초록 ▼

A railroad track fault detector is mounted on a tracked vehicle and uses the track ahead or behind the vehicle as a transmission line for a high frequency signal. The transmission line has a known characteristic impedance in a condition of no track fault. The impedance is included in a bridge networ

A railroad track fault detector is mounted on a tracked vehicle and uses the track ahead or behind the vehicle as a transmission line for a high frequency signal. The transmission line has a known characteristic impedance in a condition of no track fault. The impedance is included in a bridge network that is excited with the high frequency signal. Bridge imbalance is detected as an indication of a track fault that can be a complete or partial short circuit or open circuit. The bridge excitation is applied to the track through moving contacts like brushes ahead of the front wheels or behind the last wheels. The shunt effect of wheels close to the brushes is eliminated by a tuning impedance that creates an effective infinite impedance to the portion of the track between the moving contacts and the shunting wheels.

대표청구항 ▼

A dual rail fault location system comprising: a vehicle adapted for motion along a pair of rails, said vehicle having a plurality of wheels adapted for traveling along the rails; means positioned on said vehicle for exciting said pair of vehicle rails on which said vehicle is adapted to travel at po

A dual rail fault location system comprising: a vehicle adapted for motion along a pair of rails, said vehicle having a plurality of wheels adapted for traveling along the rails; means positioned on said vehicle for exciting said pair of vehicle rails on which said vehicle is adapted to travel at points of excitation on said rails with a traveling wave, said pair of rails functioning as a two wire transmission line; means for detecting a transmission line impedance condition of said pair of rails to said travelling wave representative of a conductivity aberation along said rails; means for masking shunt effects along said pair of rails in a direction toward the vehicle wheels and away from said points of excitation.