Method and apparatus for monitoring railway defects

• US 5,867,404 A
• Filed: 03/31/1997
• Issued: 02/02/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 04/01/1996
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Cairo Systems, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Cairo Systems, Inc.
• Inventors: Bryan, Michael A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Trammell, James P.
• Assistant Examiner(s): SHAH, KAMINI S
• Application Number:
  US08/828,469
• Time in Patent Office: 673 Days
• Field of Search: 364/550, 364/449.1-449.9, 73/593, 73/587, 342/357, 342/457, 246/122 R, 246/169 R
• US Class Current: 714/724
• CPC Class Codes: B61K 9/08 Measuring installations for surveying permanent way applications of measuring apparatus or devices for track building purposes E01B35/00; measuring techniques G01
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 2205/04 Satellite based navigation systems, e.g. global positioning system [GPS]
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 23/044 Broken rails
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 23/048 Road bed changes, e.g. road bed erosion
• CPC Class Codes: E01B 35/00 Applications of measuring apparatus or devices for track-building purposes apparatus on locomotives or cars to indicate or record bad track sections B61K9/00; measuring angles, linear dimensions, or irregularities in general G01B, G01C
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/14 specially adapted for specific applications

Abstract

A method for monitoring defects in a railway with a computer system, the computer system includes the steps of determining positional data and status data for a railway, comparing historical status data to the status data to determine a defect for the railway, the defect having a defect type, displaying an image of a particular geographic area on a display that includes a location corresponding to the positional data, determining an icon associated with the defect type, and displaying the icon associated with the defect type on the display.

Claims

1. A method for monitoring defects in a railway with a computer system, the computer system, the method comprising the steps of:

determining positional data and status data for a railway;

comparing historical status data to the status data to determine a defect for the railway, the defect having a defect type;

displaying an image of a particular geographic area on a display that includes a location corresponding to the positional data;

determining an icon associated with the defect type; and

displaying the icon associated with the defect type on the display.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the defect type is a lateral acceleration defect.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein a color for the icon associated with the defect type is proportional to a magnitude of the defect.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of:

determining railway data for the railway in response to the positional data;

determining an icon associated with the railway data; and

displaying the icon associated with the railway data on the display.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of:

determining repair resources within the particular geographic area, the repair resources having a resource types;

determining icons associated with the resource types; and

displaying at least one icon associated with at least one of the resource types on the display.

6. The method of claim 5 further comprising the step of:

assigning at least one of the repair resources to the defect; and

generating a work order for at least one of the repair resources.

7. The method of claim 6 further comprising the step of:

determining an icon associated with the work order; and

displaying the icon associated with the work order on the display.

8. The method of claim 6 further comprising the steps of:

determining a status for the work order, the status having a status type;

determining an icon associated with the status type;

displaying the icon associated with the status type on the display.

9. The method of claim 6 wherein the step of assigning comprises the steps of:

selecting the icon associated with at least one of the resource types on the display; and

dropping the icon associated with at least one of the resource types onto the icon associated with the defect type on the display.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of:

selecting the icon associated with the defect type on the display; and

displaying the positional data and the status data on the display.

11. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of:

selecting the icon associated with the status type on the display; and

displaying the status and the work order on the display.

12. A computer program product for a computer including a processor for monitoring railway defects, the computer program product comprising:

a computer-readable media including;

code that directs the processor to determine positional data and status data for a railway;

code that directs the processor to compare historical status data to the status data to determine a defect for the railway, the defect having a defect type;

code that directs a display to display an image of a particular geographic area that includes a locating associated with the positional data;

code that directs the processor to determine an icon associated with the defect type; and

code that directs the display to display the icon associated with the defect type.

13. The computer program product of claim 12 wherein the computer-readable media also includes:

code that directs the processor to determine railway data for the railway in response to the positional data;

code that directs the processor to determine an icon associated with the railway data; and

code that directs the display to display the icon associated with the railway data on the display.

14. The computer program product of claim 12 wherein the computer-readable media also includes:

code that directs the processor to determine a repair resource within the particular geographic area, the repair resource having a resource type;

code that directs the processor to determine an icon associated with the resource type; and

code that directs the display to display the icon associated with the resource type on the display.

15. The computer program product of claim 14 wherein the computer-readable media also includes:

code that directs the processor to assign the repair resources to the defect;

code that directs the processor to generate a work order for the repair resource;

code that directs the processor to determine an icon associated with the work order; and

code that directs the display to display the icon associated with the work order on the display.

16. The computer program product of claim 15 wherein the computer-readable media also includes:

code that directs the processor to determine a status for the work order, the status having a status type;

code that directs the processor to determine an icon associated with the status type; and

code that directs the display to display the icon associated with the status type on the display.

17. The computer program product of claim 15 wherein the computer-readable media also includes:

code that directs the processor to select the icon associated with the status type on the display; and

code that directs the display to display the status and the work order on the display.

18. A computer system for monitoring railway defects, the computer system comprising:

a processor;

a display coupled to the processor;

a computer-readable media coupled to the processor including;

code that directs the processor to determine positional data and status data for a railway;

code that directs the processor to compare historical status data to the status data to determine a defect for the railway, if any, the defect having a defect type;

code that directs a display to display an image of a particular geographic area that includes a region associated with the positional data;

code that directs the processor to determine an icon associated with the defect type, if any; and

code that directs the display to display the icon associated with the defect type.

19. The computer system of claim 18 wherein the computer-readable media also includes:

code that directs the processor to determine railway data for the railway in response to the positional data;

code that directs the processor to determine an icon associated with the railway data; and

code that directs the display to display the icon associated with the railway data on the display.

20. The computer program product of claim 18 wherein the computer-readable media also includes:

code that directs the processor to determine a repair resource within the particular geographic area, the repair resource having a resource type;

code that directs the processor to determine an icon associated with the resource type; and

code that directs the display to display the icon associated with the resource type on the display.