Granted Patent B2

US 12,534,117 · App. 18/317,693 · Granted Jan 27, 2026

Inventors: Christopher J. Schuchmann (Rockledge, FL); Jeffrey Fries (Grain Valley, MO); John Ross (West Melbourne, FL); Anuka Sawh (Melbourne, FL); Shilpa Cherian (Melbourne, FL)

B61L23/044

Abstract

Claims (25)

1 . A method for determining a change of a state of a track section of a railroad, the track section comprising a first end electrically connected to a first track device, and a second end electrically connected to a second track device, the track section further comprising rails connecting the first end with the second end, the track section being associated with at least one computing unit, at least one of the first track device and the second track device being in communication with the computing unit,

upon initialization of the method, the state of the track section being a first predetermined state, wherein at least one of the first track device and the second track device, called receiving track device, measures a received current intensity at a receiving end, the receiving end being the end among the first end and the second end, which is electrically connected to the receiving track device, wherein the received current intensity is equal to a first initial value upon initialization of the method, and the first track device applies a voltage to the first end and measures a transmitted current intensity transmitted by the first track device along the rails of the track section towards the second end, wherein the transmitted current intensity is equal to a second initial value upon initialization of the method, the method comprising:

first monitoring of the received current intensity, wherein the first monitoring comprises comparing at least one present value of the received current intensity measured by the receiving track device with said first initial value so as to obtain a relative change value comprising a percentage of variation of the received current intensity, wherein the first monitoring further comprises comparing the relative change value with a relative threshold value so as to obtain a comparison result;

second monitoring comprising monitoring of the transmitted current intensity so as to obtain a monitoring result, the second monitoring being implemented if the comparison result indicates a decrease of the received current intensity according to the relative change value more than the relative threshold value; and

changing of the state of the track section, in function of the monitoring result, to a second predetermined state or a third predetermined state.

2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the changing of the state of the track section comprises changing the state to the second predetermined state if the monitoring result indicates an increase of the transmitted current intensity in comparison with the second initial value, and

wherein said changing comprises changing the state to the third predetermined state if the monitoring result indicates a decrease of the transmitted current intensity in comparison with the second initial value.

3 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the second monitoring comprises monitoring the transmitted current intensity during a predetermined time period delimited by a start time and an end time, so as to obtain the monitoring result,

wherein, if during said predetermined time period, a present value of the transmitted current intensity is higher than the second initial value, the second monitoring further comprises modifying a flag value from an inactive flag value to an active flag value,

wherein said changing comprises changing of the state in function of the flag value.

4 . The method according to claim 3 , wherein said changing of the state is implemented at the earliest at said end time.

5 . The method according to claim 3 , wherein said changing comprises changing the state of the track section to the second predetermined state, if the flag value is the active flag value at the end time,

and wherein said changing comprises changing the state of the track section to the third predetermined state, if the flag value is the inactive flag value at the end time.

6 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the first predetermined state corresponds to the track section being unoccupied, the second predetermined state corresponds to the track section being occupied by a railway vehicle, and the third predetermined state corresponds to at least one of the rails of the track section being broken.

7 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first monitoring and the second monitoring is implemented in form of a monitoring loop,

wherein the monitoring loop of the first monitoring comprises comparing a plurality of consecutive present values of the received current intensity with said first initial value, and/or

wherein the monitoring loop of the second monitoring comprises monitoring of a plurality of consecutive present values of the transmitted current intensity with the second initial value.

8 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the relative threshold value is substantially equal to 45%.

9 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium including a computer program comprising software instructions which, when executed by a computer, implement a method according to claim 1 .

10 . An apparatus for determining a change of a state of a track section of a railroad comprising a first end, a second end and rails connecting the first and with the second end, the apparatus comprising a first track device configured to be electrically connected to the first end of the track section, a second track device configured to be electrically connected to the second end of the track section, and at least one computing unit configured to communicate with at least one of the first track device and the second track device,

wherein the apparatus is configured to present an initial condition, in which the state of the track section is defined to a first predetermined state, wherein at least one of the first track device and the second track device, called receiving track device, measures a received current intensity received at a receiving end, the receiving end being the end among the first end, which is electrically connected to the receiving track device, wherein, in the initial condition, the received current intensity is equal to a first initial value, wherein the first track device applies a voltage to the first end and measures a transmitted current intensity transmitted by the first track device along the rails of the track section towards the second end, and wherein, in the initial condition, the transmitted current intensity is equal to a second initial value,

wherein the computing unit is configured for implementing:

first monitoring of the received current intensity, wherein the first monitoring comprises comparing at least one present value of the received current intensity measured by the receiving track device with said first initial value so as to obtain a relative change value comprising a percentage of variation of the received current intensity, wherein the first monitoring further comprises comparing the relative change value with a relative threshold value so as to obtain a comparison result;

second monitoring comprising monitoring of the transmitted current intensity so as to obtain a monitoring result, the second monitoring being implemented if the comparison result indicates a decrease of the received current intensity according to the relative change value more than the relative threshold value;

changing of the state of the track section, in function of the monitoring result, to a second predetermined state or a third predetermined state.

Assignments (3)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (14)