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:
Oct. 14, 1997
Filed:
Jan. 06, 1995
Theo C Giras, Allegheny County, PA (US);
Joseph A Profeta, Allegheny County, PA (US);
Dario Romano, Salerno, IT;
Joseph P Elm, Allegheny County, PA (US);
Union Switch & Signal Inc., Pittsburgh, PA (US);
Abstract
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.