Did You Know...
...that the video game, Pong, was invented by a guy who graduated at the bottom of his engineering class? Nolan Bushnell spent more time running the games at a local amusement park than he did on his studies at the University of Utah. His dreams of working for Disney's amusement empire were dashed when the company wouldn't hire him. Taking a boring job, Nolan daydreamed about electronic versions of popular games. He invented Pong, the first video game, and went on to found Atari Co.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7530534 | Method for setting an output voltage of a receiving circuit of a receiving head of a rail contact and rail contact system A method is proposed for setting an output voltage of a receiving circuit (5) of a receiving head (4) of a rail contact and a rail contact system for executing the method, at least one receiving voltage tapped from the receiving head (4) of the ... | 05/12/2009 |
| 7269487 | Method for train positioning In the state that a train moves from a track circuit 3T toward a track circuit 5T, and a train detection signal TD1 is supplied from the boundary between the track circuits 3T and 5T to the track circuits 3T and 5T, a... | 09/11/2007 |
| 7216558 | Wheel sensor assembly for rail base mounting A rail-mounted, wheel-sensing system is shown having a wheel sensor and a rail mounting platform. The system includes a rugged steel rail clamp including two blocks mounted on the base of the rail by a pair of bolt extending under the rail. One block is connected to... | 05/15/2007 |
| 7161473 | Data recorder suitable for use as a railcar hunting detector A data recorder for use as a hunting detector includes a piezofilm accelerometer. A bandpass filter tuned to the approximate frequency of a hunting railcar couples the output of the accelerometer to a hold circuit. A controller, operating primarily in a low power co... | 01/09/2007 |
| 7135984 | Device for positioning a workpiece A device for positioning a workpiece for machining has a bench, which is mounted movably at a base and to which the workpiece (14) can be fastened. A detection device (15, 16, 17, 18) is arranged at the bench (12) for detecting a state of a mach... | 11/14/2006 |
| 7119539 | Arrangement for determining the position of a motion sensor element An arrangement for determining the position of a motion sensor element influencing the formation of a magnetic field, impressed on the arrangement, periodically along its motion co-ordinate, includes a sensor arrangement which is sensitive along a measuring directio... | 10/10/2006 |
| 6371417 | Railway wheel counter and block control systems Railway wheel detection and counter and block control systems are disclosed using magnetic coils to detect wheels via measuring eddy current losses induced by a railway wheel as it disturbs the coil's magnetic field. Information from the coils is measured... | 04/16/2002 |
| 6292112 | Vehicle presence detection system A passive magnetic detector is provided at ground level or buried below ground level in between rails of a railroad track at a distance from the level crossing for detecting magnetic field disturbances caused by ferromagnetic objects passing overhead on t... | 09/18/2001 |
| 5678789 | Model railroad car position indicator A model railroad car position indicator includes a sensor receptive to the presence of a model railroad car on a track. Control circuitry determines the location of the car relative to a predetermined position on the track and approves initiation of a mod... | 10/21/1997 |
| 5621195 | Sensor array system for determining axle spacing In a system for determining the spacing between axles on a vehicle, problems associated with the determination in a stop-and-go situation are overcome with a sensor array system wherein a first sensor is spaced from an array of sensors by a predetermined ... | 04/15/1997 |
| 5133521 | Railroad flat wheel detectors A railroad flat wheel detector having a housing anchored to one side of a railroad rail enclosing an arrayed plurality of light source-photodetector pairs whose respective optic axes are tangent to the locus of the lower rim edge of passing wheels rolling... | 07/28/1992 |
| 5129606 | Railway wheel sensors The invention concerns a system for sensing train wheels which employs a slotted detector bar. Optical resistive and piezoresistive strain gauges may be coupled to the detector bar as well as enhanced mechanical and electrical components. Optional equipme... | 07/14/1992 |
| 5036478 | Computing the length of a railway vehicle or a train of such vehicles In a railway signalling system, the length of a vehicle or train is computed by on board measurement of the distance travelled between detecting the passage of the front of the vehicle or train past a fixed point and detecting the passage of the rear of t... | 07/30/1991 |
| 4787581 | Train detection system operating in accordance with the axle-counting principle A train detection system is disclosed which works on the axle-counting principle and in which preprocessing units each containing a two-microprocessor system are associated with the individual detection points. Along the track, a major number of preproces... | 11/29/1988 |
| 4727372 | Detection system A railway detection system in which the presence of a train is detected by means of first inductive loop apparatus. When the train is detected second inductive loop apparatus is enabled to detect the passage of wheels of the train.... | 02/23/1988 |
| 4701866 | Wheel load measurement Apparatus for measuring loads transmitted via wheels to a track from vehicles travelling thereon, comprises means responsive to load at a plurality of approximately equally spaced locations on a selected portion of the track at least about equal in length... | 10/20/1987 |
| 4630792 | Railway wheel detector A railway wheel detector which is mechanically actuated by the flange of a railway wheel which engages a contacting surface of the detector which may be provided by a rigid plate. This surface is supported by blocks of compressible, resilient material, pr... | 12/23/1986 |
| 4570882 | Vital track circuit wheel detector A vital, or fail-safe, track circuit wheel detector for detecting the presence and position in a given detection zone of wheel-axles on railroad cars; in order to provide the requisite fail-safe indication, the operation of the system relies on a sensing ... | 02/18/1986 |
| 4524932 | Railroad car wheel detector using hall effect element A Hall effect element, incorporated into an integrated circuit unit with temperature compensation, voltage regulation, and amplification, is mounted on top of a permanent magnet made of ceramic material with the critical Hall axis aligned with the magnet ... | 06/25/1985 |
| 4351504 | Track circuit principle wheel detector Apparatus for detecting the presence and position of individual wheels or wheel-axles of railroad cars. The apparatus involves no moving parts and basically senses the presence of a car wheel by sensing a shunt current flowing through the car wheel-axle s... | 09/28/1982 |
| 4349196 | Computer control toy track system A toy track system having an electro-optical sensing device in the roadway senses the passage and identity of a plurality of individual cars on that roadway and provides the sensed information to a microprocessor based operator control panel. The operator... | 09/14/1982 |
| 4283031 | System controlling apparatus which compares signals from sensors monitoring passing objects with pre-determined parameter information to control the system A system controlling apparatus wherein an array of sensors are used for detecting information and for providing signals indicative of information concerning passing articles such as presence of an article at a sensor, number of articles passing, the direc... | 08/11/1981 |
| 4265419 | Apparatus for car counting and discrimination An apparatus for railway car counting and discrimination comprises three transducers placed at the railway track at given distances from each other and a digital logic circuit for processing the signals from the transducers to obtain a signal for each car... | 05/05/1981 |
| 4256278 | Railway freight car identification system A system is provided for determining whether a railway car passing a sensing station is a freight car. The system utilizes wheel trips along the track at the sensing station to determine the spacing between axles of the car. If the spacing between axles i... | 03/17/1981 |
| 4248396 | Method and apparatus for detecting railroad cars A system for detecting railroad cars in a moving train. The cars are assumed to be of the type having two wheel trucks, each with at least two axles arranged adjacent to each other such that the maximum distance between the axles of a single truck is less... | 02/03/1981 |
| 4128218 | Method of direction finding and direction indication of railbound vehicles Method for direction finding and indication of rail-bound vehicles by means of a pair of axle counters arranged on the railway track and operating with seismic and magnetic sensors and which supply electric signals from whose time sequence the direction i... | 12/05/1978 |
| 4076192 | Apparatus for detecting a high flange Apparatus for detecting a high flange on the wheel of a railroad car having a base member secured to the track; an upright element secured to the base member; an L-shaped unit, having a horizontal arm positioned adjacent to the track and a vertical leg ex... | 02/28/1978 |
| 3964703 | Magnetic object detection A variable permeability magnetic object detection device including an electromagnetic sensing coil; a core disposed in the electromagnetic sensing coil having a first permeability when the core is magnetically saturated and a second different permeability... | 06/22/1976 |
| 3941338 | Directional wheel detector A system is provided for determining the passage of a railroad car wheel along a section of track and the direction of movement of the wheel. The system includes a first wheel sensor mounted adjacent the track and adapted to generate a signal upon the pas... | 03/02/1976 |
