QUANTUM ENGINEERING, INC. Patent applications |
Patent application number | Title | Published |
20100332058 | VITAL SPEED PROFILE TO CONTROL A TRAIN MOVING ALONG A TRACK - A speed profile for an entire train trip includes a maximum allowable speed at each point of the entire trip, taking into account the ability of the train to comply with speed reductions encountered during the trip. The speed profile includes a braking curve that gradually reduces from a higher speed to a lower speed starting at a point at which the train must begin braking in order to be traveling at the lower speed when the train reaches the point at which the lower speed limit begins. The speed profile is generated on multiple wayside computers, cross checked, and then vitally transmitted to an onboard locomotive control system. The onboard control system includes redundant speed sensors with redundant vital circuits, and also includes redundant speed comparators to ensure that the train doesn't exceed the speed profile. A GPS receiver may be used for greater reliability. | 12-30-2010 |
20100213321 | METHOD AND SYSTEMS FOR END OF TRAIN FORCE REPORTING - An EOT unit detects an excessive end of train force using an accelerometer and reports the excessive force. The report may be made to a device located off the train, to an event recorder in the EOT unit, and/or to another device located on the train such as a head of train unit and/or an event recorder located outside the EOT unit. The accelerometer may be a singe, dual, or tri-axial accelerometer. The message may be sent in response to the detection of the excessive acceleration or may be part of a periodically transmitted message from the EOT unit to a HOT unit. A HOT unit is configured to receive a message indicating an excessive EOT acceleration and display an indication of the excessive acceleration to the operator and/or record the message in an event recorder and/or report the excessive acceleration to a device located off the train. | 08-26-2010 |
20090109013 | DISPLAY OF NON-LINKED EOT UNITS HAVING AN EMERGENCY STATUS - A head of train device is configured to examine messages received from end of train units other than the end of train unit attached to the same train and to alert an operator to the presence of an end of train unit from another train that indicates that the end of train unit from the other train has stopped. The indication can take the form of a zero brake pipe pressure. | 04-30-2009 |
20090093920 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATICALLY LOCATING END OF TRAIN DEVICES - ABSTRACT An end of train unit includes a positioning system such as a GPS receiver and is configured to transmit a message including the EOT unit's location when the EOT unit detects a loss of air pipe pressure and/or it is tipped over and/or a low battery condition is detected. In highly preferred embodiments, the EOT unit periodically re-transmits the message until an acknowledgment message is received. In some embodiments, information from the positioning system is used to create a signal as a substitute for a motion sensor. In other embodiments, information from the positioning system is used to determine the speed of the end of the train. End of train unit tracking is also performed. | 04-09-2009 |
20090058624 | COGNITIVE ALERTER - A system and method for ensuring that an operator remain alert includes monitoring the operator to determine when the operator is actively working the train controls, and, when the operator has not actively worked the controls for a first period of time, displaying a sequence the repetition of which requires cognitive alertness of the operator. If the operator fails to repeat the sequence, or a corresponding sequence, the train is stopped. In some embodiments, the cognitive alerter is inoperative below predetermined speed levels. | 03-05-2009 |
20090048725 | TRAIN CREW MANAGEMENT AND SECURITY SYSTEM - A locomotive security system (LSS) is provided. The locomotive security system includes a processor located on a locomotive; an I/O device connected to the processor; and a data storage medium reading device connected to the processor. In some embodiments, the I/O device can be configured to obtain personal information from an operator and communicate the personal information to the processor. Additionally, the data medium reading device can be configured to read data stored on a portable data storage medium. | 02-19-2009 |
20090043435 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR MAKING A GPS SIGNAL VITAL - Position reports from GPS receivers can be made vital through a variety of techniques including relative differential GPS corrections and a technique in which a train traveling on a fixed path is provided with a database that includes positions on fixed paths or data from which positions on fixed paths can be determined. Position reports from GPS receivers located on the vehicle are compared to the positions of the fixed paths in the database. If the distance from the position reported by the GPS receiver to the nearest point on the nearest fixed path is greater than the stated accuracy of the GPS receiver, the position report is discarded or other corrective action is taken. A second technique involves cross-checking position reports from two GPS receivers separated by a known distance, preferably mounted on a single vehicle. Still other techniques may be used. | 02-12-2009 |