RAILWAY INSPECTION SYSTEM

• US 20130231873A1
• Filed: 03/01/2012
• Published: 09/05/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 03/01/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nordco, Inc. (Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nordco, Inc. (Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation)
• Inventors: Fraser, Randy Scott, Graham, Patrick Michael, Underwood, Paul Sanders
• Granted Patent: US 9,981,671 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 702/35
• CPC Class Codes: B61K 5/00 Apparatus for placing vehicles on the track; Derailers; Lifting or lowering rail vehicle axles or wheels hoisting apparatus B66
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 23/04 for monitoring the mechanical state of the route
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 23/042 Track changes detection
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 23/044 Broken rails
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 23/045 Rail wear
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 23/047 Track or rail movements
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2291/2623 Rails; Railroads

Abstract

A railway inspection system for monitoring defects of a rail, including an inspection vehicle configured for traversing the rail, a sensor disposed on the vehicle configured for obtaining rail condition data, a memory disposed on the vehicle and storing previous rail condition data from a previous traversal of the rail, a display device disposed on the vehicle, a processor disposed on the vehicle and a non-transitory computer-readable medium disposed on the vehicle and containing instructions, which when executed by the processor, cause performance of the following steps in real-time as the vehicle traverses the rail, namely obtaining current rail condition data from the sensor, displaying on the display device representative images of the current rail condition data, retrieving the previous rail condition data from the memory, and displaying on the display device representative images of the previous rail condition data.

Claims

1. A railway inspection system for monitoring defects of a rail, comprising:

an inspection vehicle configured for traversing the rail;

a sensor disposed on said vehicle and configured for obtaining rail condition data;

a memory disposed on said vehicle and storing previous rail condition data from a previous traversal of the rail;

a display device disposed on said vehicle;

a processor disposed on said vehicle; and

a non-transitory computer-readable medium, disposed on said vehicle, and containing instructions, which when executed by said processor, causes performance of the following steps in real-time as said vehicle traverses the rail;

obtaining current rail condition data from said sensor;

displaying on said display device representative images of said current rail condition data;

retrieving said previous rail condition data from said memory; and

displaying on said display device representative images of said previous rail condition data;

wherein said sensor, said memory, said display device, said processor, and said computer-readable medium are electronically connected.

2. The railway inspection system of claim 1, wherein said non-transitory computer-readable medium is further configured to perform the following steps in real-time as said vehicle traverses the rail:

comparing said current rail condition data to known rail data patterns;

identifying a current rail condition indicator based on said comparison; and

displaying on said display device an indicator marker corresponding to said current rail condition indicator.

3. The railway inspection system of claim 1, wherein said non-transitory computer-readable medium is further configured to perform the following steps in real-time as said vehicle traverses the rail:

analyzing said current rail condition data unilaterally;

identifying a current rail condition indicator based on said analysis; and

displaying on said display device an indicator marker corresponding to said current rail condition indicator.

4. The railway inspection system of claim 1, wherein said non-transitory computer-readable medium is further configured to perform the following steps in real-time as said vehicle traverses the rail:

comparing said current rail condition data to said previous rail condition data;

identifying a current rail condition indicator based on said comparison; and

displaying on said display device an indicator marker corresponding to said current rail condition indicator.

5. The railway inspection system of claim 4, wherein said current and previous rail condition data includes location data, and wherein said non-transitory computer-readable medium is further configured to perform the following steps in real-time as said vehicle traverses the rail:

displaying on said display device an indicator marker corresponding to an indicator provided in said previous rail condition data; and

displaying on said display device a match designation if said current rail condition indicator matches said previous rail condition indicator.

6. The railway inspection system of claim 5, further comprising a location device configured for obtaining said location data based on a location of said vehicle.

7. The railway inspection system of claim 6, wherein said non-transitory computer-readable medium is further configured to perform the following steps in real-time as said vehicle traverses the rail:

displaying on said display device a status icon corresponding to a previous rail condition indicator.

8. The railway inspection system of claim 6, wherein said non-transitory computer-readable medium is further configured to perform the following steps in real-time as said vehicle traverses the rail:

displaying on said display device an indicator icon corresponding to a previous rail condition indicator.

9. The railway inspection system of claim 5, wherein said non-transitory computer-readable medium is further configured to perform the following steps in real-time as said vehicle traverses the rail:

determining a quantifiable score for said current rail condition indicator; and

if said score exceed a predetermined threshold value, displaying on said display device a user acknowledgement request.

10. The railway inspection system of claim 9, wherein said non-transitory computer-readable medium is further configured to perform the following steps in real-time as said vehicle traverses the rail:

measuring a travel distance of the vehicle since said request for user acknowledgement was made; and

if said travel distance exceeds a predetermined length value and said user acknowledgement is not received, halting a portion of said system until said user acknowledgement is received.

11. The railway inspection system of claim 1, wherein said railway inspection system further includes a wireless communication device, and wherein said non-transitory computer-readable medium is further configured to transfer previous rail condition data from a remote server to said memory for storage via said wireless communication device.

12. The railway inspection system of claim 1, wherein said non-transitory computer-readable medium is further configured to perform the following steps in real-time as said vehicle traverses the rail:

identifying a current rail condition indicator; and

displaying an indicator marker corresponding to said current rail condition indicator on said display device, wherein said indicator marker is color-coded to signify a type of indicator.

13. The railway inspection system of claim 1, wherein said sensor employs ultrasonic signal and measures tolerance, gain value, and temperature levels of portions of the rail to obtain said current rail condition data.

14. The railway inspection system of claim 1, wherein said non-transitory computer-readable medium is further configured to perform the following steps in real-time as said vehicle traverses the rail:

receiving a user selection of a status icon corresponding to a current rail condition indicator.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium for use with a rail inspection system vehicle configured for traversing a rail and having a rail sensor, a memory, a processor, and a display device, said medium containing instructions, which when executed by the processor, causes performance of the following steps in real-time as the vehicle traverses the rail:

obtaining current rail condition data from the sensor;

displaying representative images of said current rail condition data on the display device;

retrieving said previous rail condition data from the memory; and

displaying on the display device representative images of said previous rail condition data.

16. The railway inspection system of claim 15, wherein said non-transitory computer-readable medium is further configured to perform the following steps in real-time as the vehicle traverses the rail:

comparing said current rail condition data to said previous rail condition data;

identifying a current rail condition indicator based on said comparison; and

displaying on the display device an indicator marker corresponding to said current rail condition indicator.

17. The railway inspection system of claim 16, wherein said current and previous rail condition data includes location data, and wherein said non-transitory computer-readable medium is further configured to perform the following steps in real-time as the vehicle traverses the rail:

displaying on the display device an indicator marker corresponding to an indicator contained in the previous rail condition data; and

displaying on the display device a match designation if said current rail condition indicator matches said previous rail condition indicator.

18. The railway inspection system of claim 17, wherein said non-transitory computer-readable medium is further configured to perform the following steps in real-time as the vehicle traverses the rail:

displaying on the display device one of a status icon or an indicator icon corresponding to a previous rail condition indicator.

19. The railway inspection system of claim 15, wherein said non-transitory computer-readable medium is further configured to perform the:

step of transferring said previous rail condition data from a remote server to the memory for storage via a wireless communication device included on the vehicle.

20. A railway inspection system for monitoring defects of a rail, comprising:

an inspection vehicle configured for traversing the rail;

a sensor disposed on said vehicle and configured for obtaining rail condition data;

a memory disposed on said vehicle and storing previous rail condition data from a previous traversal of the rail;

a wireless communication device on said vehicle;

a display device disposed on said vehicle;

a processor disposed on said vehicle; and

a non-transitory computer-readable medium, disposed on said vehicle, and containing instructions, which when executed by said processor, causes performance of the following steps in real-time as said vehicle traverses the rail;

obtaining current rail condition data from said sensor;

displaying representative images of said current rail condition data on said display device;

retrieving said previous rail condition data from said memory;

displaying representative images of said previous rail condition data on said display device;

comparing said current rail condition data to known rail data patterns;

comparing said current rail condition data to said previous rail condition data;

identifying a current rail condition indicator based on one of said comparisons; and

displaying on said display device an indicator marker corresponding to said current rail condition indicator,

wherein said sensor, said memory, said display device, said processor, said wireless communication device, and said computer-readable medium are electronically connected, and wherein said wireless communication device is configured for transferring previous rail inspection data between said memory and a remote server.

21. A railway inspection system for aligning and comparing rail condition data associated with a rail, comprising:

an inspection vehicle configured for traversing the rail;

a sensor disposed on said vehicle and configured for obtaining current rail condition data;

a location device disposed on said vehicle and configured for obtaining current location data of said vehicle;

a memory disposed on said vehicle and storing previous rail condition data from a previous traversal of the rail, including associated previous location data;

a processor disposed on said vehicle; and

a non-transitory computer-readable medium, disposed on said vehicle, and containing instructions, which when executed by said processor, causes performance of the following steps in real-time as said vehicle traverses the rail;

obtaining current rail condition data from said sensor;

comparing the current rail condition data with a rail data pattern to identify a realignment object;

upon identifying a realignment object, obtaining associated location data from said location device, matching previous and current rail condition data representing the realignment object, and calculating a location offset value based on the difference between associated previous and current location data; and

applying the location offset value in comparing previous and current rail condition data to identify an indicator associated with the rail;

wherein said sensor, said location device, said memory, said processor, and said computer-readable medium are electronically connected.

22. The railway inspection system of claim 21 wherein said location device is a GPS device.

23. The railway inspection system of claim 21 wherein the rail data pattern represents one of a bolt hole or a rail joint.

24. The railway inspection system of claim 21 wherein the location offset value includes a longitudinal component and a latitudinal component.

25. The railway inspection system of claim 21 wherein said non-transitory computer-readable medium is further configured to perform the step of recalculating the location offset value each time a realignment object is identified.

26. The railway inspection system of claim 21 further comprising an encoder disposed on said vehicle and configured for obtaining current distance data of said vehicle, wherein said memory further stores previous distance data associated with the previous rail condition data, and wherein said non-transitory computer-readable medium is further configured to perform the step of:

upon identifying the realignment object, obtaining associated distance data from said encoder and calculating a distance offset value based on associated previous and current distance data.

27. The railway inspection system of claim 26 wherein said previous and current distance data include a distance counter representing a travel distance of said vehicle over the rail.

28. The railway inspection system of claim 26 wherein the distance offset value is calculated based on a difference between the previous distance data associated with the realignment object and the current distance data.

29. The railway inspection system of claim 26 wherein said non-transitory computer-readable medium is further configured to perform the steps of resetting the current distance offset value and recalculating the distance offset value, each time a realignment object is identified.

30. The railway inspection system of claim 26 wherein said non-transitory computer-readable medium is further configured to perform the step of:

if the vehicle has not performed one of a set of predefined actions since the realignment object was identified, applying the distance offset value in comparing previous and current rail condition data to identify an indicator associated with the rail, otherwise, recalculating the distance offset value upon identifying a second realignment object.

31. The railway inspection system of claim 30 wherein the set of predefined actions includes said vehicle stopping and starting, and said vehicle traveling in reverse.

32. A non-transitory computer-readable medium for use with a rail inspection system vehicle configured for traversing a rail and having a rail sensor, a memory storing previous rail condition data and associated location data, and a processor, said medium containing instructions, which when executed by the processor, causes performance of the following steps in real-time as the vehicle traverses the rail:

obtaining current rail condition data from said sensor;

comparing the current rail condition data with a rail data pattern to identify a realignment object;

upon identifying a realignment object;

obtaining associated location data from the location device, matching previous and current rail condition data representing the realignment object, and calculating a location offset value based on the difference between associated previous and current location data; and

applying the location offset value in comparing previous and current rail condition data to identify an indicator associated with the rail.

33. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 32, wherein the memory further stores previous distance data associated with the previous rail condition data, and the rail inspection system vehicle further includes an encoder configured for obtaining current distance data of said vehicle, wherein said non-transitory computer-readable medium is further configured to perform the step of:

upon identifying the realignment object, obtaining associated distance data from the encoder and calculating a distance offset value based on associated previous and current distance data.

34. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 33 wherein the distance offset value is calculated based on a difference between the previous distance data associated with the realignment object and the current distance data.

35. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 33 wherein said non-transitory computer-readable medium is further configured to perform the step of:

if said vehicle has not performed one of a set of predefined actions since the realignment object was identified, applying the distance offset value in comparing previous and current rail condition data to identify an indicator associated with the rail, otherwise, recalculating the distance offset value upon identifying a second realignment object.