Control and monitoring device for a switch machine, a system and method for monitoring a switch machine

System comprising:

• a railway switch having a switch machine including a switch motor, the switch motor being adapted to move points of the railway switch between a first position and a second position;
• and
• a control and monitoring device for a switch machine of the railway switch including:
• a power supply adapted to provide the switch motor with a current,
• a relay having a primary contact connected electrically to the power supply via at least one line and a secondary contact being electrically connected to the switch motor, the relay being adapted to switch on and off the power provided to the switch motor;
• at least one current sensor adapted to sense the current to be provided to the switch motor at the at least one line between the power supply and the relay;
• at least one voltage sensor adapted to sense a voltage to be provided to the switch motor at the at least one line between the power supply and the relay;
• a processor connected to the at least one current sensor and the at least one voltage sensor, wherein the processor is adapted to record the measured current and voltage values;
• wherein, the recorded current and voltage values are stored in a database to be analyzed to determine the function or malfunction of the railway switch and to perform predictive diagnostics.

Method for monitoring a switch machine, the method comprising:

• monitoring at least one control contact of a relay;
• in response to detecting a change of an input voltage:
• measuring a voltage at least one line between the relay and a power supply;
• measuring a current of the at least one line between the relay and the power supply;
• storing the measured voltage and the measured current values;
• and
• analyzing the measured voltage and the measured current values, wherein the recorded current and voltage values are stored in a database to be analyzed to determine the function or malfunction of the railway switch and to perform predictive diagnostics;
• wherein the power supply is providing a current to a switch motor of the switch machine, the switch motor being adapted to move points of a railway switch,
• wherein the relay having a primary contact connected electrically to the power supply via at least one line and a secondary contact being electrically connected to the switch motor;
• the relay being adapted to switch on and off the power provided to the switch motor, wherein the relay includes the at least one control contact, the at least one control contact being adapted to be connected to a controller adapted to control the relay with the input voltage, wherein the at least one control contact is connected to comprising a processor via a respective input.