Railway wheel sensor
AssigneePortec Rail Products, Inc.
InventorsGlen Appleby, Stephen W. Brown, Kostas Papazoglou
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A sensor for detecting the presence of wheels of a rail vehicle includes first and second Hall Effect devices, a magnet for supplying a magnetic field to the first and second Hall Effect devices, the first and second Hall Effect devices and the magnet being mounted adjacent to the rail, whereby a railway vehicle wheel changes the magnetic field in the Hall Effect devices to produce wheel indication signals, and a processing circuit for receiving the wheel indication signals from the first and second Hall Effect devices and for producing an output signal in response to the wheel indication signals. A method of detecting the presence of a wheel is also provided.
Claims14
A sensor for sensing the presence of a railway vehicle wheel on an elongated rail, the sensor comprising:
- first and second Hall Effect devices;
- a magnet for supplying a magnetic field to the first and second Hall Effect devices, wherein the first and second Hall Effect devices are separated in a direction parallel to a direction of travel of the railway vehicle wheel, and are positioned on opposite sides of the magnet;
- means for mounting the first and second Hall Effect devices and the magnet adjacent to the rail, whereby a railway vehicle wheel changes the magnetic field in the Hall Effect devices to produce wheel indication signals;
- and
- a processor for receiving the wheel indication signals from the first and second Hall Effect devices and for producing an output signal in response to the wheel indication signals, wherein the processor compares the wheel indication signals with predetermined criteria to determine if the wheel indication signals are valid.
A sensor for sensing the presence of a railway vehicle wheel on an elongated rail, the sensor comprising:
- first and second Hall Effect devices;
- a magnet for supplying a magnetic field to the first and second Hall Effect devices;
- means for mounting the first and second Hall Effect devices and the magnet adjacent to the rail, whereby a railway vehicle wheel changes the magnetic field in the Hall Effect devices to produce wheel indication signals;
- a processor for receiving the wheel indication signals from the first and second Hall Effect devices and for producing an output signal in response to the wheel indication signals, wherein the processor compares the wheel indication signals with predetermined criteria to determine if the wheel indication signals are valid;
- a vibration sensor for sensing vibrations caused by the railway vehicle and for producing a vibration indicating signal;
- and
- wherein the processor combines the vibration indicating signal and the wheel indication signals to produce the output signal.
A method of sensing the presence of a railway vehicle, the method comprising the steps of:
- positioning first and second Hall Effect devices adjacent to an elongated rail;
- applying a magnetic field to first and second Hall Effect devices, wherein the first and second Hall Effect devices are separated in a direction parallel to a direction of travel of the railway vehicle wheel, and are positioned on opposite sides of a magnet;
- producing first and second wheel indication signals in response to changes in the magnetic field in the first and second Hall Effect devices caused by an adjacent railway vehicle wheel;
- comparing the wheel indication signals with predetermined criteria to determine if the wheel indication signals are valid;
- and
- producing an output signal in response to the first and second wheel indication signals.
A method of sensing the presence of a railway vehicle, the method comprising the steps of:
- positioning first and second Hall Effect devices adjacent to an elongated rail;
- applying a magnetic field to first and second Hall Effect devices;
- producing first and second wheel indication signals in response to changes in the magnetic field in the first and second Hall Effect devices caused by an adjacent railway vehicle wheel;
- comparing the wheel indication signals with predetermined criteria to determine if the wheel indication signals are valid;
- producing an output signal in response to the first and second wheel indication signals;
- sensing vibrations caused by the railway vehicle and producing a vibration indicating signal;
- and
- combining the vibration indicating signal and the wheel indication signal to produce the output signal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.