Route examining system and method

Abstract

A system includes an application device, a control unit, a detection unit, an identification unit, and a secondary analysis module. The application device is configured to be at least one of conductively or inductively coupled with a route. The control unit is configured to control supply of electric current to inject an examination signal into the route via the application device. The detection unit is configured to monitor one or more electrical characteristics of the route. The identification unit is configured to examine the one or more electrical characteristics of the route to determine whether a section of the route is potentially damaged. The secondary analysis module is configured to perform a secondary analysis of the potentially damaged section of the route to at least one of confirm that damage has occurred, identify a type of damage, or assess a level of damage.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application is a continuation of International Application No. PCT / US13 / 054300, which was filed on 9 Aug. 2013. International Application No. PCT / US13 / 054300 claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61 / 681,843, which was filed on 10 Aug. 2012, U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61 / 729,188, which was filed on 21 Nov. 2012, U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61 / 860,469, which was filed on 31 Jul. 2013, and U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61 / 860,496, which was filed on 31 Jul. 2013, all of which aforementioned provisional applications are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.TECHNICAL FIELD[0002]Embodiments of the subject matter disclosed herein relate to examining routes traveled by vehicles for damage to the routes, and more particularly to improved reliability of detection of broken rails or other defects in routes and / or reducing or minimizing false alarms related to potential route defe...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

Routes that are traveled by vehicles may become damaged over time with extended use.

For example, tracks on which rail vehicles travel may become damaged and / or broken.

The cameras and lasers may be mounted on the rail vehicles, but the accuracy of the cameras and lasers may be limited by the speed at which the rail vehicles move during inspection of the route.

As a result, the cameras and lasers may not be able to be used during regular operation (e.g., travel) of the rail vehicles.

These systems may require very slow movement of the transducers relative to the tracks in order to detect damage to the track.

Inspections of the track can take a considerable amount of time, during which the inspected section of the route may be unusable by regular route traffic.

These systems are limited at least in that the wayside devices are immobile.

As a result, the systems cannot inspect large spans of track and / or a large number of devices must be installed in order to inspect the large spans of track.

Additionally, other anomalies, intentional or unintentional, may impact a test current and result in false alarms.

This manual inspection is slow and prone to errors.

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