving a reflected laser beam reflected from each reference location;

means for determining the current location of the railcar relative to each reference location based on the reflected laser beams; and

means for opening said ballast door when the current location of the railcar corresponds to one of said known locations, and otherwise closing said ballast door.

21. Apparatus for applying ballast to a bed of a railway having ballast spread zones deficient in ballast at known locations using a railcar that carries ballast and has a ballast door which can be opened to discharge ballast to the bed and closed to prevent ballast discharge as the railcar travels along the railway, said apparatus comprising:

a plurality of reference locations along the railway at known positions;

a radar transmitter for directing a radar signal at each reference location approached by the railcar;

a radar receiver for receiving a reflected radar signal reflected from each reference location;

means for determining the current location of the railcar relative to each reference location based on the reflected radar signal; and

means for opening said ballast door when the current location of the railcar corresponds to one of said known locations, and otherwise closing said ballast door.

22. Apparatus for applying ballast to a bed of a railway having ballast spread zones deficient in ballast at known locations using a railcar that carries ballast and has a ballast door which can be opened to discharge ballast to the bed and closed to prevent ballast discharge as the railcar travels along the railway, said apparatus comprising:

a plurality of radio frequency transponders situated along the railway at known positions;

transmitter means carried on the railcar for transmitting radio frequency signals toward each of said transponders approached by the railcar, said transponders each transmitting a response signal upon receipt of a radio frequency signal transmitted from said transmitter means;

receiver means carried on the railcar for receiving each response signal to determine the location of the railcar relative to the transmitting transponder to thereby determine the current railcar location; and

means for opening said ballast door when the current location of the railcar corresponds to one of said known locations, and otherwise closing said ballast door.

23. Apparatus as set forth in claim 22, including a power source for each transponder, said transponders each being active devices using said power source to transmit said response signals.

24. Apparatus as set forth in claim 22, wherein each of said transponders is a passive device using power from each radio frequency signal that is received to transmit said response signal.

25. Apparatus for applying ballast to a bed of a railway having ballast spread zones deficient in ballast at known locations using a railcar that carries ballast and has a ballast door which can be opened to discharge ballast to the bed and closed to prevent ballast discharge as the railcar travels along the railway, said apparatus comprising:

a magnetic sensor carried on the railcar to sense known magnetic characteristics of the bed in a manner to determine the current location of the railcar along said railway; and

means for opening said ballast door when the current location of the railcar corresponds to one of said known locations, and otherwise closing said ballast door.

26. Apparatus as set forth in claim 25, including a plurality of magnetic devices situated along the railway at known positions, said sensor being operable to sense changes in the local magnetic field each time the railcar reaches one of said magnetic devices to thereby determine the current location of the railcar.

27. Apparatus for applying ballast to a bed of a railway having ballast spread zones deficient in ballast at known locations using a railcar that carries ballast and has a ballast door which can be opened to discharge ballast to the bed and closed to prevent ballast discharge as the railcar travels along the railway, said apparatus comprising:

a thermal sensor carried on the railcar to sense known thermal characteristics of the bed in a manner to determine the current location of the railcar along said railway; and

means for opening said ballast door when the current location of the railcar corresponds to one of said known locations, and otherwise closing said ballast door.

28. Apparatus for surveying a railway bed to determine the locations of zones of ballast deficiency, said apparatus comprising:

a railway vehicle for travel along the railway;

means on said railway vehicle for obtaining a current terrain profile of the ballast on the railway bed as the railway vehicle travels along the railway;

means for comparing said current terrain profile with a reference terrain profile indicative of a bed having no ballast deficiency; and

means for recording each location at which a comparison between the current terrain profile and the reference terrain profile indicates a ballast deficiency.

29. Apparatus for applying ballast to a bed of a railway having ballast spread zones deficient in ballast at known locations using a railcar that carries ballast and has a ballast door which can be opened to discharge ballast to the bed and closed to prevent ballast discharge as the railcar travels along the railway, said apparatus comprising:

a wheel encoder;

a gyroscope carried on the railcar and operable with said wheel encoder to determine the current location of the railcar along said railway; and

means for opening said ballast door when the current location of the railcar corresponds to one of said known locations, and otherwise closing said ballast door.

30. Apparatus for applying ballast to a bed of a railway having ballast spread zones deficient in ballast at known locations using a railcar that carries ballast and has a ballast door which can be opened to discharge ballast to the bed and closed to prevent ballast discharge as the railcar travels along the railway, said apparatus comprising:

a GPS receiver on the railcar detecting a GPS position of the railcar;

an inertial system including a gyroscope carried on the railcar and operable as a backup system to said GPS receiver to determine the current location of the railcar along said railway when said GPS receiver is unable to detect a GPS position of the railcar; and

means for opening said ballast door when the current location of the railcar corresponds to one of said known locations, and otherwise closing said ballast door.