Highway Crossing Out-of-Service Controller with Timer
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for disabling active highway crossing systems are complex and prone to human errors, leading to 'Human Caused Activation Failures' that result in safety hazards and accidents, as railroad employees may inadvertently leave tracks out of service without ensuring the systems are safely restored.
Innovation Solution
A highway out-of-service controller system that includes a timer and control circuitry to selectively disable and re-enable crossing equipment, with a user-friendly interface and lighted indicators to clearly indicate which tracks are out of service, ensuring the system is safely restored before the timer expires.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If physical jumpers are used to disable the highway crossing system, then the system can be taken out of service, but the process becomes complicated and prone to human error
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical jumper method with an electronic control system that uses a controller, timer, and graphical user interface. This substitution eliminates the need for physical jumpers and manual terminal connections, reducing complexity and human error while maintaining the ability to take the system out of service.
Solution Approach 2:
The controller automatically manages the disabling and enabling of the highway crossing system through programmed logic. The timer automatically tracks the out-of-service duration, and the system automatically re-enables itself after the predetermined time period, eliminating the need for manual intervention to restore service.
2Ease of operation
If employees manually disable the crossing system without restrictions, then track maintenance can be performed, but Human Caused Activation Failures may occur
Solution Approach 1:
The system requires employees to预先 set a predetermined time period before disabling the crossing system. This preliminary action ensures that the system will automatically re-enable itself after the specified duration, preventing permanent disabling and reducing the risk of Human Caused Activation Failures while still allowing necessary maintenance work.
Solution Approach 2:
The graphical user interface provides visual feedback to employees about the system status, including which tracks are out of service and the remaining time. This feedback mechanism ensures employees are aware of the system state and can make informed decisions, reducing the likelihood of accidental or erroneous disabling.
3Loss of information
If the system provides detailed track status information, then employee confusion is reduced, but the interface complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The graphical user interface uses color-coded visual indicators to represent different track statuses (e.g., active vs. out of service). This use of color changes provides immediate, intuitive information about track status without requiring complex displays or text-heavy interfaces, maintaining simplicity while improving information clarity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses a graphical representation with visual elements arranged in a spatial layout that intuitively corresponds to the physical track configuration. This dimensional visualization allows employees to quickly understand track status and system state without complex text or numerical data.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for selectively disabling highway crossing equipment includes a timer for controlling a maximum out of service time for the highway crossing equipment, a switch for controlling disablement of the highway crossing equipment, and control circuitry responsive to the timer and the switch. The control circuitry disables the highway crossing equipment in response to an input received from the switch before the maximum out of service time has been reached and re-enables the highway crossing equipment in response to a subsequent input from the switch received before the maximum out of service time has been reached. The control circuitry places the highway crossing equipment in a failsafe condition when the maximum out of service time has been reached without receiving the subsequent input from the switch.