Load bar weighing system

A weighing apparatus including:

• a section of isolated track rail separated and spaced at each end from the track rails of a railroad track;
• means supporting the isolated track adjacent the ends thereof to permit the isolated section to bend along the neutral axis thereof in response to a vertical load being applied thereto;
• motion sensing means operatively mounted upon said section of isolated track rail adapted to sense and measure the amount of bending or the neutral axis of the isolated track rail and produce an electrical output signal;
• and,
• system means for developing an output from said output signal which is a function of the amount of vertical load applied to the isolated track rail;
• wherein the motion sensing means includes a weigh bar mounted on the section of an isolated track rail and secured thereto along the rail neutral axis with one end thereof, the control end, being mounted for movement with four degrees of freedom and the other end, the measurement end, being mounted with a single degree of freedom of movement and sensor means for sensing relative movement between said rail and said weigh bar in said single degree of freedom as a function of the load applied to said rail.

In a railroad car weighing apparatus:

• a relatively short section of railroad track supported at each end and isolated at each end from the main track;
• target means attached to said rail section at a pivot along the neutral axis adapted to produce rotary movement of the target in response to a load vertically applied to said rail section;
• and,
• sensor means adapted to respond to the rotary movement of the target and produce an output representative of the load applied to the said rail section.

In a method of weighing a vertical load applied to a section of railroad track which comprises the steps of:

• isolating a section of railroad track from adjacent track loads;
• mounting an elongated member on the web of each isolated weigh rail coincident with the neutral line of each rail, at rest, said mounting being non-load bearing with respect to rail loads and adapted to allow the elongated member to measure the bending slope of the rail along the neutral line;
• providing an earth support adjacent each end of the isolated track having a bearing whose surface follows a radius of curvature centered on the neutral axis of the rail;
• and,
• measuring the bending slope of the neutral line of the rail which when compared with the non-load bearing elongated element represents a function of the vertical load applied to the isolated rail section.