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...During the Civil War, the Confederacy established its own Patent Office which issued 266 patents, a third of which concerned implements of war.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8152111 | System and apparatus for indicating the position and condition of a switch point in a railroad switch A railroad switch point indicator comprising a mounting plate mountable to a railroad switch point, a tubular housing mounted to the mounting plate, a piston slidably disposed in the housing and extendable to variably engage an associated railroad rail, a bias sprin... | 04/10/2012 |
| 7753318 | System and method for temporary protection operation of a controller box for a railroad switch turnout A system is provided for temporary protection operation of at least one controller box for a railroad switch turnout in a powered mode or non-power mode depending on the railroad configuration and independent of the controller box. A normal controller box is coupled... | 07/13/2010 |
| 7699272 | Railroad switching indicator mechanism A railroad switching indicator apparatus for use with a point detector bar, and a point locking rod which cooperatively locks with a locking bar. First and second point detector bar receptors generate first and second signals indicating the first and second terminal... | 04/20/2010 |
| 7416159 | Method and apparatus for controlling railway switches A wirelessly controlled railroad switch designed for uses in a dark territory. The switch is configured to operate without the use of vital communications links to a central location, or requiring a central dispatching system or requiring a vital processor such that... | 08/26/2008 |
| 7282816 | Manual switch remote controller A manual switch remote controller is adapted for use with a power switch machine to electrically and selectively move switch points of a track switch between a normal position and a reverse position from a remote location in the field. In one preferred embodiment, t... | 10/16/2007 |
| 7191986 | Device for mechanically and electrically checking the switching device of a railway switch machine In a device for checking the operation of devices (4) used to displace movable switch parts (2, 3), in which the movable switch parts (2, 3) are connected with each other by a coupling rod (13), the coupling rod (13) is comprised o... | 03/20/2007 |
| 7168662 | Hollow tie railroad switching assembly A switching assembly includes a pair of hollow ties, a pair of supports, and a linkage. The linkage extends generally through the hollow ties, whereby the cribs are generally free of linkage components, and the ballast in the cribs can be compacted with known automa... | 01/30/2007 |
| 7147189 | Non-powered trailed switch detector for railroad track switching equipment An apparatus is provided for sensing movement of a point rail away from a stock rail by a selected distance, by closing a switch to shunt a track circuit, with means for resetting the apparatus to open the switch only after manual resetting of the point rail. ... | 12/12/2006 |
| 7135648 | End position detector for movable switch parts The invention pertains to an end position detector for movable switch parts (3) which comprises a rod assembly and a housing (12), into which the rod assembly penetrates and in which at least one sensor for sensing an end position of the rod assembly i... | 11/14/2006 |
| 7134632 | Non-powered trailed switch detector for railroad track switching equipment An apparatus for sensing movement of a point rail away from a stock rail by a selected distance, by closing a switch to shunt a track circuit. Manual resetting of the point rail is required to reset the apparatus to open the switch. ... | 11/14/2006 |
| 6995666 | Cellemetry-operated railroad switch heater A system for monitoring a sensor or switch for operation is disclosed. The switch or sensor is coupled to a CELLEMETRY™ transmitter for sending electronic serial numbers (ESNs) encoded with information, and receiving mobile identification numbers (MINs), also enco... | 02/07/2006 |
| 6688559 | Modular point detector for railroad track switch A modular sensor apparatus for detecting the location of a movable track point includes a primary sensor and a secondary sensor disposed on a sensor mount that is movable with respect to a frame that is mounted on a switch machine. The secondary sensor is... | 02/10/2004 |
| 6663052 | Modular point detector for railroad track signal A modular sensor apparatus for detecting the location of a movable track point includes a primary sensor and a secondary sensor disposed on a sensor mount that is movable with respect to a frame that is mounted on a switch machine. The secondary sensor is... | 12/16/2003 |
| 6597137 | Method and device for transmitting and receiving a control signal to a vehicle The invention relates to a method for transmitting a control signal to a vehicle which is driven using an electrical drive current which is fed into a traction current conductor at a drive current feed point. In order to ensure that the transmission of th... | 07/22/2003 |
| 6588710 | Railroad trackwork switch point position status indicator The railroad trackwork switch assembly of the present invention is essentially comprised of a relatively fixed conventional stock rail, a conventional switch point relatively movable into and out of abutting engagement with the stock rail, a target magnet... | 07/08/2003 |
| 6585194 | Modular point detector for railroad track switch A modular sensor apparatus for detecting the location of a movable track point includes a primary sensor and a secondary sensor disposed on a sensor mount that is movable with respect to a frame that is mounted on a switch machine. The secondary sensor is... | 07/01/2003 |
| 6578799 | Modular point detector for railroad track signal A modular sensor apparatus for detecting the location of a movable track point includes a primary sensor and a secondary sensor disposed on a sensor mount that is movable with respect to a frame that is mounted on a switch machine. The secondary sensor is... | 06/17/2003 |
| 6568641 | Electrically operated railroad switch machine A switch machine for moving railroad switch points. The switch machine includes a switch stand adapted to be connected to the railroad switch points. The switch stand includes a rotatable hub which is selectively rotatable to throw the switch points. A ro... | 05/27/2003 |
| 6556898 | Distributed track network control system A distributed control system for a track network includes a local controller connected to a plurality of switch machines and a central office. The local controller receives from each switch machine a switch position signal and outputs to at least one swit... | 04/29/2003 |
| 6484974 | Controller for switch machine A switch machine electronic controller includes a point detecting circuit having Namur sensors for detecting an indication rod target in first and second point positions, and a lock detecting circuit having Namur sensors for detecting a lock box target in... | 11/26/2002 |
| 6474605 | Point detector sleeve for railroad switch machine and associated method An improved point detector sleeve includes a tube portion and an adjustment portion that are integrally formed with one another as a monolithic member, whereby the point detector sleeve is substantially free of joints between the tube portion and the adju... | 11/05/2002 |
| 6427949 | Contactless point detection system for railroad switch A contactless detection system for detecting the movements of the switch points of a railroad switch and stock rail of a railroad switch/point having a transformer for detecting or sensing the position of the switch points, the transformer having a core l... | 08/06/2002 |
| 6382567 | Railway switch machine point detection system A method of point detection is for use with a railway switch machine including a housing, a point detector bar positionable in a normal point position and a reverse point position, and a slide lock bar positionable in a normal locked position and a revers... | 05/07/2002 |
| 6296208 | Railway switch machine point detection system A point detection system for a railway switch machine having a housing includes a point detector bar positionable in a normal point position and a reverse point position, and point detecting sensors positioned within the housing for detecting when the poi... | 10/02/2001 |
| 6186448 | Captivity point detection system with single switch position target A point detection system is provided for use in a typical switch machine with a typical indication system, wherein a point detector bar is slidably captivated within a point detector sleeve, and wherein a target that is integrally engaged with the point d... | 02/13/2001 |
| 6164600 | Device for detecting the positions of pivotable parts of a point Device for detecting the positions of pivotable parts of a rail switch, such as, e.g., tongue rails (1, 2) by at least one sensor designed as a continuous distance sensor (4,5,6,7), wherein the sensor output is connected to a circuit arrangement (10) for ... | 12/26/2000 |
| 6149106 | Railroad switch point position indicator A fixed rail mounted railroad switch point indicator is provided, wherein proximity detectors are mounted to the fixed stock rail to sense the position of the switch relative to those stock rails. Preferably, eddy current sensors are used as the proximity... | 11/21/2000 |
| 6102340 | Broken rail detection system and method This invention relates to a system and method of detecting a broken rail in a railway system. The track sensing circuitry of the present invention applies a voltage source at each end of a block of rails and senses the current flowing through the circuitr... | 08/15/2000 |
| 6062514 | Railway switch circuit controller A railway switch circuit controller has a housing enclosing a laterally movable platform with a first and second target affixed thereupon. A first and second proximity sensor within the housing is positioned to detect the first and second target, respecti... | 05/16/2000 |
| 6032195 | Method, system, and article for navigating an electronic network and performing a task using a destination-specific software agent A method comprises steps of reading (80) an optical code (14) associated with a destination (20) of an electronic network (10), retrieving (92) task information associated with the destination (20) based upon the optical code (14), linking (94) to the des... | 02/29/2000 |
| 5806809 | Railroad switch point position sensing system and method A switch point position detecting system and method uses a plurality of proximity detectors positioned proximate the switch point or points of a railroad switch. Additional proximity detectors are placed within a switch machine housing to detect the posit... | 09/15/1998 |
| 5669587 | Point detection and indication with latch out means There is provided an electric motor driven switch machine for positioning a railroad track at a switching point having rail point detection and indication mechanism. In particular, the detection and indication mechanism has a latch out mechanism that iden... | 09/23/1997 |
| 5590855 | Train detection device for railroad models and train crossing control apparatus utilizing the train detection device A train detection device for use in railroad models is provided with a capacitance type sensor which detects the close approach or passage of a train by responding to capacitance of the train. By using the capacitance type sensor, the train detection devi... | 01/07/1997 |
| 5590856 | Complex switch turn-out arrangements using proximity selection A method and apparatus for directing the movement of a train around a model railroad track having one or more turn-outs activated by at least two separate arming signals. Each signal is linked to a specified direction of the turn-outs such as straight, cu... | 01/07/1997 |
| 5551348 | Automatic conveyance system An automatic conveying system includes a main loop-like conveying track, a plurality of auxiliary loop-like conveying tracks along the main conveying track for selective coupling and de-coupling by couplers to and from the main track, and a plurality of a... | 09/03/1996 |
| 5492290 | Model railroad operation using proximity selection An electronic control system for model railroads incorporates electronics which "arms" all railroad track switch turn-outs (here after referred to as "turn-outs") at once, selects and toggles the state of a specific turnout by the approach of a model trai... | 02/20/1996 |
| 5451017 | Automatic track switching control apparatus A new and improved automatic track switching control apparatus is provided for a switch assembly in a track layout for a lamp-containing model train. The automatic track switching control apparatus includes a first light sensor assembly which is supported... | 09/19/1995 |
| 5348257 | Railroad switch heating control A control and detector for a railroad switch point having a detector mechanism which is secured to a stockrail at the switch point where the stockrail is intended to be in contact with a corresponding switchrail. The detector mechanism is secured in a hou... | 09/20/1994 |
| 5253830 | Method for monitoring the condition of rail switch points In a method for monitoring the condition of rail switch points and for detection of premature abrasive wear-and-tear in the region of the tongue switching rail (3) of the points, the signals from at least one proximity sensor (2) in the region of the tong... | 10/19/1993 |
| 5192038 | Safety detector for railroad switch points with visual indicator mechanism A safety detector for a railroad switch point having a detector mechanism which is to be secured to a stockrail at the switch point where the stockrail is intended to be in contact with a corresponding switchrail, in which the detector mechanism is adjust... | 03/09/1993 |
