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US 11,725,347 B2Granted
Rail switch heater
AssigneeBacker EHP Inc.
InventorsKevin M. Clyne, Jimmy Hjort Andersson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An embodiment of a rail switch heating system is disclosed, including a controller comprising a processor and memory, an electrically resistive heating element coupled to the controller, the heating element configured for mounting to and heating a railroad rail, and software stored on the memory for executing the steps of: (a) automatically determining a pulse width modulated (PWM) cycle corresponding to a target energy consumption for cycling the heating element on and off; and (b) cycling the heating element on and off according to the PWM cycle.
Claims20
A rail switch heating system, comprising:
- a controller comprising a processor and a non-transitory computer readable medium;
- an electrically resistive heating element coupled to the controller, the heating element configured for mounting to and heating a railroad rail;
- a first sensor coupled to the controller to provide first input data to the controller, the first sensor configured to detect and/or measure a first temperature of the rail at a location of the rail that is unaffected by temperature induced by the heating element;
- a second sensor coupled to the controller to provide second input data to the controller, the second sensor configured to detect and/or measure a second temperature of the rail at a location of the rail that is affected by temperature induced by the heating element;
- and
- software stored on the non-transitory computer readable medium and executable by the processor for executing the steps of:
- automatically determining a target energy consumption for the heating element based on the first input data and the second input data;
- automatically determining a pulse width modulated (PWM) cycle corresponding to the target energy consumption for cycling the heating element on and off;
- and
- if the first input data corresponding to the first temperature of the rail falls below a minimum threshold temperature and if the second input data corresponding to the second temperature of the rail does not exceed a maximum threshold temperature, automatically cycling a flow of electricity on and off to the heating element in accordance with the PWM cycle.
7 more elements
A rail switch heating system, comprising:
- a controller comprising a processor and a non-transitory computer readable medium;
- an electrically resistive heating element coupled to the controller, the heating element configured for mounting to and heating a railroad rail;
- a first sensor coupled to the controller to provide first input data to the controller, the first sensor configured to detect and/or measure a first temperature of the rail at a location of the rail that is unaffected by temperature induced by the heating element;
- a second sensor coupled to the controller to provide second input data to the controller, the second sensor configured to detect and/or measure a second temperature of the rail at a location of the rail that is affected by temperature induced by the heating element;
- and
- software stored on the non-transitory computer readable medium for executing the steps of:
- automatically determining a pulse width modulated (PWM) cycle corresponding to a target energy consumption for cycling the heating element on and off;
- and
- if the first input data corresponding to the first temperature of the rail falls below a minimum threshold temperature and if the second input data corresponding to the second temperature of the rail does not exceed a maximum threshold temperature, automatically cycling a flow of electricity on and off to the heating element in accordance with the PWM cycle.
6 more elements
A rail switch heating system, comprising:
- a controller comprising a processor and memory;
- a non-transitory computer readable medium;
- an electrically resistive heating element coupled to the controller, the heating element configured for mounting to and heating a railroad rail;
- a first sensor coupled to the controller to provide first input data to the controller, the first sensor configured to detect and/or measure a first temperature of the rail at a location of the rail that is unaffected by temperature induced by the heating element;
- a second sensor coupled to the controller to provide second input data to the controller, the second sensor configured to detect and/or measure a second temperature of the rail at a location of the rail that is affected by temperature induced by the heating element;
- and
- software stored on the non-transitory computer readable medium for executing the steps of:
- if the first input data corresponding to the first temperature of the rail falls below a minimum threshold temperature and if the second input data corresponding to the second temperature of the rail does not exceed a maximum threshold temperature, automatically cycling a flow of electricity on and off to the heating element in accordance a pulse width modulated (PWM) cycle.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.