Trackside friction management digital control system

1. An apparatus for applying friction modifying materials to a railroad track, the apparatus comprising:

an input for receiving a signal representative of the passage of railroad vehicle wheels; and

means for applying friction modifying material to the railroad track for a user defined, field programmable time duration when the number of wheels reaches the user defined, field programmable, activation level.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:

means for detecting the direction of train travel; and

means for adjusting the amount of friction modifying material in response to the detected direction of train travel.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the time for which friction modifying material is applied is different for each direction of train travel.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the means for applying friction modifying material to the railroad track comprises:

a reservoir for containing the friction modifying material;

an applicator;

a pump;

conduit connecting the reservoir to the pump and the applicator;

a motor for driving the pump; and

a control unit for operating the motor.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 , further comprising:

means for monitoring run time of the motor; and

means for storing the total run time of the motor.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:

means for storing the total number of wheel counts.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:

means for sensing rain and/or humidity; and

means for adjusting the amount or type of friction modifying material applied to the railroad track in response to the rain and/or humidity.

8. A method of applying friction modifying materials to a railroad track, the method comprising the steps of:

sensing the passage of railroad vehicle wheels; and

applying friction modifying material to the railroad track for a user defined, field programmable time duration when the number of wheels reaches the user defined, field programmable, activation level.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising the steps of:

detecting the direction of train travel; and

adjusting the amount of friction modifying material applied to the railroad track in response to the detected direction of train travel.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the time for which friction modifying material is applied is field programmed differently for each direction of train travel.

11. The method of claim 8 , further comprising the step of:

storing a total number of wheel counts in a memory.

12. The method of claim 8 , further comprising the steps of:

monitoring run time of a motor; and

storing the total run time of the motor in a memory.

13. The method of claim 8 , further comprising the steps of:

sensing rain and/or humidity; and

adjusting the amount or type of friction modifying material in response to the rain and/or humidity.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the step of adjusting the amount or type of friction modifying material in response to the rain and/or humidity, comprises the step of:

changing the amount of friction modifying material applied to railroad track in successive applications of friction modifying material in response to a parameter entered by a user.

15. An apparatus for applying friction modifying materials to railroad track comprising:

a lubricant supply tank;

a pump for pumping lubricant from the supply tank to an applicator;

a wheel sensor for detecting the passing of wheels of a railroad vehicle; and

a field programmable control unit for operating the pump in accordance with the number of wheels sensed by the wheel sensor.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the control unit comprises:

a processor;

a display for displaying information input to and produced by the processor; and

means for inputting wheel number and pump duration data to the processor.

17. The apparatus of claim 15 , further comprising:

a sensor for sensing rain and/or humidity.