Abstract This invention relates to devices for recording railway track condition, that is to say, surface or alignment condition and has a particular application to alignment condition. A system is provided which comprises a light transmitter mounted on an independent front buggy and which projects an infrared reference beam along the track towards an infrared beam receiver which is mounted on a car for movement along the track. A shadow board is mounted on a frame which may be attached to the car carrying the receiver or which may be mounted on an independent car and positioned between the transmitter and the receiver. The transmitter, receiver and shadow board frame are all referenced to the track. The shadow board is slidably mounted on its frame for outward or inward movement on the frame to hunt about a line of sight drawn between the transmitter and receiver. The hunting motion of the shadow board is controlled from the receiver which acts to drive the shadow board out into the path of the beam when the transmitter is receiving the transmitted beam and to command the shadow board to retract out of the path of the beam when the transmitted light is obscured by the shadow board from the receiver. In this fashion the shadow board is caused to hunt about a deadband datum and to provide with the transmitter and receiver a reference line to which the track condition may be referenced. An electrical or mechanical sensor is provided on the frame to sense the movement of the shadow board relative to the frame and to provide a signal to drive a pen on a moving chartrecording system. The chart is driven from the wheels of the system so that the chart moves along at a speed proportional to the speed of the system movement along the track and the pen traces on the chart a record of the track errors as a function of the shadow board movement from its datum.
Inventors
👤 Helmuth Rolf Erich Vo Beckmann
Bibliographic Details
Application Number—
JurisdictionUS
Data Sourcegoogle_patents
Last Synchronized2026-10-24 14:35
CPC Classifications
E; E01; E01B; E01B35/00; E01B2203/00; E01B2203/16
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 5
Claim 1
Independent Claim
177 words
A system for recording errors in railroad track condition comprising a light beam transmitter mounted for movement along and referenced to the track; a light beam receiver mounted for movement along and referenced to the track and oriented to receive the transmitted light beam; a shadow board between the transmitter and receiver, mounted on a frame referenced to the track and movable therealong; a drive motor for driving the shadow board outwardly and inwardly on said frame; electrical connections between said receiver and said drive motor, said receiver being adapted to transmit a command signal to said drive motor to actuate it to drive the shadow board in one direction or another to hunt about a line of sight between transmitter and receiver; motion detection means on said frame for detecting the motion of the shadow board and producing a signal which is a function of that motIon; and recorder means adapted to receive this signal to drive a stylus and produce a trace of track errors as a function of shadow board movement from a datum.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
177 words
A system for recording errors in railroad track condition comprising a light beam transmitter mounted for movement along and referenced to the track; a light beam receiver mounted for movement along and referenced to the track and oriented to receive the transmitted light beam; a shadow board between the transmitter and receiver, mounted on a frame referenced to the track and movable therealong; a drive motor for driving the shadow board outwardly and inwardly on said frame; electrical connections between said receiver and said drive motor, said receiver being adapted to transmit a command signal to said drive motor to actuate it to drive the shadow board in one direction or another to hunt about a line of sight between transmitter and receiver; motion detection means on said frame for detecting the motion of the shadow board and producing a signal which is a function of that motIon; and recorder means adapted to receive this signal to drive a stylus and produce a trace of track errors as a function of shadow board movement from a datum.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
49 words
A Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the recorder is of the travelling chart type driven by movement of the system along the track, a recording pen being connected to the means for sensing the shadow board movement and adapted to record a trace on the moving chart.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
59 words
A system as claimed in claim 1 in which the transmitter, shadow board and receiver are all located on the same side of the track near the rails thereof and spaced transversely outwardly from the track, the shadow board being arranged to move transversely of the track on its frame, whereby to record errors in track horizontal alignment condition.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
25 words
Apparatus as claimed in claim 3 in which the shadow board is mounted on an independent buggy spaced equidistant from the transmitter and the receiver.