Carriage assembly for positioning railroad cars

An apparatus for automatically engaging and positioning railroad cars in a train of the railroad cars along a railroad track, comprising:

• a guide way situated between the pair of rails of the railroad track;
• a remotely-located main control unit;
• a carriage assembly movable along the guide way, the carriage assembly including:
• a radio disposed on the support frame for transmitting radio signals to and receiving radio control signals from the main control unit;
• at least one forward dog and at least one reverse dog pivotally mounted to the support frame, the at least one forward dog and at least one reverse dog movable between a lowered position beneath an axle height of the railroad cars and a raised position for engaging one of the railroad cars;
• dog proximity indicators disposed on the support frame and electrically connected to the radio, the dog proximity indicators adapted to produce signals indicating the positioning of the at least one forward dog and at least one reverse dog, respectively;
• a counting assembly disposed on the support frame and adapted to count the number of the railroad cars that the carriage assembly passes as the carriage assembly moves along the guide way, the counting assembly comprising a plurality of counting proximity indicators disposed on the support frame and electrically connected to the radio, the counting proximity indicators adapted signals when the carriage assembly reaches a preselected one of the railroad cars to be engaged the at least one forward dog and at least one reverse dog;
• and
• a plurality of guide way proximity indicators electrically connected to the main control unit and adapted to produce signals indicating at least the position of the carriage assembly on the guide way;
• wherein the radio is adapted to transmit the signals received from the dog proximity indicators and counting proximity indicators to the main control unit and receive the radio control signals from the main control unit, the main control unit controlling the carriage assembly based on the receive signals from the radio and the position signals received from the guide way proximity indicators, the main control unit controlling the carriage assembly by the radio control signals transmitted to the radio disposed on the carriage assembly.

A method of acquiring and positioning railroad cars in a train of the railroad cars along a railroad track, comprising:

• providing an apparatus adapted to selectively engage and position one of the railroad cars, the apparatus positioned on a guide way provided between the pair of rails of the railroad track, and comprising:
• a track-side main control unit;
• a carriage assembly movable along the guide way, the carriage assembly including:
• a support frame;
• a radio disposed on the support frame for transmitting radio signals to and receiving radio control signals from the main control unit;
• at least one forward dog and at least one reverse dog pivotally mounted to the support frame, the at least one forward dog and at least one reverse dog movable between a lowered position beneath an axle height of the railroad car and a raised position for engaging one of the railroad cars;
• dog proximity indicators disposed on the support frame and electrically connected to the radio and adapted to produce signals indicating the positioning of the at least one forward dog and at least one reverse dog, respectively;
• a counting assembly disposed on the support frame and adapted to count the number of the railroad cars that the carriage assembly passes as the carriage assembly is moved along the guide way, the counting assembly comprising a plurality of counting proximity indicators disposed on the support frame and electrically connected to the radio;
• and
• a plurality of guide way proximity indicators electrically connected to the main control unit;
• wherein the radio is adapted to transmit the signals received from the dog proximity indicators and counting proximity indicators to the main control unit;
• moving the at least one forward dog and at least one reverse dog to the dog lowered position by one of the radio control signals transmitted from the main control unit to the radio on the carriage assembly
• causing the carriage assembly to move along the guide way;
• counting the railroad cars as the carriage assembly moves along the guide way and transmitting the number of the railroad cars counted to the main control unit as a counted radio signal;
• stopping the carriage assembly when a preselected number of the railroad cars has been counted by one of the radio control signals transmitted from the main control unit to the radio on the carriage assembly;
• moving the at least one forward dog and at least one reverse dog to the raised position and acquiring one of the railroad cars by one of the radio control signals transmitted from the main control unit to the radio on the carriage assembly;
• moving the acquired one of the railroad cars a selected distance and
• stopping the railroad car by one of the radio control signal transmitted from the main control unit.