Route examining system and method

US9834237B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• General Electric Company · US

Inventors

• Yuri Alexeyevich Plotnikov · Niskayuna, US
• Brett Alexander Matthews · Albany, US
• Ajith Kuttannair Kumar · Erie, US
• Jeffrey Michael Fries · Grain Valley, US
• Joseph Forrest Noffsinger · Lee's Summit, US
• Samhitha Palanganda Poonacha · Bengaluru, IN
• Tannous Frangieh · Niskayuna, US
• Frederick Wilson Wheeler · Niskayuna, US
• Brian Lee Staton · Palm Bay, US
• Timothy Robert Brown · Lowell, US
• Gregory Boverman · Niskayuna, US
• Majid Nayeri · Niskayuna, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Aug 31, 2015
• Grant date: Dec 5, 2017
• Expiry date: Aug 31, 2035

Classification

• Technology area (CPC B): Performing Operations; Transporting
• CPC primary: B61L3/18
• WIPO field: Transport
• WIPO sector: Mechanical engineering

Abstract

Systems and methods for examining a route inject one or more electrical examination signals into a conductive route from onboard a vehicle system traveling along the route, detect one or more electrical characteristics of the route based on the one or more electrical examination signals, apply a filter to the one or more electrical characteristics, and detect a break in conductivity of the route responsive to the one or more electrical characteristics decreasing by more than a designated drop threshold for a time period within a designated drop time period. Feature vectors may be determined for the electrical characteristics and compared to one or more patterns in order to distinguish between breaks in the conductivity of the route and other causes for changes in the electrical characteristics.