Union Switch & Signal, Inc.

Dario Romano

Theo C Giras

Joseph A Profeta

Joseph P Elm

A railway car retarder mechanism that employs linear electromagnetic induction to precisely accelerate or decelerate a railcar. The retarder mechanism includes a plurality of linear induction stators having a spaced plurality of primary inductors, a controllable power source electrically connected with selected ones of the primary inductors, a controller for controlling the electric current transmitted to the respective primary inductors by the controllable power source, and a sensor for sensing selected railcar parameters and transmitting those parameters to the controller, so that the speed-corrective forces applied by the retarder are proportional to these parameters. The controller regulates the magnetomotive force which is imparted upon a selected one of a plurality of railcar wheel sets, and is connected with each controllable power source. In some embodiments, the sensor include at least a portion of fiber-optic cable, which cable can be disposed proximate to a predetermined length of track rail.

Railway car retarder system

A linear induction rail switch mechanism having at least one linear induction motor (LIM) for transversely thrusting a switch track from a first position to a second position. To reduce the frictional forces during transverse movement, the switch mechanism can be levitated from the underlying structures. The switch can have at least one controllable power supply which may supply electric power to an individual LIM or groups of LIMs, which may be three-phase motors. The switch may include a vital controller which is connected to at least one controllable power supply. The vital controller responds to at least one of a feedback signal from a controllable power supply, a feedback signal from a LIM, a feedback signal from a switch track, and a remote signal. The LIM may include a primary inductor which is affixed substantially rigidly to the ground and a secondary which is affixed to the switch track. In some embodiments, the secondary may be a ladder secondary. When the LIM is energized, the ladder secondary becomes magnetically attractable to the primary inductor, and thus the ladder secondary becomes movable responsive to the magnetic field generated by the primary inductor. The controllable power supply used with the switch can include a solid state power converter having a controlled output voltage, which may employ a pulse-width-modulation scheme. The solid state power converter may be a variable-voltage, variable-frequency converter, although a variable-voltage fixed-frequency converter also may be employed.

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Salerno, Italy

Dario Romano