The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 10, 2004
Filed:
Jun. 17, 2002
Samuel R. Mollet, Grain Valley, MO (US);
Anthony F. Colucci, Overland Park, KS (US);
Augustus Henry Brown, Kearney, MO (US);
General Electric Company, Schenectady, NY (US);
Abstract
A system ( ) and method for remotely monitoring the operating status of railroad grade crossing warning equipment. A sensor ( ) generates a signal ( ) responsive to the operation of a grade crossing annunciator ( ). In one embodiment, the annunciator may be a bell or speaker horn ( ) and the sensor may be an accelerometer ( ) mechanically coupled to the bell. A wayside controller ( ) uses the signal as input for developing information ( ) indicative of the operating status of the annunciator. A communications link ( ) transmits the information to a location remote from the grade crossing. A system controller ( ) located at the remote location may diagnose the information to direct a maintenance center ( ) and/or operations center ( ) in response to an indication of degraded performance of the annunciator. The communications link may include the Internet and may be used for two-way communication between the remote location and the grade crossing location ( ).