Patent ID: 6474832
Filing Date: 2002-11-05
Classification: B60Q

Abstract:
A rail-car status-indicating assembly which mounts to the rotating axle of a railcar comprising:a rotating structure mounted to the axis of the rail-car axle; a non-rotating structure connected with a first bearing to the rotating structure about the axis of rotation of the rail-car axle, the non-rotating structure having an offset mass connected to and depending radially therefrom, gravity acting on the offset mass to resist co-rotation of the non-rotating and rotating structures; an arm, pivotally connected to the non-rotating mounting structure at a position offset from the axis of rotation of the axle, and extending radially to a bottom end, the bottom end of the arm having a shorter arc of rotation than the rotating structure; a magnet and a solenoid mounted to one of either the arm's bottom end or the rotating structure and arranged so that the solenoid repeatedly passes through the magnetic field of the magnet as the axle rotates, inducing electrical energy in the solenoid; and a low-power status-indicating device connected electrically to the solenoid so that the induced electrical energy causes the low-power status-indicating device to operate.