Route examining system and method

• US 9,481,384 B2
• Filed: 10/29/2014
• Issued: 11/01/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 11/21/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GE Global Sourcing LLC (Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation)
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Noffsinger, Joseph Forrest, Kumar, Ajith Kuttannair, Plotnikov, Yuri Alexeyevich, Fries, Jeffrey Michael, Ehret, Steven Joseph
• Primary Examiner(s): Olszewski, John R
• Assistant Examiner(s): WHITTINGTON, JESS G
• Application Number:
  US14/527,246
• Publication Number:
  US 20150053827A1
• Time in Patent Office: 734 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 23/044 Broken rails
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 3/10 using current passing between devices along the route and devices on the vehicle or train
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 3/121 using magnetic induction

Abstract

A route examining system includes first and second application devices, a control unit, first and second detection units, and an identification unit. The first and second application devices are disposed onboard a vehicle traveling along a route having conductive tracks. The control unit controls injection of a first examination signal into the conductive tracks via the first application device and injection of a second examination signal into the conductive tracks via the second application device. The first and second detection units monitor electrical characteristics of the route in response to the first and second examination signals being injected into the conductive tracks. The identification unit examines the electrical characteristics of the conductive tracks in order to determine whether a section of the route is potentially damaged based on the electrical characteristics.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a signal communication system configured to be disposed onboard a vehicle system traveling along a route having two conductive tracks, the signal communication system including an application device and a detection device disposed between two conductive shunts of the vehicle system, each of the shunts extending between and engaging both of the conductive tracks, wherein the two shunts of the vehicle system are two trucks of one vehicle of the vehicle system, each of the two trucks including at least one axle interconnecting plural wheels, each of the wheels mechanically engaging and electrically connecting to one of the conductive tracks, the application device including a conductive body configured to be at least one of conductively or inductively coupled with one of the conductive tracks and configured to electrically inject at least one examination signal into the conductive track along a conductive test loop that defined by the conductive tracks and the shunts of the vehicle system, the detection device including a conductive body configured to monitor one or more electrical characteristics of one of the conductive tracks along the conductive test loop in response to the at least one examination signal being injected into the conductive test loop; and

an identification unit including one or more processors configured to determine that a section of the route between the two shunts of the vehicle system includes an electrical short responsive to the one or more electrical characteristics indicating at least one of a phase shift in the at least one examination signal or an increased amplitude of the at least one examination signal above a base line amplitude.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the application device and the detection device include a common coil, the coil configured to inject the at least one examination signal into one of the conductive tracks and monitor the one or more electrical characteristics of the conductive track in response to the injection of the at least one examination signal.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the application device is discrete from the detection device, the application device disposed proximate to the detection device.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein each examination signal is a waveform that includes multiple frequencies.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the application device is a first application device and the signal communication system further includes a second application device, the first and second application devices being spaced apart along a length of the vehicle system between the two shunts, the first and second application devices configured to inject first and second examination signals, respectively, into the conductive test loop, the identification unit configured to determine that the section of the route includes an electrical short by detecting a change in a phase difference between the first and second examination signals.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the base line amplitude of the at least one examination signal is detected when the section of the route is not damaged and does not include an electrical short, the identification unit configured to determine that the signal communication system is moving towards an electrical short in the route responsive to the one or more electrical characteristics indicating an increase in the amplitude of the at least one examination signal over time away from the base line amplitude, the identification unit configured to determine that the signal communication system is moving away from the electrical short in the route responsive to the one or more electrical characteristics indicating a decrease in the amplitude of the at least one examination signal over time towards the base line amplitude.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more electrical characteristics monitored by the detection device include at least one of phase, frequency, current, voltage, impedance, a modulation, or an embedded signature.

8. The system of claim 5, wherein the first and second examination signals include respective unique identifiers to allow the identification unit to distinguish the first examination signal from the second examination signal in the one or more electrical characteristics monitored by the detection device.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the conductive body of the application device includes a conductive transmit coil and the conductive body of the detection device includes a conductive receive coil, the transmit coil configured to inductively inject the at least one examination signal into the corresponding one of the conductive tracks, the receive coil configured to inductively monitor the one or more electrical characteristics of the corresponding one of the conductive tracks.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the application device is disposed along one of the conductive tracks and the detection device is disposed along the other of the conductive tracks, the application device and the detection device being located at approximately the same position along a length of the vehicle system between the two shunts.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the application device and the detection device are a pair of transmit and receive coils, respectively, disposed proximate to each other along the same conductive track.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the transmit and receive coils are held in a common housing.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the increased amplitude of the at least one examination signal above the base line amplitude is at least one of an amplitude that increases over time away from the base line amplitude or an amplitude that decreases over time towards the base line amplitude.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the identification unit is configured to determine that the section of the route between the two shunts of the vehicle system is potentially damaged responsive to the one or more electrical characteristics indicating non-receipt of the at least one examination signal by the detection device.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein the identification unit is configured to determine that the section of the route between the two shunts of the vehicle system is not damaged and does not include an electrical short responsive to the one or more electrical characteristics indicating receipt of the at least one examination signal at the base line amplitude.

16. The system of claim 5, wherein the first application device and the detection device are located at approximately the same position along a length of the vehicle system between the two shunts, the identification unit being configured to determine that an electrical short is located between the first and second application devices responsive to the one or more electrical characteristics indicating an increased amplitude of the first examination signal injected by the first application device and a decreased amplitude of the second examination signal injected by the second application device.

17. The system of claim 1, wherein the conductive body of at least one of the application device or the detection device is at least one of a conductive shoe or a conductive brush that is configured to mechanically engage the corresponding one of the conductive tracks to define a conductive pathway between the conductive track and the conductive body.

18. A system comprising:

a signal communication system configured to be disposed onboard a vehicle system traveling along a route having two conductive tracks, the signal communication system including an application device having a transmit coil and a detection device having a receive coil, the transmit coil configured to inductively inject at least one examination signal into one of the conductive tracks, the receive coil configured to inductively monitor one or more electrical characteristics of one of the conductive tracks in response to the at least one examination signal being injected by the transmit coil, the transmit coil and the receive coil being located proximate to one another along a length of the vehicle system between two conductive shunts of the vehicle system, the two conductive shunts extending between and engaging the conductive tracks to define a conductive test loop, wherein the two shunts of the vehicle system are two trucks of one vehicle of the vehicle system, each of the two trucks including at least one axle interconnecting plural wheels, each of the wheels mechanically engaging and electrically connecting to one of the conductive tracks; and

an identification unit including one or more processors configured to determine that a section of the route between the two shunts of the vehicle system includes an electrical short responsive to the one or more electrical characteristics indicating at least one of a phase shift in the at least one examination signal or an increased amplitude of the at least one examination signal above a base line amplitude.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the transmit coil and the receive coil are disposed adjacent to one another along the same conductive track of the two conductive tracks.

20. The system of claim 18, wherein the increased amplitude of the at least one examination signal above the base line amplitude is at least one of an amplitude that increases over time away from the base line amplitude or an amplitude that decreases over time towards the base line amplitude depending on the location of the electrical short relative to the transmit coil and the receive coil.