Tracking rolling stock in a controlled area of a railway

• US 8,296,000 B2
• Filed: 09/08/2010
• Issued: 10/23/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/08/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: RailComm
• Original Assignee: RailComm
• Inventors: Denny, Joseph M., Penza, Michael J., Kunzmann, Andrew, Gleeson, Sean
• Primary Examiner(s): Zanelli, Michael J.
• Application Number:
  US12/877,625
• Publication Number:
  US 20120056042A1
• Time in Patent Office: 776 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 701/19
• CPC Class Codes: B61L 17/02 Details, e.g. indicating degree of track filling

Abstract

A system for monitoring the location of rolling stock within a controlled area of a railway system is provided. The system includes a plurality of axle counters within the controlled area, wherein the axle counts are associated with a global sequence identifier. A central controller processes the axle counts and associated global sequence identifier in conjunction with a list of rolling stock entering the controlled area to provide a real time map of the location of each piece of rolling stock within the controlled area.

Claims

1. A method of tracking rolling stock in a controlled area of a railway system, the method comprising:

(a) linking an axle count from an axle counter located in the controlled area and a global sequence identifier to provide an identified axle count;

(b) associating the identified axle count with a predetermined axle of a given rolling stock within the controlled area; and

(c) displaying a position of at least one of the identified axle count and the given rolling stock in the controlled area.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying a position of the at least one of the identified axle count and the given rolling stock relative to the axle counter.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying a position of the at least one of the identified axle count and the given rolling stock relative to a track zone in the controlled area.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising associating the given rolling stock with a railcar identifier.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising comparing the identified axle count and a unique railcar identification with a secondary source.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the secondary source is an entrance portal.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the global sequence identifier is derived from a GPS time stamp.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining at least one of (i) a location of a first predetermined axle relative to a second predetermined axle in the controlled area, (ii) a direction of travel of the first predetermined axle, and (iii) a location of the first predetermined axle relative to a track zone within the controlled area.

9. A method of tracking rolling stock in a controlled area of a railway system, the method comprising:

(a) transmitting to a central controller to provide an axle count, a signal corresponding to passage of an axle from at least one of a plurality of networked axle counters in the controlled area;

(b) assigning a global sequence identifier to at least a subset of the axle counts; and

(c) displaying a location of rolling stock within the controlled area corresponding to the at least subset of axle counts.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein transmitting to a central controller to provide an axle count a signal corresponding to passage of an axle from at least one of a plurality of networked axle counters in the controlled area includes transmitting the signal from the at least one of the plurality of networked axle counters to a field controller, processing the signal at the field controller and transmitting a corresponding signal to the central controller.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising transmitting the global sequence identifier from the field controller to the central controller.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising assigning the global sequence identifier at the field controller.

13. The method of claim 9, further comprising assigning the global sequence identifier at the respective axle counter.

14. The method of claim 9, further comprising employing a time stamp as the global sequence identifier.

15. A method of tracking rolling stock in a controlled area of a railway system, the method comprising:

(a) receiving data representing an order of rolling stock in a train entering the controlled area, at least one of the rolling stock being uniquely identified;

(b) obtaining an axle count from at least one axle counter in the controlled area; and

(c) associating the obtained axle count with the at least one of the rolling rock within the controlled area.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising displaying a location of the at least one of the rolling stock relative to the at least one axle counter in the controlled area.

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising associating a global sequence identifier with the obtained axle count.

18. A system for tracking rolling stock in a controlled area of a railway system, the system comprising:

(a) a plurality of axle counters in the controlled area for determining passage of an axle;

(b) a global sequencer assigning a global sequence identifier to the passage of the axle by at least one axle counter in the controlled area; and

(c) a central processor configured to provide a display of a location of a piece of rolling stock within the controlled area corresponding to the determined passage of the axle and the assigned global sequence identifier.

19. The system of claim 18, further comprising a field controller in communication with the plurality of axle counters, the field controller including the global sequencer.

20. A method for tracking rolling stock in a controlled area of a railway system, the controlled area including at least one track zone extending between adjacent axle counters, the method comprising:

(a) obtaining a list of rolling stock entering the controlled area and a global sequence identifier associated with at least a subset of rolling stock in the list;

(b) identifying a passage of the subset of rolling stock from at least one of the axle counters and associating the passage with a global sequence identifier; and

(c) displaying an order of the subset of the rolling stock within the track zone.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising transmitting a signal corresponding to the passage of the subset of rolling stock from the at least one of the axle counters.

22. The method of claim 20, further comprising assigning a ticket to each axle entering the controlled area.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the ticket uniquely identifies the axle relative to the remaining axles within the controlled area.