GATE MONITORING SYSTEM

• US 20110284698A1
• Filed: 08/08/2011
• Published: 11/24/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/30/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Railway Equipment Company Inc.
• Original Assignee: Railway Equipment Company Inc.
• Inventors: Honek, Randall G., Fox, David K., Gabel, Craig P., Phelps, Greggory C.
• Granted Patent: US 8,550,409 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 246/114.R
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 29/08 Operation of gates; Combined operation of gates and signals
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 29/30 Supervision, e.g. monitoring arrangements

Abstract

A monitoring system and method is provided for monitoring the lighting and the gate arm position at a railroad crossing.

Claims

1. A crossing arm system comprising:

a crossing arm including a first end and a second end and a length therebetween, wherein the second end is positioned above the first end when the crossing arm is in a raised position, and wherein the second end is lowered when the crossing arm is in the lowered position;

at least one illuminator unit connected to the second end of the crossing arm;

an arm position sensor electrically plugged into the illuminator unit to receive electrical power therefrom;

wherein an electrical voltage that is insufficient to cause the illuminator unit to illuminate is provided to the arm position sensor via a charge pump that is configured to magnify the voltage to a level that is sufficient to periodically power the arm position sensor even when the illuminator unit is not illuminated.

2. The crossing arm system of claim 1, wherein the lowered position and the raised position both correspond to a user defined range of gate positions relative to a reference point.

3. The crossing arm system of claim 1, wherein the lowered position corresponds to when the gate is within plus or minus fifteen degrees from a horizontal reference in a vertical plane.

4. The crossing arm system of claim 1, wherein the raised position corresponds to when the gate is within plus seventy to ninety degrees from a horizontal reference in a vertical plane.

5. A method of monitoring a crossing arm comprising:

connecting a position sensor to a distal end of the crossing arm;

powering the position sensor with one or more wires that power LED lights on the crossing arm; and

configuring the position sensor to send current pulses through the wires that correspond to the position of the crossing arm.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the position sensor is configured to send pulses at a first frequency when the arm is in the raised position, and send pulses at a second frequency when the arm is in the lowered position.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the position sensor is configured to not send pulses when the crossing arm is between the raised and lowered positions.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the lowered position corresponds to a first range in the angle of the crossing arm relative to the horizontal, and the raised position corresponds to a second range in the angle of the crossing arm relative to the horizontal.