Simulator for railroad hot wheel detector
First Claim
1. An apparatus for simulating a hot wheel on railroad rolling stock to verify the operation of a hot wheel detector, comprising:
- a movable carriage having left and right sides;
at least one left wheel rotatably mounted on the left side of the carriage having substantially parallel inner and outer faces defining substantially parallel planes; and
at least one heater attached to the carriage and disposed substantially between the planes of the faces of the left wheel to simulate a hot wheel.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A simulator is provided for verifying the proper operation of railroad rolling stock hot wheel detectors. The simulator includes heaters mounted on trucks of a railroad car, between the wheels and within the profile of the thickness of the wheels. Shock mounts, spring mounts and safety cables are used. An electromagnet is mounted on the heater to trip a sensor to activate the detector and a sensor on the car is used to determine the ambient temperature. Each heater includes a heater temperature sensor and is maintained at a constant temperature above ambient to approximate the thermal radiation of a hot wheel. Each heater is adjusted to direct heat horizontally outwardly from the truck to permit a hot wheel detector adjacent to and outside of the rail to detect a hot wheel. The car has two trucks with one heater on each side of each truck. One heater on each side simulates a temperature approximately equal to a hot wheel. The other heater on each side simulates a lower temperature and should not be detected as a hot wheel. The simulator can be integrated with a hot bearing simulator system.
15 Citations
25 Claims
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1. An apparatus for simulating a hot wheel on railroad rolling stock to verify the operation of a hot wheel detector, comprising:
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a movable carriage having left and right sides; at least one left wheel rotatably mounted on the left side of the carriage having substantially parallel inner and outer faces defining substantially parallel planes; and at least one heater attached to the carriage and disposed substantially between the planes of the faces of the left wheel to simulate a hot wheel. - 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)
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24. An apparatus for simulating a hot wheel on railroad rolling stock to verify the operation of a hot wheel detector, comprising:
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a movable carriage having at least two axles, the axles being generally parallel to each other and each axle having corresponding left and right ends; a wheel at each end of each axle, the left wheels each having inner and outer faces such that the respective faces of the left wheels are substantially coplanar, the inner and outer planes of the faces being parallel and defining a space therebetween; and at least one heater disposed substantially between the planes of the inner and outer faces of the left wheels to simulate a hot wheel.
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25. An apparatus for simulating a hot wheel on railroad rolling stock to verify the operation of a hot wheel detector, comprising:
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a movable carriage having at least four horizontal axles (A, B, C and D), the axles being generally parallel to each other and each axle having corresponding left and right ends, the carriage including a car riding on first and second trucks, the first truck having axles A and B and the second truck having axles C and D; a wheel at each end of each axle, the wheels each having inner and outer faces such that the respective faces of the wheels on the left end of the axles are substantially coplanar, the inner and outer planes of the faces being parallel and defining a space therebetween; a left, high temperature heater disposed between the wheels at the left end of the axles of the first truck, substantially between the planes of the faces of the wheels on the left end of the axles for directing heat generally horizontally outwardly from the carriage at a substantially constant temperature above ambient to simulate a hot wheel on the left side of the carriage, the heater being mounted at a distance from the wheels in the order of a wheel radius so as to prevent heat from the wheels from interfering with verification of detector operation; and a left, low temperature heater having a temperature lower than the left, high temperature heater and being disposed between the wheels at the left end of the axles of the second truck, substantially between the planes of the faces of the wheels on the left end of the axles to simulate a wheel below the temperature of a hot wheel below the temperature of a hot wheel on the left side of the carriage, the heater being mounted at a distance from the wheels in the order of a wheel radius so as to prevent heat from the wheels from interfering with verification of detector operation.
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Specification