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AssigneeAlliance Coal, LLC
InventorsTracy L. Hayford, David Clardy, Mark Watson, Justin E. Bennett, Paul R. Blaylock, Timothy M. Debaillie, Mike E. Ciholas, Evan M. Buchanan, Christopher Elpers
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A system for tracking personnel and equipment in hazardous environments in pre or post-accident situations includes an intrinsically safe tracking tag and an intrinsically safe reader system. The intrinsically safe tracking tag transmits identification and status information to the intrinsically safe reader system, which includes a plurality of intrinsically safe antennas and a hub cable driver. In one embodiment, antennas are located at known positions in the hazardous environment and connected via a redundant, wired-mesh topology. The wired-mesh topology also allows more flexible antenna placement than line-of-sight wireless-mesh systems. The hub cable driver provides intrinsically safe power to and communication with the antennas using communication cables, receives data signals from the antennas, and transmits the data signals to a server. The server stores the data signals in a storage device and is connected to a workstation. The workstation retrieves the stored data to track persons or equipment.
A system for tracking personnel and equipment in a hazardous environment comprising:
A system for tracking personnel and equipment in a hazardous environment, comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
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About 2 years 1 month of term left · ends 25 Nov 2028 (estimated)
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FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of an exemplary system for tracking personnel and equipment in a hazardous environment according to the invention.
FIG. 2-FIG. 5 are schematic diagrams of sample system configurations in a typical mine setting.
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an exemplary intrinsically safe personnel tag attached to a representative hard hat.
For the purpose of this document, “intrinsically safe” shall be as defined by the U.S. Department of Labor, Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA).
Further, for the purpose of this document, “hazardous environments” will be described with reference to underground mines, although is shall be understood that the system and method described has applications in any hazardous environment, including underground mines, as well as foundries, mills, large ships, refineries, heavy industry environments, etc.
FIG. 1 shows an exemplary system 10 for tracking personnel and equipment in a hazardous environment in pre or post-accident situations including: an intrinsically safe personnel tag 20 (although only one tag is shown, in use there would be multiple such tags), an intrinsically safe equipment tag 22 (again, although only one tag is shown, in use there would be multiple such tags), a first group of intrinsically safe antennas 26a-26i, a second group of intrinsically safe antenna 28a-28i, a hub cable driver 30, a data switch 34, a server 36, data storage 38, and a workstation 40. The hub 30, first group of antennas 26a-26i, and second group of antennas 28a-28i, are connected by segments of communication cable, preferably coaxial cable. The exemplary system 10 is an electronic safety system designed specifically for hazardous environments 48 to determine and report on the location of personnel and equipment. Advantageously, the exemplary system 10 is based on industry-standard Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology used in many commercial applications, such as: turnpike passes, marathon/running events, and door security systems, although other radio technologies are within the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.