Electronic condition detection system and method for railcars
AssigneeUnion Tank Car Company
InventorRobert S. Toms
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A railcar has an on-board system for detecting conditions of the railcar. The on-board system includes a plurality of condition sensors positioned on the railcar. A transceiver is in communication with each of the plurality of condition sensors so as to receive condition data from the plurality of condition sensors. The transceiver transmits the condition data to a receiving station remote from the railcar for review and analysis.
Claims28
A system for tracking and detecting a condition of a tank car containing a hazardous commodity comprising:
- a) a leak detection sensor adapted to be positioned on the tank car;
- b) a global positioning system transponder adapted to be positioned on the tank car;
- c) a microprocessor having a memory, said microprocessor and memory adapted to receive and store hazardous commodity emergency response data;
- d) a transceiver adapted to communicate with the leak detection sensor, the global positioning system transponder and the microprocessor so as to receive condition data from the leak detection sensor, location data from the global positioning system transponder and the hazardous commodity emergency response data from the microprocessor memory;
- e) said transceiver adapted to transmit the condition data, the location data and the hazardous commodity emergency response data to a receiving station remote from the tank car.
A tank car having a tracking and condition detection system for hazardous commodity loads comprising:
- a) a body including a tank;
- b) a leak detection sensor positioned on the tank car body;
- c) a global positioning system transponder positioned on the tank car body;
- d) a microprocessor having a memory, said microprocessor and memory adapted to receive and store hazardous commodity emergency response data for a load;
- e) a transceiver in communication with the leak detection sensor, the global positioning system transponder and the microprocessor so as to receive condition data from the leak detection sensor, location data from the global positioning system transponder and the hazardous commodity emergency response data from the microprocessor memory;
- f) said transceiver adapted to transmit the condition data, the location data and the hazardous commodity emergency response data to a receiving station remote from the tank car.
A method for remotely tracking and determining a condition of a tank car containing a hazardous commodity comprising the steps of:
- a) detecting a leak in a tank of the tank car using a leak detection sensor positioned on the tank car;
- b) determining a location of the tank car using a global positioning system transponder positioned on the tank car;
- c) storing emergency response data for the hazardous commodity contained in the tank car in a computer memory;
- d) providing data from the leak detection sensor, global positioning system transponder and computer memory to a transceiver;
- e) transmitting the data from the leak detection sensor, global positioning system transponder and computer memory to a receiving station remote from the tank car.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.