Apparatus and method for detecting defective conditions in railway vehicle wheels and railtracks

Apparatus for detecting defective conditions associated with a set of railway vehicle wheels and with a railtrack upon which a given railway vehicle travels, said apparatus comprising:

• a rotation measurement unit for generating data substantially indicative of rotational rate of the set of wheels;
• a motion sensor for generating data indicative of motion at least along a generally vertical axis relative to the railtrack, said motion sensor comprising an accelerometer set positioned to measure acceleration along three mutually orthogonal axes wherein one of the three mutually orthogonal axes comprises the generally vertical axis relative to the railtrack;
• and
• a data processor coupled to the motion sensor and to the rotation measurement unit for receiving the rotational rate and motion data, said data processor being adapted to detect, based on the received rotational rate and motion data, a defective condition associated with at least one wheel of the wheel set, said data processor being further adapted to detect, based on the received motion data, a defective condition associated with at least a portion of the railtrack, and wherein said data processor is further adapted to process the measured acceleration from the accelerometer set to determine loading status of the railway vehicle.

A method for detecting defective conditions associated with a set of railway vehicle wheels and with a railtrack upon which a given railway vehicle travels, comprising:

• generating data substantially indicative of rotational rate of the set of wheels;
• generating data indicative of motion at least along a generally vertical axis relative to the railtrack;
• processing the rotational rate and motion data for detection of a defective condition associated with at least one wheel of the wheel set;
• measuring acceleration from an accelerometer set having three mutually orthogonal axes wherein one of the three mutually orthogonal axes is the generally vertical axis relative to the railtrack;
• and
• processing the measured acceleration from the accelerometer set for determining loading status of the vehicle.