Railway wheel sensor
AssigneePortec Rail Products, Inc.
InventorsGlen Appleby, Stephen Brown, Kostas Papazoglou
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A sensor for detecting the presence of wheels of a rail vehicle is disclosed. The sensor comprises first and second Hall Effect devices, a magnet for supplying a magnetic field to the first and second Hall Effect devices, means for mounting the first and second Hall Effect devices and the magnet adjacent to the rail, whereby a railway vehicle wheel changes the magnetic field in the Hall Effect devices to produce wheel indication signals, and a processing circuit for receiving the wheel indication signals from the first and second Hall Effect devices and for producing an output signal in response to the wheel indication signals. A method of detecting the presence of a wheel is also provided.
Claims20
A sensor for sensing the presence of a railway vehicle wheel on an elongated rail, the sensor comprising:
- first and second Hall Effect devices;
- a magnet for supplying a magnetic field to the first and second Hall Effect devices;
- means for mounting the first and second Hall Effect devices and the magnet adjacent to the rail, whereby a railway vehicle wheel changes the magnetic field in the Hall Effect devices to produce wheel indication signals;
- and
- a processor for receiving the wheel indication signals from the first and second Hall Effect devices and for producing an output signal in response to the wheel indication signals.
A method of sensing the presence of a railway vehicle, the method comprising the steps of:
- positioning first and second Hall Effect devices adjacent to an elongated rail;
- applying a magnetic field to first and second Hall Effect devices;
- producing first and second wheel indication signals in response to changes in the magnetic field in the first and second Hall Effect devices caused by an adjacent railway vehicle wheel;
- and
- producing an output signal in response to the first and second wheel indication signals.
A sensor for sensing the presence of a railway vehicle wheel on an elongated rail, the sensor comprising:
- a vibration sensor;
- means for mounting the vibration sensor adjacent to the rail, whereby the vibration sensor produces a vibration indication signal in response to vibration in the rail;
- and
- a processor for receiving the vibration indication signal, for validating the vibration indication signal, and for producing an output signal in response to the vibration indication signal if the vibration indication signal is valid.
A method for sensing the presence of a railway vehicle wheel on an elongated rail, the method comprising the steps of:
- mounting a vibration sensor adjacent to the rail, whereby the vibration sensor produces a vibration indication signal in response to vibration in the rail;
- validating the vibration indication signal;
- and
- producing an output signal in response to the vibration indication signal if the vibration indication signal is valid.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.