Method and apparatus for weighing railroad cars

An apparatus for determining the weight of an axle of a railroad car by measuring deflection in sections of a pair of rails of a railroad track caused by the wheels of a rail car passing over said sections comprising:

• (a) a first strain measuring device connected to a section of one of said rails and a second strain measuring device connected to a section of the other of said rails, said first and second strain measuring devices being operably interconnected and each comprising:
• (i) an elongated base member disposed in engagement with a section of rail,
• (ii) first sensor means for sensing deflection in said elongated base member and for producing a deflection signal corresponding to the deflection in said elongated base member said first sensor means comprising;
• a. a sensor base connected to said elongated base member, said sensor base having a plurality of cut-out portions defining a plurality of thin wall areas in said sensor base;
• b. a plurality of foil strain gauges affixed to said sensor base proximate said thin areas;
• and
• c. connector means for connecting said sensor base to said elongated base member;
• (iii) clamping means connected to said elongated base member for releasably clamping said elongated base member to a section of rail, said clamping means comprising first and second spaced apart jaws for gripping the section of rail;
• (b) energizing means operably associated with said first and second strain means for energizing said first and second strain measuring devices when the wheels of the rail car are located over the sections of the pair of rails;
• and
• (c) data processing means operably associated with said first and second sensor means for receiving said deflection signals from said first sensor means and for analyzing said deflection signals to determine the weight of the portion of the rail car causing the deflection in said elongated base members.

A method for determining the weight of an axle of a railroad car having rotating wheels using an apparatus comprising a first strain measuring device removably connected to a section of one of the rails by a clamping means and a second strain measuring device removably connected to a section of the other of the rails by a clamping means;

• energizing means operably associated with the first and second strain measuring devices for energizing the first and second strain measuring devices when the wheels of the rail car are located over the sections of the pair of rails;
• and data processing means operably associated with the first and second sensor means for receiving the deflection signal from the first sensor means and for analyzing the deflection signals to determine the weight of the portion of the rail car causing the deflection in the elongated base member, the method comprising the steps of:
• (a) using the clamping means, connecting the first strain measuring device to a section of one of the rails and connecting the second strain measuring device to a section of the other of the rails;
• (b) using the energizing means sensing the arrival of the wheels of the railroad car, at the section of the railroad track and then energizing the first and second strain measuring devices;
• (c) using the strain measuring devices determining the deflection in each of sections of the railroad truck caused by the wheels rolling over the sections of the track;
• and
• (d) using the data processing means, determining the weight of the axle of the railroad car that is causing the measured deflection in the sections of the railroad track.