System and method for inspecting railroad track

• US 20060017911A1
• Filed: 06/30/2005
• Published: 01/26/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Loram Technologies Incorporated (Loram Maintenance of Way, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Georgetown Rail Equipment Company (Loram Maintenance of Way, Inc.)
• Inventors: Nagle, John Anthony II, Orrell, Steven C., Villar, Christopher M.
• Granted Patent: US 7,616,329 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 356/4.10
• 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 23/044 Broken rails
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 23/045 Rail wear
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 3/08 Use of electric radiation detectors
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 3/085 with electronic parallax measurement

Abstract

A system and method for inspecting railroad track is disclosed. The disclosed system includes lasers, cameras, and a processor. The lasers are positioned adjacent the track. The laser emits a beam of light across the railroad track, and the camera captures images of the railroad track having the beam of light emitted thereon. The processor formats the images so that they can be analyzed to determine various measurable aspects of the railroad track. The disclosed system can include a GPS receiver or a distance device for determining location data. The measurable aspects that can be determined by the disclosed system include but are not limited to the spacing between crossties, the angle of ties with respect to rail, cracks and defects in surface of ties, missing fastener components, misaligned fastener components, sunken tie plates, raised spikes, rail wear, gage of rail, ballast height relative to ties, size of ballast stones, and break or separation in the rail. The system includes one or more algorithms for determining these measurable aspects of the railroad track.

Claims

1. A system for inspecting a railroad track bed, including the railroad track, to be mounted on a vehicle for movement along the railroad track, the system comprising:

at least one light generator positioned adjacent the railroad track for projecting a beam of light across the railroad track bed;

at least one optical receiver positioned adjacent the railroad track for receiving at least a portion of the light reflected from the railroad track bed and generating a plurality of images representative of the profile of at least a portion of the railroad track bed; and

at least one processor for analyzing the plurality of images and determining one or more physical characteristics of the said portion of the railroad track bed.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the light generator is a laser.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the laser emits an infrared beam of light.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one light generator is positioned substantially above the railroad track and emits the beam of light substantially perpendicular to the railroad track.

5. The system of claim 2, wherein the laser emits the beam of light with an angular expanse.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one optical receiver comprises a digital camera.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the optical device comprises a band pass filter allowing substantially only the wavelength of the beam of light to be captured in the plurality of images.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor comprises a data storage device for storing the plurality of images.

9. The system of claim 1, further comprising a GPS receiver or an encoder that provides geographical location data for analysis by the processor.

10. The system of claim 1, further comprising a temperature sensor positioned adjacent the railroad track that provides a temperature of the railroad track for analysis by the processor.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of images comprises a plurality of pixels given X-Y-coordinates.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of images comprises a Z-coordinate representing the location of the image along the length of railroad track.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor includes an algorithm for determining the distance between crossties of the railroad track bed.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor includes an algorithm for identifying specific components of the railroad track bed.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor includes an algorithm for determining a defect in a crosstie of the railroad track bed.

16. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor includes an algorithm for detecting missing, misaligned, damaged, or defective fastener components of the railroad track bed.

17. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor includes an algorithm for detecting a misaligned or sunken tie plate of the railroad track bed.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor includes an algorithm for determining wear of the rails of the railroad track.

19. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor includes an algorithm for determining spacing of the rails of the railroad track.

20. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor includes an algorithm for determining a height of ballast relative to a crosstie of the railroad track bed.

21. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor includes an algorithm for determining a size of ballast stones of the railroad track bed.

22. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor includes an algorithm for determining a gap size between sections of the railroad track.

23. A method for inspecting railroad track bed, the railroad track bed including crossties, rails, associated fastening hardware, and ballast, the method comprising the steps of:

a) illuminating a line across the span of the railroad track bed;

b) receiving at least a portion of the light reflected from the railroad track bed;

c) generating a plurality of images representative of the profile of at least a portion of the railroad track bed; and

d) analyzing the plurality of images and determining one or more physical characteristics of the said portion of the railroad track.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein a laser illuminates the line across the span of the railroad track bed.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the laser emits an infrared beam of light.

26. The method of claim 23, wherein the line across the span of the railroad track bed is substantially perpendicular to the rails of the railroad track bed.

27. The method of claim 24, wherein the laser emits the line with an angular expanse.

28. The method of claim 23, wherein a digital camera receives the at least a portion of light reflected from a portion of the railroad track bed.

29. The method of claim 23, further comprising the step of filtering the portion of light reflected from a portion of the railroad track bed with a band pass filter.

30. The method of claim 23, further comprising the step of storing the plurality of images.

31. The method of claim 23, further comprising the step of providing geographical location data from a GPS receiver or an encoder.

32. The method of claim 23, further comprising the step of obtaining a temperature of the rails of the railroad track bed.

33. The method of claim 23, wherein the plurality of images comprises a plurality of pixels given X-Y coordinates.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein the plurality of images further comprise a Z coordinate representing the location of the image along the length of rail of the railroad track bed.

35. The method of claim 23, further comprising the step of determining the distance between crossties of the railroad track bed.

36. The method of claim 23, further comprising the step of identifying specific components of the railroad track bed.

37. The method of claim 23, further comprising the step of determining a defect in a crosstie of the railroad track bed.

38. The method of claim 23, further comprising the step of detecting missing, misaligned, damaged, or defective fastener hardware of the railroad track bed.

39. The method of claim 23, further comprising the step of detecting a misaligned or sunken tie plate of the railroad track bed.

40. The method of claim 23, further comprising the step of determining wear of a rail of the railroad track bed.

41. The method of claim 23, further comprising the step of determining spacing of rails of the railroad track bed.

42. The method of claim 23, further comprising the step of determining a height of ballast relative to a crosstie of the railroad track bed.

43. The method of claim 23, further comprising the step of determining a size of ballast stones of the railroad track bed.

44. The method of claim 23, further comprising the step of determining a gap size between sections of rail of the railroad track bed.

45. A method of inspecting railroad track bed having a crosstie, rails, associated fastening hardware, and ballast, the method comprising the steps of:

a) traveling along the rails;

b) projecting a focused beam of light across the span of the railroad track bed;

c) capturing a plurality of images of the focused beam of light projected across a portion of railroad track bed while traveling along the rails; and

d) determining one or more aspects of the portion of the railroad track bed by processing the plurality of images.

46. The method of claim 45, wherein a laser projects the focused beam of light across the span of the railroad track bed.

47. The method of claim 46, wherein the laser emits an infrared beam of light.

48. The method of claim 46, wherein the laser is positioned substantially above the rails and emits the focused beam of light substantially perpendicular to the rails.

49. The method of claim 46, wherein the laser emits the focused beam of light with an angular expanse.

50. The method of claim 45, wherein a digital camera captures the plurality of images.

51. The method of claim 45, further comprising the step of filtering the projected beam of light with a band pass filter.

52. The method of claim 45, further comprising the step of storing the plurality of images on a data storage device.

53. The method of claim 45, further comprising the step of obtaining geographical location data from a GPS receiver or an encoder.

54. The method of claim 45, further comprising the step of obtaining the temperature of the rails.

55. The method of claim 45, wherein the plurality of images further comprises a plurality of pixels given X-Y coordinates.

56. The method of claim 55, wherein the plurality of images further comprise a Z coordinate representing the location of the image along the length of the rails.

57. The method of claim 45, further comprising the step of determining the distance between crosstie of the railroad track bed.

58. The method of claim 45, further comprising the step of identifying specific components of the railroad track bed.

59. The method of claim 45, further comprising the step of determining a defect in a crosstie of the railroad track bed.

60. The method of claim 45, further comprising the step of detecting a missing, misaligned, damaged, or defective fastening hardware.

61. The method of claim 45, further comprising the step of detecting a misaligned or sunken tie plate of the railroad track bed.

62. The method of claim 45, further comprising the step of determining wear of the rails.

63. The method of claim 45, further comprising the step of determining spacing of the rails.

64. The method of claim 45, further comprising the step of determining a height of ballast relative to a crosstie of the railroad track bed.

65. The method of claim 45, further comprising the step of determining a size of ballast stones of the railroad track bed.

66. The method of claim 45, further comprising the step of determining a gap size between sections of rail.

67. A system for inspecting a railroad track bed including the rails, the system to be mounted on a vehicle for movement along the track, the system comprising:

at least one light generator positioned adjacent the railroad bed for projecting a beam of light across the entire track bed;

at least one optical receiver positioned adjacent the railroad track bed for capturing at least a portion of the image of the railroad track bed by receiving at least a portion of the light reflected from the railroad track bed, wherein the optical receiver includes a processor to generate a dimensional profile of the captured image of the railroad track bed; and

at least one processor for analyzing the dimensional profile and determining one or more physical characteristics of the said portion of the railroad track bed.