Railroad snow removal system
AssigneeRailway Equipment Company, Inc.
InventorsDavid K. Fox, Greggory C. Phelps, Randall G. Honeck, Albert Newton
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A snow removal system wherein snow removers located in remote locations can be monitored and controlled at a computing device. Data collected by sensors on the snow removal unit or data collected from a secondary source can be used to control the operation of the snow removers. In one embodiment, data regarding whether it is snowing at a particular location can be collected by moister sensors on the snow removal device and verified by on-line contemporaneous weather reports corresponding to the same location.
Claims24
A railroad snow removal network comprising:
- a plurality of snow removal devices positioned at geographic locations each including a snow removal element, a sensor for detecting snow fall, a transmitter, and a processor, wherein each snow removal device is configured to automatically turn on when snow fall is detected;
- a computing device including a processor, a transmitter, and a receiver, the computing device configured to acquire weather data from a weather reporting source wherein the data corresponds to the geographic locations of the snow removal devices, wherein the computing device is configured to send an alert when a snow removal device is turned off when the weather reporting source indicates that snow is falling at the corresponding location;
- and
- a user interface configured to display at least the location of the snow removal device.
A railroad snow removal monitoring network comprising:
- a snow removal device including a heating element, a sensor, and a transmitter;
- and
- a computing device including a processor, a transmitter, and a receiver, the computing device configured to receive data collected from the sensor and compare the received data with data from a secondary data source and send an alert to an operator based on the comparison.
A method of monitoring a plurality of railroad switch snow removal devices, the method comprising:
- measuring at least a temperature at a location of a snow removal device to determine if snow is falling at the location;
- querying data from a secondary source of weather information for information relating to whether snow is falling at the location;
- determining if there is a discrepancy regarding whether snow is falling at the location;
- and
- automatically alerting an operator if a discrepancy is detected.
A railroad snow removal monitoring network comprising:
- a snow removal device including a heating element, a sensor, and a transmitter;
- and
- a computing device including a processor, a transmitter, and a receiver, the computing device configured to receive data collected from the sensor and compare the received data with data from a secondary data source.
A railroad snow removal network comprising:
- a plurality of snow removal devices positioned at geographic locations, wherein each snow removal device is configured to automatically turn on when snow fall is detected;
- a computing device configured to acquire weather data from a weather reporting source wherein the data corresponds to the geographic locations of the snow removal devices, wherein the computing device is configured to send an alert when a snow removal device is turned off when the weather reporting source indicates that snow is falling at the corresponding location and send an alert when the snow removal device is turn on when the whether reporting source indicates that snow is not falling at the corresponding location.
A method of monitoring a plurality of railroad switch snow removal devices, the method comprising:
- monitoring whether a snow removal device is on or off;
- querying data from a weather reporting source and determining whether the snow removal device should be on or off,
- determining if there is a discrepancy regarding whether the snow removal device is on or off;
- and
- automatically alerting an operator if a discrepancy is detected.
A method of using an automated system to monitor a railroad switch snow removal device located at a geographic region, the method comprising:
- monitoring the snow removal device with the automated system to determine an actual operational status of the snow removal device, the actual operational status being either on or off
- monitoring weather data for the geographic region from a weather information service, the weather data for the geographic region being monitored by the automated system;
- using the automated system to determining a recommended operational status of the snow removal device based on the weather data monitored from the weather information service, the recommended operational status being either on or off;
- using the automated system to detect if there is a discrepancy between the actual operational status and the recommended operational status of the snow melter;
- and
- using the automated system to automatically alert an operator if a discrepancy is detected between the actual operational status and the recommended operational status of the snow melter.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.