The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 13, 1997
Filed:
Dec. 12, 1995
Forrest H Ballinger, Grain Valley, MO (US);
Harmon Industries, Inc., Blue Springs, MO (US);
Abstract
A vital wheel detector for railways injects an oscillating electrical current into a short rail segment and produces a monitor signal in response the magnetic field around the rail. A high Q pickup coil is employed which, when a car wheel is present on the rail segment, sharply decreases in Q and significantly reduces the level of the monitor signal. Any failure of the detector apparatus is in a safe mode, as a loss of rail current results in a loss of the monitor signal whether through an electrical or a mechanical failure. Also, internal mechanical or electrical failures either interrupt the current to the rail or interrupt transmission of the monitor signal to the processing logic.