JPH0486511A - Optical method and system for measuring abrasion of rail - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention provides a method for optically measuring the amount of wear on rails, and a system for applying this method to a track inspection vehicle to measure wear while traveling. It is related to.

[Prior Art] Rail wear and a conventional wear measurement method will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1(a), (b), and (C). In Figure (a), the rail 1 gradually wears out due to the contact friction of the wheels 2, so when the wear reaches a certain limit, the rail is replaced. figure(
b) shows the state of wear; the upper surface of the head 1a of the rail 1 is called the tread surface, and is designated H, and both sides thereof are designated V.
shall be. Since the inner sides of the two rails on both sides contact the flange 2a of the wheel 2, the corresponding tread surface H and side surface V
wears out as shown by curve 1c, for example. In conventional measurement, an inverted measuring tool 3 shown in Figure (c) is used, and a curved line 3a matching the cross section of a normal rail head is provided inside the measuring tool 3, and this curved line 3a is The amount of wear Δβ of the tread surface H in contact with the rail 1 and the amount of wear α in the horizontal direction of the curve 1b relative to β are measured by taking an appropriate height β using the lower end Q of the side surface (2) as a reference point.

[Problems to be Solved] The conventional rail wear measuring method described above involves dangerous work that is performed exclusively manually on the track, and its measurement accuracy is not necessarily good. Furthermore, it is undeniable that the measurement of rails over long distances is inefficient and requires a huge amount of effort.

On the other hand, regarding various elements related to track structure such as gauge,
Precise automatic measurements are already being carried out in running conditions by track inspection vehicles, and it is desirable that the above-mentioned rail wear measurements be similarly carried out by track inspection vehicles. However, when using an inspection vehicle, it is absolutely necessary for rail management to add the measurement position on the track, that is, the distance traveled by the inspection vehicle, to the measured wear data.

This invention was made in view of the above, and includes a method for measuring rail wear in a non-contact manner using an optical method, and a rail wear measurement system that satisfies the above-mentioned mileage conditions by applying this method to a track inspection vehicle. The purpose is to provide

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention is an optical rail wear measurement method and a rail wear measurement system.

First, in the measurement method, two projectors and two image receiving cameras are installed diagonally above the rail cross section on the left and right, and the projectors project a slit light that crosses the rail at right angles. The image is received by an image receiving camera. The two sets of left and right video signals for the received rail tread surface and left and right head sides are aligned through image processing, and a height reference line is calculated that connects the lower ends of the left and right head sides of the rail. Ru. With reference to normal rail shape data stored in memory in advance, the amount of wear in the vertical direction of the tread surface relative to the reference line, and the horizontal direction of the left or right head side relative to the height relative to the reference line The amount of wear is calculated.

Next, the rail wear measurement system is composed of an on-board device installed on a track inspection vehicle and a ground device installed on the ground. In the on-board device, two light projectors that project slit light that crosses the rail at right angles from diagonal left and right directions and two image receiving cameras that receive images of the slit light are provided for one rail. In addition, in response to the two sets of left and right video signals for the rail tread surface and the left and right head sides received by the two image receiving cameras, the mileage distance is supplied from a distance pulse generator installed in the track inspection unit. It consists of a signal preprocessing unit that merges signals, and a data recorder that records the merged data. In contrast, the ground equipment uses a memory that records normal rail shape data in advance and two video signals recorded on a data recorder while the track inspection vehicle is running to align the height reference line. Calculate and refer to the shape data stored in memory to calculate the amount of wear in the vertical direction of the tread surface relative to the reference line, and the horizontal direction of the left or right side of the head relative to the height relative to the reference line. The image processing unit is configured to include an image processing unit that calculates the wear amount, and an output circuit that outputs the above-mentioned mileage along with the wear data output from the image processing unit.

In the above rail wear measuring system, two sets of on-board devices are provided corresponding to two rails on the track.

[Operation] and [Embodiment] The optical rail wear measurement method with the above configuration will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1(a) to (e). Figure (a),
In (b) and (c), two floodlights TI, T
2 is placed in a direction forming an angle θ with the horizontal. The angle θ is 4
The inside and outside of the 5th degree is appropriate. Slit light directed diagonally downward from the projector Tlt T2 is projected so as to cross the cross section of the rail 1 at right angles, and light bands If and 12 are projected around the rail 1. This is received by two image receiving cameras Ri and R2, and two sets of left and right images of the slit light bands 11 and 12 on the tread surface H of the head of the rail 1 and the left and right side surfaces ■ are changed, and these images are processed by image processing. Figure (d)
), and the lower ends of both sides V Qi, Q2
The height reference line connecting the is calculated. In Figure (e), the height β0 at the center point C of the tread surface H with respect to the reference line is determined, and the shape data in the memory is referred to and the wear amount Δβ of the tread surface and the reference line are determined. The horizontal wear amount α of the left or right side surface relative to the height β is calculated.

Next, the rail wear measurement system is an application of the above measurement method to a track inspection car, and two floodlights Ti on the onboard equipment are used.
+ T2 and the image receiving camera Rt s R2 project light onto the rail 1 through the slit and receive the image. The traveling kilometer signal supplied from the track inspection vehicle is combined with the two sets of left and right video signals from the image receiving camera in a signal preprocessing section and recorded in a data recorder. The recorded merged data is input to the ground device, and the two sets of video signals are aligned in the image processing section to calculate the above-mentioned height reference 11L. Furthermore, the height β0 of the tread surface H with respect to the reference line is calculated. The normal rail shape data recorded in the memory in advance is referred to and the amount of wear on the tread surface H is determined.
The amount of wear in the horizontal direction on the left or right side surface relative to the height above the reference line is calculated, and the distance traveled by the track inspection vehicle is added to this and outputted from the output circuit.

In the above, two sets of onboard devices installed corresponding to the two rails on the track record video signal data for each rail into a data recorder, and the ground device calculates and outputs the amount of wear for each rail. It is something that will be done.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic block configuration for an embodiment of the optical rail wear measurement system according to the present invention. The on-board device consists of two floodlights 4 (4-1°4-2 or 4-3.4
-4) and two image receiving cameras 5 (5-L 5-2 or 5
-3.5-4) Two sets of optical systems are provided corresponding to the two rails forming the track. The video signal obtained by the image receiving camera of each optical system is transmitted to the camera control unit 8 (6-1, 6-2 or 6-3.8-
4) to the signal preprocessing section 7. On the other hand, a distance pulse from a distance pulse generator 8a provided in the track inspection vehicle is used to generate a kilometer signal indicating the traveling distance of the inspection vehicle by a kilometer signal circuit 8b, and each signal preprocessor 7 (
7-1 or 7-2), and recorded along with the above-mentioned video signal on a tape 10 by the data recorder 9. In this case, the data recorder 9 is multi-channel and records data for both rails on one tape 1o.

Next, in the ground equipment, the above-mentioned tape 1G is read out by the data recorder 9' and inputted to the image processing section H, and wear data is obtained by processing according to the above-mentioned algorithm, and the travel distance is added to this data. The pudding H3 is outputted from the output circuit 12.

It should be noted that the image processing method is based on a commonly known technique, so a description thereof will be omitted.

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the above description, the optical rail wear measuring method according to the present invention is an optical non-contact measuring method, and the measurement accuracy is significantly improved compared to the conventional manual method.

In addition, in a measurement system that applies the above measurement method, wear data is calculated by processing on the ground by changing the necessary data regarding wear and the distance traveled while the inspection vehicle is running, so it is possible to calculate wear data by processing on the ground. This eliminates the dangers and inefficiencies of manual measurements, and also facilitates time-series management of rails that gradually wear out over time in relation to the number of train runs and speed, improving measurement accuracy. It greatly contributes to labor saving in measurement work and chronological management of rail wear.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 (a), (b), (c), (
d) and (e) are action explanatory diagrams for the optical rail wear measuring method according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of the optical rail wear measuring system according to the present invention, and FIG. 3(a) , (b) and (c) are explanatory diagrams of the wear occurring on the rail and the conventional measuring method thereof. 1...Rail, 1a...Rail head, lb...Cross-sectional curve of normal rail head, 1c...
・Wear curve of worn rail, 2...Wheel,
2a... Wheel flange, 3... Measuring tool,
3a... Curve of measuring tool, 4... Floodlight,
5... Image receiving camera, 6... Camera control unit,
7... Signal pre-processing unit, 8a... Distance pulse generator, 8b... Kilometer scale signal circuit, 9.9'... Data recorder, 10... Tape, 11... Image processing unit ,
I2...Output circuit, +3...Print.

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) Two projectors and two image receiving cameras are provided diagonally above the rail cross section on the left and right, and the projectors project a slit light that crosses the rail at right angles, and the two image receiving cameras receives the slit light, and aligns two sets of left and right video signals of the received slit light for the top surface of the rail and the left and right side surfaces of the head by image processing, A height reference line connecting the lower ends is calculated, and with reference to normal rail shape data stored in memory in advance, the wear amount of the tread surface in the vertical direction with respect to the reference line and the reference line are calculated. An optical rail wear measurement method, comprising calculating the amount of wear in the horizontal direction of the side surface of the head on the left or right side with respect to a reference height. (2) The track inspection vehicle is equipped with two projectors that emit slit light that crosses the rail at right angles to one side of the rail from diagonal directions on the left and right, and two image-receiving cameras for the slit light. A traveling signal is supplied from a distance pulse generator installed in the track inspection vehicle in response to two left and right image signals of the tread surface of the rail and left and right head sides of the rail by the two image receiving cameras. An on-board device consisting of a signal pre-processing unit that also records a kilometer signal, a data recorder that records the data, a memory that records normal rail shape data, and a track inspection vehicle that is running. The height reference line is calculated by aligning the two video signals recorded in the data recorder, and the wear amount of the tread surface in the vertical direction with respect to the reference line is calculated by referring to the shape data. and an image processing section that calculates the amount of wear in the horizontal direction on the left or right side of the head with respect to the height based on the reference line, and the above mileage is added to the wear data output from the image processing section. An optical rail wear measurement system characterized by comprising an output circuit that also outputs output, and a ground device consisting of the following. (3) The optical rail wear measurement system according to claim 2, wherein two sets of the above-mentioned on-board devices respectively corresponding to two rails of the track are provided on a track inspection vehicle.