Method for monitoring the proper working of a sanding system of a rail vehicle

A monitoring system for a sanding system for a rail vehicle, comprising:

• a sand container, a sand conveyor system, and a pipeline, said sand container being connected via said sand conveyor system to said pipeline;
• said sand conveyor system being configured for a compressed air-assisted conveyance of sand from said sand container, said sand conveyor system being configured to convey a sand-compressed air mixture into said pipeline, and said sand-compressed air mixture configured to be conducted through said pipeline;
• an optical sensor arranged in an area of a wheel-rail gap of the rail vehicle, said optical sensor being configured to monitor the sand-compressed air mixture conducted through the pipeline into the wheel-rail gap;
• a sanding monitoring unit connected to said optical sensor, said sanding monitoring unit being configured to evaluate optical sensor signals of said optical sensor, and said sanding monitoring unit being configured to recognize a disturbance in the sand-compressed air mixture based on said optical sensor signals;
• said sensor being configured to recognize a sand amount introduced via the pipeline into the wheel-rail gap, and said sand amount being part of the optical sensor signals.

A method for monitoring a sanding system of a rail vehicle, the method comprising:

• providing a sanding system of the rail vehicle with a sand container, a sand conveyor system, and a pipeline, the sand container being connected via the sand conveyor system to the pipeline;
• conveying, assisted by compressed air, sand from the sand container through the sand conveyor system, delivering a sand-compressed air mixture into the pipeline through the sand conveyor system, and passing the sand-compressed air mixture through the pipeline;
• monitoring, with an optical sensor, the sand-compressed air mixture being passed through the pipeline, the optical sensor being positioned in the area of a wheel-rail gap of the rail vehicle;
• transmitting assigned sensor signals from the optical sensor to a sanding monitoring unit for evaluation, and recognizing, in the sanding monitoring unit, a disturbance in the sand-compressed air mixture based on the assigned sensor signals;
• recognizing, with the optical sensor, a sand amount which is introduced via the pipeline into the wheel-rail gap, the sand amount forming a part of the assigned sensor signals.