Automated railway track maintenance system
AssigneeSpeno Rail Services, Inc.
InventorAlbert Rivoire
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A railway track maintenance system for grinding the heads of rail track rails. The system includes a master microprocessor which controls a plurality of individual slave microprocessors controlling a plurality of grinding heads positioned under a series of railway vehicles. The grinding heads are individually adjustable in angular position and grinding pressure. The pattern of the grinding heads can be changed sequentially while the train is moving at grinding speed. The grinding heads can also be sequentially lifted and then lowered to grinding position for obstacle clearance while the train is moving at grinding speed.
Claims35
An automated railway track maintenance system for grinding the head of railway track rails, comprising:
- rail head grinding means adapted for positioning under at least one railway vehicle;
- means for raising said grinding means;
- master signal processor control means at least partially adapted for actuation by an operator in the leading vehicle of a series of railway vehicles for controlling said grinding means;
- and
- slave signal processor control means responsive to said master signal processor control means for controlling said grinding means in accordance with commands from said master signal processor control means;
- said master signal processor control means including means for storing an absolute count representative of the distance between an obstacle whose position is located by an operator in the leading vehicle and the position of at least one of said series of vehicles when the operator actuates said master signal processor control means, means for calculating the distance along the rails between the position along the rails for actuating, by said master and slave signal processor control means, said means for raising said grinding means and said position of said at least one vehicle, and means for comparing said absolute count with the distance between the obstacle and the position of said at least one vehicle when said at least one vehicle has advanced toward the obstacle and while said vehicle is moving at a grinding speed.
An automated railway track maintenance system for grinding the head of railway track rails, comprising:
- a plurality of rail head grinding means adapted for positioning under a plurality of railway vehicles;
- means for raising said grinding means;
- and a plurality of signal processor control means for controlling said grinding means in accordance with individually programmed commands and commands from an operator in a leading vehicle while said plurality of vehicles is moving;
- said signal processor control means including means for storing an absolute count representative of the distance between an obstacle whose position is located by an operator in the leading vehicle and the position of at least one of said series of vehicles when the operator actuates said signal processor control means, means for calculating the distance along the rails between the position along the rails for actuating, by said signal processor control means, said means for raising said grinding means and said position of said at least one vehicle, and means for comparing said absolute count with the distance between the obstacle and the position of said at least one vehicle when said vehicle has advanced toward the obstacle and while said vehicle is moving at a grinding speed.
A system in accordance with 14, in which a plurality of means are provided for raising said grinding means, and in which said signal processor control means includes means for storing an absolute count representative of the distance between an obstacle whose position is located by an operator in the leading vehicle and the position of at least one of said series of vehicles when the operator actuates said signal processor control means, means for calculating the distance along the rails between the position along the rails for actuating individually, by said signal processor control means, said plurality of said means for raising individually said plurality of said grinding means at approximately the same position along the rails, and means for comparing said absolute count with the distance between the obstacle and the position of said at least one vehicle when said vehicle has advanced toward the obstacle and while said vehicle is moving at a grinding speed.
An automated railway track maintenance system for grinding the head of a railway track rail, comprising:
- rail head grinding means adapted for location under at least one railway vehicle movable along the track, said rail head grinding means being further adapted, when located under said at least one vehicle, for arrangement in any of a plurality of patterns of position relative to said at least one vehicle;
- and
- programmable computer means for controlling the patterns of position of said grinding means independently of the configuration of the rail head, said programmable computer means including memory means for storing said plurality of patterns and microprocessor means for selecting any desired one of said patterns and for controlling the respective position of said grinding means.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.