Celebrity Inventors
Lawrence Welk, the bandleader who entertained millions of Americans over a generation of broadcasting his TV show, once received a patent: for a music-themed design of an ashtray.
PatentStorm News
Make the Most of Our Site
See this month's Top Inventors and Most Cited Patents.
Stay on top of the latest innovations by subscribing to an RSS feed.
Registered users: Manage your profile.
| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8104408 | Device attached to guided vehicle to remove obstacles on guideway An obstacle-removing device having brushes that can be retracted when the device is at the rear side in the traveling direction of the vehicle. The device includes a vertical frame positioned to the leading end in the traveling direction of the vehicle, and a liftin... | 01/31/2012 |
| 7926426 | Railway scrap recovery vehicle A railway vehicle recovers metallic objects like railroad spikes from a railway bed having a pair of rails. The vehicle includes wheels for riding on each rail and a carriage carrying a crawler for supporting the vehicle on the railway bed when one of the rails is r... | 04/19/2011 |
| 7331443 | Vertical parallel transportation of caps A device for conveying closures (D) made from metallic sheet in an essentially vertical direction from a collecting point (1) to a release point (6) is proposed. The closures are selected to be in correct position during conveying in order to release a... | 02/19/2008 |
| 7322177 | Machine for gathering ground strewn articles A machine for removing articles strewn on a tract of ground generally consisting of a wheel unit; a support frame mounted on the wheel unit, having device for advancing the machine along the tract of ground; an endless conveyor mounted on the support frame, having d... | 01/29/2008 |
| 7273131 | Top of rail applicator An applicator (10) for applying a friction modifying material to the top of rails (12). The wayside applicator includes an applicator bar (26) that has a dam for holding friction modifying material. ... | 09/25/2007 |
| 7244089 | Device for removing metallic objects from a railway bed A machine which travels on railroad rails includes a conveyor belt which transports metallic objects from a railway bed into a hopper. The conveyor belt revolves around a pair of rollers mounted on the framework of a conveyor belt assembly. One roller magnetically p... | 07/17/2007 |
| 7210750 | Crawler belt link grinding system and crawler structure Vibration or the like is prevented for long-term use by normalizing, with operation continuing, a tread of a crawler belt link through grinding in an early stage where uneven wear such as corrugated wear occurs. With a crawler belt of a crawler vehicle wound, an abr... | 05/01/2007 |
| 7152888 | System and method for improved detection of locomotive friction modifying system component health and functionality A system and method for assessing a health and functionality of a locomotive friction modifying system wherein the locomotive has a friction modifying applicator associated with a wheel of the locomotive for applying a friction modifying agent to a rail on which the... | 12/26/2006 |
| 7034674 | Hour meter with incremental service indicator An hour meter having a display that provides a visual indication of a total time an engine has operated and a visual indication of engine operation time remaining in a predetermined service time interval. A plurality of segments on the display are selectively displa... | 04/25/2006 |
| 6992695 | Surveillance system A surveillance system having two or more monitoring devices moving on a single track. The monitoring devices are suitably video cameras but may also include audio monitoring. Power for the monitoring devices, control signals and signals from the monitoring devices a... | 01/31/2006 |
| 6904847 | Removable or invertable in-situ model railroad wheel cleaner The invention is directed to an apparatus to assist a model railroad hobbyist in cleaning driven or non-driven wheels of a locomotive or car. To achieve this objective, removable and invertable embodiments of the invention are disclosed. The invention provides a con... | 06/14/2005 |
| 6893058 | Railway train friction management and control system and method A system and method for friction management for managing and controlling an application of a friction modifying agent to an area of contact between a railway wheel and a railway rail over which the wheel is traversing to selectively modify the coefficient of frictio... | 05/17/2005 |
| 6883436 | Template door and wing assembly with break-away feature for rail ballast regulator A rail ballast wing assembly includes a outer door with at least one hinge edge, a template door pivotably secured to least one of the hinge edges and a positioning device associated with the outer door and the template door for maintaining an angular orientation of... | 04/26/2005 |
| 6758145 | Track cleaner for model railroads A model railroad track cleaning car having a cleaning element suspended between a pair of wheeled trucks. The cleaning element is an abrasive material that is affixed to the underside of a weighted chassis that is suspended from a pair of articulating arms connected... | 07/06/2004 |
| 6742624 | Railroad rail lubricating apparatus A wiper bar for application to a rail of a railroad track for applying lubricant to the head of the rail having a series of lubricant outlets and a rubber or the like guide or brush for confronting the gage face of the rail head and guiding lubricant discharged from... | 06/01/2004 |
| 6727470 | Impedance heating for railroad track switch A heating system for railroad switches or other movable railroad structures that substantially eliminates protruding heater elements that may be damaged. The heater elements may cast into, enclosed within or received within recesses of a tie (including a metal or co... | 04/27/2004 |
| 6688021 | Locomotive snow removal enhancement A method and device to further remove snow left by a locomotive snowplow while enhancing traction and control of a locomotive or powered car. The snow removal enhancement method and device typically include a flap arranged to extend beyond a bottom edge o... | 02/10/2004 |
| 6581526 | Apparatus for stripping ballast from ties of a track A stripping apparatus is associated with a track maintenance machine having a machine frame mobile on a track comprised of rails fastened to ties. The stripping apparatus is designed for stripping off ballast lying on the ties and includes a supporting be... | 06/24/2003 |
| 6553693 | Snow removal apparatus and method of using same A snowblower apparatus and a method of using the snowblower. The snowblower apparatus is self contained and portable and may be mounted on a prime mover. A turbine engine is located within a housing and discharges its exhaust to the desired area of snow o... | 04/29/2003 |
| 6536355 | Cleaning model railroad car A cleaning model railroad car which can do various cleaning by itself and which can do cleaning effectively regardless of a travel speed thereof. The cleaning model railroad car 8 comprises: a car body 20; wheels 8b attached to the car body, for riding on... | 03/25/2003 |
| 6444046 | Method and device for cleaning railtrack grooves A groove cleaning unit has a high pressure jet nozzle from which a cleaning liquid impinges in a high pressure jet stream inclined downwardly onto a cleaning surface and is covered by a covering screen. An exit opening for the dirt liquid mixture is place... | 09/03/2002 |
| 6349653 | Maintenance cart for remote inspection and cleaning of closed track A maintenance cart in a maintenance system is substituted for a material handling cart in a continuous train of material handling carts circulating on a closed track. The maintenance cart includes both inspection and cleaning functions which may be divide... | 02/26/2002 |
| 6276281 | Method and apparatus for control of a rail contaminant cleaning system An apparatus and method for clearing a railroad track of contaminants, such as snow, including a control system for providing control signals to a compressed air system mounted on a locomotive based on a plurality of predetermined conditions. A learning s... | 08/21/2001 |
| 6148732 | Railcar track cleaning system A track cleaning system mounted on a railcar and comprising track rail cleaning nozzles, leaf removal nozzles and third rail cleaning nozzles. Each of the nozzles may provide a fan-shaped spray pattern diverging to either side of a central axis and having... | 11/21/2000 |
| 6065721 | Switch clearing system An sir blowing system for use in deeping railroad track switches clear of snow utilizes flexible tubes, preferebly of rubber or plastic, located transversely beneath the main tracks, and connecting with resilient nozzles to direct a high flow of air in th... | 05/23/2000 |
| 5904100 | Method and device to clean three rail model railroad tracks A three rail Model Railroad track cleaning method and device in which a roll of cleaning tissue is unwound from a supply roll and rewound on a second roll in contact with the tracks, at a rate slower than it is travelling over the tracks, so that it has a... | 05/18/1999 |
| 5863171 | Vehicle parking carriages A vehicle transporting arrangement for transporting a vehicle in a parking building automatically from a drive-in module to a parking space (27), wherein the arrangement includes a first carriage (1), a so-called transfer carriage, which can be moved on a... | 01/26/1999 |
| 5816168 | Track cleaning device for model railroad cars This track cleaning device is for model railroading enthusiasts that can be easily installed into many different types of model railroad cars. The track cleaning device car will provide an efficient method of keeping the electrical rails clean of foreign ... | 10/06/1998 |
| 5802983 | Railroad platform cart The present invention include a non-motorized low-profile platform cart system for transporting heavy equipment, machinery and vehicles to limited access areas. The system includes a low profile platform cart without motorization and a portable loading ra... | 09/08/1998 |
| 5775228 | Locomotive adhesion enhancing slipping discs At least one powered disc is suspended from a locomotive and applied to a rail surface for treating the rail surface ahead of driven locomotive wheels to increase adhesion between the driven wheels and the rail surface. Torque applied to the disc varies t... | 07/07/1998 |
| 5702074 | Railway switch heating apparatus There is provided a new and useful apparatus for use in a railway switch heating assembly. The apparatus includes a hollow structural member adapted to replace a conventional railway tie and adapted to be connected to a source of heated air, and a mechani... | 12/30/1997 |
| 5695574 | Method and device for cleaning the ties of railroad tracks A device for removing debris on upper surfaces of the ties of a railroad track adjacent to the rails thereof includes a frame selectively positioned on the rails such as to be displaced therealong with the frame carrying a pair of cleaning assemblies each... | 12/09/1997 |
| 5673626 | Equipment for cleaning railway tracks An equipment for cleaning automatically railway tracks, including a box (4) guided and carried by rails, designed for installation under a railway vehicle and which can be lifted by means of jacks (6, 6'). The box includes two shaped brushes (13, 13') dri... | 10/07/1997 |
| 5642673 | Snow and ice melting device The present invention relates to a snow and ice melting device (10) comprising a road transport vehicle (12) and a railroad track transport vehicle (14) mounted on a common road transport vehicle chassis (12I). Upon the railroad track transport vehicle (1... | 07/01/1997 |
| 5641037 | Rail lubrication apparatus The invention is a wiping bar of a rail lubrication apparatus of the type used with a rail having a base with outwardly extending flanges, a head, and a web connecting the base and the head, where the lubrication apparatus is comprised of a wiping bar and... | 06/24/1997 |
| 5579553 | Ballast broom with auger and method A railroad ballast broom vehicle uses a double or split auger to move ballast received from a rotary core broom. The auger has various features to minimize the risk of it jamming on ballast which it moves to the field side of rails of the railroad bed whi... | 12/03/1996 |
| 5493795 | Ballast regulator having improved track cleaning means A ballast regulator machine for dressing the ballast of a railroad bed during movement of the machine along tracks on the railroad bed has a frame for supporting various assemblies for distributing the ballast across the bed and ballast removal apparatus ... | 02/27/1996 |
| 5481983 | Magnetic sweeper apparatus and method A magnetic sweeper 20 is disclosed for capturing airborne particles which exhibit ferromagnetic behavior. The magnetic sweeper 20 uses a magnet(s) 43 having a magnetic field strength which captures particles coming within a predetermined distance of the m... | 01/09/1996 |
| 5437233 | Rail-cleaning locomotive A rail-cleaning locomotive for electrical toy and model trains with a cleaning unit including polishing disks rotated by an electric motor and lying on the rails, wherein the cleaning unit is disposed in a fore-part, coupled to the locomotive so that it c... | 08/01/1995 |
| 5437232 | Ballast plow assembly for a hopper-type railroad car A ballast plow assembly adapted for connection to a frame of a hopper-type railroad car having a series of openings from which ballast is gravitationally discharged and which is supported for rolling movement over tracks or rails by a pair of wheeled unde... | 08/01/1995 |
