System and method for railroad track tie plate orientation
First Claim
1. A machine for automatically orienting railroad tie plates, comprising:
- a sensing region;
at least one optical sensor associated with the sensing region and connected to the machine, the at least one optical sensor including a transmitter portion arranged to transmit a sensing beam such that the sensing beam at least one of reflects and refracts at an angle from a surface of a tie plate and a receiver portion arranged to receive a visible representation of the sensing beam that at least one of reflects and refracts at the angle such that a physical feature of the tie plate is discernible, wherein the at least one optical sensor is adapted to sense the physical feature of the tie plate;
an electronic controller operably connected to the at least one optical sensor and disposed to receive therefrom a sensor signal indicative of the physical feature of the tie plate when the tie plate is in the sensing region;
wherein the electronic controller is further disposed to;
determine an orientation of the tie plate based on the sensor signal;
compare the orientation of the tie plate with a predetermined orientation; and
provide a command to at least one actuator adapted to perform at least one tie plate orientation operation to change the orientation of the tie plate based on the comparison of the orientation of the plate with the predetermined orientation.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A machine for automatically orienting railroad tie plates includes a sensing region having at least one optical sensor adapted to sense a physical feature of a tie plate. An electronic controller is connected to the optical sensor and is disposed to receive a sensor signal indicative of the physical feature of the tie plate when the tie plate is in the sensing region. The electronic controller further determines an orientation of the tie plate based on the sensor signal, compares it to one or more predetermined or possible orientations, and provides a command to at least one actuator adapted to perform at least one tie plate orientation operation to change the orientation of the tie plate based on the comparison of the orientation of the plate with the predetermined orientation.
27 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A machine for automatically orienting railroad tie plates, comprising:
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a sensing region; at least one optical sensor associated with the sensing region and connected to the machine, the at least one optical sensor including a transmitter portion arranged to transmit a sensing beam such that the sensing beam at least one of reflects and refracts at an angle from a surface of a tie plate and a receiver portion arranged to receive a visible representation of the sensing beam that at least one of reflects and refracts at the angle such that a physical feature of the tie plate is discernible, wherein the at least one optical sensor is adapted to sense the physical feature of the tie plate; an electronic controller operably connected to the at least one optical sensor and disposed to receive therefrom a sensor signal indicative of the physical feature of the tie plate when the tie plate is in the sensing region; wherein the electronic controller is further disposed to; determine an orientation of the tie plate based on the sensor signal; compare the orientation of the tie plate with a predetermined orientation; and provide a command to at least one actuator adapted to perform at least one tie plate orientation operation to change the orientation of the tie plate based on the comparison of the orientation of the plate with the predetermined orientation. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method for automatically sorting and orienting tie plates in a tie plate placing machine, comprising:
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sensing at least one physical feature of each tie plate by scanning a portion thereof with an optical sensor; providing a signal indicative of a physical feature from the optical sensor to an electronic controller; determining an orientation of each tie plate in the electronic controller based on the signal; comparing the orientation of each tie plate with at least four predetermined orientations; assigning an orientation designation to each tie plate based on the comparison between the orientation of each tie plate with the predetermined orientations; and re-orienting each tie plate based on the orientation designation. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification