Lifter with electropermanent magnets provided with a safety device

• US 6,104,270 A
• Filed: 11/30/1998
• Issued: 08/15/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 08/04/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Railfix N.V.
• Original Assignee: Railfix N.V.
• Inventors: Elias, Gregory E.
• Primary Examiner(s): DONOVAN, LINCOLN D
• Application Number:
  US09/194,392
• Time in Patent Office: 624 Days
• Field of Search: 361/142-4, 335/284, 335/285, 335/289, 335/290, 335/291
• US Class Current: 335/289
• CPC Class Codes: B66C 1/04 by magnetic means
• CPC Class Codes: H01F 2007/208 combined with permanent magnets
• CPC Class Codes: H01F 7/0257 Lifting, pick-up magnetic objects
• CPC Class Codes: H01F 7/04 Means for releasing the attractive force

Abstract

A lifter comprising at least a reversible magnet (5, 5'"'"') arranged with its polarities oriented along a vertical axis above at least a magnet (6, 6'"'"') provided with at least a pair of permanent magnets (6a, 6a'"'"') arranged with the polarities oriented along an horizontal axis on the sides of at least a ferromagnetic core (6b, 6b'"'"') suitable to contact the load (18) to be lifted, at least a magnetic sensor (11) arranged close to the base (6c, 6c'"'"') of said ferromagnetic core, and a further magnetic sensor (12) arranged over said permanent magnets (6a, 6a'"'"') so as to measure substantially only the magnetic flux passing through the reversible magnet (5, 5'"'"'), as well as a safety device (13) for processing the signals transmitted by said magnetic sensors (11, 12) and obtaining the working point of the lifter on the magnetization curve (14) of the reversible magnet (5, 5'"'"').

Claims

1. A lifter comprising:

a reversible magnet having a magnetization curve, a commuting coil with a longitudinal axis, and opposite polarities oriented along said longitudinal axis;

at least a working point on said magnetization curve of said reversible magnet;

a ferromagnetic core having sides and a base, and adapted to contact a load to be lifted by said lifter;

a pair of permanent magnets each arranged on one of said sides of said ferromagnetic core with their polarities oriented along an axis perpendicular to said longitudinal axis of said commuting coil;

a first magnetic sensor disposed adjacent said base of said ferromagnetic core;

a second magnetic sensor disposed above said permanent magnets for measuring the magnetic flux passing through said reversible magnet; and

a safety device for processing signals transmitted by said first and second magnetic sensors and obtaining said working point of said lifter on the magnetization curve of said reversible magnet.

2. The lifter of claim 1, wherein said reversible magnet is disposed above said permanent magnets and includes first and second reversible magnets having polarities oriented mutually reversed along said longitudinal axis, and wherein the magnetic fluxes induced by said reversible magnets are linked together.

3. The lifter of claim 1, wherein said ferromagnetic core includes first and second ferromagnetic cores, wherein said first magnetic sensor includes a magnetic sensor disposed adjacent said base of each of said ferromagnetic cores, wherein said reversible magnet includes first and second reversible magnets, and wherein said second magnetic sensor includes a magnetic sensor disposed between each of said reversible magnets and said permanent magnets.

4. The lifter of claim 1, wherein said reversible magnet is made of a metallic alloy comprising aluminum, nickel, and cobalt.

5. The lifter of claim 1, wherein at least one of said first and second magnetic sensors includes a coil having loops surrounding a portion of said ferromagnetic core.

6. The lifter of claim 1, wherein at least one of said first and second magnetic sensors comprises a Hall effect sensor.

7. The lifter of claim 1, wherein said reversible magnet, said ferromagnetic core and said permanent magnets are housed inside a highly magnetically conductive structure, the base of said ferromagnetic core protruding outside said structure.

8. The lifter of claim 1, wherein said safety device comprises an electronic circuit controlled by a microprocessor with at least an input for receiving signals transmitted by said first and second magnetic sensors, said electronic circuit adapted to convert said signals into digital form.

9. The lifter of claim 1, wherein said safety device is adapted to calculate the magnetic flux passing through the load lifted by said lifter depending on the difference of values detected through said first and second magnetic sensors.

10. The lifter of claim 1, wherein said magnetization curve of said reversible magnets comprises a linear segment between a knee and the axis of the residual induction corresponding to a zero level of the coercive field intensity, and said safety device comprises alarm means being automatically activated if the working point of said lifter on the magnetization curve of said reversible magnets is not comprised in said linear segment.