Patent ID: 6837550
Filing Date: 2005-01-04
Classification: B60T,B61L

Abstract:
1. A method for monitoring and diagnosing a condition of a braking system for a railroad train comprising a plurality of rolling stock vehicles, the braking system including a brake pipe extending the length of the train, with a portion of the braking system being associated with each rolling stock vehicle, such portion comprising at least one brake pipe section, one reservoir for air under pressure, at least one brake cylinder,-powered by air in the reservoir, and a feed valve for controlling the flow of air from the reservoir into the brake cylinder on each rolling stock vehicle, and the feed valve on a plurality of rolling stock vehicles having a radio-based transmitter/receiver, receiving data indicative of the operation of a respective portion of the brake system, for transmitting data indicative of the operation of the respective portion of the braking system associated with each rolling stock vehicle, said method comprising: providing a radio-based hand-held transmitter/receiver having a processor for analyzing data; retrieving brake system data and information from each feed valve transmitter/receiver on the train through radio communications between each feed valve transmitter/receiver and the hand-held radio transmitter/receiver using a hand-held analyzer; interpreting the retrieved data pertaining to a functional status of the portion of the braking system associated with each rolling stock vehicle; and performing a maintenance function on the brake system for the train based on the interpretation of the data for the portion of the brake system for each rolling stock vehicle.