Title: Cellemetry-operated railroad switch heater
Abstract: A system for monitoring a sensor or switch for operation is disclosed. The switch or sensor is coupled to a CELLEMETRY™ transmitter for sending electronic serial numbers (ESNs) encoded with information, and receiving mobile identification numbers (MINs), also encoded with information, in accordance with the CELLEMETRY™ protocol. A microprocessor controls operation of the combination of the radio and sensor or switch. A computerized control center coupled to the Internet provides a connection medium between the cellular system and the control center. When a sensor or switch so connected operates, the radio sends an ESN via the control channels of the cellular system to the Internet, where the ESN is relayed to the control center. There, processing occurs that provides notification to an entity associated with the sensor or switch. Communications from the control center to the radio associated with a sensor are via MIN numbers, and may initiate operation of a device coupled to the sensor.
Patent Number: 6,995,666 Issued on 02/07/2006 to Luttrell
| Inventors:
|
Luttrell; Clyde K. (7749 Donegal Dr., Huntsville, AL 35802)
|
| Appl. No.:
|
613430 |
| Filed:
|
July 3, 2003 |
| Current U.S. Class: |
340/539.1; 340/539.11; 340/3.1 |
| Current Intern'l Class: |
H04Q 7/00 (20060101) |
| Field of Search: |
340/5391,539.11,31
246/220,428
200/52.R
|
References Cited [Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
| 4703327 | Oct., 1987 | Rossetti et al.
| |
| 5348257 | Sep., 1994 | Ocampo.
| |
| 5873043 | Feb., 1999 | Comer et al.
| |
| 6014089 | Jan., 2000 | Tracy et al.
| |
| 6072874 | Jun., 2000 | Shin et al.
| |
| 6108537 | Aug., 2000 | Comer et al.
| |
| 6178337 | Jan., 2001 | Spartz et al.
| |
| 6393297 | May., 2002 | Song.
| |
| 6571093 | May., 2003 | Jarrett, Jr.
| |
| 6681110 | Jan., 2004 | Crookham et al.
| |
| 6718177 | Apr., 2004 | Comer et al.
| |
Primary Examiner: Pope; Daryl C.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Clodfelter; Mark
Parent Case Text
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims the benefit of provisional application Ser. No. 60/418,922,
filed Oct. 16, 2002.
Claims
Having thus described my invention and the manner of its use, it should be apparent
to those skilled in the arts that incidental modifications may be made thereto
that fairly fall within the scope of the following appended claims, wherein I claim:
1. A control system comprising:
a plurality of remotely located electrical switches wherein each remotely located
electrical switch of said plurality of remotely located electrical switches performs
a function of a separate, discrete system, at least one parameter of said separate,
discrete system monitored by said control system, said control system comprising:
a cellular receiver and a cellular transmitter configured for communicating over
control channels of a cellular network,
a microcomputer coupled to said cellular receiver and said cellular transmitter,
and to a respective said remotely located electrical switch,
a sensor associated with said at least one parameter, said sensor coupled to
said microcomputer,
said microcomputer responsive to incoming cellular signals received by said cellular
receiver, and providing outgoing cellular signals to said transmitter, said incoming
cellular signals and said outgoing cellular signals containing data associated
with said remote electrical switch and said sensor, respectively,
a cellular link to the Internet,
a data center coupled to the Internet and configured for receiving said data
from the Internet and transmitting said data to the Internet,
a user interface in said data center responsive to said data from said cellular
transmitter and for inputting said data to said cellular receiver, and providing
control and monitoring of said plurality of remote electrical switches and said
at least one parameter from said sensor.
2. A control system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said sensor includes said
switch so that status of said switch is monitored.
3. A control system as set forth in claim 1 wherein said separate, discrete system
further comprises groups of subsystems, each group of said groups of subsystems
comprising at least one said remote electrical switch of said plurality of remote
electrical switches and at least one said sensor, with a said cellular transmitter,
a said cellular receiver and a said microprocessor coupled to monitor and control
an associated said group.
4. A control system as set forth in claim 3 wherein said user interface further
comprises a display of controls for said remote electrical switches and indications
of said parameters organized so that said a said control for said switch and a
said parameter associated with a said group containing said switch are correspondingly
identified and grouped together on said display.
5. A control system as set forth in claim 3 wherein said remote electrical switch
and said sensor in each said group of said groups of subsystems are identical,
with said microprocessor programmed to respond to a first unique cellular transmission
from said control center and initiate a second unique cellular transmission to
said control center.
6. A control system as set forth in claim 5 wherein said first unique cellular
transmission energizes or wakes up said microprocessor and a following cellular
data transmission from said control center provides instructions to said microprocessor.
7. A control system as set forth in claim 6 wherein said first unique cellular
transmission is in the form of a MIN number and said following cellular data transmission
is in the form of a MIN number, and said instructions cause a change of state of
said switch.
8. A control system as set forth in claim 7 wherein said second unique cellular
transmission is in the form of an electronic serial number of said cellular transmitter,
said electronic serial number including information related to said sensor.
9. A control system as set forth in claim 8 wherein said separate, discrete system
is a railroad switchyard comprising a plurality of railroad switches, each railroad
switch of said plurality of railroad switches equipped with a pair of heaters for
melting snow and ice, with a pair of energizing/deenergizing switches, each switch
of said pair of energizing/deenergizing switches coupled to energize and deenergize
a respective heater of said pair of heaters responsive to said incoming cellular
signals, and a pair of ON/OFF sensors, each sensor of said pair of ON/OFF sensors
coupled to sense an energized or deenergized state of a respective said heater
of said pair of heaters, each of said sensors providing an indication of said energized
or deenergized state of a respective said heater to said microprocessor whereupon
said indication is transmitted to said data center.
10. A control system as set forth in claim 9 wherein a single said group of said
railroad switchyard comprises a said railroad switch, an associated said pair of
heaters, an associated said pair of sensors, an associated said cellular transmitter
and associated said cellular receiver and an associated said microprocessor.
11. A control system as set forth in claim 9 wherein said user interface in said
data center provides a control for energizing and deenergizing each said pair of
railroad heaters, either separately or together, and said parameter is an indication
of said energized or deenergized state of each said heater as provided by a respective
said sensor.
12. A control system as set forth in claim 11 wherein said sensor includes a
sensor for monitoring an electrical current condition in each said heater wherein
current flowing in each said heater is sampled to determine an overcurrent or undercurrent
condition in each said heater.
13. A system for energizing and deenergizing railroad switch heaters from a remote
location and providing at least an indication of an energized or deenergized state
of each said railroad switch heater, said system comprising:
an electrical switch for each said switch heater, said electrical switch coupled
to connect and disconnect electrical power to a respective said switch heater,
and responsive to an electrical CONNECT signal and an electrical DISCONNECT signal
to either connect or disconnect said electrical heater,
at least one CONNECT/DISCONNECT sensor for each said electrical switch for providing
at least an indication of an energized or denergized state of a respective said
switch heater,
a cellular transmitter and a cellular receiver,
a microprocessor responsive to said cellular transmitter and to said cellular
receiver, and coupled to said electrical switch to trigger said electrical switch
to a connected or disconnected state responsive to received cellular signals containing
either a said CONNECT signal or a said DISCONNECT signal from said cellular receiver.
14. A system as set forth in claim 13 wherein said remote location further comprises
a computerized data center coupled to the Internet for relaying said CONNECT signal
or said DISCONNECT signal.
15. A system as set forth in claim 14 wherein said data center further comprises
a computer system including computer monitors upon which displays relating to status
and operation of each said electrical switch and status and operation of each said
electrical heater are monitored.
16. A system as set forth in claim 15 wherein said cellular transmitter and said
cellular receiver communicate via control channels of the cellular system.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to electrical heaters for melting ice and snow between
a movable portion and stationary portions of railroad track switches, and particularly
to a computerized system including Cellemetry™ communications for remotely
activating and deactivating such heaters. The computerized system of the instant
invention may also be easily adapted for other applications, such as surveillance
systems, automated water, gas and electric meter reading, prepaid utilities systems,
electrical capacitor bank switching and other applications wherein a switch closure
is monitored, switch closure or openings are affected and/or relatively small amounts
of data, such as a meter reading, are passed to a central location.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Railroad track switches function to direct railroad locomotives and cars
from one set of tracks to another. The switches are generally constructed of a
pair of movable tracks that direct locomotives and cars from one set of tracks
to one set of a second and third set of tracks. In order to effect a smooth coupling
for railroad locomotives and railroad cars to the second or third set of tracks,
beveled ends of the movable tracks must closely abut to the fixed second or third
set of tracks.
Problems arise in cold weather when it rains or snows. Ice may form between
the rails of the movable portions of track and the stationary portions of track
so that the movable set of tracks are unable to be brought into close, abutting
relation with the set of tracks to which the train is to be routed, this situation
presenting a risk of derailment of the cars or locomotive and causing additional
wear and tear of the railroad switch components. Likewise, snow, when the movable
tracks are moved between the second and third set of tracks, may become compressed
between the fixed and movable sets of tracks and again may prevent direct abutting
contact between the fixed and movable sets of tracks.
To overcome the problem of ice and snow preventing abutting contact between the
movable set of tracks and fixed set of tracks, heating elements are generally mounted
either to each track of the movable set of tracks or to both tracks of each of
the fixed set of tracks. The heating elements are generally energized in anticipation
of snowy or icy weather so that the tracks to which the heaters are affixed are
sufficiently heated to melt any snow or ice that accumulates between the movable
set of tracks and either of the fixed set of tracks within a few seconds. In most
instances, about 30 minutes or so of preliminary heating time of the tracks is
required to sufficiently melt the ice and snow.
In turn, use of these heaters presents other problems. Where the track switches
are located in a railroad switch yard, such as found in subway systems, there may
be 50 or 60 railroad switches or so having heaters that need to be energized. Many
subways use a third rail to carry electricity, some using 600 VDC and others using
750 volts DC, with virtually all using potentials between about 480 VDC to about
750 VDC for powering the individual trains, this third rail running between the
pair of tracks the locomotive and cars ride on. With electrical switches for energizing
the heaters located adjacent a respective railroad switch, it is a hazardous job,
particularly in bad weather, for an individual to walk around a switch yard and
activate the heaters for each railroad switch. Notably, several people have been
electrocuted while walking about a railroad switch yard activating or deactivating
such railroad switch heaters. In addition energizing the heaters is time-consuming,
typically requiring 1-1.5 hours for one person to energize all the heaters in a
switch yard with 50-60 sets of heaters. Also, as described, each heater typically
takes about 30 minutes or so to sufficiently heat the track portion to which it
is attached in order to adequately melt ice and snow. Thus, if not initiate sufficiently
in advance freezing weather, the heated portions of the railroad switches may not
become hot enough to melt snow and ice contacting the railroad track switches.
In addition, where a heater is bad when switched ON, there is nothing to indicate
that the heater is bad unless someone happens to report that the snow or ice is
not melting from that railroad switch or a derailment or other problem occurs.
Further, it is even more hazardous to de-energize the heaters after a snow and/or
ice storm. Here, the person responsible for turning OFF the heaters must negotiate
many pairs of rails each having the third, current-carrying rail therebetween.
While the switches will be clear of ice and snow because of the heaters, the rest
of the tracks may be covered with a blanket of snow, making it difficult to see
the third rail. In this instance, rather than risk the life of a maintenance person
to de-energize the heaters, the heaters may be simply left ON until most of the
ice and snow is cleared from the tracks. Unfortunately, this has a deleterious
effect on the heaters, causing many to burn out prematurely. As these heaters are
expensive, particularly constructed ceramic heaters, anything that extends their
service life would be particularly advantageous for switchyard operators. In addition,
the instant invention, in computerized form, is easily modified to be adapted to
other applications. In the railroad switch heater application, the system opens
and closes switch contacts, and monitors basic status of the heaters, i.e. if they
are open or shorted, and passes this information back to a central location. In
other applications, the system may be used in a surveillance system, as to pass
information such as a switch closure or output of an intrusion detection device,
such as a motion detector, back to the central location. In another application,
data from water, gas and electrical meters may be sent to a central location for
automated reading and prepaid systems. Also with respect to utility companies,
capacitor bank switching for power factor balancing may be effected and monitored,
if along with automatically detecting affected areas of electrical power failures.
Here, one service that may be performed is notifying and owner of a residence or
business that his/for power as failed, at what time and for how long. In another
application relating to personal security, a small, conveniently carried "panic
button" device may be constructed using a Cellemetry™ radio and small processor
to detect activation of a panic button, with this information transmitted within
a few seconds to another individual or a security company or organization. Such
a panic button device may be incorporated with a GPS sensor in order to also transmit
location of an attack, and may also the fixed in the vehicle, such as an automobile,
bus, truck or airplane. Once activated such a device may transmit its location
on a periodic basis, such as once a minute or so. This type of device would facilitate
law-enforcement officials in finding stolen vehicles, kidnapped victims, people
who are being "mugged" and the like.
In addition to the above, it is increasingly prevalent that railroad cars carrying
tractor trailers and other cargo containers are being broken into by thieves and
merchandise therein stolen. As it is not uncommon for such railroad cars to be
left idle in a railroad yard, which is a large facility, or on a siding in the
middle of nowhere overnight or sometimes for a few days, it is relatively easy
for thieves to target containers marked with logos from well-known electronics,
drug and other corporations. Here, I propose to fit such trailers and cargo containers
with a battery-powered intrusion detection system that may include any intrusion
detector, such as a sensor for detecting when a door or other entry is opened or
a motion sensor, coupled to a GAS sensor. Today, such GPS sensors, along with positional
information, may also provide an identification signature. This positional information
and signature, along with an intrusion indication, may be applied to a CELLEMETRY™
radio as described herein and transmitted to a local cellular tower for passage
to my system. Appropriate law enforcement authorities and others may then be notified
as appropriate. In addition, the intrusion system in the cargo container may activate
a visible or audible alarm.
Accordingly, it is one object of this invention to provide a system
for collecting relatively small amounts of data from remote places and transmitting
such data to a central location and to effect or detect switch closures at such
remote locations. The central location may be a service company that receives data
from a number of diverse sources, such as water, gas and electrical meters, surveillance
systems, railroad switch heaters etc., and distributes this information to respective
end-user customers, such as utility companies, surveillance system companies and
railroad operators. Also, the system itself may be leased or sold to such an end
user company. More specifically, the instant invention provides for selectively
energizing and de-energizing railroad switch heaters through the use of computerized
switching and Cellemetry™ thus eliminating the need for an individual to
manually energize or de-energize each set of heaters. It is a further object of
the invention to provide a system that can energize some or all of the railroad
switches in a switchyard safely and in a very short time so that the switches can
become heated just ahead of a rapidly moving or sudden ice or snow storm. It is
yet another object of the invention to provide such a system that allows some or
all of the heaters to be de-energized safely and on an almost immediate basis so
that the heaters are in use only when they are needed. Other objects of the invention
will become apparent upon a reading of the following appended specification.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a generally diagrammatic view of a single track of a pair of railroad
tracks equipped with a heater for melting ice and snow.
FIG. 2 is a generally diagrammatic view similar to FIG. 1 showing how the prior
art is modified with my invention.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a remote module for activating and deactivating
railroad switch heaters.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram generally showing layout of my invention.
FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing architecture of my invention.
FIG. 6 is a screen shot, by way of example, of a main menu of a railroad switch
heater system of the instant invention.
FIG. 6
a is a screen shot, by way of example, of a railroad switch heater
yard configuration page.
FIG. 6
b is a screen shot, by way of example, of a menu for configuring
discrete heaters of the system of instant invention.
FIG. 6
c is a screen shot, by way of example, of a menu for adding railroad
switchyards to the system of the instant invention.
FIG. 6
d is a screen shot, by way of example, of a menu for adding additional
discrete heaters to the system of the instant invention.
FIG. 6
e is a screen shot, by way of example, of a menu for selecting
railroad switchyards in the system of the instant invention.
FIG. 7 is a screen shot, by way of example, of a control page for controlling
railroad switch heaters in a railroad yard and for displaying status and alarm information.
FIG. 7
a is a screen shot, by way of example, of a control page for controlling
discrete railroad switch heaters.
FIG. 7
b is a screen shot, by way of example, of a control page showing
a pop-up indication of an alarm.
FIG. 7
c is a screen shot, by way of example, of a configuration menu
for managing accounts (end user companies) of the instant invention.
FIG. 7
d is a screen shot, by way of example, of a configuration page
for adding accounts (end user companies) of the instant invention.
FIG. 8 is a software flow diagram, by way of example, of an initialization process
of software of the instant invention.
FIG. 9 is a software flow diagram illustrating, by way of example, the process
by which pages (MIN numbers) are passed to a gateway server.
FIGS. 9
a-1 and 9
a-2 together form a software
flow diagram illustrating, by way of example, a process of the instant invention
for receiving registrations from remote modules.
FIG. 9
b is a software flow diagram illustrating, by way of example, a
process of the instant invention by which a gateway messenger functions.
FIG. 9
c is a software flow diagram illustrating, by way of example, a
process of the instant invention for tracing transactions.
FIG. 9
d is a software flow diagram illustrating, by way of example, operation
of a gateway communicator of the instant invention.
FIG. 9
e is a software flow diagram illustrating, by way of example, another
process of the instant invention by which the gateway communicator functions.
FIG. 9
f is a software flow diagram illustrating, by way of example, a
process of the instant invention by which a batch of MIN numbers are registered.
FIG. 9
g is a software flow diagram, illustrating, by way of example,
a process of the instant invention adding or deleting a MIN number.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Generally, this application is directed to a computer-based system for
a service company that provides services for managing assets that otherwise would
require intervention or actions by personnel, such as railroad switch heater systems
as described above, and other applications such as gas, water and meter reading.
In other instances, such as surveillance for water storage tanks, water inlets
at water reservoirs or other such critical areas that are difficult to monitor,
or for monitoring switching of capacitor banks for power factor balancing, automated
monitoring or detection equipment may be located at such remote places that communicate
back to the service company or directly to the utility company or other end user
that has an account with the service company. Such monitoring or switching occurs
through the use of remote modules as described in provisional application Ser.
No. 60/418,922, filed Oct. 16, 2002, and which is incorporated herein by reference
in its entirety. Communications between the service company and remote modules
may occur through combinations that include Cellemetry™, IS-41 network and
the Internet.
In general, Cellemetry™ operates in a similar manner as a roaming cellular
telephone. When a roaming cell phone is initially turned ON, it sends its mobile
identification number (MIN) and an electronic serial number (ESN) to a local cellular
tower via a control channel. Data in the MIN number tells the local cellular switch
where the home system is for that cell phone and enables the local system to communicate
with the cell phone's home system via a network known as the SS7 network. This
network interconnects all cellular switching centers in North America together.
After validating the MIN and ESN of the roaming cell phone over the SS7 network,
a voice channel for that cell phone is enabled, allowing the user to use the cellular telephone.
Cellemetry is similar in that when a message or command is sent to a remote
CELLEMETRY™ radio or when a Cellemetry™ radio transmits, communication
only occurs over the control channels. These channels are superior in that they
are digital as opposed to the analog voice channels, and they are operated at higher
power levels. Also, cost of using the control channels is much less than using
the voice channels. Thus, when a remote CELLEMETRY™ unit is activated to
send a messages, it sends its MIN and ESN numbers to a local cell tower and associated
switching center, where the number is routed via the SS7 network, not to a cellular
home system but to a CELLEMETRY™ gateway computer coupled to the SS7 network.
The gateway computer associates data in the MIN and ESN with a particular user
and forwards the MIN and ESN to that user via the Internet, although land lines
or other transmission mediums, such as wireless and optical mediums may also be
used. As such, the MIN and ESN numbers assigned to the remote CELLEMETRY™
units are particularly coded so that they are recognized by the SS7 network and
CELLEMETRY gateway, and routed accordingly. Similarly, when a message is sent to
a CELLEMETRY™ remote unit, the MIN number is sent from a service or other
company via the Internet to the CELLEMETRY™ gateway where the MIN number
is placed on the SS7 network, and in turn passed to the local switching center
and associated cellular tower, where the MIN number for the remote unit is transmitted.
In my system, a pair of MIN numbers may be transmitted, the first of which being
a command MIN that requires a specific action, such as to turn a railroad switch
heater ON or OFF and the second, subsequent MIN identifying which of one or more
of the remote units to perform the action. It should be noted that MIN numbers
are passed to the cellular system in the form of cellular pages, with each page
having a capacity of up to 9 MIN numbers. Thus, up to 9 MIN numbers for remote
devices may be transmitted in a single page.
Programming of the MIN numbers into a radio portion of the remote units
may be accomplished via a port, such as an RS-232 port, and in a format as defined
by NUMEREX™. In general, each Cellemtry™ radio may recognize up to
ten MIN numbers, including a unique "default" MIN number similar to a telephone
number that is unique, and associated only with a one of the radios in that particular
location. Another of the MIN numbers may be a global command number that causes
all the remote units to operate synchronously, i.e. turn ON or OFF together. Thus,
to operate all the railroad switch heaters ON or OFF simultaneously, a single command
MIN (ON or OFF) is transmitted, followed by a second MIN number that all the remote
units recognize as an activation command. Where a single railroad switch heater
pair is to be activated, the command MIN to turn ON or OFF is transmitted followed
by the default MIN recognized only by the remote unit associated with the heater
pair to be energized or deenergized.
Structure of the MIN numbers and ESN numbers necessary for programming
and addressing the remote units is defined by NUMEREX™ and the cellular
protocol, as should be apparent by any individual skilled in the respective arts.
However, it should be noted that these are fields in both MIN numbers and ESN numbers
wherein the user may devise any scheme necessary for reception and transmission
of data as described herein. Such a scheme should also be well within the skills
of an average programmer.
Within the service company, there maybe three types of users. At the lowest
level, a level at which users are granted the least access to the system, are end
users such as the system operators in utility systems and surveillance companies,
or operators in utility companies that operate subway systems having switchyards
in areas subject to freezing weather. Here, such access may be used to energize
or de-energize railroad switch heaters, read water, gas and electrical meters of
utility customers, maintain a database of utility customers and in some instances
implement a prepaid utility system for economically challenged utility customers.
At a higher level of access, clients such as utility companies and subway operators
may be responsible for installation, maintenance and control of all remote control
devices deployed by a client utility or other company. With respect to railroad
heater switches, such a client user may be responsible for installation, maintenance
and operation of remote units that allow remote control operation of the railroad
switch heaters. At a highest level of access are service company administrators
and users that initialize, operate and maintain services provided to the client
companies. Such service company users and administrators manage accounts of the
utility systems and companies, and also manage Internet and Cellemetry™
accounts through which remote devices communicate with the service provider.
In general, my system is a multi-user, multi-application and multi-service integrated
management system. As such, multiple, diverse client companies may conveniently
use the service, and including the aforestated monitoring of water storage tanks,
reservoirs and associated inlets, electric, water and gas meter reading, capacitor
bank switching, asset monitoring, railroad switch heater control; etc. Monitoring
and management of such diverse services may be integrated into one platform that
may use Cellemetry™ networks and the Internet for communications between
the service company computer system, remote modules and end-user customers and
companies. At a service company, the system may perform inventory management, customer
management, billing management and network diagnostics. For an end-user utility
company or other such user, the system functions to provide information related
to device and service management.
In the instant application, the service company provides a service to companies
and organizations utilizing rail travel or the like, such as subway systems. In
these systems, and as stated, there are railroad switching yards that enable locomotives
and towed cars to switch tracks by employing railroad switches that if not heated
during cold weather, may be jammed by ice and snow, presenting a risk of derailment.
As described in the referenced and incorporated provisional application, there
are some user operations that will trigger the system to send one or more MIN numbers,
or pages, to one or more dedicated remote units that control or monitor the end
user's equipment. Such an operation begins with the delivering of a request for
data or a command from a computer, such as a web server, which may be a client
or service company web server. In the instance of a client company, the web server
may be physically located at a control center of the client company, or may be
at a central location of the service company. For smaller end user companies, all
that is required for an end user company to connect to my service provider system
is a computer coupled to the Internet, and a conventional browser. Commands or
requests for data are sent from the end user company to the web server and remote
module server located in the service company system, and which is sent via the
Internet, gateway server and cellular system to a remote module. The request or
command is processed and issued as a MIN number via the Cellemetry™ network
to the remote module. Responsive to the commands or request for data, the remote
module sends a registration containing the ESN, also via the Cellemetry™
network, back to the service company system through the gateway server and Internet.
A registration handler program or module in my system receives registration packets
returned by the gateway server and processes them.
Referring initially to FIG. 1, a prior art system including a portion
10
of a railroad switch is shown. Conventionally, where the railroad switches are
subject to freezing weather, a heater
12 is affixed to a forward portion
14, commonly known as a "point", of movable portions
16 of track
forming the railroad switch. In other instances, heaters may be attached to each
of the sections of stationary track. A source of electrical power, which in the
case of an electrically powered subway system may be the same DC potential that
is provided to the third rail between the tracks, is coupled via a switch
18
to heater
12. Switch
18 is mounted in a terminal box
20 (dashed
lined adjacent the railroad switch, with box
20 being suitably constructed
for use in a harsh environment such as that found around railroad tracks. As described
in the foregoing, in order to energize heater
12 in preparation for weather
that may produce ice and snow, box
20 must be opened and switch
18
manually closed to apply electrical power to heater
12. Heater
12
then heats tracks of the entire point
14 so that any snow or ice trapped
in region
22 between point
14 and rail
24 is immediately melted
when the railroad switch is moved so that point
14 contacts rail
24.
Referring to FIG. 2, the portion
10 of the railroad switch as shown
in FIG. 1 is depicted as being modified with my invention. Here, a Cellemetry™
transceiver and heater controller are integrated into a remote unit
26 that
is mountable in box
20. An antenna
28 from unit
26 extends
to an exterior of box
20. Unit
20 is similar to or the same as the
Cellemetry™ transceiver and controller as disclosed in my provisional patent
application Ser. No. 60/418,922 as referenced above and which is incorporated by
reference in its entirety herein. As such, unit
26 receives MIN numbers
from a cellular telephone tower via the Cellemetry™ system for energizing
or de-energizing heater
12, unit
26 also providing status information
as to operation and condition of the heaters back to the cellular telephone tower
via registration (ESN) signals.
Referring now to FIG. 3, a block diagram of unit
20 is shown. Here,
those portions shown in dashed lines are a remote module
22 and a railroad
heater interface
24. Included in the interface
24 is a control panel
26 providing access to a 12 volt fuse
28 for providing fused power
to remote module
22, a readable counter dial
30 and switches
32
that allow the unit
20 to be completely de-energized, or switched between
manual or automatic operation. In addition, an indicator lamp
34, when illuminated,
indicates that unit
20 is functional. Electrical power for unit
20,
in the instance where the railroad cars are driven electrically, such as from a
750 volt DC source, is obtained from a DC/DC converter
21 and regulated
five volt supply
23.
In portion
22, a microprocessor
36 such as the COP8 microprocessor
as disclosed in my referenced provisional patent application, which is incorporated
herein by reference, provides control logic for unit
20. A Cellemetry™
radio transceiver
38, which also may be as described in the incorporated
provisional application, is coupled to microprocessor
36 so that communications
may occur between a cellular tower and each unit
20 associated with a respective
set of railroad switch heaters. An antenna
40 for radio
38 is disposed
on an exterior of or extends from box
20 (FIG.
2).
Within interface portion
24, all communications between microprocessor
36 and circuitry of interface
24 occurs via optical couplers
42.
This prevents any back EMF or other spurious signals from being transmitted between
portions
22 and
24. As in the referenced provisional patent application,
commands to the remote unit
22 are received by radio
38 and passed
to microprocessor
36, which in turn provides these commands to a solid-state
contactor
44 that energizes or de-energizes switch heaters
46,
46a.
More specifically, the. ON and OFF commands are passed from microprocessor
36
to switches
32, which when in the AUTO position, pass the ON or OFF command
to 5 second delay circuits
48 and
50, respectively. Switches
32
may also be set to a MANUAL position, which requires manual activation of the heaters,
as by the conventional switch (not shown) for the heaters. Also, in switches
32
there is an OFF switch that de-energizes the associated heater and control circuitry
of remote unit
20.
Delay circuits
48 and
50 prevent rapid cycling of the heaters
by providing a delay, such as five seconds or so, after each switching operation.
Such rapid cycling may generate undesirable back EMF impulses or have other deleterious
effects on the circuitry. After passing through optical couplers
42, the
ON and OFF commands may be applied to a respective driver
52,
54,
which in turn provide outputs to the SET and RESET inputs, respectively, of a latching
relay
56. Relay
56 in turn energizes a coil in contactor
44
to close a set of contacts in order to energize or de-energize heaters
46,
46a with 750 volt DC power. Contactor
44 is a high current,
high-voltage device available from a number of vendors, such as EATON-CUTLER HAMMER™.
In another embodiment, the latching relay
56 may be omitted, with the
"ON"
and "off" commands being held at a respective potential by the microprocessor,
i.e. +5 volts for an "ON" state and 0 volts for an "OFF" state, with these potentials
being applied directly to the contactor
44 via a respective driver. In addition,
a latching relay, where used, may provide status indications back to microprocessor
36. The ceramic switch heaters
46,
46a, are typically
constructed of a ceramic material that when first energized draw about 100 amps
of current flow. This flow tapers off over about five minutes or so to a nominal
operational current flow of about five amps. Thus, fuses
60,
60a
are sized at about 125 amp current at 800 volts DC. As stated, contactor
44
is a high-voltage, high current device constructed to handle these levels of voltage
and current.
Comparators
62,
62a each function to provide an
output when a respective voltage indicative of current flowing through a respective
heater falls below or rises above a voltage indicative of current flow less than
about 3.75 amps or greater than about 7.5 amps, indicating that the associated
heater is drawing either too little or too much current, both of these conditions
indicating failure or impending failure of the heater. Current is measured, as
by current-measuring devices
61,
61a, that may be based on
Hall effect devices. Here, a secondary current flow is induced by the heater current
flow, with the secondary current flow being nulled. The amount of current necessary
to null the secondary current is in turn sensed by a Hall effect device, and is
proportional to the heater current flow, with a potential thereof being applied
to inputs of high/low comparators
62,
62a respectively. The
outputs of comparators
62,
62a are in turn coupled to respective
inputs of optical coupler
42, which provides these outputs via drivers
63,
63a to inputs of microprocessor
36. Programming in processor
36, when it receives a signal indicative of abnormal current flow on either
of these inputs, causes CELLEMETRY™ transceiver
38 to send an ESM
containing an error or alarm message to the central processing facility. Such an
error or alarm message contains at least a railroad switch identification for physically
locating the railroad switch in order to perform maintenance of the heater, and
possibly some indication as to the nature of the fault, i.e. overcurrent, undercurrent
or an open condition, as where one of fuses
60,
60a becomes
opened due to an associated heater drawing current in excess of 125 amps. When
initially energized, and as stated, the heaters initially draw about 125 amps when
first energized. Thus, comparators
62,
62a will indicate excessive
current flow until the current flow falls to acceptable levels, which as stated
occurs after about five minutes or so. As such, microprocessor
36 may be
programmed so that a delay of about five minutes or so is introduced before sampling
of the comparator outputs begin.
Control logic used in unit
20 may be as described or similar to that
in the referenced provisional patent application, i.e. a COP 8 microprocessor
41
which provides as outputs an ON command and an OFF command, these commands energizing
and de-energizing heaters
46 and
46a. An SVC AVL port provides
an output to a lamp
34 that is illuminated when unit
20 is in service
and logged onto a cellular system. A counter
30, preferably having a mechanical
dial (or other nonvolatile storage where an electronic dial is used) so that a
power outage does not result in the counter losing its count, and receives as an
input an incrementing count signal each time microprocessor
41 provides
a switching signal, either ON or OFF, to the switch heaters. Thus, counter
30
maintains a record as to the number of heater activation/deactivation actions that
have occurred since a predetermined time. Such a count may be used as a parity
check by comparing the record on counter
30 with a similar record in the
database of a central processing facility.
At the control center or central processing facility
43 (FIG. 4) of the
service company, software incorporated in servers and general purpose-type computers
is used to control the heater switching system and interface the system to the
Internet
45 and cellular network system. In broad terms, a graphical user
interface
72, which may be a windows-type or other interface, allows operators
of the service company and end user company operators to interact with the system.
As such, there may be a plurality of interfaces
72 at different locations
feeding information to a web server
70 at a central location. Web server
70 interfaces the system to Internet
45, and allows initiation of
management operations and provides notifications to users, such as warnings that
a particular one or ones of the heater circuits are or about to become inoperable.
As described, all that a client company needs to receive such warnings and other
messages is a computer coupled to the Internet, and a conventional browser. Alternately,
the entire system may be leased or licensed to a user organization, such as TVA
(TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY) or other such large organization, such as a utilities
company (water, gas, electricity) where monitoring and/or control of equipment
is needed over a large area or there are many customers to be monitored.
In the service company computer, a remote module server
74 assembles MIN
numbers mobile system I.D. and switch number into pages and forwards the pages
to gateway server
76, and receives registrations (ESN numbers) from the
remote modules by way of gateway server
76. In addition, remote module server
74 contains routines that provide automatic system diagnosis and the aforementioned
alarm functions. Server
76 also provides an interface between my service
company and the cellular services. Pages are temporarily buffered in a message
queue
77, and passed to remote module server
74 and gateway server
76, which passes the page to the IS-41 (control channel) system. The IS-41
system communicates with a local cellular switching center
82 and tower
84, which sends pages to discrete heater remote modules
26 and receives
registrations from heater remote modules
20.
More specifically, and referring to the block diagram of FIG. 5, the control
center
43 of FIG. 4 is shown. Here, graphical user interface
72 may
include any operating system, such as Windows 2000™ or Windows NT™.
Other operating systems, such as LINUX™ and UNIX™ may also be used
as would be determined by a skilled programmer. Any browser, such as Internet Explorer™,
Netscape™, Eudora™, Mozilla™ or another as determined to be
appropriate by a skilled programmer may be used. As stated, interface
72
may be in a client company computer, in addition to an interface
72 in the
service company system. A web server or general-purpose computers
70 generally
configured as shown and described may be in a client company location. Further,
web server
70 and remote modules server
74 may be configured as software
modules that may be installed on a client company's computer system. Further yet,
a plurality of remote module server software modules and web server modules may
be installed in one or more computer servers of my service company.
For web server
70, VISUAL STUDIO™ ASP NET™ may be used as
a programming language. VISUAL C#™ may be used to develop remote module
server
74. VISUAL C
++™ may be used to develop the gateway
server, and MICROSOFT™ SQL SERVER 2000 may be used for the database. For
database access, ADOYET may be used, and HYPERTEXT MARKUP LANGUAGE™ (HTML)
may be used for generating reports. Of course, other programming languages may
be used, as would be determined by the particular computers and server system of
other applications.
Graphical user interface
72 communicates with web server
70,
which also contains service routines or modules for system management
80.
System management
80 generally performs management functions, such as system
parameter configuration, i.e. TCP/IP port setting, maintenance of lookup tables,
system timer control, monitors system performance and manages logs and alarms.
Device configuration
82 provides for adding, reconfiguring and deleting
railroad switch yard information and, within each switch yard, allows for adding,
reconfiguring and deleting discrete heaters and corresponding remote module information
associated with a particular railroad switch. Here, this function is typically
performed at an administrative level. User management module
84 allows management
of users by administrators and provides administrative privilege control so that
operators may be added and deleted and passwords for operators and administrators
selected or assigned.
Operational control and monitor module
86 relates to routine functions
of the system, such as sending commands that energize or de-energize one or more
railroad switch heaters. Also, this module handles alarms that are presented to
operators, and handles other requests from operators of the heater switching system.
For issuing commands, module
86 communicates with command queue
88
of the message queue
90. The command queue
88 in turn provides queued
command information to web messenger
89. Messenger
89 aggregates
MIN numbers so that the transmission portion of up to 8 transactions (MIN default
numbers for particular remote units or a single global MIN number) may be sent
in a single page, with a command MIN (heater ON, heater OFF, etc.) being the ninth
MIN number. Here, a transaction is defined as the process of causing a remote unit
to perform an action, and receive and process a response from that remote device
indicating that the action was accomplished. As such, each transaction is assigned
an ID number that includes identification of the remote unit associated with that
transaction, given a time stamp and includes a status flag that is used to indicate
the transaction's status to various components of the system.
As it generally takes a minute or so for a page to be sent, pages containing
the
same MIN number, as where a command or request is incorporated into two pages and
the pages must be received by the remote unit sequentially, must be spaced apart
in time to avoid the possibility of the second page being transmitted prior to
the first page. Also, one or more bit positions in the MIN number may be used to
indicate to the cellular system where in a sequence a page is to be inserted. Further,
the commands may be prioritized in remote module server
79, as where a command
or request for data relating to a surveillance system or a request for data relating
to an electrical power outage is tagged as a higher-priority message. Such a priority
code may range from low, medium and high, thus requiring only two bits to transmit
priority information. In other instances; priority may be either low or high, requiring
only one bit to transmit priority information. As such, lower priority commands,
such as a request to read a meter or obtain daily usage, may be sent when there
are no existing higher priority commands to be sent. The transactions are stored
in a transaction hash table
120, after which the commands are obtained by
page issuer
92. Hash table
120 incorporates several algorithms such
as sorting pages in accordance with a priority scheme, for searching for one or
more transactions that generate an error in the system and passing the error to
registry handler
106, associating a received registration to a respective
sent command and determining an origin, i.e. a source, of commands in the instance
where multiple diverse systems are used. Page issuer
92 communicates the
commands to the gateway server communicator
116, which in turn issues them,
as by a conventional TCP/IP socket interface, to gateway server
76.
Alarm and transaction monitor
94 in web server
70 receives alarms,
alerts and similar messages from remote modules and the system in general and provides
them to operators of the system. These alarms may be generally indicative of failures
of devices connected to a respective remote module, such as a railroad switch heater,
a water, gas or electrical meter or surveillance device. In addition, responses
to inquires, such as status requests, are provided to operators via alarm and transaction
monitor
94. Further, software and hardware errors of the system are reported
via alarm and transaction monitor
94. These alarms, inquiries and error
messages are provided to monitor
94 by event dispatcher
96. Generally,
event dispatcher
96 obtains event data from event queue
98, which
temporarily stores transaction results and alarm messages, and associates transaction
results messages with a respective MIN number and transaction ID obtained from
data base
78. In addition, the event dispatcher correlates a result with
a user in the event where multiple, diverse systems to are incorporated in a single
service company system.
Event data received by event dispatcher
96 is generated by event generator
118, which receives inputs from health center
119, registration handler
106, diagnosis engine
114 and page issuer
92. With respect
to health center
119, any failure with respect to overall operation of the
system and errors that are returned will elicit an alarm by health center
119,
which alarms and errors being passed to event generator
118. With respect
to commands and requests, page issuer
119 provides a return indication to
event generator
118 that the page containing one or more commands or requests
was successfully sent. If the page was not successfully sent, an acknowledgement
signal from the gateway server is not received and the command or request is not
deleted from hash table
120. This results in two attempts to resend the
page, after which an error is generated. A received acknowledgement response to
sending a page to remote unit is passed to gateway communicator
116, and
subsequently to gateway server messenger
110. Messenger
110 provides
the acknowledgement signal in the form of a registration, and places the registration
in registration queue
112. From there, registration handler
106 periodically
polls registration queue
112, and picks up the registration and processes
the registration as shown in FIG. 9
a-1and
9'a-
2as will
be described.
Registration handler
106, responsive to an incoming registration,
provides an indication of such to event generator
118 that a registration
has been received. Incoming registrations from gateway server
76 that are
solicited, i.e. responsive to commands and inquiries, are received by gateway communicator
116 and passed to registration queue
112. From queue
112 the
registrations are passed to registration handler
106. Here, operation response
131 associates a transaction in hash table
120 with the registration
for the MIN of that transaction and changes status of the transaction to "completed".
This results in the transaction being deleted from hash table
120, although
the transaction may be stored in a log or history file in the database. Where the
registration is unsolicited, i.e. from an alarm or status change, the registration
is compared by autonomous registration module
133 with previous readings
to determine what the change of status is, as in a surveillance system where a
motion detector is tripped. This change of status is then provided to an operator.
Where the registration contains an error message, then the information is sent
to event generator
118 to be provided to an operator. In registration handler
106 are temporary storage areas for storing information related to remote
units of the system. For example, status is an area where status information of
remote units is stored, this information related to power, battery levels and relay
and switch positions. MOD/VER is storage for the model numbers and versions of
the remote units. ERROR is temporary storage for error messages, and which may
generate a warning and store the error message in a log file.
Diagnosis engine
114, containing status tracer
115 and transaction
tracer
117, traces transactions to insure they are acted upon and monitors
health of the remote modules and network communications. Here, transaction tracer
117 periodically polls transaction hash table
120 for transactions
that have been marked as completed by operation response
131, and deletes
completed transactions from the hash table. Where a transaction has been acted
on in server
74 but not acknowledgement of such was sent by either the cellular
system or the gateway server, then transaction tracer
117 waits for a predetermined
period of time, such as 2 minutes, and if a confirmation has still not been received,
then it causes the transaction to be resent. This delay and resending occurs twice,
and if no confirmation is received after the last resending, then transaction tracer
117 causes an alarm to be generated via event generator
118. Status
tracer
115 monitors health of the remote units, each of which being typically
programmed to transmit a health signal at predetermined intervals, i.e. once a
day or so for remote modules such as in a meter reading application, or once a
week or so during the summer for a snow melter application.
MIN register
100 provides temporary storage for adding and deleting MIN
numbers for devices in the field that are added or removed. In this instance, when
a new device is fielded, a new MIN number is assigned to that device. This new
MIN number may be added by an administrator of the service company, or by an operator
or administrator of the end user company. The new MIN number is added through device
configuration
82, from which the MIN number is added to MIN register
100
and database
78. Register
100 is periodically polled by web server
messenger
89, and obtains the MIN number and places it in register MIN queue
91. When a MIN number is found in queue
91 by MIN register
122,
as by polling, the new MIN number is picked up and passed to gateway communicator
116. Communicator
116 in turn passes the new MIN number to gateway
server
76 where it is stored in MIN hash table
150. MIN register
122 is also used during initialization of the syst
