Apparatus and method for calculating wooden crosstie plate cut measurements and rail seat abrasion measurements based on rail head height
First Claim
1. A system for inspecting a railway track, the system comprising:
- a processor;
at least one sensor oriented to capture data of the railway track and mountable on a rail vehicle for moving the at least one sensor along the railway track, the at least one sensor in electronic communication with the processor;
a data storage device in electronic communication with the processor; and
computer executable instructions stored on a computer readable storage medium in communication with the processor operable to;
determine an elevation of a surface of a rail head of a rail located on the railway track based on a distance to the rail head from the at least one sensor;
determine an elevation of a surface of a crosstie of the railway track based on a distance to a top surface of the crosstie from the at least one sensor;
estimate a total rail height of the rail and underlying rail support height of an underlying rail support; and
calculate a crosstie wear value based on the determined rail head surface elevation, crosstie surface elevation, and estimated total rail height and underlying rail support height;
wherein the crosstie wear value is calculated without requiring the at least one sensor to capture data from which a surface elevation of the underlying rail support can be directly measured.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method for inspecting a railway track. The system preferably includes: a processor; at least one sensor oriented to capture data of the railway track; a data storage device in electronic communication with the processor; and computer executable instructions stored on a computer readable storage medium in communication with the processor operable to: determine an elevation of a surface of a rail head of a rail located on the railway track based on a distance to the rail head from the at least one sensor, determine an elevation of a surface of a crosstie of the railway track based on a distance to a top surface of the crosstie from the at least one sensor, estimate a total rail height and underlying rail support, and calculate a crosstie wear value based on the determined rail head surface elevation, crosstie surface elevation, and estimated total rail height and underlying rail support.
345 Citations
16 Claims
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1. A system for inspecting a railway track, the system comprising:
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a processor; at least one sensor oriented to capture data of the railway track and mountable on a rail vehicle for moving the at least one sensor along the railway track, the at least one sensor in electronic communication with the processor; a data storage device in electronic communication with the processor; and computer executable instructions stored on a computer readable storage medium in communication with the processor operable to; determine an elevation of a surface of a rail head of a rail located on the railway track based on a distance to the rail head from the at least one sensor; determine an elevation of a surface of a crosstie of the railway track based on a distance to a top surface of the crosstie from the at least one sensor; estimate a total rail height of the rail and underlying rail support height of an underlying rail support; and calculate a crosstie wear value based on the determined rail head surface elevation, crosstie surface elevation, and estimated total rail height and underlying rail support height; wherein the crosstie wear value is calculated without requiring the at least one sensor to capture data from which a surface elevation of the underlying rail support can be directly measured. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method of determining wear of a railway track, the method comprising:
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interrogating a railway track using at least one sensor which forms part of a track assessment system housed on a rail vehicle for moving the at least one sensor along the railway track; receiving data corresponding to the railway track from the interrogation of the railway track using the at least one sensor; determining an elevation of a rail head of the railway track based on the received data; determining an elevation of a top surface of a rail crosstie of the railway track based on the received data; estimating a total rail height of a rail of the railway track and a height of an underlying rail support; determining a crosstie wear value based on the elevation of the rail head, the elevation of the top surface of the crosstie, the estimated total rail height, and the estimated height of the underlying rail support; wherein the crosstie wear value is calculated without requiring the at least one sensor to capture data from which a surface elevation of the underlying rail support can be directly measured. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification