Electromagnetic gage sensing system and method for railroad track inspection
First Claim
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1. An electromagnetic (EM) gage sensing system for measuring at least gage distance between rails of a railroad track comprising:
- a first array of EM field generating coils extending substantially across said first rail and beyond an edge surface of said first rail, said first array of EM field generating coils being adapted to generate an EM field;
a first array of EM field sensors positioned substantially between said first rail and said first array of EM field generating coils, said first array of EM field sensors being adapted to sense said EM field generated by said first array of EM field generating coils, and provide a first lateral EM field output signal; and
a processor adapted to process said first lateral EM field output signal to determine position of said edge surface of said first rail.
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Abstract
An electromagnetic gage sensing system having sensor heads positioned over each rail of a railroad track that measures both rail gage and height distance above the rails of a railroad track. Each sensor head includes an array of electromagnetic field generating coils and an array of electromagnetic field sensors positioned above each rail so as to extend substantially across the rail surface. A method of measuring gage distance is also provided in which lateral EM field output signal indicative of an edge surface of a rail is sensed.
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Citations
57 Claims
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1. An electromagnetic (EM) gage sensing system for measuring at least gage distance between rails of a railroad track comprising:
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a first array of EM field generating coils extending substantially across said first rail and beyond an edge surface of said first rail, said first array of EM field generating coils being adapted to generate an EM field;
a first array of EM field sensors positioned substantially between said first rail and said first array of EM field generating coils, said first array of EM field sensors being adapted to sense said EM field generated by said first array of EM field generating coils, and provide a first lateral EM field output signal; and
a processor adapted to process said first lateral EM field output signal to determine position of said edge surface of said first rail. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A method of measuring at least gage distance between rails of a railroad track comprising the steps of:
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positioning an array of electromagnetic (EM) field generating coils over a rail of said railroad track to generate EM fields over said rail;
positioning an array of EM field sensors substantially between said EM field generating coils and said rail; and
sensing EM fields and providing at least a lateral EM field output signal indicative of position of an edge surface of said rail. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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42. A method of measuring at least gage distance between rails of a railroad track comprising the steps of:
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positioning a first array of electromagnetic (EM) field generating coils over a first rail of said railroad track, said first array of EM field generating coils extending substantially across said first rail beyond an edge surface of said first rail to generate an EM field over said first rail;
positioning a first array of EM field sensors substantially between said first array of EM field generating coils and said first rail, said first array of EM field sensors extending substantially across said first rail beyond said edge surface of said first rail, each EM field sensor of said first array of EM field sensors sensing said EM field generated over said first rail and providing a corresponding output;
determining which EM field sensor of said first array of EM field sensors is providing strongest output; and
determining position of said edge surface of said first rail based on position of said EM field sensor of said first array of EM field sensors providing strongest output. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57)
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Specification