Rail switch heater
AssigneeBacker EHP Inc.
InventorsKevin M. Clyne, Jimmy Hjort Andersson
Life of this patent
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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.
Claims21
A rail switch heating system, comprising:
- an electrically resistive heating element configured for mounting to and heating a railroad rail;
- a first sensor configured to collect a first temperature measurement at a first location in a vicinity of the railroad rail that is unaffected by heat emitted by the heating element;
- a second sensor configured to collect a second temperature measurement at a second location of the railroad rail that is affected by the heat emitted by the heating element;
- and
- a controller coupled to the heating element, the first sensor, and the second sensor, the controller comprising a processor and memory, wherein the controller is configured to:
- receive the first temperature measurement from the first sensor and the second temperature measurement from the second sensor;
- determine a target energy consumption for the heating element based on the first temperature measurement, the second temperature measurement, or a combination thereof;
- determine a pulse-width modulation (PWM) cycle based on the target energy consumption;
- and
- cycle power on and off to the heating element in accordance with the PWM cycle in response to determining that:
- the first temperature measurement is less than a first predetermined minimum threshold;
- or
- the second temperature measurement is less than a second predetermined minimum threshold.
A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions, which, when executed, cause a machine to:
- receive a first temperature measurement, via a first sensor, at a first location of a railroad rail that is unaffected by heat emitted by a heating element configured to heat the railroad rail;
- receive a second temperature measurement from a second sensor, via a second sensor, at a second location of the railroad rail that is affected by the heat emitted by the heating element;
- determine a target energy consumption for the heating element based on the first temperature measurement, the second temperature measurement, or a combination thereof;
- determine a pulse-width modulation (PWM) cycle based on the target energy consumption;
- and
- cycle power to the heating element in accordance with the PWM cycle responsive to:
- the first temperature measurement being less than a first predetermined minimum threshold;
- or
- the second temperature measurement being less than a second predetermined minimum threshold.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.