Patent ID: 7502670

Claim:
A system for monitoring rail portions used on railroads, comprising: (a) a plurality of monitoring devices, wherein each of the plurality of rail monitoring devices is mounted on a length of rail, wherein each of the plurality of rail monitoring devices further includes: (i) means for monitoring longitudinal stress of the rail portion; and (ii) means for monitoring ambient temperature of the rail portion; and (b) a receiver in communication with each of the plurality of rail monitoring devices, wherein the receiver is operative to both receive rail data collected from each of the rail monitoring devices and transmit rail data to a processing apparatus; and (c) a processing apparatus in communication with the receiver for receiving and processing rail data, wherein the processing apparatus further includes: (i) means for identifying a target rail neutral temperature for a rail portion; (ii) means for determining a present rail neutral temperature for the rail portion, wherein the present rail neutral temperature is based on the longitudinal stress and the ambient temperature; (iii) means for comparing the present rail neutral temperature to the target rail neutral temperature and determining a difference therebetween; and (iv) means for predicting a rail maintenance condition or a rail safety condition based on: a) the difference between the present rail neutral temperature and the target rail neutral temperature; and b) previously collected rail data, wherein the previously collected rail data includes data gathered over time from the rail portions on which the rail monitoring devices are mounted and historical rail failure data collected from analytical models based on actual track measurements over time and mathematical models created by regulatory entities; and (d) means for issuing alerts based on the prediction that a rail maintenance condition or a rail safety condition exits for preventing train accidents on the rail.