Lead rail vehicle with drone vehicle and method
AssigneeHarsco Corporation
InventorJohn Mustard
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system for performing track maintenance operations is described. The system includes a lead vehicle for identifying sections of rail that have been pre-marked for track maintenance operations. The lead vehicle further includes a control system for receiving and transmitting coordinates of the pre-marked track sections. The system further includes at least one drone vehicle for receiving the coordinates from the control system and the drone vehicle has at least one workhead for performing track maintenance operations on the pre-marked track sections.
Claims16
A system for performing track maintenance operations, comprising:
- a lead vehicle for identifying sections of rail that have been pre-marked for track maintenance operations, the lead vehicle having a control system for receiving and transmitting coordinates of the pre-marked track sections;
- and
- at least one drone vehicle for receiving the coordinates from the control system, the drone vehicle having at least one workhead for performing track maintenance operations on the pre-marked track sections.
A system for performing track maintenance operations, comprising:
- a lead vehicle for identifying sections of rail that have been pre-marked for track maintenance operations, the lead vehicle having a control system for receiving and transmitting coordinates of the pre-marked track sections, wherein the lead vehicle further comprises a track section locator and an identifier disposed between the track section locator and an operator of the lead vehicle, the identifier being substantially aligned with the operator's field of view;
- and
- at least one drone vehicle for receiving the coordinates from the control system, the drone vehicle having at least one workhead for performing track maintenance operations on the pre-marked track sections.
A method for performing track maintenance operations, comprising:
- pre-marking sections of track to be worked;
- advancing a lead vehicle along the track, the lead vehicle having an identifier for identifying the pre-marked sections of track to be worked;
- identifying coordinates of the track section to be worked;
- and
- wirelessly transmitting the coordinates to one or more drone vehicles following the lead vehicle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.