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US 2023/0314383 A1Published application
Portable railroad spike inspection system based on acoustic signals
AssigneeUniversity of South Carolina
InventorsYu Qian, Jun Liu
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Described herein are systems, methods and devices for gathering sound emission data from railway spikes in order to determine if a spike is undamaged, damaged, or broken via initiating sound waves in the spike and analyzing same to determine the structural integrity of the spike being tested.
Claims18
A railroad spike inspection system comprising:
- a mobile platform containing at least one hitting mechanism for performing at least one strike to at least one railroad spike;
- wherein the at least one strike generates at least one audible sound signature and at least one vibration characteristic length for the at least one railroad spike and at least one audio detection system captures the at least one audible sound signature and at least one vibration characteristic length;
- wherein the at least one audible sound signature and at least one vibration characteristic generate at least one pitch for the at least one railroad spike and a tone of the at least one pitch indicates the spike is broken;
- wherein the system is further configured to be non-destructive to the at least one spike being tested;
- and
- the system operates on at least one railroad track and provides results in real-time as the system traverses the at least one railroad track.
3 more elements
A method for inspecting railroad spikes comprising:
- moving a non-destructive railroad spike inspection system along at least one railroad track;
- striking at least one railroad spike positioned along the railroad track with at least one hitting mechanism;
- generating via the at least one strike at least one audible sound signature and at least one vibration characteristic length for the at least one railroad spike and at least one audio detection system captures the at least one audible sound signature and at least one vibration characteristic length;
- wherein the at least one audible sound signature and at least one vibration characteristic generate at least one pitch for the at least one railroad spike and a tone of the at least one pitch indicates the spike is broken;
- configuring the system to be non-destructive to the at least one spike being tested;
- operating the system on at least one railroad track;
- and
- providing results in real-time as the system traverses the at least one railroad track.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.