Patent ID: 6860453

Claim:
A method of detecting and signalling a derailment condition of a railway vehicle wheel, comprising the steps of: providing vibration sensor means ( 3 ) associated with at least a wheel ( 1 ) of a railway vehicle for generating a vibration impulsive signal (V) indicative of the vibration of the wheel; receiving the vibration signal (V) by means of an electronic processing unit (E); generating, based on the vibration signal (V), an impulsive surveillance signal (S); comparing the instant value of the surveillance signal (S) with a reference threshold value (T); and automatically generating an alarm signal (A) when the instant value of the surveillance signal (S) reaches or exceeds said reference threshold value (T); characterised in that the instant value of the impulsive surveillance signal (S) is increased in a manner correlated to the amplitude of each vibration impulse (I) and decreased in accordance with a predetermined law after each vibration impulse.