US 12,330,699 B2
Monitoring system of a railroad axle and peripherals
Ronaldo De Faria Antunes, Belo Horizonte (BR); Antônio Sérgio Medeiros Fonseca, Belo Horizonte (BR); and Diego Silva Melo, Belo Horizonte (BR)
Assigned to Vallourec Tubos do Brasil Ltda., Belo Horizonte (BR)
Appl. No. 17/286,063
Filed by VALLOUREC TUBOS DO BRASIL LTDA, Belo Horizonte (BR)
PCT Filed Oct. 18, 2019, PCT No. PCT/BR2019/050452
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Apr. 16, 2021,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/077429, PCT Pub. Date Apr. 23, 2020.
Claims priority of application No. 102018071610-7 (BR), filed on Oct. 19, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2021/0380149 A1, Dec. 9, 2021
Int. Cl. B61L 15/00 (2006.01); B61K 9/04 (2006.01)
CPC B61L 15/0081 (2013.01) [B61K 9/04 (2013.01); B61L 15/0027 (2013.01)] 16 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A monitoring system of a railroad axle, the monitoring system comprising:
a steel axle; and
at least one monitoring device coupled to the steel axle, the at least one monitoring device comprising a temperature sensor, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, one microcontroller, one data transmitter, one power source, and one storage unit for storing measurements,
wherein the at least one monitoring device acquires measurements of data indicative of monitored conditions of the steel axle and peripherals of the steel axle, and transmits the measurements of data to at least one remote point, the monitored conditions comprising at least one of a bearing temperature, vibrations associated with jolts, strains, number of cycles, speed, position and discontinuities,
wherein the steel axle is a seamless hollow tubular steel axle, and the at least one monitoring device is housed inside the steel axle, inside a seat of a bearing of the steel axle, or is embedded in any peripheral of the steel axle, and
wherein the temperature sensor, the accelerometer, and the gyroscope are distributed along the steel axle and coupled to the monitoring system in wireless or wired form.