Intelligent on-board rail lubrication system for curved and tangent track

An on-board lubricating device for lubricating a railroad track rail, the device to be mounted on the last locomotive of a locomotive consist behind the last tractive wheel, comprising:

• a frame adapted for mounting on the locomotive car body;
• a lubricating wheel having a tread and a flange;
• means connected to the frame for rotatably mounting the lubricating wheel such that the wheel tread is in constant contact with the crown of the rail and the wheel flange is in constant contact with the gage side of the rail;
• and
• a lubricant dispensing unit mounted on the device for applying a first lubricant to the tread of the lubricating wheel and second lubricant to the flange of the wheel.

An on-board lubricating device for lubricating a railroad track rail, the device to be mounted on the last locomotive of a locomotive consist behind the last tractive wheel, comprising:

• a frame for mounting on the locomotive car body;
• a carriage mounted for lateral sliding motion on the frame;
• a spring biasing the carriage toward the field side of the rail;
• a yoke connected to the carriage;
• a flanged lubricating wheel mounted for rotation in the yoke in contact with the rail;
• and
• a lubricant dispensing unit mounted on the yoke for applying a first lubricant to the tread of the lubricating wheel and second lubricant to the flange of the wheel.

A method of measuring the angle of attack between a wheel of a moving railroad car and a rail, comprising the steps of:

• mounting a measuring wheel on the railroad car body, in constant contact with a rail;
• establishing a functional relationship between the lateral displacement of the measuring wheel and the angle of attack, said relationship depending on the location of the measuring wheel relative to the car truck centers and the distance between the truck centers;
• measuring the lateral displacement of the measuring wheel from a base position wherein the lubricating wheel has an angle of attack of zero with respect to the rail;
• and
• determining the angle of attack by consulting the functional relationship to find the angle of attack corresponding to the measured lateral displacement.

Apparatus for measuring the angle of attack between a wheel of a moving railroad car and a rail, comprising:

• a measuring wheel mounted on the railroad car body, in constant contact with a rail;
• electronic database storage means containing a functional relationship between the lateral displacement of the measuring wheel and the angle of attack, said relationship depending on the location of the measuring wheel relative to the car truck centers and the distance between the truck centers;
• means for measuring the lateral displacement of the measuring wheel from a base position wherein the lubricating wheel has an angle of attack of zero with respect to the rail;
• and
• means for determining the angle of attack by consulting the functional relationship in said storage means to find the angle of attack corresponding to the measured lateral displacement.

A method of lubricating railroad track rails using a lubricant dispensing unit mounted on the locomotive of a train, the lubricant dispensing unit having pumps for applying lubricant to the track rails at a determined rate, the rate being determined with the aid of a digital computer, comprising the steps of:

• providing said computer with a database including,
• an equipment factor K dependent upon the configuration of the lubricant dispensing unit,
• a curvature constant K.sub.D,
• a lubricant characteristics constant C.sub.L dependent upon the physical properties of the lubricant,
• the number of axles in the train N, and
• the average tonnage being hauled per axle w;
• repetitively measuring and providing to the computer variables including,
• the degree of curvature of the track rails D,
• the ambient air temperature T, and
• the velocity of the train V;
• repetitively calculating in the computer, at frequent intervals, factors including,
• a curve factor R.sub.D based on the relation R.sub.D =K.sub.D * D,
• a lubricant factor R.sub.L based on the relation R.sub.L =C.sub.L *T ;
• repetitively calculating in the computer, at frequent intervals, a lubrication rate R based on the relation R=K*R.sub.D *R.sub.L *V*Nw;
• and adjusting the speed of the dispensing unit pumps to dispense lubricant at the most-recently calculated rate R.