Patents Examined by Jason C Smith
  • Patent number: 11376513
    Abstract: A zip track system that is integrally connected to a challenge course so that a user can traverse one portion of the challenge course, and then can slide down the zip track system via a zip track to any other desired location.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 14, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2022
    Assignee: JIMI IP, LLC
    Inventors: James Allen Liggett, Troy Lee Garland, Timothy John Powers
  • Patent number: 11364939
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a pneumatic suspension for a rail vehicle comprising a body and a bogie, said pneumatic suspension extending between the body and a chassis of the bogie, comprising: at least one secondary pneumatic suspension element for vertically supporting the body on the chassis and capable of being supplied with compressed air at a supply pressure, and a pressure source, wherein it further comprises: a control unit, for each suspension element, a sensor connected to the command unit and able to measure a height between the chassis and the body at the level of said suspension element, and for each suspension element, a solenoid valve connecting said suspension element to the pressure source, said solenoid valve being commanded automatically by an electric command signal, generated by the command unit as a function of the measured height(s).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 21, 2022
    Assignee: SPEEDINNOV
    Inventors: Christophe Sarti, Michel Martin, Philippe Dessertenne, Luis Mendes Frederico, Romain Goude, Thierry Thommeret
  • Patent number: 11355841
    Abstract: An embodiment of an antenna configured to form a high-power beam, such as a battery-charging beam, includes a transmission structure, signal couplers, amplifiers, and antenna elements. The transmission structure (e.g., a waveguide) is configured to carry a reference signal (e.g., a traveling reference wave), and each of the signal couplers is configured to generate a respective intermediate signal in response to the reference signal at a respective location along the transmission structure. Each of the amplifiers is configured to amplify, selectively, an intermediate signal from a respective one of the couplers, and each of the antenna elements (e.g., conductive patches) is configured to radiate a respective elemental signal in response to an amplified intermediate signal from a respective one of the amplifiers. In operation, the elemental signals interfere with one another to form a transmission beam, such as a battery-charging, or other high-power, transmission beam.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2022
    Assignee: Searete LLC
    Inventors: Matthew S. Reynolds, Guy Lipworth, Joseph Hagerty, Daniel Arnitz, Yaroslav Aleksandrovich Urzhumov
  • Patent number: 11352033
    Abstract: Method and system for communicating data between a transmitter and a receiver via a physical transmission medium interposed there between, wherein the transmitter outputs over the transmission medium towards the receiver, a predefined precursor signal followed by a target signal carrying data packet. Based on the precursor signal received at the receiver, estimated values of actual electrical parameters of the physical transmission medium are computed via a predetermined model of the physical transmission medium, wherein the computed estimated values of the electrical parameters are indicative of a distortion caused by the physical transmission medium on the predefined precursor signal outputted by the transmitter. The data packets originally outputted by the transmitter are estimated based on the computed estimated values of the actual electrical parameters and on the target signal received at the receiver.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 18, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2022
    Assignee: ALSTOM TRANSPORT TECHNOLOGIES
    Inventors: John Ross, Jeffrey Fries
  • Patent number: 11345377
    Abstract: A device for attachment to a train having a lead locomotive or control car and a rear car in a track network having a plurality of tracks is disclosed. The device may include at least one sensor. The sensor(s) may be disposed with the rear car. The sensor(s) may be configured to generate sensor data associated with at least one of a heading of the rear car of the train or a distance between the rear car of the train and an object in the track network. A communication interface may be configured to transmit the sensor data to at least one receiver. The receiver(s) may provide at least one indication based on the sensor data. A device for use onboard the train, a control system, a method for operating the device(s), and a method for coupling the train to a separate car are also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 28, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 31, 2022
    Assignee: WESTINGHOUSE AIR BRAKE TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION
    Inventor: Jeffrey D. Kernwein
  • Patent number: 11345373
    Abstract: Various embodiments provide a stabilizing transom. Various embodiments provide a vehicle truck such as a railroad car truck including a first side frame, a second side frame, a bolster, and a stabilizing transom connected to the first side frame and the second side frame and configured to reduce, inhibit, minimize, and/or prevent truck hunting and warping.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 31, 2022
    Assignee: Standard Car Truck Company
    Inventor: Andrew J. Morin
  • Patent number: 11332171
    Abstract: Various systems and methods for derailing a vehicle from a track are provided. In one embodiment, a device is provided that includes a directional derail block extending from a base and including a wheel deflecting surface arranged at an angle less than or equal to about 13 degrees with regard to a longitudinal axis of the track and designed to deflect the wheel away from the track. The length of the device is greater than or equal to about 53 centimeters (cm) (21 inches (in)).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2022
    Assignee: Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation
    Inventor: Jarred Michael Pollock
  • Patent number: 11325624
    Abstract: A Rail Drone can include: a payload interface, a drivetrain, and a rail platform 515. The Rail Drone can additionally or alternatively include any other suitable set of components. The Rail Drone can integrate a standardized payload interface and an autonomous electric road vehicle platform into a rolling stock architecture. The Rail Drone can be a stand-alone, payload-agnostic, motive element which can be independently or cooperatively capable of carrying heavy loads across long distances at various cruising speeds.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2022
    Assignee: Parallel Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Matthew Soule, John Howard, Benjamin Stuart Stabler, Brian Ignaut
  • Patent number: 11325619
    Abstract: The invention relates to a suspension bridge type self-supporting aerial metal structure, in which the main platform is designed having three levels. The upper level is intended for the passage of motor vehicles. The intermediate level is intended for the transportation, transmission and distribution of all existing public services, and other possible services. The lower level is intended for an urban public transport system. Thanks to its self-supported aerial design, the structure of the present invention can be built within cities following the same layout as existing roads.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 3, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2022
    Inventor: David Williams Suarez Ajo
  • Patent number: 11325623
    Abstract: A purpose of the invention is to provide a rail breakage detection device mountable also on a vehicle. The invention is directed to a rail breakage detection device that receives: transmission-device state information indicating whether a rail signal transmission device that sends a rail signal is normal; reception-device state information indicating whether a rail signal reception device that receives a voltage induced by the rail signal is normal; and reception state information indicating whether a voltage induced by the rail signal reception device is received, and the rail breakage detection device performs rail breakage detection on the basis of the transmission-device state information, the reception-device state information, and the reception state information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 13, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2022
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Daisuke Koshino, Masashi Asuka, Wataru Tsujita, Tomoaki Takewa, Yoshitsugu Sawa
  • Patent number: 11318842
    Abstract: A first train-installed device according to the present invention includes: a memory; and a processor. The processor performs operations. The operations includes: performing wireless communication through an antenna installed at a front of a train; acquiring train information including information indicating a railroad of the train; transmitting a search signal to another train in a neighborhood of the train; when receiving a response signal including train information including information indicating a railroad on which the another train is on-rail, determining whether there is a possibility of a collision between the train and the another train based on the train information; and when there is a possibility of the collision, measuring a distance between the another train and the train by transmitting and receiving a measurement signal and a measurement response signal to and from the second train-installed device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2022
    Assignee: NEC CORPORATION
    Inventor: Takashi Kojima
  • Patent number: 11318971
    Abstract: A method and a system determine a subsequent number of guided vehicles occupying a track section of a railway network. The system has a trackside device configured for controlling and managing a movement authority of a guided vehicle for a track section and at least one neighboring trackside device. Each neighboring trackside device is configured for controlling and managing a movement authority for a directly neighboring track section. The trackside device is configured for calculating the subsequent number of guided vehicles from a number of guided vehicles occupying the track section previously determined by the trackside device and information received from each neighboring trackside device regarding a number of guided vehicles entering, from the track section. The directly neighboring track section is controlled by the neighboring trackside device and a number of guided vehicles leaving the directly neighboring track section for the track section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 21, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2022
    Assignee: Siemens Mobility GmbH
    Inventors: Pierre-Olivier Guislain, Oscar Alonso Garrido, Michael Gschnass
  • Patent number: 11312398
    Abstract: Neutralizing deflection in a transportation system comprising connecting a number of support structures to ground. A tube is coupled to the support structures via a number of actuators, wherein the tube defines an interior enclosure through which a vehicle can travel. Utilizing a number of sensors, directional displacement of the support structures can be sensed, and the actuators are controller to counter the sensed displacement of the support structures by producing a directionally-opposite displacement of the tube relative to the support structures.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2022
    Assignee: The Boeing Company
    Inventors: Robert Erik Grip, Steven Fulton Griffin
  • Patent number: 11299181
    Abstract: A platform door system is disclosed. The platform door system has: a platform data transmitting element positioned on a platform for transmitting a platform signal; a vehicle information integrating element, positioned on a vehicle adjacent to the platform, for receiving the platform signal and a vehicle signal corresponding to a door opening or closing status of the vehicle door from the vehicle, and for transmitting a platform-vehicle integration signal; and a platform door controlling element, positioned on the platform, for receiving the platform-vehicle integration signal and for opening or closing a platform door in response to the platform-vehicle integration signal to correspond to the opening-or-closing status of the vehicle door.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 12, 2022
    Assignees: KAOHSIUNG RAPID TRANSIT CORPORATION, INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE
    Inventors: Shih-Hsiang Chien, Wen-Tsuen Chen, Hsin-I Chiang, Chien-Liang Liu
  • Patent number: 11299184
    Abstract: A railcar bogie includes: a protection target member of the railcar bogie; and a protective film including an adhesive surface stuck to the protection target member. The protective film is configured such that an impact absorbing layer and a flame-retardant layer are laminated in this order from the protection target member side. The impact absorbing layer is thicker than the flame-retardant layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 1, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 12, 2022
    Assignee: KAWASAKI JUKOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Takehiro Nishimura, Yousuke Tsumura, Fumihide Inamura, Katsuyuki Kawashima, Ikko Hanaki, Yuhei Tanaka
  • Patent number: 11292495
    Abstract: A sole bar arrangement for a body of a vehicle, in particular a rail vehicle includes at least one sole bar that has a hole pattern and at least one suspension device, perforated in an interface-identical manner to the hole pattern and has a U-shaped cross-section, wherein the at least one suspension device is interlockingly and frictionally connected to the at least one sole bar, where the interface-identical configuration of the sole beam and the suspension device results in great flexibility with respect to the type and number of devices to be coupled to the body via the suspension device so as to create advantageous design conditions such that the production process of the body is simplified and accelerated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 5, 2022
    Assignee: SIEMENS MOBILITY AUSTRIA GMBH
    Inventors: Ewald Brückler, Rupert Eckhart, Roman Groszschädl, Johannes Windhager
  • Patent number: 11285980
    Abstract: The present invention relates to methods of improving the reliability and accuracy of level crossing warning systems. The invention is comprised of an axle counter based system that detects the presence and calculates the speed of a train approaching a level crossing and adjusts the activation time for any warning system using a pre-defined period.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 21, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2022
    Assignee: RAIL CONTROL SYSTEMS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD
    Inventor: Neil Popplewell
  • Patent number: 11279381
    Abstract: The present disclosure discloses a rail vehicle. The vehicle includes: bogies, where the bogie has a straddle recess suitable for straddling a rail, and the bogie is provided with a first dodge groove and a second dodge groove used to respectively dodge two side walls of the rail; and a vehicle body, where the vehicle body is connected to the bogie and pulled by the bogie to travel along the rail, and the vehicle body includes a plurality of compartments hinged sequentially along a length direction of the rail; and in the length direction of the rail, a surface that is of a compartment at at least one end of the vehicle body and that faces away from an adjacent compartment is provided with an escape door that can be opened and closed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2022
    Assignee: BYD COMPANY LIMITED
    Inventors: Penglin Zhao, Hao Zeng, Junjie Liu, Fanghong Peng, Guodong Zhang
  • Patent number: 11273852
    Abstract: A rail road car truck has a bolster having the form of a hollow beam that has a deep central portion and shallow ends. The bolster has a top flange, a bottom flange and internal and external webs extending between, intersecting and merging with the top and bottom flanges. A center plate bowl is located in the middle of the top flange, and brake rod passages are defined transversely through the bolster. In some embodiments, transverse ribs run underneath the center plate bowl. The ribs may be curved. The ribs may be flush with the brake rod openings in the various webs. There may be upwardly standing ribs running transversely across the bottom flange. Those lower ribs may terminate upwardly flush with the brake rod openings. Alternatively, the bottom portion of the bolster may by cast with a greater thickness, up to the bottom of the break rod openings. In other embodiments, the bolster may have partial or fully tubular brake rod opening liners or tubes that extend across the bolster beneath the center plate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 16, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2022
    Assignee: National Steel Car Limited
    Inventors: Sina Moloodi, Usman Khan
  • Patent number: 11274994
    Abstract: An evaluation unit is fed with driving-related diagnostic data of a reference railway vehicle. The diagnostic data contain driving-related properties, on which a parameter of the wheel of the reference railway vehicle depends. The evaluation unit is also fed with wheel measurement data with measured values of the parameter of the wheel of the reference railway vehicle. The evaluation unit determines a function between the driving-related diagnostic data and the wheel measurement data via a supervised learning algorithm. The evaluation unit is fed with driving-related diagnostic data containing driving-related properties of an observed railway vehicle, on which a parameter of the wheel of the observed railway vehicle depends. The parameter of the wheel of the observed railway vehicle is determined by the evaluation unit using the determined function and the diagnostic data of the observed railway vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 17, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2022
    Assignee: Siemens Mobility GmbH
    Inventors: Maria Davidich, Udhayaraj Sivalingam