Discharge gate sensing method, system and assembly
AssigneeAmsted Rail Company, Inc.
InventorsJustin M. Lidgett, Andrew H. Martin
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system, method and assembly for detecting the operational status of one or more discharge gates on one or more railcars. The system and method monitor parameters that include whether the discharge gate is open or closed, whether the railcar is in motion or not, and whether the railcar is in a location where it is acceptable for the discharge gate to be open. Sensors carry out the monitoring, and the information obtained by monitoring the parameters are used to determine if a notification event has taken place and if so, a notification of such event can be transmitted to a remote receiver. A change in the status of any one of the monitored parameters can trigger the determination of whether a notification event has occurred.
Claims10
An assembly, comprising;
- a valve attachable to a railway asset through which a commodity can be removed from the railway asset, said valve having one or more operative components that are displaceable when the valve is operated to open and close said valve, and wherein said one or more operative components comprises a rotatable shaft to which a magnet is affixed such that said magnet rotates with said rotatable shaft about a common axis;
- and
- a sensor configured to be mounted on the railway asset in proximity to said rotatable shaft and configured to sense a position of said magnet, wherein said position is indicative of rotational displacement of said rotatable shaft, thereby indicating whether the valve is open or close.
A railway asset, comprising:
- a storage compartment configured to store a commodity;
- a valve coupled to the storage compartment and configured to facilitate removal of the commodity from the storage compartment;
- a rotatable shaft attached to the valve and configured to facilitate an opening and closing of the valve, wherein a magnet is affixed to said rotatable shaft such that said magnet rotates with said rotatable shaft about a common axis;
- and
- a sensor device coupled to a surface of the storage compartment so as to be mounted in proximity to said rotatable shaft, configured to detect changes in a rotational position of a magnet relative to the sensor device, and configured to determine an open or close status of the valve based on a rotational position of the magnet indicative of rotational displacement of said rotatable shaft.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.