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US 6,786,458 B1Granted
Methods and apparatus for truck hunting determination
AssigneeStartrak, LLC
InventorTimothy P. Slifkin
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Truck hunting determination involves taking samples of side to side acceleration in a vehicle, evaluating the samples by comparing the samples, and determining the degree of truck hunting on the basis of the comparison.
Claims36
A method of sensing truck hunting, comprising:
- taking samples of side to side acceleration in a vehicle;
- comparing the samples with thresholds established from prior samples recorded within a plurality of ranges of speeds;
- and
- determining the degree of truck hunting on the basis of the comparison;
- said determining step including counting the number of a plurality of peaks in the samples in each of the ranges of speeds that exceed the recorded thresholds in the range of speeds within a predetermined time period, and producing a signal indicative of a single truck hunting event when the counted number of the plurality of peaks in a range of speeds exceeds a given value.
2 more elements
An apparatus for sensing truck hunting in a car, comprising:
- a side-to-side accelerometer;
- a microcomputer coupled to said accelerometer for counting accelerations within each of a range of speeds and within periods of time that exceed thresholds established from prior accelerations recorded in the same range of speeds;
- and
- an alarm for sending a signal when the counted accelerations within a time period reaches beyond a given number.
1 more element
A method of sensing railroad faults, comprising:
- taking samples of side to side acceleration in a vehicle for predetermined periods of time;
- counting peaks of the samples that surpass a given level during the predetermined periods of time;
- and
- distinguishing excessive truck hunting events from other anomalies on the basis of the counting of the peaks;
- said distinguishing step including sending a first signal when a plurality of the peaks that surpass a given level during the predetermined period exceeds a given frequency as a single truck hunting event, and sending a second signal when the peaks that surpass a given level occur within the sampling periods but do not exceed the given frequency.
2 more elements
An apparatus for truck hunting determination, comprising:
- a side-to-side accelerometer;
- a counter responsive to acceleration peaks that surpass a given level of said accelerometer within predetermined time periods;
- and
- an evaluator responsive to said counter for distinguishing between an excessive truck hunting event and other anomalies;
- said evaluator sending a first signal when a plurality of the peaks that surpass a given level during the predetermined period exceeds a given frequency as indicating a single excessive truck hunting event, and sending a second signal when the peaks that surpass a given level occur within the sampling periods but do not exceed the given frequency as indicating a track anomaly.
2 more elements
A method of sensing truck hunting, comprising:
- taking samples of side to side acceleration in a vehicle arranging the samples for a plurality of acceleration ranges of a plurality of speed ranges;
- comparing the samples with thresholds established from prior samples for a plurality of acceleration ranges recorded within a plurality of ranges of speeds;
- and
- determining the degree of truck hunting on the basis of the comparison;
- said determining step including sensing a shift to higher accelerations in a plurality of the samples in each of the ranges of speeds that exceed the recorded thresholds in the range of speeds within a predetermined time period, and producing a signal indicative of a single truck hunting event when the counted number of peaks in a range of speeds exceeds a given value.
2 more elements
A method of sensing railroad faults, comprising:
- taking samples of side to side acceleration in a vehicle for predetermined periods of time;
- sensing when a plurality of peaks of the samples that surpass a given level during the predetermined periods of time;
- and
- distinguishing truck hunting from other anomalies on the basis of the counting of the peaks;
- said distinguishing step including sending a first signal indicative of an excessive truck hunting event when the plurality of peaks that surpass a given level during the predetermined period exceeds a given frequency of approximately 2 Hz to 6 Hz and sending a second signal indicative of track or other anomaly when the peaks that surpass a given level occur within the sampling periods but do not exceed the given frequency of approximately 2 Hz to 6 Hz.
2 more elements
A method of monitoring truck hunting for a rail car on a track, comprising:
- taking samples of side-to-side acceleration of the rail car during predetermined sampling periods;
- in each sampling period evaluating peaks of the samples to determine whether the side-to-side accelerations result from an excessive truck hunting event or from an anomaly in the track;
- the step of evaluating occurring only during predetermined intermittent periodic evaluating periods, and includes producing a first signal to indicate excessive truck hunting when the peaks that surpass the given level in one predetermined intermittent periodic evaluating period occur above a given frequency, and producing a second signal to indicate track anomaly when the peaks that surpass the given level in one predetermined intermittent periodic evaluating period occur below the given frequency;
- and
- transmitting the signals to a station remote from the rail car and the track.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.