Chord liner using angle measurement

Claim 1

Apparatus for reducing railroad track alignment errors comprising a first measuring system having a first forward chord forming structure both ends of which are located adjacent pairs of track engaging wheels and each end being located intermediate a respective pair of wheels and a first rearward chord forming structure both ends of which are located adjacent pairs of track engaging wheels and each end being located intermediate a respective pair of wheels, the rearward end of the first forward chord forming structure being fixed closely adjacent the forward end of the first rearward chord forming structure, the first chord forming structures being relatively pivotable to define a variable angle therebetween measured at the adjacent ends of the two first chord forming structures, means located at the adjacent ends of the first chord forming structures to measure the variable angle, means to move the first measuring system along a section of track for enabling the variable angle measuring means to measure said variable angle at a series of locations, means for storing and averaging the values obtained at said series of locations and obtaining an average value, a track position correcting means attached to and trailing the first measuring system, a second measuring system associated with the track correcting means and having a second forward chord forming structure both ends of which are located adjacent pairs of track engaging wheels and each end being located intermediate a respective pair of wheels and a second rearward chord forming structure both ends of which are located adjacent pairs of track engaging wheels and each end being located intermediate a respective pair of wheels, the rearward end of the second forward chord forming structure being fixed closely adjacent the forward end of the second rearward chord forming structure, the second chord forming structure being relatively pivotable to define a variable angle therebetween measured at the adjacent ends of the two second chord forming structure, means located at the adjacent ends of the two second chord forming structures to measure the angle at a particular track location, means to compare said average angle value with the angle value obtained by the second measuring system at said particular track location and provide an angle error value, and means for applying said angle error value to control the operation of the track position correcting means to reduce an existing track alignment error.

Claim 11

A method of correcting the superelevation of one rail of a railroad track relative to the other in accordance with a predetermined formula relating superelevation to curvature of a track section and the speed for which the track section is designed, comprising the steps of passing a measuring system along the section and obtaining measurements indicative of the track position at a first series of locations throughout the section, automatically summing and averaging the measurements to obtain an average value, automatically computing a desired superelevation value corresponding to said average value, passing track correcting means equipped with track measurement means along said section of track and obtaining a measurement at at least one location which measurement is indicative of the superelevation of the rails at that location, comparing the computed superelevation value with the value obtained at said one location to obtain an error signal and applying the error signal to control the operation of track lifting means to raise one rail relative to the other to achieve the computed superelevation.

Claim 12

A method of correcting the superelevation of one rail of a railroad track relative to the other in accordance with a predetermined formula relating superelevation to curvature of a track section and the speed for which the track section is designed, comprising the steps of passing a measuring system along the section and obtaining measurements indicative of the track position at a first series of locations throughout the section, automatically summing and averaging the measurements to obtain an average value, automatically computing a desired superelevation value corresponding to said average value, passing track correcting means equipped with track measurement means along said section of track and obtaining a measurement at at least one location which measurement is indicative of the superelevation of the rails at that location, comparing the computed superelevation value with the value obtained at said one location to obtain an error signal and applying the error signal to control the operation of track lifting means to raise one rail relative to the other to achieve the computed superelevation.

Claim 19

A method of reducing railroad track alignment errors comprising the steps of passing a measuring system along a section of the track having a control longitudinal axis, the measuring system having first means forming two chords the ends of which are located on said track axis, the chords extending respectively between a first point and a second point and between the second point and a third point, and measuring the angle defined by the two chords of the first means at a first series of locations throughout said section, automatically summing and averaging the thus measured angles to obtain an average angle value, passing track correcting means equipped with second means forming two chords the ends of which are located on said track axis, the chords extending respectively between a fourth point and a fifth point and between the fifth point and a sixth point, and equipped with a track angle sensing means along said section of track, obtaining a value for the angle defined by the two chords of the second means at at least one location on said section, comparing the actual angle value obtained at said at least one location with said average angle value to obtain an angle error value and applying the angle error value to control the operation of track position correcting means to reduce an existing track alignment error at the one location.

Claim 20

A method of reducing railroad track alignment errors comprising the steps of passing a measuring system along a section of the track having a control longitudinal axis, the measuring system having first means forming two chords the ends of which are located on said track axis, the chords extending respectively between a first point and a second point and between the second point and a third point, and measuring the angle defined by the two chords of the first means at a first series of locations throughout said section, automatically summing and averaging the thus measured angles to obtain an average angle value, passing track correcting means equipped with second means forming two chords the ends of which are located on said track axis, the chords extending respectively between a fourth point and a fifth point and between the fifth point and a sixth point, and equipped with a track angle sensing means along said section of track, obtaining a value for the angle defined by the two chords of the second means at at least one location on said section, comparing the actual angle value obtained at said at least one location with said average angle value to obtain an angle error value and applying the angle error value to control the operation of track position correcting means to reduce an existing track alignment error at the one location.