RAILROAD TRAIN MONITORING SYSTEM

• US 20070152107A1
• Filed: 12/22/2006
• Published: 07/05/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 12/23/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amsted Rail Company Incorporated (Amsted Industries Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: AFS-Keystone, Inc.
• Inventors: LeFebvre, William, McCann, Michael
• Granted Patent: US 7,688,218 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 246/169.R
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 2200/26 Rail vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B61K 13/00 Other auxiliaries or accessories for railways safety belts or harnesses A62B35/00
• CPC Class Codes: B61K 9/00 Railway vehicle profile gauges; Detecting or indicating overheating of components; Apparatus on locomotives or cars to indicate bad track sections; General design of track recording vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 15/0072 On-board train data handling
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 15/0081 On-board diagnosis or maintenance
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 2205/04 Satellite based navigation systems, e.g. global positioning system [GPS]
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 25/021 Measuring and recording of train speed
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 25/025 Absolute localisation, e.g. providing geodetic coordinates
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 27/40 Handling position reports or trackside vehicle data
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 90/16 Information or communication technologies improving the operation of electric vehicles

Abstract

Railcar monitoring utilizes instrumented, flexible pads supported within the truck pedestal jaws on the bearing adapters. The pads contain sensors for monitoring temperature pressure, shifting loads, truck hunting and the like and have circuitry for processing information received from the sensors and for processing and reporting departures of performance variables to a remote source. The system cyclically activates polling each pad on a car and communicates signals of critical departures and car identity to a remote source.

Claims

1. A monitoring system for monitoring performance criteria of a railcar while in transit in a train, wherein the car includes a car body and wheel sets with wheel bearings relatively to a supporting frame of the railcar, the system comprising an elastomeric load bearing pad between each bearing and the frame for transmission of loads between the railcar and the rail, said pad providing for damping of load forces between the bearings and the frame, at least one sensing element carried by each said pad for measuring at least one parameter relevant to operating performance of the railcar, the system further comprising data collection, evaluation and communication means on said railcar for assessing said performance and for transmitting signals indicative of said assessment, said system further comprising a receiver disposed remotely from said railcar for receiving said signals

2. A monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein the train includes a locomotive, and said receiver is located in said locomotive.

3. A monitoring system according to claim 2, wherein said data collection, evaluation and communication means generates signals to the receiver identifying the railcar transmitting the signals indicative of the existence of said predetermined departure.

4. A monitoring system according to claim 3, wherein said data collection, evaluation and communications means includes a wireless transmitter for transmission of said signals to said remotely located receiver.

5. A monitoring system according to claim 1, wherein said data collection, evaluation and communications means includes a first transmitter/receiver on each pad on said railcar, a second transmitter/receiver on said railcar body for communication between said first and second transmitter/receiver.

6. A monitoring system according to claim 4, further including a plurality of sensors on said pad, each of said sensors being responsive to one of a plurality of variables, including changes in compressive stress, shear stress and temperature within said pad.

7. A monitoring system according to claim 6, wherein said sensor responsive to temperature is situated on said pad so as to respond to bearing temperature.

8. A monitoring system according to claim 7, wherein the temperature responsive sensor is disposed adjacent to the bearing.

9. A monitoring system according to claim 7, wherein each said sensor is identified to said communication circuitry by a unique address, said communications circuitry including means for periodic addressing of each said address and means for communicating to said remote receiver only values indicative of critical departures of the performance criteria for a particular sensor in a particular railcar.

10. A monitoring system according to claim 5, wherein said first and second transmitter/receiver are wireless units capable of wireless communication therebetween.

11. A monitoring system according to claim 3, wherein said signals identify pads transmitting the signals indicative of the existence of said predetermined departure.

12. A system for monitoring performance of a railcar, wherein the car has plural trucks each having wheel sets spaced apart on axles and bearing assemblies individual to each wheel of a wheel set relatively rotatably mounted on the axles in association with each wheel, the trucks having side frames having spaced pedestal pockets within which the bearing assemblies are received, the combination comprising an elastomeric, load bearing pad located between a pedestal pocket and the bearing assembly, said pad allowing for limited relative movement between the bearing and the pedestal pocket and providing damping of shock and abrasion, the pads further permitting controlled yaw movement of the axles within the pedestal pockets, the pads having at least one sensing device supported thereon, said at least one sensing device being a temperature sensor disposed on the pads adjacent a bearing for sensing bearing temperature, and control circuitry including a first communications circuit mounted on each pad for receiving signals indicative of temperature of the bearing unique to that pad and a second communications circuit mounted on the railcar body, said second communications circuit including logic circuitry for periodically addressing each sensing device on the railcar and for communicating values derived by said sensors to a remote location, said values being communicated only upon a determination by the logic circuitry that the values are indicative of a potential operating failure.

13. A system according to claim 12, further including a power supply associated with each said pad.

14. A system according to claim 13, where said power supply is a battery.

15. A system according to claim 13, wherein the power supply is an energy scavenger device.

16. A system according to claim 15, wherein the power supply derives energy from the rotation of the wheels of the railcar.

17. A system according to claim 12, wherein the energy scavenging device is a vibration responsive device, converting vibrational energy of the railcar to electric power.

18. A system according to claim 17, wherein the energy scavenging device is integrally mounted on the pad.

19. A system according to claim 12, wherein the communications circuits comprise low power, wireless receiver/transmitters conforming to the low power radio standard of IEEE802.15.4.

20. A system according to claim 12, further including a solar powered energy source for powering the second communications circuit.

21. A system according to claim 12, wherein the pads have a second sensing device supported thereon, said second sensing device being a vibration sensing device and being positioned on the pad to sense bearing vibration, said first communications circuit receiving signals from said second sensor representative of vibrations and identifying vibration levels indicative of potential failure and communicating said signals of vibration level indicative of potential failure to said remote location.

22. A monitoring system for monitoring performance of railcars in a train including an operating locomotive wherein each railcar comprises a car body and supporting trucks with side frames having pedestal openings, wheel sets including an axle and spaced wheels retained by the pedestal openings, the axles carrying wheel bearings retained in said openings and elastomeric pads within each of the openings for attenuation of loads communicated between the bearings and the pedestal jaws, the pads being instrumented with sensing devices for sensing operating parameters selected from the group comprised of vibration, dynamic and static vertical loading, shear forces and temperature, each pad having an associated microprocessor, each microprocessor being programmed to a periodically active state to scan the sensed data for indications of potential failure, each pad further having a transmitter, the system further comprising a data gathering unit mounted on the railcar body includes means for receiving said signals of potential failure and transmitting said signals to a remote location representative of said indications of potential failure.

23. A monitoring system according to claim 22, further including a receiver located in the locomotive for communication of said signals to crew members located within the locomotive.

24. A monitoring system according to claim 22, wherein the transmission of signals to the locomotive receiver is a wireless transmission.

25. A monitoring system according to claim 24, wherein each data gathering unit broadcasts to the receiver in the locomotive, a signal identifying the car from which a signal representative of failure is being broadcast.

26. A monitoring system according to claim 24, wherein the means for receiving and transmitting signals to the remote location is inactive in the absence of a signal indicative of potential failure.

27. A monitoring system according to claim 22, wherein the power supply for the microprocessors on the pads includes a switch, said switch being operable to switch on the power supply upon scanning of the sensors on the pad.

28. A method of monitoring performance of wheeled, interconnected mobile units having bodies supported by wheels, wherein one of said mobile units is a controllable prime mover and the remainder of said units are interconnected to the said one of said units, said method comprising:

providing interfacing flexible, elastomeric pads between the wheels and the bodies of the wheeled mobile units, said pads having embedded sensors for measuring a parameter selected from the group consisting of temperature, displacement, velocity, acceleration, stress, strain pressure, force and combinations thereof; and

generating signals by said sensors representative of said parameters, separately processing and evaluating the signals received for each parameter, and identifying performance behavior derived from said signals considered to be sufficient to cause alarm and communicating to the prime mover messages identifying only the performance behavior sufficient to cause alarm.

29. A method of monitoring according to claim 28, further including the step of including in the messages communicated to the prime mover an identification code unique to the mobile unit from which the signals identifying behavior considered to be sufficient to cause alarm originate.

30. A method of monitoring a load bearing structure comprising the following steps:

disposing a plurality of elastic, compressible pads between relatively rigid elements in the load bearing structure providing the pads with embedded sensors for sensing parameters selected from the group consisting of temperature, displacement, velocity, acceleration, stress, strain pressure, force and combinations thereof, a microprocessor for processing data received from said sensors and a low power transmitter/receiver and an energy scavenging and energy storage device periodically activated to power said microprocessor;

programming the pads with an identifying address unique to each pad, said address including a number to distinguish the pad application from other applications using the same broadcasting frequency;

locating a data control unit on the structure in proximity to the pads, said unit having receiver and transmitting abilities and a data processing unit with storage;

programming the data processing unit with the unique address of each pad;

programming the data processing unit to activate the power source for the pads in timed sequence;

communicating to the pad contacted the task the pad is to perform and a time for reporting back;

processing data signals received from a pad;

merging the information with other drawing references from the data received from the pads to determine whether alarm conditions exist; and

information derived from other pads in communication with the data control unit and communicating any such alarm condition to a location remote from the data control unit.