Modular point detector for railroad track switch
AssigneeUnion Switch & Signal Inc.
InventorDaniel Brushwood
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A modular sensor apparatus for detecting the location of a movable track point includes a primary sensor and a secondary sensor disposed on a sensor mount that is movable with respect to a frame that is mounted on a switch machine. The secondary sensor is offset from the primary sensor in order to permit the secondary sensor to detect the need for imminent readjustment of the track point prior to the time at which the track point becomes maladjusted and in need of immediate readjustment. The sensor mount is threadably adjustable with respect to the frame, whereby once the primary sensor has detected the position of the movable track point when it is disposed against a fixed stock rail, the sensor mount can be moved a fixed threshold distance by rotating a thumbwheel a fixed number of turns.
Claims3
A method of adjusting a switch machine to detect a condition in which a movable track has moved farther than a threshold distance along a direction of travel from a first position, the method comprising the steps of:
- locating the movable track in the first position;
- positioning a sensor of a first sensor apparatus substantially on the verge of detecting the existence of the movable track;
- and
- rotating a component of a first adjustment apparatus a given number of turns to translate the sensor a distance substantially equal to the threshold distance along the direction of travel to a first adjusted position.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.