Systems and methods for analyzing a rail

Inventors

Kim, Anthony • Ford, David G. • Bloom, Jeffrey

Assignees

Ensco Inc

Abstract

A deployable measurement system for analyzing a rail of a railroad track includes a housing, a reflecting assembly coupled to the housing, a movement assembly coupled to the housing, and an optical measurement system disposed within the housing. Both the housing and the reflecting assembly are moveable between a stored position and a deployed position. The movement assembly includes a deployment assembly that moves the reflecting assembly from the stored position to the deployed position, and a retraction assembly that moves the reflecting assembly from the deployed position to the stored position. The optical measurement system emits and receives light. The reflecting assembly reflects the emitted light toward the rail. The reflecting assembly reflects light reflected off of the rail toward the optical measurement system. The light received by the optical measurement system is used to measure parameters related to the rail.

Core Innovation

A deployable measurement system is configured to be coupled to a frame of a vehicle that moves along a railroad track having a pair of running rails and a conducting rail. The system includes a housing movable between a stored position and a deployed position for performing rail-related measurement while the vehicle travels along the track, and a reflecting assembly coupled to the housing and movable between the stored position and the deployed position, including a reflective element configured to reflect electromagnetic radiation incident thereon.

An optical measurement system disposed within the housing receives electromagnetic radiation reflected by the reflective element, where the received electromagnetic radiation is associated with one or more parameters related to the conducting rail. The system further includes one or more sensors configured to detect foreign objects, and responsive to detecting a foreign object and determining that the detected foreign object is within a threshold distance from the vehicle, the railroad track, or any combination thereof, the system causes the reflecting assembly to move to the stored position and/or causes the housing to move to the stored position.

The reflecting assembly and the motion between stored and deployed positions are implemented via a movement assembly coupled to the housing configured to cause the reflecting assembly to move between the stored position and the deployed position. In a more detailed configuration, the reflecting assembly includes a base plate, a reflective element positioned at a non-zero angle relative to the base of the housing when deployed, and an aperture plate with a flange configured to engage a lip of an opening in the housing in response to deployment.

Side brackets are coupled to the aperture plate and the base plate via fasteners configured to permit detachment in response to a first force greater than a first detachment threshold force imparted on the base plate, the side brackets, or any combination thereof, while a retraction assembly biases the reflecting assembly to the stored position and a deployment assembly exerts a deployment force sufficient to overcome the retraction force.

Claims Coverage

The consolidated content provides three independent claims, each focusing on a deployable optical measurement system mounted to a vehicle traveling along a railroad track and having stored/deployed motion of a reflecting assembly, optical measurement of rail-related parameters, and sensor-based foreign-object response; the independent claims vary by adding deployment positioning outside the housing, and by specifying detailed reflecting-assembly structure and deployment/retraction and engagement geometry.

Across the independent claims, the core claim coverage is a deployable rail-related optical measurement system for a vehicle on a railroad track, where a reflecting assembly reflecting electromagnetic radiation is moved between stored and deployed positions and an optical measurement system receives radiation to associate with rail parameters, with foreign-object detection triggering stowage within a threshold distance; additional claim coverage includes deployment positioning of at least a portion of the reflecting assembly outside the housing and, in another independent claim, detailed reflecting-assembly geometry including a non-zero angled reflective element and aperture-plate flange engagement with a lip, plus detachment-threshold behavior and deployment/retraction force interactions.

Stated Advantages

Documented Applications