Method and apparatus for noncontact relative rail displacement, track modulus and stiffness measurement by a moving rail vehicle
First Claim
1. A system for measuring the displacement of a portion of a railroad track relative to a wheel and rail contact point, the system comprising:
- a rail vehicle having a body and a set of wheels, at least one of the wheels of the set of wheels engaging the rail at the wheel and rail contact point;
first and second optical emitters mounted to the vehicle in spaced relation relative to each other and configured to emit beams detectable on the underlying surface and separated by a distance thereon for measuring the vertical displacement of the track at a distance along the rail spaced from at least one of the wheel and rail contact points; and
a camera mounted to the vehicle body for recording the vertical displacement of the track as the vehicle travels along the rail, the camera being mounted substantially equidistant between the first and second optical emitter in a plane substantially perpendicular to the rail.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An on-board, noncontact measurement system and method is disclosed for measuring track quality, vertical track stiffness and vertical track modulus for a portion of track underlying the rail vehicle. The system comprises first and second optical emitters mounted to the vehicle and configured to emit beams of light that are detectable on the underlying surface; a camera mounted to the vehicle for recording the distance between the beams of light as the vehicle travels along the surface, a mechanism for measuring the distance between the beams of light for a particular portion of the surface; and a mechanism for determining the vertical track stiffness or vertical track modulus for a particular portion of the track.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A system for measuring the displacement of a portion of a railroad track relative to a wheel and rail contact point, the system comprising:
- a rail vehicle having a body and a set of wheels, at least one of the wheels of the set of wheels engaging the rail at the wheel and rail contact point;
first and second optical emitters mounted to the vehicle in spaced relation relative to each other and configured to emit beams detectable on the underlying surface and separated by a distance thereon for measuring the vertical displacement of the track at a distance along the rail spaced from at least one of the wheel and rail contact points; and
a camera mounted to the vehicle body for recording the vertical displacement of the track as the vehicle travels along the rail, the camera being mounted substantially equidistant between the first and second optical emitter in a plane substantially perpendicular to the rail. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
- a rail vehicle having a body and a set of wheels, at least one of the wheels of the set of wheels engaging the rail at the wheel and rail contact point;
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12. A system for measuring the relative displacement of a railroad track, the system comprising:
- a rail vehicle having a body and a set of wheels, at least one of the wheels of the set of wheels engaging the rail at a wheel and rail contact point;
first and second optical emitter mounted to the vehicle in a spaced relation relative to each other, the first and second optical emitters being configured to emit first and second beams that intersect prior to being detectable on the underlying rail surface at a distance along the rail spaced from at least one of the wheel and rail contact points, the first beam being separated by a distance from the second beam; and
a camera mounted to the vehicle for recording the separation between the first beam and the second beam on the underlying rail surface as the vehicle travels along the rail for determining the relative vertical displacement of the rail. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
- a rail vehicle having a body and a set of wheels, at least one of the wheels of the set of wheels engaging the rail at a wheel and rail contact point;
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18. A noncontact method for measuring performance of a portion of railroad track, the method comprising the steps of:
- measuring the relative displacement of the portion of track from a rail vehicle at a distance spaced from a wheel and rail contact point as the rail vehicle is moving along the track by providing first and second optical emitters mounted to the rail vehicle, the optical emitters being spaced from each other and configured to emit first and second beams of light visible on the underlying rail surface and being separated by a distance thereon; and
providing a camera mounted to the vehicle for recording the first and second beams of light as the rail vehicle travels along the surface. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22)
- measuring the relative displacement of the portion of track from a rail vehicle at a distance spaced from a wheel and rail contact point as the rail vehicle is moving along the track by providing first and second optical emitters mounted to the rail vehicle, the optical emitters being spaced from each other and configured to emit first and second beams of light visible on the underlying rail surface and being separated by a distance thereon; and
Specification