JP5283548B2 - Railway rail fastening looseness inspection apparatus and method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an apparatus for inspecting railroad rail fastening looseness, capable of exactly detecting the fastening looseness, or the like, even if the type of a rail fastening apparatus is changed, and capable of exactly identifying the position of a failed fastening apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: A line sensor 1 and a plurality of spot laser projectors 2 are structured so that one of spot laser beams is reflected on a rail tread, and at least one of other laser beams is reflected on a top face of a fastening bolt or a fastening nut. The apparatus for inspecting calculates the height of a light spot of an image input from the line sensor; calculates the height of the top face of the fastening bolt or the fastening nut, based on ID information to be inspected input from an ID information storage apparatus 21 and a laser beam reflection position; and compares the height with a reference value, thereby looseness of the fastening bolt or the fastening nut for confirmation of no looseness is detected and the result on a display unit 23 is displayed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a railway rail fastening looseness inspection apparatus and method for automatically detecting the degree of looseness of rail fastening bolts and fastening nuts in a railway, and more particularly to loosening of fastening bolts and fastening nuts mounted on a track check vehicle while traveling at high speed. The present invention relates to a railway rail fastening looseness inspection apparatus and method capable of inspecting a railway rail.

A rail fastening device in a railway fixes a rail by pressing it from both sides of a rail base with a tip of a leaf spring. The leaf spring secures a pressing force by crimping the central portion onto the sleeper with a fastening bolt. Therefore, if the rail fastening bolt loosens, the tip of the leaf spring will float from the rail base, causing the rail to slip laterally and the rail pad for adjusting the rail height to come off. Need to be inspected.
Looseness inspection of fastening bolts is usually carried out at night when train operation is low, by visual observation and observation of hammering sound, and thus requires a large number of skilled maintenance workers and may be overlooked due to human power.

On the Shinkansen, the first train is operated every morning after confirming that there are no abnormalities in the rails and overhead lines by running track confirmation vehicles in each ward.
It would be convenient if a rail rail fastening looseness inspection device could be installed in the track confirmation vehicle or business vehicle to automatically monitor bolt looseness. Moreover, if the state of the rail is grasped on a daily basis using an automatic inspection device, it is useful for preventive maintenance. Furthermore, since there is a danger in the patrol work, it has been desired to be able to inspect from the vehicle.

Patent Document 1 discloses an apparatus that can be used for such a purpose, and is an apparatus that is arranged under the floor of a track confirmation vehicle or the like and automatically inspects the looseness of the rail fastening bolt during traveling. A railway rail fastening looseness inspection device that can be inspected even if there is a swing is disclosed.
FIG. 18 is a schematic configuration diagram of a sensor unit of the railroad rail fastening looseness inspection apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1. FIG. 19 is a block diagram showing a circuit of the measuring apparatus.
As shown in FIGS. 18 and 19, the railway rail fastening looseness inspection apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 is an apparatus including a line sensor, a plurality of spot laser projectors, a laser lighting circuit, an image input circuit, and a determination circuit. .

  As shown in FIG. 18, the line sensor is arranged so that the rail tread surface and the top surfaces of a pair of fastening bolts sandwiching the rail are in the field of view, and the optical axis of the plurality of spot laser projectors and the detection axis of the line sensor Are arranged in one plane. One spot laser projector reflects the radiated laser beam on the rail tread, and the other spot laser projector has at least one top surface of the fastening bolt during measurement, even if the body shakes or the fastening device changes. Thus, it is disposed at a position that reflects the spot laser beam.

The spot laser projector is sequentially driven by pulses supplied from a pulse generator, and irradiates a position that is gradually shifted. The line sensor is driven in synchronism with the spot laser beam by the same pulse, and detects the reflection position of the spot laser beam.
The height of the top surface can be obtained by obtaining the height of the reflection surface using the principle of triangulation based on the reflection position in the image of the line sensor and the irradiation direction of the spot laser.

  The distance between the line sensor and the reflective surface changes as the vehicle moves up and down, but the absolute value that eliminates the effect of vertical movement of the vehicle by obtaining the height of the reflective surface based on the height of the rail tread. Can be obtained. The determination circuit detects looseness of the fastening bolt based on the height of the top surface of the fastening bolt and the height of the rail tread surface obtained based on the laser light reflection position, and presents the result.

  Instead of obtaining the top surface height by performing triangulation calculation for each measurement, the relationship between the top surface height and the pixel position of the line sensor that captures the reflection point is calibrated for each spot laser projector. By using the data stored in a storage device as a table, the height of the rail tread and the bolt top surface can be obtained directly from the position of the pixel capturing the reflection point. The determination result for each fastening device is stored in a portable external memory and carried into an analysis room on the ground so that it can be analyzed in detail.

  The railway rail fastening looseness inspection device disclosed in Patent Document 1 is automatically detected by a vehicle-mounted type, so that the inspection can be carried out by mounting it on a track confirmation vehicle or a business vehicle, thereby reducing the risk of patrol work. By using management data collected in large quantities while driving, accurate preventive maintenance becomes possible.

JP 2008-224631 A

  The railroad rail fastening looseness inspection device disclosed in Patent Literature 1 judges the looseness of the fastening bolt by regarding the top of the reflected light spot of the spot laser for the fastening device as the top surface of the fastening bolt. . For this reason, it is difficult to clearly distinguish ballasts, cables, and the like, and the bolt heads may not be specified due to these noises.

  Some fastening devices are fastened with nuts to fix the rail, but with fastening devices tightened with fastening nuts, the detection point at the highest position is the apex of the bolt on which the nut is fitted. Looseness could not be determined at the highest position.

Furthermore, the fastening device may change the tightening height of the fastening bolt depending on the model, and there is a difference in the position of the fastening bolt and the height range of the top surface considered to be an appropriate tightening condition. There was an error.
In addition, when different types of fastening devices are mixed in the route, the position information that gives the boundary position for each model is determined by comparing the position obtained by calculation on the vehicle separately. The information has an error due to the effects of idling, glide, and wheel wear, so it is difficult to accurately identify the model boundary position.

Therefore, the problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a railway rail fastening looseness inspection apparatus and method capable of accurately detecting looseness and absence of fastening bolts and fastening nuts even if the rail fastening device type changes. It is.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a railroad rail loosening inspection device that can correctly identify the positions of abnormal bolts and nuts.

In order to solve the above-described problems, a railroad rail fastening looseness inspection apparatus according to the present invention includes a line sensor, a plurality of spot laser projectors, a laser lighting circuit, an image input unit, a height calculation unit, a determination unit, and an ID information storage unit. Device.
The line sensor is arranged so that the rail tread surface and the top surface of the fastening bolt or the fastening nut provided in the vicinity of the rail enter the visual field. The plurality of spot laser projectors are arranged so as to be in one plane with the detection axis of the line sensor, and one of the spot laser projectors is arranged so that the emitted laser light is reflected by the rail tread, and the other spot laser projectors Is arranged at a position where at least one of the emitted laser light is reflected on the top surface of the fastening bolt or the fastening nut during measurement.

  The image input means inputs an image indicating the laser light reflection position from the line sensor every time the laser is switched on, the height calculating means calculates the height of the light spot of the input image, and the determining means is ID information. The height of the top surface of the fastening bolt or the fastening nut is calculated based on the ID information of the inspection object input from the storage means and the laser light reflection position, and compared with the reference value or the average value of the adjacent bolt heights. Detects the looseness and / or absence of the fastening bolt or the fastening nut, and displays the result on the display device.

  The rail rail fastening looseness inspection device of the present invention further includes a pulse transformer that multiplies or divides the frequency by inputting a pulse signal related to the moving distance of the vehicle from the rotation detector of the wheel of the vehicle to be mounted. Is supplied to the laser lighting device and image input means for driving the line sensor to synchronize the operations of the spot laser and the line sensor.

  For example, since the fastening nut has only a narrow upper surface around the bolt, it is preferable to increase the spot density in order to detect the upper surface position of the fastening nut. Therefore, when targeting a fastening device of a type that is tightened with a nut, the narrow nut top surface can be easily detected by multiplying the pulse from the rotation detector to narrow the spot interval.

  The line sensor is arranged so that the top surfaces of each of a pair of fastening bolts or fastening nuts arranged across the rails are in the field of view, and the plurality of spot laser projectors is one of the spot laser projectors. At least one radiation laser beam is arranged on the top surface of each of a pair of fastening bolts or fastening nuts arranged so that the radiation laser light is reflected by the rail tread, and other spot laser projectors are sandwiched between the rails during measurement. May be arranged at a position to reflect.

Note that if necessary, the upper limit value of the multiplication factor is increased by reducing the traveling speed of the track confirmation vehicle, so that measurement can be performed with a finer spot interval.
Moreover, the determination means of the railway rail fastening looseness inspection device of the present invention can correct the fastening device number estimated by integration inside using the detection signal input from the point detector.

  Further, the railroad rail fastening looseness inspection method of the present invention includes a line sensor arranged so that the top surface of a pair of fastening bolts or fastening nuts sandwiching the rail tread and the rail enters the field of view, and a detection shaft of the line sensor, A plurality of spot laser projectors arranged so as to be in the same plane, one of the spot laser projectors is arranged so that the emitted laser light is reflected by the rail tread, and the other spot laser projector is 1 at the time of measurement. A plurality of spot laser projectors are sequentially provided in an inspection apparatus including a plurality of spot laser projectors arranged at positions where at least one of the emitted laser beams is reflected on the top surfaces of a pair of fastening bolts or fastening nuts. A step of turning on and a step of inputting an image indicating a laser beam reflection position from the line sensor every time the laser is turned on The step of calculating the height of the light spot of the input image based on the irradiated spot laser projector and the laser beam reflection position in the line sensor, and the reference value given based on the ID information of the inspection object are calculated. Determining the looseness and / or absence of the fastening bolt or the fastening nut by comparing the heights of the light spots, and displaying the result on a display device.

  The railroad rail fastening looseness inspection device of the present invention is mounted on a track confirmation vehicle, a business vehicle, or the like, and can collect information for determining missing or loosening of fastening bolts or fastening nuts of the fastening device during traveling. Based on the collected information and the ID information of the fastening device, the determination means can evaluate and determine the lack or looseness of the fastening bolt or the fastening nut. Judgment results can be immediately reflected in field maintenance activities, and can be accumulated to contribute to preventive maintenance.

Moreover, according to the railroad rail fastening looseness inspection method of the present invention, it is possible to determine missing or loosening of fastening bolts or fastening nuts of the fastening device during traveling.
The railway rail fastening looseness inspection device and method of the present invention has improved reliability compared to conventional devices, so that it can be used on a vehicle to perform patrol work that requires a large number of skilled workers and also requires risk countermeasures. Can be reduced.

It is a schematic structure figure of a sensor part of a railroad rail fastening looseness inspection device concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram explaining the structure of the railroad rail fastening looseness inspection apparatus of this embodiment. It is a partial cross section side view of the fastening device used as the management object of this embodiment. It is a top view of the fastening device used as the management object of this embodiment. It is drawing which shows the example of a measurement of each light spot position when the vicinity of the fastening bolt in this embodiment is detected. It is the schematic explaining the measurement principle of the spot laser beam reflective surface height in this embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining the main flow of the algorithm performed with the determination circuit of this embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining the fastening apparatus abnormality determination algorithm performed with the determination circuit of this embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining the algorithm of the subroutine which collates the apparatus number and ground position which are performed with the determination circuit of this embodiment. It is a chart explaining the concept of voting in this embodiment. It is a chart which shows the example of the point contrast table used by this embodiment. It is a partial cross section side view of the type fastening device which tightens a leaf | plate spring with the nut used as the management object of this embodiment. It is a top view of the type fastening device which tightens a leaf | plate spring with a nut on the tie plate used as the management object of this embodiment. It is drawing which shows the example of a measurement of each light spot position when the vicinity of the fastening nut in this embodiment is detected. It is drawing explaining the condition of the looseness test | inspection of the fastening nut in this embodiment. It is a table | surface which instruct | indicates the example of a type boundary in this embodiment. It is explanatory drawing explaining compared with a prior art example. It is explanatory drawing which compared and showed the result determined with the conventional classification boundary determination method and the classification boundary determination method of this embodiment. It is a schematic block diagram of the sensor part of the railroad rail fastening looseness inspection apparatus in a prior art example. It is a block diagram which shows the circuit structure of the railroad rail fastening looseness inspection apparatus in a prior art example.

  The railroad rail fastening looseness inspection device of the present embodiment detects looseness or missing of a fastening bolt or fastening nut of a fastening device while it is mounted on a vehicle and travels on a railroad track. Information related to position and state is displayed so that it can be used for maintenance work.

Hereinafter, a railroad rail loosening inspection apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail based on embodiments with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing that the sensor portion of the railway rail fastening looseness inspection device according to the present embodiment performs a looseness inspection facing the rail fastening bolt, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the measurement circuit portion. .

  As shown in FIG. 1, the railway rail fastening looseness inspection apparatus of the present embodiment includes a protective casing 3 having a sensor portion that includes a line sensor 1 and a spot laser projector 2, and a protective glass 31 between the measurement target. It is stored in. The protective glass 31 blocks the inside and outside air and prevents foreign matter from entering or colliding with the sensor part. A protective glass 31 is attached to the heater to prevent condensation from forming on the glass due to the temperature difference between the inside and outside. prevent.

  Each of the plurality of spot laser projectors 2 includes the sensor axis of the line sensor 1 in order to observe all the reflected light spots with one line sensor 1 arranged at a position directly above the rail tread 41 in the protective housing 3. It is arranged in the plane. Further, the spot laser projector 2 is installed at a position where the laser beam is irradiated obliquely from above so that the laser beam is reflected within the field of view of the line sensor 1.

The protective housing 3 is disposed on the left and right floors of a track confirmation vehicle (not shown) that travels at a high speed so as to face the rail, and the field of view of the line sensor 1 is disposed on both sides of the rail 40 with the rail tread 41 as the center. It is fixed so as to include the top surface 42 of the fastening bolt or the fastening nut.
For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the rail 40 is fixed by pressing a base portion at a tip end portion of a leaf spring 44 that is crimped onto a sleeper 43 with a fastening bolt.

  There are various types of rail fastening devices, for example, a plate with fastening bolts as shown in FIG. 1 as a representative example, a partially sectional side view in FIG. 3, and a plan view in FIG. There is a type in which the spring 44 is tightened and the skirt of the rail 40 is pressed by the tip of the leaf spring. In this type, the looseness of the fastening can be determined by the height of the top surface 42 of the fastening bolt.

The line sensor 1 is a one-dimensional CCD camera having an optical cell of 1024 pixels, for example, and is driven by a pulse of 31 kHz, for example, and outputs a one-dimensional image of one frame for each pulse.
The spot laser projector 2 is divided into two groups arranged symmetrically across the rail 40. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, a rail projector L10: L20 for irradiating a rail tread 41 and a fastening bolt top surface 42 are provided. It is comprised with the light projectors L11, L12, L13: L21, L22, L23 for irradiating.

  The looseness of the fastening bolt is determined by measuring the height of the bolt top surface 42. The height of the bolt top surface 42 is obtained by detecting the light spot formed by reflecting the laser beam from the spot laser projector 1 that has captured the target bolt top surface on the top surface with the line sensor 1. It can be calculated by the principle of triangulation.

  Moreover, rail light projector L10: L20 is used in order to measure the distance to the rail tread surface 41 used as the reference | standard height when detecting looseness of a rail fastening bolt. By calculating the height of the top surface 42 of the rail fastening bolt using the measured value of the rail tread 41 as a reference value, the absolute height can be known by offsetting the influence of the vertical movement of the vehicle.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of measurement of each light spot position when the vicinity of the fastening bolt is detected from a diagram in which the horizontal axis represents the travel distance of the vehicle and the vertical axis represents the height of the light spot. The light spot of the spot laser projector L11 detects the surface of the leaf spring 44. The spot of the spot laser projector L13 starts to scan the surface of the leaf spring 44 from where it cannot be seen, then rises a little at the washer, and then rises to the plane of the bolt top surface 42 to move the highest point horizontally. Thereafter, the light falls again to the washer part, and after scanning the surface of the leaf spring 44, it falls to a place where the light spot cannot be seen. Further, the light spot of the spot laser projector L12 is shaded while scanning the back side of the bolt and cannot be observed from the line sensor 1.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram for explaining the principle of measuring the height of the reflecting surface of the spot laser beam.
The spot laser emitted from the tip L of the spot laser projector 2 hits the surface of the object and is reflected. The light reflected at the irradiation point R of the spot laser passes through the optical center C of the line sensor 1 and is captured by the CCD sensor 5, and the light is accumulated in the optical cell D located at a position determined by the incident angle of the reflected light. Note that the spot laser projector 2 is arranged in the direction of the optical axis of the CCD sensor 5. In FIG. 6, the CCD sensor 5 inside the line sensor S is displayed as a map that is equivalently enlarged to a corresponding position outside the object.

Since the positional relationship between the optical center C of the line sensor 1 and the tip position L of the spot laser projector is fixed and the irradiation direction of the spot laser is fixed, the CCD sensor on which the laser spot at the spot laser reflection position R is projected The relationship between the position of the optical cell D and the distance H between the object surface reflected by the spot laser and the optical center C is uniquely determined.
For example, as shown in FIG. 6, with respect to the optical cell D projected by the reflection position R when the spot laser hits the sleeper surface 45, a reflection formed on the fastening bolt top surface 42 by entering a fastening bolt in the optical path. The optical cell D ′ on which the point R ′ is projected is closer to the outside.

Thus, since the height distance H to the reflection point R corresponds to the position of the optical cell D that captured the reflection point R, it can be obtained immediately from the output of the line sensor 1.
Although the relationship between the distance H to the reflection point R and the position of the optical cell D can be obtained by calculation, it varies depending on the installation position of the spot laser projector 2 and the laser light projection direction and requires complicated calculation. Each spot laser projector may be determined by calibrating by performing an actual test. Further, for each spot laser projector, the relationship between the distance and the light spot position can be obtained in advance by calculation.

The results of calibration and calculation are stored in the correspondence table storage device in the form of a correspondence table of the optical cell position and reflection surface height determined for each spot laser projector, and when the distance to the reflection surface is obtained from the measurement result Used.
When the distance H to the reflection point R is known in this way, the absolute height of the reflection point R can be calculated by obtaining the difference Δh _B from the distance to the rail tread 41.

However, if the reflected light from the eight spot laser projectors 2 enters the line sensor 1 at a time, it becomes difficult to specify the projector corresponding to the reflected light. Therefore, while shooting one frame with the line sensor 1, a sequence is set up so that only one spot laser projector is lit on each of the right and left fastening devices sandwiching the rail, so that the correspondence between the reflected light position and the projector can be simplified. It can be taken.
The spot laser projectors L10: L20 for irradiating the rail tread 41 are turned on once during one cycle of the fastening bolt spot laser projector 2, and the distance to the rail tread 41 is measured. It is a standard when calculating the height of the.

FIG. 2 illustrates the rail rail fastening looseness inspection apparatus of the present embodiment that drives the sensor portion of FIG. 1, collects measurement signals, calculates the height of the reflecting surface, and determines and outputs the looseness of the fastening bolts. It is a block diagram explaining a structure.
The railway rail fastening looseness inspection device of this embodiment includes a lighting circuit 11, an image input circuit 12, a pulse transformer 13, a rotation detector 14, a counter 15, a height calculation circuit 16, a correspondence table storage device 17, and an external storage device 18. , A point detector 19, a determination circuit 20, an ID information storage device 21, a point comparison table storage device 22, and a display device 23.

  The pulse transformer 13 supplies drive pulses to the lighting circuit 11 and the image input circuit 12 synchronously. The drive pulse is generated by multiplying or dividing the pulse generated by the rotation detector 14 provided on the vehicle wheel corresponding to the travel distance by the pulse transformer 13. When the railroad rail fastening looseness inspection device of this embodiment is mounted on a track confirmation vehicle that travels at 110 km / hr, for example, if the frequency of the drive pulse is 31 kHz, for example, corresponding to the travel speed, Thus, the output scanning of the line sensor 1 can be performed approximately every 1 mm.

  The lighting circuit 11 drives the individual spot laser projectors 2 in the order determined by a predetermined lighting sequence in accordance with the driving pulse supplied from the pulse transformer 13. The line sensor 1 generates an image signal including a reflection point of the spot laser light and transmits the image signal to an image input circuit 12 also called a frame grabber. The image input circuit 12 transmits the image signal received from the line sensor 1 to the height calculation circuit 16. The height calculation circuit 16 calculates the light reflection surface height based on the cell position reflection surface height correspondence table read from the correspondence table storage device 17 and the input image signal, and the calculation result is stored in the external storage device 18. To store.

  The counter 15 integrates pulse signals received from the rotation detector 14 provided in the vehicle to calculate the travel distance, and as position information for specifying the fastening bolt to be inspected as the distance to the position where the image signal is generated. Use. The calculated position information is stored in the external storage device 18 together with the light reflecting surface height information.

  The recording medium that stores the height information and the position information in the external storage device 18 stores the point detection signal supplied from the point detector 19 together. The point detector 19 is an instrument that is separately mounted on a vehicle and detects a point detection plate installed on the side of the track, for example, every 1 km while traveling to recognize an accurate ground distance or position. The point detection signal can be taken into the railway rail fastening looseness inspection apparatus of the present embodiment and used for confirmation or correction of position information obtained using the rotation detector 14.

After the measurement value is collected after traveling on the route in the range to be inspected, the recording medium on which the measurement result is recorded is transported to the analysis room on the ground where the analysis device is arranged, and is read by the determination circuit 20 to be fastened. Check for abnormalities. At this time, the ID information of the related fastening device is read out from the ID information storage device 21 containing the ID information related to each fastening device and used.
Needless to say, the analysis device including the determination circuit 20 may be mounted on the vehicle to complete the inspection on the vehicle.

  7 to 10 are flowcharts for explaining an algorithm executed by the determination circuit 20. FIG. 7 shows the main flow. The algorithm executed by the determination circuit 20 includes a subroutine (S1) for determining abnormality of the fastening device and a subroutine (S2) for comparing the device number with the ground position. The abnormality of the fastening device determined here is loosening of the fastening bolt and missing of the fastening bolt.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a fastening device abnormality determination subroutine (S1).
In the fastening device abnormality determination subroutine, the determination circuit 20 searches the ID information storage device 21 based on the device number of the fastening device that is the measurement target, reads the ID information of the target fastening device, and is registered as ID information. From this matter, the type of the fastening device is examined (S11).

A voting space for distributing and accumulating the light spot height information is formed (S12), and the voting space includes a voting space in which the height of the top surface of the fastening bolt is distributed, and the voting space including the height position of the leaf spring 44. A space is provided.
In accordance with the height information for each light spot calculated by the height calculation circuit 16, the vote is distributed to the corresponding voting spaces, and the number of light spots is integrated for each voting space (S13).

  FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining the concept of voting. In the figure, the vertical axis indicates the height divided by the voting space, the horizontal axis indicates the number of light spots belonging to each voting space, and the voting result is represented by a histogram. In the voting space at a height corresponding to the leaf spring surface 44, a large number of light spots exist, so that the voting value is large. In the figure, it can be seen that a large number of votes is found in a range that is recognized as good beforehand, and that the top surface 42 of the fastening bolt exists here. Although there are reflections from the ballast surface and the like, and disturbances such as cables, the disturbance can be determined from the number of votes and its voting space position because the number of light spots does not increase.

  In the voting process, the light spot voted in the voting space corresponding to the height of the leaf spring 44 of the fastening device is monitored for the moving distance while the height of the leaf spring 44 is maintained, and the light spot in the voting space is monitored. It is determined whether or not the distance width exceeds the width of the leaf spring 44 (S14). As long as the width of the leaf spring 44 is not exceeded, the process returns to step S13 to repeat voting for the detected light spot. When the width of the leaf spring 44 is exceeded, the fastening bolt portion in the fastening device has passed, so the process proceeds to step S15 to determine the looseness.

  Instead of determining that it is within the width of the leaf spring 44 and setting it as a measurement area such as a fastening bolt, a gate section corresponding to the area including the fastening device is provided in advance, and light in the gate section is provided. You may make it vote in a voting space about a point.

  Since the top surface 42 of the fastening bolt is a wide horizontal surface, the voting space within the allowable range in which the height of the top surface 42 of the fastening bolt is considered to be loose, and the top of the fastening bolt higher than that range. In the voting space in the area where the surface 42 can exist, if there is a voting space in which the maximum number of voted light spots is larger than a predetermined number and more than the upper and lower voting spaces, the voting space is distributed to the voting space. Can be determined to be the height of the top surface 42 of the fastening bolt (S15).

It is also possible to provide a gate that determines the upper and lower limits for the height of the light spot position, so that the light spot position that is not used for the inspection process and noise are excluded from the beginning. For example, by excluding light spots outside this range with a height of 20 mm from the bottom of the rail as a lower limit and a height of 129 mm as an upper limit, the information to be processed is reduced, and an efficient calculation can be performed.
Moreover, when specifying an article in consideration of the characteristics of the target article, a reliable and efficient determination can be made. For example, even in a voting space with a large number of votes, if the width of the light spot group is long and exceeds the top surface width of the fastening bolt, it is not a target article and is excluded.

  It should be noted that if the number of light spots belonging to the voting space is very small, it is considered to be noise rather than an entity, so it is preferable to exclude it. In addition, in order to remove the information not related to the looseness of the fastening bolt and facilitate the determination, the voting space is set only within the range where the top surface of the leaf spring 44 and the fastening bolt top surface 42 may exist. Thus, the light spots that cannot be distributed to these voting spaces may not be counted.

  If the height of the fastening bolt thus obtained is within an allowable range, it can be determined that the fastening bolt is not loose. If it is outside the allowable range, the fastening bolt is loose. If the top surface 42 of the fastening bolt cannot be detected, it is considered that the fastening bolt has been lost (S16).

The results of pass / fail are recorded in a list of necessary information such as the position, type and degree of abnormality of the inspected fastening bolts so that they can be displayed on the display device 23, etc. whenever necessary, such as maintenance work and maintenance plans. (S17). Even when the top surface 42 of the fastening bolt is within the allowable range, individual height information can be recorded and the trend can be known by accumulating data and used for preventive maintenance.
Finally, the device number is incremented toward the next measurement object (S18), and the fastening device abnormality determination routine (S1) is completed.

Next, the determination circuit 20 executes a subroutine (S2) for collating the device number with the ground position.
FIG. 9 shows the contents of a subroutine (S2) for collating the device number with the ground position. The determination circuit 20 monitors the signal recorded on the recording medium, determines whether or not a point detection signal is included (S21), and if there is no point detection signal, returns to the main flow as it is. On the other hand, when there is a point detection signal, the point comparison table is read out from the point comparison table storage device 22, and the fastening device number at the point detection position on the point comparison table and the fastening of the inspection object recognized by the inspection device. It is confirmed whether the device number matches (S22).

  FIG. 11 is a table showing an example of the point comparison table. The point comparison table is recorded by comparing the kilometer of the point detection plate with the fastening device number. When there is a deviation in the distance information of the recorded light spot measurement data, it can be corrected based on the point detection plate. When executing the fastening device abnormality determination routine (S1) for the next fastening device, it is possible to read the ID information according to the new device number and set the voting space according to the corrected device type.

  Returning to FIG. 9, if the correct fastening device number at the point detection position on the point comparison table matches the fastening device number of the inspection object recognized by the inspection device in step S22, the subroutine is terminated. Return to the original routine. On the other hand, if there is a deviation between the two, the device number of the fastening device to be inspected next recognized by the inspection device is corrected based on the point comparison table (S23).

Next, the determination circuit 20 creates and records a report on the error (S24), and ends the subroutine. It should be noted that when there is an error, the determination circuit 20 can make corrections by going back to past data.
The maintenance worker can perform preventive maintenance by obtaining the positional information of the loosened bolt and taking measures such as early tightening. In addition, a maintenance plan can be formulated based on the tendency of the loosening amount of each fastening bolt to change.

  There are various types of rail fastening devices, and various types of rail fastening devices are confused and used on a single route. In the description of the above embodiment, a fastening device of the type that tightens the leaf spring 44 with a fastening bolt, which is shown as a representative example in FIG. 1, is a partially sectional side view in FIG. 3, and is a plan view in FIG. It was. However, as a fastening device, a fastening device of a type as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13 is often used.

FIG. 12 is a partial cross-sectional side view of a fastening device of a type in which a leaf spring is fastened with a nut. In the fastening device shown in FIG. 12, the rail 40 is fixed by tightening a leaf spring 44 with a nut 46 fitted to a standing bolt 47.
In such a type of fastening device, the fastening nut 46 that causes fastening looseness is not at the uppermost end but in the middle of the bolt. Accordingly, the looseness cannot be detected unless the position of the fastening nut 46 itself is measured.

FIG. 14 is a drawing showing an example of measurement of the light spot position in the vicinity of the fastening nut.
As the vehicle moves forward, the light spot of the spot laser projector L11 rises from a place where it cannot be seen to the surface of the leaf spring 44, scans the surface, and returns to the invisible ground when the leaf spring 44 is released.
As the vehicle advances, the light spot of the spot laser projector L12 rises from a place where it cannot be seen to the surface of the leaf spring 44, then increases slightly at the washer, and returns to the surface of the leaf spring 44 to return to the leaf spring 44. When you can remove it, you are back on the ground.

On the other hand, the light spot of the spot laser projector L13 is initially on the ground and deviated from the field of view of the line sensor 1, but hits the shoulder of the fastening nut 46 and is captured by the line sensor 1 to scan the round head of the bolt 47. Then illuminate the shoulder of the fastening nut 46 again and return to the ground.
Thus, the upper surface of the fastening nut 46 appears as a small step on the side surface of the bolt 47. When the reflection of the spot laser beam 2 is detected by the line sensor 1 because the step is narrow, the portion of the bolt 47 is shaded by the spot laser beam, so only the shoulder of the fastening nut 46 that appears slightly on the side of the bolt 47 is used. It cannot be detected.

  As described above, even when the information indicating the upper surface of the fastening nut 46 is less than the noise information, the height of the upper surface can be known by accurately detecting the fastening nut 46 using the voting method described above.

Also, if the voting space is to evaluate the height of the reflecting surface based on the voting result of the light spot, an appropriate height width such as 1 mm, for example, within and outside these ranges according to the required height accuracy. It can be formed as a plurality of voting spaces partitioned by.
If the purpose is only to determine the looseness of the fastening nut, it is also possible to use three voting spaces: a non-defective region that combines a normal range and a warning region, an abnormal region, and other regions.
In the voting space determined in this way, the result of measuring the height of the light spot by the line sensor 1 is voted.

FIG. 15 is a view for explaining the state of the looseness inspection of the fastening nut 46. The right figure of FIG. 15 is a figure explaining the relationship between the light spot height and the voting space, and the left figure is a histogram explaining the voting result. Here, the voting space is set in 1 mm increments.
The light spot existing within the range where the nut upper surface should exist is the light spot reflected by the upper surface of the fastening nut 46, and the height of the voting space where the number of votes is maximized is the height of the upper surface of the fastening nut 46. I understand. The height of the fastening nut 46 can be determined in 1 mm increments.

  Moreover, the light spot observed in the height range where the upper surface of the fastening nut 46 should not exist is a part unrelated to the inspection or the reflection surface of the article, and is only noise for the inspection. Light spots unrelated to these tests can be ignored in the looseness test. If a voting space is not provided in an area that can be ignored even if there is a light spot, and light spots belonging to the height range are not counted, the looseness determination calculation can be simplified.

  When detecting the upper surface position of the fastening nut by such a voting method, it eliminates the trouble of judging whether each light spot is a reflected light position from the fastening nut and the risk of misidentification, and it is simple and highly accurate. Estimation can be performed to determine whether the nut is loose.

  In order to reliably irradiate the upper surface of the fastening nut 46 with spot light that enters the visual field of the line sensor 1, it is effective to reduce the distance between the spot lights. Therefore, the pulse from the rotation detector 14 interlocked with the rotation of the wheel is multiplied by the pulse transformer 13 to drive the lighting circuit 11 of the spot laser projector 2 and the image input circuit 12 that controls the input / output of the line sensor 1. The frequency of the pulse can be increased. When it is necessary to secure a processing time for signal processing or information processing, the distance between the spotlights is reduced by reducing the vehicle speed and securing the processing period and multiplying the drive pulse. be able to. Needless to say, both vehicle speed reduction and drive pulse frequency increase may be applied.

  Conversely, when detecting the top surface of the fastening bolt, an excessive number of light spots may be detected because the top surface area is large, and the information processing calculation may be complicated. In such a case, it is possible to reduce the frequency of the drive pulse, reduce the load, allow the information processing apparatus to perform other information processing, or increase the vehicle traveling speed. .

  As another type of fastening device often used, a leaf spring 44 is fastened by a fastening nut 46 fitted on a bolt 47 fixed on a tie plate 48 fixed by a nut 49 as shown in a plan view of FIG. There is a type in which the rail 40 is fixed. In this type, the fastening looseness is detected by measuring the height of the fastening nut 49. However, the fastening nut 49 sandwiching the rail is arranged at a position shifted in the traveling direction, so that the nut looseness detection is detected. The operation of the spot laser beam 2 and the line sensor 1 is performed separately with the rail interposed therebetween. However, there is no significant difference in the inspection procedure for the left and right fastening nuts 49.

Furthermore, the above representative models have many different models that are deformed, and the appropriate heights of the fastening bolts and the fastening nuts differ depending on the models.
Therefore, in order to detect the looseness of the fastening bolt or the fastening nut with certainty, after knowing what type the inspection object is, measure these heights accurately according to the method suitable for the type, It is necessary to determine whether the height is within an allowable range and to determine looseness.

  For this reason, the railway rail fastening looseness inspection device of this embodiment includes an ID information storage device that stores ID information that defines the position and model of each fastening device, reads out the ID information as necessary, The model is specified, and the measurement target is determined as either the fastening bolt or the fastening nut, and the measurement method and the threshold for determining the looseness are determined accordingly.

  In a vehicle equipped with the railroad rail fastening looseness inspection device of this embodiment, when traveling on a route in which various fastening devices are mixed and inspecting the fastening device for looseness, depending on the type of the fastening device, Since the criteria for determining the degree of looseness are different, it is necessary to accurately identify the type of the fastening device to be inspected, and obtain the criteria corresponding to that type from a comparison table or the like for inspection.

  Generally, even when a plurality of fastening devices are used in a mixed manner, the same type fastening devices are continuously arranged, and therefore there is a type boundary. Each fastening device on the route has information such as its own device number and its own model as ID information. Therefore, if the inspection is performed with reference to the ID information, the device type is specified for each individual fastening device, and an accurate management range is given. Therefore, it should be possible to perform an accurate pass / fail inspection.

  However, conventionally, the fastening device to be inspected is specified based on the travel distance measured by the rotation detector 14 on the vehicle. Therefore, it is affected by the error of the rotation detector 14. The rotation detector includes errors caused by wheel slipping, gliding, wheel diameter changes due to wear, etc., and mixed errors such as errors between the calculated kilometer and the management kilometer. difficult.

The railroad rail fastening looseness inspection device of this embodiment advances the device number each time the fastening bolt or the fastening nut is inspected, and accesses the ID information by the device number, so that an accurate inspection can be performed.
The error in calculating the kilometer is largely due to the accumulation of various errors that occur regularly, but according to the method of specifying the device based on the device number of the fastening device, the error is avoided by accumulating the error. It is because it can absorb.

FIG. 16 shows an example of a table indicating the type boundary. FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram showing a result of determination by the conventional type boundary determination method in the upper diagram and a result of determination by the type boundary determination method in the present embodiment in the lower diagram.
In the table of FIG. 16, a type a fastening device from device number 980 to 1000 is arranged at a position of 520.000 m from a position of 510.000 m, and a device number from a position of 520.000 m to a position of 530.000 m. In the example, type b fastening devices 1001 to 1020 are arranged, and the type boundary between them is between the device numbers 1000 and 1001 at a position of 520.000 m.

  As shown in FIG. 17 (a), conventionally, since the individual fastening device is determined from the distance based on the travel distance calculated by the vehicle-mounted rotation detector 14, there is a deviation in the vehicle calculated distance. Even though there is a type boundary at the position indicated by the alternate long and short dash line in the figure, the railroad rail fastening looseness inspection device mistakenly recognizes the position indicated by the dotted line in the figure as a 520.000 m position, for example. In this case, it may be determined that the mode is switched to the type b for the first time. Then, in the figure, since the two fastening devices are misunderstood as having different types, the result is erroneous determination that the bolt position is defective.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 17B, the railway rail fastening looseness inspection device according to the present embodiment increments the device number every time the fastening device is inspected, and manages based on the device number. As long as the fastening device is not overlooked, there is no error between the local fastening device and the fastening device to be inspected by the inspection device, and the type of the fastening device to be inspected can be appropriately switched at the correct type boundary.
Further, by utilizing the point detection plate, even if an error occurs in the device number, it can be pulled back to an accurate device number every 1 km, for example.

  According to the railway rail fastening looseness inspection device of the present embodiment, the height of the fastening bolt can be accurately evaluated, so that the looseness can be detected and maintenance can be performed accurately. Furthermore, even when the rail is fixed with a fastening nut, it is possible to reliably detect fastening looseness. In addition, when the installation position of the fastening device is determined using an on-vehicle rotation detector, even if an error may occur due to idling or sliding, the position detector can be used to appropriately set the absolute position. It can be corrected.

  According to the railway rail fastening looseness inspection device of the present invention, it is possible to easily monitor the fastening looseness on the railway track from the vehicle, and to accurately specify the abnormal position and notify the maintenance worker. Greatly contributes to.

1 Line Sensor 2 Spot Laser Projector 3 Protective Housing 5 CCD Sensor 11 Lighting Circuit 12 Image Input Circuit 13 Pulse Transformer 14 Rotation Detector 15 Counter 16 Height Calculation Circuit 17 Corresponding Table Storage Device 18 External Storage Device 19 Point Detector 20 Determination circuit 21 ID information storage device 22 Point comparison table storage device 23 Display device 31 Protective glass 40 Rail 41 Rail tread 42 Top surface 43 Sleeper 44 Leaf spring 45 Sleeper surface 46 Fastening nut 47 Bolt 48 Tie plate 49 Nut

Claims (6)

A line sensor arranged such that the top surface of a pair of fastening bolts or fastening nuts sandwiching the rail tread and the rail enters the field of view;
A plurality of spot laser projectors arranged so as to be in the same plane as the detection axis of the line sensor, one of the spot laser projectors is arranged so that the emitted laser light is reflected by the rail tread, and the other The spot laser projector includes a plurality of spot laser projectors arranged at positions where at least one of the emitted laser beams is reflected on the top surfaces of a pair of fastening bolts or fastening nuts during measurement,
A laser lighting device for controlling lighting of the plurality of spot laser projectors;
Image input means for inputting an image indicating a laser beam reflection position from the line sensor every time the laser is switched on;
A height calculating means for calculating the height of the light spot of the input image;
ID information storage means for storing ID information including the position and model of the inspection object;
The fastening bolt is calculated by calculating the height of the top surface of the fastening bolt or the fastening nut based on the ID information of the inspection object input from the ID information storage means and the laser light reflection position and comparing it with a reference value. Or a judging means for detecting looseness and / or absence of the fastening nut and displaying the result on the display device ,
The determination means sets a height section where a light spot should exist for the inspection object, distributes the light spot according to the height measurement value calculated for the inspection object, and includes the light spot included in the height section. Is determined to be the height of the top surface of the fastening bolt or nut when there is a height section that is greater than a predetermined number and is a maximum number,
Railway rail fastening looseness inspection device. A pulse transformer that further increases or decreases by inputting a pulse signal relating to a moving distance of the vehicle from a rotation detector of a wheel of a vehicle on which the railroad rail fastening looseness inspection device is mounted;
The railroad rail according to claim 1, wherein a pulse signal output from the pulse transformer is supplied to the image input means for driving the laser lighting device and the line sensor to synchronize operations of the spot laser and the line sensor. Fastening looseness inspection device.   The ID information storage means further stores a fastening device number, and the determination means corrects the fastening device number estimated by integration internally using a detection signal input from a point detector. The rail rail fastening looseness inspection device according to 2.   Furthermore, correspondence information storage means storing correspondence information representing the relationship between the laser light reflection position and the height of the light spot in the image indicating the laser light reflection position is provided, and the height calculation means is stored in the correspondence information storage means. The railway rail fastening looseness inspection device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a height of a light spot of the input image is calculated based on the stored correspondence information.   The determination means sets a height section where a light spot should be present when the inspection object is normal, distributes the light spot according to a height measurement value calculated for the inspection object, and is included in the height section The railway rail fastening looseness inspection device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein when the number of light spots is less than a predetermined number, the fastening looseness or the absence of fastening bolts or nuts is determined. A line sensor arranged such that the top surface of a pair of fastening bolts or fastening nuts sandwiching the rail tread and the rail enters the field of view;
A plurality of spot laser projectors arranged so as to be in the same plane as the detection axis of the line sensor, one of the spot laser projectors is arranged so that the emitted laser light is reflected by the rail tread, and the other In the inspection apparatus, the spot laser projector includes a plurality of spot laser projectors arranged at positions where at least one of the radiated laser beams is reflected on the top surfaces of a pair of fastening bolts or fastening nuts during measurement. ,
Sequentially turning on the plurality of spot laser projectors;
A step of inputting an image indicating a laser beam reflection position from the line sensor every time the laser is switched on;
Based on the irradiated spot laser projector and the reflection position of the laser beam at the line sensor , set the height division where the light spot should exist for the inspection object, and distribute the light spot according to the height measurement value calculated for the inspection object Then, when there is a height section in which the number of light spots included in the height section is greater than a predetermined number and is a maximum number, it is determined that the height of the height section is the height of the top surface of the fastening bolt or nut. Calculating the light spot height of the input image,
Determining looseness and / or absence of fastening bolts or fastening nuts by comparing a reference value given based on the ID information to be inspected with the calculated height of the light spot;
Displaying the result on a display device;
Railway rail fastening looseness inspection method comprising:

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