Highway grade crossing vehicle violation detector
First Claim
1. An alarm monitor for a railroad grade crossing, the grade crossing including a crossing island and having an island activation relay that is activated in response to an approaching train, said alarm monitor comprising:
- a micropower impulse radar (MIR) responsive to pedestrians and motor vehicles in a prohibited area of the crossing island during activations of the island activation relay;
a processor configured to generate a warning signal when the MIR detects a pedestrian or a motor vehicle in the prohibited area during an activation of the island activation relay; and
a counter configured to count detections of pedestrians and vehicles within the pedestrian area while the island activation relay is activated.
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Accused Products
Abstract
In one embodiment, the present invention is an alarm monitor for a railroad grade crossing, the grade crossing having an island activation relay that is activated in response to an approaching train, the alarm monitor including a micropower impulse radar (MIR) responsive to pedestrians and motor vehicles in a prohibited area of the crossing island during activations of the island activation relay; and a processor configured to generate a warning signal when the MIR detects a pedestrian or a motor vehicle in the prohibited area during an activation of the island activation relay.
75 Citations
18 Claims
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1. An alarm monitor for a railroad grade crossing, the grade crossing including a crossing island and having an island activation relay that is activated in response to an approaching train, said alarm monitor comprising:
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a micropower impulse radar (MIR) responsive to pedestrians and motor vehicles in a prohibited area of the crossing island during activations of the island activation relay;
a processor configured to generate a warning signal when the MIR detects a pedestrian or a motor vehicle in the prohibited area during an activation of the island activation relay; and
a counter configured to count detections of pedestrians and vehicles within the pedestrian area while the island activation relay is activated. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method for monitoring alarms at a railroad grade crossing having an island activation relay that is activated in response to an approaching train, comprising the steps of:
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detecting reflections from a boundary of a prohibited area of the grade crossing using a microwave impulse radar (MIR) during activations of the island activation relay upon approach of a train;
generating a warning signal when the MIR detects a pedestrian or a motor vehicle in the prohibited area on the condition that the island activation relay has been activated; and
counting detections of pedestrians and motor vehicles in the prohibited area while the island activation relay has been activated. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17)
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18. A method for monitoring alarms at a railroad grade crossing having an island activation relay that is activated in response to an approaching train, comprising the steps of:
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detecting reflections from a boundary of a prohibited area of the grade crossing using a microwave impulse radar (MIR) during activations of the island activation relay upon approach of a train;
generating a warning signal when the MIR detects a pedestrian or a motor vehicle in the prohibited area on the condition that the island activation relay has been activated; and
separately detecting pedestrians and vehicles in a central region of the prohibited area, and of conditioning generation of the warning signal upon first detecting a pedestrian or vehicle crossing a boundary of the prohibited region and next detecting a pedestrian or vehicle entering the central region of the prohibited area.
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Specification