US 12,269,519 B2
Monitoring system for monitoring a condition of an electric rail system and/or of a current collector of the rail system
Tobias Roepke, Oerlenbach (DE); Lukas Koeping, Würzburg (DE); Horst Niedermeyer, Kolitzheim (DE); and Ralph Werner, Dittelbrunn (DE)
Assigned to AKTIEBOLAGET SKF, Gothenburg (SE)
Filed by Aktiebolaget SKF, Gothenburg (SE)
Filed on May 29, 2019, as Appl. No. 16/424,649.
Claims priority of application No. 102018211175.8 (DE), filed on Jul. 6, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2020/0010100 A1, Jan. 9, 2020
Int. Cl. B61L 1/18 (2006.01); B61L 1/12 (2006.01); B61L 3/18 (2006.01)
CPC B61L 1/183 (2013.01) [B61L 1/12 (2013.01); B61L 3/18 (2013.01); B61L 2205/00 (2013.01)] 13 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. In an electric rail system including a current collector mounted for movement along at least one rail of the electric rail system and configured to draw current from the at least one rail, a monitoring system comprising at least one sensor selected from the group consisting of:
a camera configured to record images of a portion of the at least one rail in front of the current collector or behind the current collector relative to a movement direction of the current collector along the rail;
at least one vibration sensor on at least one slip contact of the current collector,
an optical spark sensor configured to detect sparks in a contact region between the slip contact and the at least one rail, and
at least one distance sensor configured to detect a distance between the at least one distance sensor and the at least one rail.