Continuous rail and airborne rail transit alert system for pedestrians, vehicles and animals
AssigneeThe Fred M. Kemp Foundation
InventorFred M. Kemp, III
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An alert system for railed vehicles than can operate continuously or nearly continuously to warn pedestrians, vehicles and animals. In one embodiment, the system has a transmitter in close proximity with one or more rails for applying energy to become a medium for the energy that is felt or heard at a warning distance. In another embodiment, a transmitter is mounted on a train to broadcast a highly focused airborne warning that can be heard or felt even by the hearing impaired. Optionally, but desirably, the system has a forward-looking sensing device for identifying an obstruction in a prescribed warning area that triggers an auxiliary warning system with a customized (or tailored) warning based on that identification that also may be heard or felt.
Claims18
An airborne warning system for use with a rail vehicle which is movable along a track, the warning system comprising a transmitter mounted on the rail vehicle, said transmitter nearly continuously emitting a narrow warning beam substantially a full time the rail vehicle is moving, said narrow warning beam being an airborne warning directed to be focused down the track in a direction of travel of the rail vehicle, said narrow warning beam being sized to keep said narrow warning beam within a warning area for a desired warning distance, said warning area being delimited on opposite sides by a railroad right of way and having a width corresponding to the railroad right of way;
- said warning distance being at least a distance traveled by the rail vehicle in 5 seconds, whereby said narrow warning beam is contained substantially within said warning area for said desired warning distance.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.