GB2499602A - Load measuring elastomeric rail pad - Google Patents
Load measuring elastomeric rail pad Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- GB2499602A GB2499602A GB1202955.9A GB201202955A GB2499602A GB 2499602 A GB2499602 A GB 2499602A GB 201202955 A GB201202955 A GB 201202955A GB 2499602 A GB2499602 A GB 2499602A
- Authority
- GB
- United Kingdom
- Prior art keywords
- load measuring
- sensors
- rail pad
- pad
- pad according
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Withdrawn
Links
- 238000010008 shearing Methods 0.000 claims abstract description 3
- 239000000835 fiber Substances 0.000 claims abstract 2
- 241001669679 Eleotris Species 0.000 claims description 5
- 229920001971 elastomer Polymers 0.000 claims description 3
- 239000000806 elastomer Substances 0.000 claims description 3
- 239000004033 plastic Substances 0.000 claims description 2
- 238000002955 isolation Methods 0.000 abstract description 4
- 230000000694 effects Effects 0.000 abstract description 3
- 230000005540 biological transmission Effects 0.000 abstract description 2
- 230000035939 shock Effects 0.000 abstract description 2
- 238000000465 moulding Methods 0.000 description 6
- 230000008901 benefit Effects 0.000 description 2
- 238000010276 construction Methods 0.000 description 2
- 238000007796 conventional method Methods 0.000 description 2
- 238000009434 installation Methods 0.000 description 2
- 238000005266 casting Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000006243 chemical reaction Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000003795 chemical substances by application Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000013461 design Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000001514 detection method Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000001627 detrimental effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000007774 longterm Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000012423 maintenance Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000000463 material Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000005259 measurement Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000002184 metal Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000000034 method Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000012986 modification Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000004048 modification Effects 0.000 description 1
- 239000002985 plastic film Substances 0.000 description 1
- 239000011513 prestressed concrete Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000007789 sealing Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000000725 suspension Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000005303 weighing Methods 0.000 description 1
Classifications
-
- E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
- E01—CONSTRUCTION OF ROADS, RAILWAYS, OR BRIDGES
- E01B—PERMANENT WAY; PERMANENT-WAY TOOLS; MACHINES FOR MAKING RAILWAYS OF ALL KINDS
- E01B9/00—Fastening rails on sleepers, or the like
- E01B9/68—Pads or the like, e.g. of wood, rubber, placed under the rail, tie-plate, or chair
- E01B9/681—Pads or the like, e.g. of wood, rubber, placed under the rail, tie-plate, or chair characterised by the material
- E01B9/683—Pads or the like, e.g. of wood, rubber, placed under the rail, tie-plate, or chair characterised by the material layered or composite
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B61—RAILWAYS
- B61L—GUIDING RAILWAY TRAFFIC; ENSURING THE SAFETY OF RAILWAY TRAFFIC
- B61L1/00—Devices along the route controlled by interaction with the vehicle or train
- B61L1/16—Devices for counting axles; Devices for counting vehicles
- B61L1/163—Detection devices
- B61L1/165—Electrical
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B61—RAILWAYS
- B61L—GUIDING RAILWAY TRAFFIC; ENSURING THE SAFETY OF RAILWAY TRAFFIC
- B61L23/00—Control, warning or like safety means along the route or between vehicles or trains
- B61L23/04—Control, warning or like safety means along the route or between vehicles or trains for monitoring the mechanical state of the route
- B61L23/042—Track changes detection
- B61L23/047—Track or rail movements
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B61—RAILWAYS
- B61L—GUIDING RAILWAY TRAFFIC; ENSURING THE SAFETY OF RAILWAY TRAFFIC
- B61L23/00—Control, warning or like safety means along the route or between vehicles or trains
- B61L23/04—Control, warning or like safety means along the route or between vehicles or trains for monitoring the mechanical state of the route
- B61L23/042—Track changes detection
- B61L23/048—Road bed changes, e.g. road bed erosion
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B61—RAILWAYS
- B61L—GUIDING RAILWAY TRAFFIC; ENSURING THE SAFETY OF RAILWAY TRAFFIC
- B61L27/00—Central railway traffic control systems; Trackside control; Communication systems specially adapted therefor
- B61L27/50—Trackside diagnosis or maintenance, e.g. software upgrades
- B61L27/53—Trackside diagnosis or maintenance, e.g. software upgrades for trackside elements or systems, e.g. trackside supervision of trackside control system conditions
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G01—MEASURING; TESTING
- G01G—WEIGHING
- G01G19/00—Weighing apparatus or methods adapted for special purposes not provided for in the preceding groups
- G01G19/02—Weighing apparatus or methods adapted for special purposes not provided for in the preceding groups for weighing wheeled or rolling bodies, e.g. vehicles
- G01G19/028—Weighing apparatus or methods adapted for special purposes not provided for in the preceding groups for weighing wheeled or rolling bodies, e.g. vehicles combined with shock-absorbing devices
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G01—MEASURING; TESTING
- G01G—WEIGHING
- G01G19/00—Weighing apparatus or methods adapted for special purposes not provided for in the preceding groups
- G01G19/02—Weighing apparatus or methods adapted for special purposes not provided for in the preceding groups for weighing wheeled or rolling bodies, e.g. vehicles
- G01G19/04—Weighing apparatus or methods adapted for special purposes not provided for in the preceding groups for weighing wheeled or rolling bodies, e.g. vehicles for weighing railway vehicles
- G01G19/045—Weighing apparatus or methods adapted for special purposes not provided for in the preceding groups for weighing wheeled or rolling bodies, e.g. vehicles for weighing railway vehicles for weighing railway vehicles in motion
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G01—MEASURING; TESTING
- G01G—WEIGHING
- G01G3/00—Weighing apparatus characterised by the use of elastically-deformable members, e.g. spring balances
- G01G3/12—Weighing apparatus characterised by the use of elastically-deformable members, e.g. spring balances wherein the weighing element is in the form of a solid body stressed by pressure or tension during weighing
- G01G3/14—Weighing apparatus characterised by the use of elastically-deformable members, e.g. spring balances wherein the weighing element is in the form of a solid body stressed by pressure or tension during weighing measuring variations of electrical resistance
Landscapes
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
- General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Civil Engineering (AREA)
- Architecture (AREA)
- Structural Engineering (AREA)
- Automation & Control Theory (AREA)
- General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
- Biomedical Technology (AREA)
- Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
- Vibration Prevention Devices (AREA)
- Force Measurement Appropriate To Specific Purposes (AREA)
Abstract
A load bearing resilient elastomeric rail pad operates as a load transducer to measure the weight that the pad supports as a vehicle passes over the pad. Rail pads are installed between the foot of a conventional railway rail and its' supporting sleepers for achieving shock and vibration isolation. The load measuring rail pad is formed firstly by dividing the thickness of the conventional pad into two halves 6, 7 and sandwiching a set of thin pressure sensors 8 between them. There may be four sensors arranged in a rectangular pattern, allowing the effects of rail pitch and roll to be either detected or cancelled. Low friction sheets may be included to resist in plane shearing effects. The sensors function via changes in their electrical properties such as resistance with applied pressure. They specifically do not function by fibre optics or the transmission of light.
Description
1
DESCRIPTION
Load-Measuring Elastomeric Rail Pad
This invention relates to a means to convert a load-bearing resilient elastomeric component in the form of a rail pad into a load transducer that it can measure the weight that it supports; achieving this without affecting the essential resilient properties of the component.
There are times when it is required to detect or measure the compressive forces transmitted between a pair of structural elements that are normally separated by a load-bearing resilient elastomeric component; possibly for reasons of vibration or noise isolation. A conventional load cell of is usually constructed from a material of high elastic modulus and as such would be unsuited for such an application, since it would stiffen the assembly and consequently be detrimental to the isolation properties of the component. The invention avoids this problem by converting the elastomeric component itself into a load cell. This has only become possible due to the advent of commercial types of very thin pressure sensors.
The invention concerns a specific type of resilient elastomeric component called a rail pad which is found in the railway. Such rail pads are relatively thin (up to 10mm thick) and are almost universally installed between the foot (that is the underside) of a conventional flat-bottomed rail and its supporting sleepers with the purpose of achieving shock and vibration isolation. The invention allows an ordinary rail pad to be replaced by one of identical resiliency but which has been turned into a load transducer which is capable of detecting and measuring the weight of each vehicle axle as it passes over the pad. Such load-measuring rail pads would offer significant advantages over conventional methods of axle detection and weighing in the railway such as those that employ strain gauges on the rails or electromagnetic detectors, as outlined below:
1) Since the load-measuring rail pad would be a straight-forward replacement for the existing one its installation would be simple and straightforward and would involve little or no significant risk or disruption to the normal operation of the railway.
2) The relatively low cost of the load-measuring pads would allow them to be installed preferably in groups of 20 or more. Such a group of pads could provide the additional benefit of providing continuous information about the state of the track foundation, as well as providing some redundancy for critical applications or system self-diagnostics.
3) Once the pad system is in service it would not require special precautions to be taken during the normal processes of track maintenance such as track-bed tamping, railhead grinding or rail replacement
4) Where system reliability and availability is critically important the relatively low cost of the load-measuring pads compared to conventional methods would justify their routine replacement on a planned basis.
The invention will be described using the example of a simple plain railway pad, the configuration of which will be illustrated using Figures 1, 2 and 3. However, conversion of other elastomeric components, such as seismic mounts, bridge bearings, large vehicle suspension components etc. could be carried out in an analogous fashion.
Figure 1 shows an arrangement for locating and fixing the rails to the railway sleepers using a separate baseplate casting.
2
Figure 2 shows the overall construction of the load-measuring rail pad in 'exploded' form.
Figure 3 shows details of the invention with the two halves of the pad laying side-by-side.
Figure 1 shows the typical positioning of a resilient elastomeric rail pad 1. In this example the pad is located within a separate cast metal baseplate 2. The baseplate must be fixed to the supporting sleeper using the screws 3. The rail 4 is lowered onto the rail pad and is fixed into position using the rail clips 5. For high-speed railways the separate cast baseplate is usually dispensed-with. Rather, the sleeper is usually made from reinforced pre-stressed concrete and the support for the rail and its clip fixings are made integral with the top of the sleeper. This allows the pad to be simply placed directly on the top of the sleeper and the rail lowered onto it.
A typical rail pad may be 5mm or 10mm thick overall and may have a smooth surface or possess various surface features, such as grooves or studs. The invention involves the modification of any such pad to convert it into a force measuring device in such a manner that its important dimensional and resilient characteristics remain essentially unaffected.
In Figure 2 it can be seen that the load measuring rail pad is formed firstly by dividing the thickness of the conventional pad into two halves, namely the upper moulding 6 and the lower moulding 7. The load-sensing assembly 8 and the internal lead-out wires 9 are then sandwiched between these two mouldings. A thin sheet of low-friction plastic 10 is located between the load sensing assembly and both the upper moulding and the lower moulding. These plastic sheets help protect the sensors from any in-plane shearing action that may otherwise be applied by the elastomer due to friction.
Figure 3 shows more details of the construction of the invention. The load sensing element comprises a pattern of thin pressure sensors 11 of known type less than one-half millimetre thick suitably arranged. Each sensor has a sensing area 12. There may be four sensors arranged in a rectangular pattern as shown in Figure 3. However either more or fewer sensors could be deployed to suit the circumstances, for example to increase the inherent redundancy within the pad for added system reliability. Furthermore, a different pattern of pressure sensors could be used for specialised applications, or where the elastomeric component is not rectangular.
The sensors function via changes in their electrical properties, specifically their resistance, with applied pressure. They do not function by fibre-optics or the transmission of light.
In the case of an elastomeric rail pad a cost-effective and practical number of pressure sensors may indeed be four, these being arranged in a rectangular pattern as shown in Figure 3. Such an arrangement would allow the effects of rail pitch and roll to be either detected or cancelled, depending on the purpose of the measurement installation. Figure 3 shows pressure sensors of a standard available type, these being electrical connected to a central semi-flexible circuit board 13. The internal lead-out wires 9 would also be connected to this circuit board.
Rather than use individual standard pressure sensors, the entire pattern or sensors could be manufactured and supplied on a bespoke common thin and flexible printed-circuit sheet, which could also incorporate any necessary electrical interconnecting tracks and lead-out wires.
Where the pad design must incorporate studs to represent the standard pad an appropriately-sized stud could be introduced directly above each sensor to make sure that adequate pressure is applied to the sensing areas. Even when the pad is to be essentially
3
smooth it may be necessary to incorporate slightly raised areas corresponding with each sensor position to ensure adequate pressure on the sensors.
The lead-out wires would preferably, but not necessarily, be run to near one corner of the pad where they would become integral with, or connected to, the electrical cable 14. A recess 15 and a groove 16 would be incorporated into each of the mouldings to provide internal clearance for the circuit board and a route for the lead-out wires.
To ensure the long-term reliability of the load measuring pad it would be essential to avoid completely any possibility of the ingress of moisture into the interior of the device. This would be achieved via a bonded seal 17 around the complete periphery of the device. The sealing agent would also be used for the attachment of the electrical cable.
The electrical cable would be connected to a conventional operational amplifier circuit and the resulting force data would be collected using conventional analogue or digital instrumentation.
4
Claims (9)
1. A Load Measuring Rail Pad that can detect and/or measure the forces transmitted between the underside of a railway rail and its supporting baseplate or sleeper and is assembled in two parts formed from resilient elastomer, these parts being designed to sandwich and protect a pattern of pressure sensors that are not fibre optic in nature, together with their electrical interconnections and their lead-out wires.
2. A Load Measuring Rail Pad according to Claim 1 in which the sensors function via changes in an electrical property with applied pressure.
3. A Load Measuring Rail Pad according to Claim 1 in which the sensors function via changes in resistance with applied pressure.
4. A Load Measuring Rail Pad according to Claim 1 in which the sensors are less than one-half millimetre thick.
5. A Load Measuring Rail Pad according to any preceding claim that has incorporated within it a sheet or sheets of low-friction plastic located between the pressure sensors and the internal surfaces of each of the elastomeric parts to protect the sensors from any shearing action that may otherwise be applied by the elastomer.
6. A Load Measuring Rail Pad according to any preceding claim that has four pressure sensors arranged in a rectangular pattern.
7. A Load Measuring Rail Pad according to any preceding claim, in which the sensors and their interconnections are incorporated within a common flexible printed circuit sheet.
8. A Load Measuring Rail Pad according to any preceding claim, in which a set of specially sized external studs or other raised areas are incorporated onto the external surface of the pad, these being arranged to correspond to the positions of the pressure sensing areas within.
9. A Load Measuring Rail Pad according to any previous claim, in which the connecting electrical cable is attached at or near the corner of the pad.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| GB1202955.9A GB2499602A (en) | 2012-02-21 | 2012-02-21 | Load measuring elastomeric rail pad |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| GB1202955.9A GB2499602A (en) | 2012-02-21 | 2012-02-21 | Load measuring elastomeric rail pad |
Publications (2)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| GB201202955D0 GB201202955D0 (en) | 2012-04-04 |
| GB2499602A true GB2499602A (en) | 2013-08-28 |
Family
ID=45939940
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| GB1202955.9A Withdrawn GB2499602A (en) | 2012-02-21 | 2012-02-21 | Load measuring elastomeric rail pad |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| GB (1) | GB2499602A (en) |
Cited By (4)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US9506106B2 (en) | 2013-10-15 | 2016-11-29 | Genetrainer Limited | Weight sensor suitable for use under a bed with a deformable plate mounted to a base at three contact points |
| CN106948225A (en) * | 2017-04-12 | 2017-07-14 | 四川建筑职业技术学院 | A kind of intelligent elastic rod rail fastening group based on mechanics sensor |
| US10365149B2 (en) | 2013-10-15 | 2019-07-30 | Bedsense Limited | Bed based weight sensors for physiological analysis |
| AT522346A1 (en) * | 2019-03-22 | 2020-10-15 | Getzner Werkstoffe Holding Gmbh | Railroad track |
Citations (9)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DE2924190A1 (en) * | 1979-06-15 | 1980-12-18 | Siemens Ag | Monitoring presence, wt. etc. of railway vehicles - by using piezoelectric transducer mounted between rail foot and support block |
| WO1993025872A1 (en) * | 1992-06-12 | 1993-12-23 | Frontec Pajala Ab | Weighing device for rail mounted vehicles |
| EP0728091A1 (en) * | 1994-09-10 | 1996-08-28 | Daimler-Benz Aktiengesellschaft | Method of monitoring railway traffic and railway tracks |
| WO2000073118A1 (en) * | 1999-05-28 | 2000-12-07 | Digi Sens Ag | Device for monitoring railway vehicle wheels |
| GB2364124A (en) * | 2000-05-10 | 2002-01-16 | Serco Railtest Ltd | Load measuring device |
| JP2003057100A (en) * | 2001-08-13 | 2003-02-26 | Yamato Scale Co Ltd | Weight measuring apparatus |
| DE10241320A1 (en) * | 2002-09-04 | 2004-03-18 | Siegfried Pieper | Railway force measurement device, for measuring changes in railway vehicle wheels and for measurement of wheel-rail forces, comprises a measurement plate that replaces the intermediate plate between rail and sleeper |
| EP1719987A1 (en) * | 2005-05-02 | 2006-11-08 | Siegfried Pieper | Load measuring plate |
| CN202013230U (en) * | 2011-02-14 | 2011-10-19 | 杭州钱江称重技术有限公司 | Railpad type pitless uninterrupted rail weighbridge |
-
2012
- 2012-02-21 GB GB1202955.9A patent/GB2499602A/en not_active Withdrawn
Patent Citations (9)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DE2924190A1 (en) * | 1979-06-15 | 1980-12-18 | Siemens Ag | Monitoring presence, wt. etc. of railway vehicles - by using piezoelectric transducer mounted between rail foot and support block |
| WO1993025872A1 (en) * | 1992-06-12 | 1993-12-23 | Frontec Pajala Ab | Weighing device for rail mounted vehicles |
| EP0728091A1 (en) * | 1994-09-10 | 1996-08-28 | Daimler-Benz Aktiengesellschaft | Method of monitoring railway traffic and railway tracks |
| WO2000073118A1 (en) * | 1999-05-28 | 2000-12-07 | Digi Sens Ag | Device for monitoring railway vehicle wheels |
| GB2364124A (en) * | 2000-05-10 | 2002-01-16 | Serco Railtest Ltd | Load measuring device |
| JP2003057100A (en) * | 2001-08-13 | 2003-02-26 | Yamato Scale Co Ltd | Weight measuring apparatus |
| DE10241320A1 (en) * | 2002-09-04 | 2004-03-18 | Siegfried Pieper | Railway force measurement device, for measuring changes in railway vehicle wheels and for measurement of wheel-rail forces, comprises a measurement plate that replaces the intermediate plate between rail and sleeper |
| EP1719987A1 (en) * | 2005-05-02 | 2006-11-08 | Siegfried Pieper | Load measuring plate |
| CN202013230U (en) * | 2011-02-14 | 2011-10-19 | 杭州钱江称重技术有限公司 | Railpad type pitless uninterrupted rail weighbridge |
Cited By (6)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US9506106B2 (en) | 2013-10-15 | 2016-11-29 | Genetrainer Limited | Weight sensor suitable for use under a bed with a deformable plate mounted to a base at three contact points |
| US10365149B2 (en) | 2013-10-15 | 2019-07-30 | Bedsense Limited | Bed based weight sensors for physiological analysis |
| CN106948225A (en) * | 2017-04-12 | 2017-07-14 | 四川建筑职业技术学院 | A kind of intelligent elastic rod rail fastening group based on mechanics sensor |
| CN106948225B (en) * | 2017-04-12 | 2019-08-02 | 四川建筑职业技术学院 | A kind of intelligent elastic rod rail fastening group based on mechanics sensor |
| AT522346A1 (en) * | 2019-03-22 | 2020-10-15 | Getzner Werkstoffe Holding Gmbh | Railroad track |
| AT522346B1 (en) * | 2019-03-22 | 2020-11-15 | Getzner Werkstoffe Holding Gmbh | Railroad track |
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| GB201202955D0 (en) | 2012-04-04 |
Similar Documents
| Publication | Publication Date | Title |
|---|---|---|
| RU2441788C2 (en) | Railway voltage monitoring system | |
| EP0044191B1 (en) | Method of making a composite leaf spring for determining the magnitude of a load and a composite leaf spring manufactured by said method | |
| GB2499602A (en) | Load measuring elastomeric rail pad | |
| US8080742B2 (en) | Measurement of wheel and/or axle load of road vehicles | |
| US20180142434A1 (en) | Friction pendulum isolation bearing, intelligent bearing and intelligent monitoring system | |
| US8359934B2 (en) | System for measuring loads during wheel/rail contact of rail vehicles | |
| Costa et al. | Evaluation of a strain monitoring system for existing steel railway bridges | |
| RU2681766C1 (en) | Monitoring system of the upper structure of the balance-free and continuous welded rail on a bridge of a high-speed mains | |
| Li et al. | Bridge damage detection from the equivalent damage load by multitype measurements | |
| KR102316890B1 (en) | Displacement measuring device | |
| CN202013230U (en) | Railpad type pitless uninterrupted rail weighbridge | |
| WO2017142486A1 (en) | A sensor for load measurement | |
| Siwowski et al. | Smart monitoring of the FRP composite bridge with distributed fibre optic sensors | |
| Lee et al. | Structural assessment for an old steel railway bridge under static and dynamic loads using fibre optic sensors | |
| Srinivas et al. | Health assessment of a plate girder railway bridge under increased axle loads | |
| US20220155131A1 (en) | Railway track | |
| GB2364124A (en) | Load measuring device | |
| RU2376559C1 (en) | Weight measuring and diagnostics method of railway transport under rail base using weight rail plate | |
| US11549219B2 (en) | Fastening system for fastening a rail | |
| KR101948914B1 (en) | Movement measuring device of Bridge seat device | |
| RU209952U1 (en) | Weight rail lining | |
| GB2216671A (en) | Weighing apparatus for rail vehicles | |
| KR20200011257A (en) | Durability test equipment of hydraulic lock cylinder for line converter | |
| RU2778101C1 (en) | Railway track | |
| RU81318U1 (en) | SCALES FOR WEIGHING IN MOTION AND STATICS WITH THE USE OF WEIGHT MODULES |
Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| WAP | Application withdrawn, taken to be withdrawn or refused ** after publication under section 16(1) |