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US 4,630,792 AGranted
Railway wheel detector
AssigneeGeneral Signal Corporation
InventorKlaus H. Frielinghaus
Life of this patent
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AssigneeGeneral Signal Corporation
InventorKlaus H. Frielinghaus
Estimating the term…
A railway wheel detector which is mechanically actuated by the flange of a railway wheel which engages a contacting surface of the detector which may be provided by a rigid plate. This surface is supported by blocks of compressible, resilient material, preferably a closed cell foam elastomeric material, which has more stiffness in a vertical direction than in a longitudinal direction (the direction along the railway track) so as to transmit forces for actuating the plunger of an electrical switch mechanism when the flange of the railway wheel contacts the contacting surface, but allows the contacting surface to move with the wheel to avoid wear, thereby providing reliable operation over a long life time. The switch is preferably hermetically sealed and the blocks of compressible, resilient material are preferably covered by a boot having bellows walls so as to enable the wheel detector to be installed outdoors on the rail of a railway track and to withstand severe environmental conditions. A pair of such switches, together with blocks of compressible, resilient material which support contacting surfaces in close proximity to each other and longitudinally spaced along the railway track, is assembled in an integral unit so as to detect not only the presence but also the travel direction of the railway wheels and the axles which connect them.
Apparatus for use on a railway track for detecting flanged wheels of railway vehicles on said track, said apparatus comprising a body of rigid material having an opening therein extending from a surface thereof, an electrical switch having a depressible plunger, said switch being disposed in said body with said plunger in said opening extending upwardly in the direction of said surface, means operated by the flange of a railway vehicle wheel for actuating said switch by depressing and releasing said plunger, said actuating means having a surface contacted by the wheel flange and spaced above the bottom of the cycloidal path of any point on the outer circumference of the flange as it moves along the track so as to move vertically and longitudinally along said track with said flange, said means including a body of compressible, resilient material supporting said contacted surface for said vertical and longitudinal movement, said compressible, resilient body having a surface on one end thereof bearing upon said body surface and bridging said opening, which one end surface moves vertically into contact with said plunger for depressing said plunger when said contacted surface is engaged by said wheel flange.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.