Device and method for checking a wheel of a rail vehicle for flat spots

A device for checking a wheel of a rail car for flat spots, comprising:

• a microelectromechanical microphone for acquiring measured air-borne sound values within a first time span;
• a processing unit to determine, as a function of the measured air-borne sound values acquired, if the wheel has a flat spot;
• and
• an acoustic waveguide;
• wherein the device is in the form of a mobile device and is situatable on or in the rail car so that air-borne sound, which is emitted at a boundary surface, as air-borne sound, by structure-borne sound propagating through the rail car, is transmittable to the microphone by the acoustic waveguide.

A method for checking a wheel of a rail car for flat spots, including the method steps:

• (a) acquiring measured air-borne sound values within a first time span, using a microelectromechanical microphone;
• (b) ascertaining an evaluation signal from the measured structure-borne sound values acquired, using a processing unit;
• (c) determining if the wheel has a flat spot, as a function of the evaluation signal, using the processing unit;
• (d) generating a signal, which represents a detected flat spot, using the processing unit, if a flat spot has been determined.