Directional wheel detector

A detecting system for determining the passage of a railroad car wheel along a section of track and the direction of movement of said wheel, said system comprising:

• a first wheel sensor mounted adjacent said track to generate a first signal upon the passage of a wheel past said first sensor and while said wheel remains within a length of track associated with said first sensor;
• a second wheel sensor closely spaced along said track from said first sensor to generate a second signal upon the passage of said wheel past said second sensor and while said wheel remains within a length of track associated with said second sensor;
• said first and second sensors being sufficiently closely spaced to each other so as to provide an overlap between said first and second signals as a wheel passes said first sensor toward said second sensor;
• logic circuit means connected to the outputs of said first and second sensors for determining the direction of travel of the wheel by sequence of outputs from said sensors, and first analog to digital converter means interposed between said first sensor and said logic means and a second analog to digital converter means interposed between said second sensor and said logic means.