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:
Nov. 10, 2009
Filed:
Jun. 30, 2005
Christopher M. Villar, Georgetown, TX (US);
Steven C. Orrell, Georgetown, TX (US);
John Anthony Nagle, Ii, Cedar Park, TX (US);
Christopher M. Villar, Georgetown, TX (US);
Steven C. Orrell, Georgetown, TX (US);
John Anthony Nagle, II, Cedar Park, TX (US);
Georgetown Rail Equipment Company, Georgetown, TX (US);
Abstract
A system and method for inspecting railroad track is disclosed. The disclosed system includes lasers, cameras, and a processor. The lasers are positioned adjacent the track. The laser emits a beam of light across the railroad track, and the camera captures images of the railroad track having the beam of light emitted thereon. The processor formats the images so that they can be analyzed to determine various measurable aspects of the railroad track. The disclosed system can include a GPS receiver or a distance device for determining location data. The measurable aspects that can be determined by the disclosed system include but are not limited to the spacing between crossties, the angle of ties with respect to rail, cracks and defects in surface of ties, missing fastener components, misaligned fastener components, sunken tie plates, raised spikes, rail wear, gage of rail, ballast height relative to ties, size of ballast stones, and break or separation in the rail. The system includes one or more algorithms for determining these measurable aspects of the railroad track.