Method and apparatus for monitoring railway defects

Claim 3

The method of claim 1 wherein the defect type is a lateral acceleration defect.

Claim 4

The method of claim 1 wherein a color for the icon associated with the defect type is proportional to a magnitude of the defect.

Claim 5

The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of: determining railway data for the railway in response to the positional data; determining an icon associated with the railway data; and displaying the icon associated with the railway data on the display.

Claim 6

The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of: determining repair resources within the particular geographic area, the repair resources having a resource types; determining icons associated with the resource types; and displaying at least one icon associated with at least one of the resource types on the display.

Claim 7

The method of claim 5 further comprising the step of: assigning at least one of the repair resources to the defect; and generating a work order for at least one of the repair resources.

Claim 8

The method of claim 6 further comprising the step of: determining an icon associated with the work order; and displaying the icon associated with the work order on the display.

Claim 9

The method of claim 6 further comprising the steps of: determining a status for the work order, the status having a status type; determining an icon associated with the status type; displaying the icon associated with the status type on the display.

Claim 10

The method of claim 6 wherein the step of assigning comprises the steps of: selecting the icon associated with at least one of the resource types on the display; and dropping the icon associated with at least one of the resource types onto the icon associated with the defect type on the display.

Claim 11

The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of: selecting the icon associated with the defect type on the display; and displaying the positional data and the status data on the display.

Claim 12

The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of: selecting the icon associated with the status type on the display; and displaying the status and the work order on the display.

Claim 13

A computer program product for a computer including a processor for monitoring railway defects, the computer program product comprising: a computer-readable media including: code that directs the processor to determine positional data and status data for a railway; code that directs the processor to compare historical status data to the status data to determine a defect for the railway, the defect having a defect type; code that directs a display to display an image of a particular geographic area that includes a locating associated with the positional data; code that directs the processor to determine an icon associated with the defect type; and code that directs the display to display the icon associated with the defect type.

Claim 14

A computer program product for a computer including a processor for monitoring railway defects, the computer program product comprising: a computer-readable media including: code that directs the processor to determine positional data and status data for a railway; code that directs the processor to compare historical status data to the status data to determine a defect for the railway, the defect having a defect type; code that directs a display to display an image of a particular geographic area that includes a locating associated with the positional data; code that directs the processor to determine an icon associated with the defect type; and code that directs the display to display the icon associated with the defect type.

Claim 15

The computer program product of claim 12 wherein the computer-readable media also includes: code that directs the processor to determine railway data for the railway in response to the positional data; code that directs the processor to determine an icon associated with the railway data; and code that directs the display to display the icon associated with the railway data on the display.

Claim 16

The computer program product of claim 12 wherein the computer-readable media also includes: code that directs the processor to determine a repair resource within the particular geographic area, the repair resource having a resource type; code that directs the processor to determine an icon associated with the resource type; and code that directs the display to display the icon associated with the resource type on the display.

Claim 17

The computer program product of claim 14 wherein the computer-readable media also includes: code that directs the processor to assign the repair resources to the defect; code that directs the processor to generate a work order for the repair resource; code that directs the processor to determine an icon associated with the work order; and code that directs the display to display the icon associated with the work order on the display.

Claim 18

The computer program product of claim 15 wherein the computer-readable media also includes: code that directs the processor to determine a status for the work order, the status having a status type; code that directs the processor to determine an icon associated with the status type; and code that directs the display to display the icon associated with the status type on the display.

Claim 19

The computer program product of claim 15 wherein the computer-readable media also includes: code that directs the processor to select the icon associated with the status type on the display; and code that directs the display to display the status and the work order on the display.

Claim 20

A computer system for monitoring railway defects, the computer system comprising: a processor; a display coupled to the processor; a computer-readable media coupled to the processor including: code that directs the processor to determine positional data and status data for a railway; code that directs the processor to compare historical status data to the status data to determine a defect for the railway, if any, the defect having a defect type; code that directs a display to display an image of a particular geographic area that includes a region associated with the positional data; code that directs the processor to determine an icon associated with the defect type, if any; and code that directs the display to display the icon associated with the defect type.

Claim 21

A computer system for monitoring railway defects, the computer system comprising: a processor; a display coupled to the processor; a computer-readable media coupled to the processor including: code that directs the processor to determine positional data and status data for a railway; code that directs the processor to compare historical status data to the status data to determine a defect for the railway, if any, the defect having a defect type; code that directs a display to display an image of a particular geographic area that includes a region associated with the positional data; code that directs the processor to determine an icon associated with the defect type, if any; and code that directs the display to display the icon associated with the defect type.

Claim 22

The computer system of claim 18 wherein the computer-readable media also includes: code that directs the processor to determine railway data for the railway in response to the positional data; code that directs the processor to determine an icon associated with the railway data; and code that directs the display to display the icon associated with the railway data on the display.

Claim 23

The computer program product of claim 18 wherein the computer-readable media also includes: code that directs the processor to determine a repair resource within the particular geographic area, the repair resource having a resource type; code that directs the processor to determine an icon associated with the resource type; and code that directs the display to display the icon associated with the resource type on the display.