Patent ID: 8152111

Claim:
A railroad switch point indicator assembly mountable to a first railroad switch point of a railroad switch having first and second switch points, comprising: a) a base plate; b) a tubular housing mounted to said base plate; c) a piston slidably disposed in said housing and extendable through said first railroad switch point at a first end thereof to variably bear upon an associated fixed railroad rail at a plurality of piston lengths of extension; d) a bias spring operatively connected to said piston for biasing said piston in an axial direction with respect to said housing and said first railroad switch point; and e) a signal mechanism operatively connected to said piston for indicating the positional status of said first railroad switch point with respect to said associated fixed railroad rail via an attitude of a signal flag therein, wherein a portion of said signal mechanism is rotatable about one of three Cartesian axes of said indicator assembly, and wherein one of said first and second railroad switch points is a main rail switch point and the other of said first and second railroad switch points is a side-rail switch point, and wherein when said first railroad switch point is disengaged from said associated fixed railroad rail, said piston is urged by said spring to a first length of extension, positioning said signal flag in a first attitude to indicate such disengagement, and wherein when said first railroad switch point is engaged with said associated fixed railroad rail, said piston is urged by said spring to a second length of extension, positioning said signal flag in a second attitude to indicate such engagement.