1. A system for performing ultrasonic inspection of a rail comprising:
a sensing wheel arranged to roll along the top of the rail;
ultrasonic transducers in said sensing wheel, each ultrasonic transducer able to direct an ultrasonic beam into the rail; and
said sensing wheel being tilted perpendicular to the vertical plane extending from the rail, and thus out of vertical alignment with the rail, the amount of tilt from the vertical plane being sufficient to detect defects in the rail which result from longitudinal cracks that propagate in the horizontal and transverse plane of the rail and are normally undetectable when probed by ultrasonic beams directed perpendicular to the surface of the rail.
2. A system in accordance with claim 1 wherein said sensing wheel is tilted between 8\xb0 and 14\xb0 from the vertical plane.
3. A system in accordance with claim 1 wherein said sensing wheel is disposed behind a leading wheel and a trailing wheel and said sensing wheel is tilted by an arm attached to said sensing wheel.
4. A system in accordance with claim 1 wherein said tilted sensing wheel includes a first sensing wheel transducer and at least one second sensing wheel transducer, said first sensing wheel transducer emits ultrasonic beams into the rail to detect horizontal defects in the rail and said second sensing wheel transducer emits ultrasonic beams into the rail to detect transverse defects in the rail that are normally undetectable when probed by ultrasonic beams directed perpendicular to the surface of the rail.
5. A system for performing ultrasonic inspection of a rail comprising:
at least one sensing wheel arranged to roll along the top of the rail;
ultrasonic transducers in each said sensing wheel, each ultrasonic transducer able to direct an ultrasonic beam into the rail; and
each said sensing wheel being tilted out of vertical alignment with the rail and between 8\xb0 and 14\xb0 from a vertical plane extending perpendicular to the rail, the amount of tilt from the perpendicular being sufficient to detect defects in the rail which result from longitudinal cracks that propagate in the horizontal and transverse plane of the rail and are normally undetectable when probed by ultrasonic beams directed perpendicular to the surface of the rail.
6. A system for performing ultrasonic inspection of a rail comprising:
a leading wheel and a trailing wheel, said leading and said trailing wheels being aligned in a vertical plane with said rail, said leading and trailing wheels each include a first transducer and at least one second transducer, said first transducer being oriented in said leading and said trailing wheel to emit ultrasound beams into the rail at zero degree, and said second transducer being oriented at an angle from said first transducer to emit ultrasound beams into the rail at 70 degrees, each said first and said second transducers within each said leading and said trailing wheel being oriented in a standard position; and
a third sensing wheel arranged to roll along an upper surface of the rail, said third sensing wheel being tilted out of vertical alignment with the rail in a direction perpendicular to said vertical plane by an arm, said third sensing wheel includes a first sensing wheel transducer and at least one second sensing wheel transducer, said first sensing wheel transducer and said second sensing wheel transducer being oriented within the tilted third sensing wheel in said standard position wherein said first sensing wheel transducer emits ultrasonic beams into the rail to detect horizontal defects in the rail and said second sensing wheel transducer emits ultrasonic beams into the rail to detect transverse defects in the rail that are normally undetectable when probed by ultrasonic beams directed in a vertical alignment with the rail.
7. A system in accordance with claim 6 wherein said sensing wheel is disposed between said leading wheel and said trailing wheel.
8. A system in accordance with claim 6 wherein said arm tilts the sensing wheel between 8\xb0 and 14\xb0 from the vertical plane.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A vehicle, comprising:
a differential mechanism having a first rotary element coupled to a first rotating electrical machine, a second rotary element coupled to a second rotating electrical machine, and a third rotary element coupled to an engine;
a wheel to which torque is transmitted from the second rotary element;
a power storage mechanism for storing electric power to be supplied to the second rotating electrical machine;
an operation unit that;
controls any one of the second rotating electrical machine and the engine such that the controlled one of the second rotating electrical machine and the engine outputs the torque which reduces vibrations of the vehicle,
calculates torque to be outputted from the second rotating electrical machine, by factoring in the torque, which reduces vibrations of the vehicle,
calculates a limit value of a charging electric power value of the power storage mechanism,
calculates a limit value of a discharging electric power value of the power storage mechanism,
changes a gain in accordance with at least any one of the limit value of the charging electric power value and the limit value of the discharging electric power value,
calculates torque requested by a driver, and
calculates the torque which reduces vibrations of the vehicle, by using a product of the torque requested by the driver and the gain.
2. A vehicle, comprising:
a differential mechanism having a first rotary element coupled to a first rotating electrical machine, a second rotary element coupled to a second rotating electrical machine, and a third rotary element coupled to an engine;
a wheel to which torque is transmitted from the second rotary element;
an atmospheric pressure sensor for detecting an atmospheric pressure;
an operation unit that;
controls any one of the second rotating electrical machine and the engine such that the controlled one of the second rotating electrical machine and the engine outputs the torque which reduces vibrations of the vehicle,
calculates torque to be outputted from the second rotating electrical machine, by factoring in the torque which reduces vibrations of the vehicle,
changes a gain in accordance with the atmospheric pressure,
calculates torque requested by a driver, and
calculates the torque which reduces vibrations of the vehicle, by using a product of the torque requested by the driver and the gain.
3. A method of controlling a vehicle including a differential mechanism having a first rotary element coupled to a first rotating electrical machine, a second rotary element coupled to a second rotating electrical machine, and a third rotary element coupled to an engine, and a wheel to which torque is transmitted from the second rotary element, and the vehicle is mounted with a power storage mechanism for storing electric power to be supplied to the second rotating electrical machine, the method comprising:
controlling any one of the second rotating electrical machines and the engine such that the controlled one of the second rotating electrical machine and the engine outputs the torque which reduces vibrations of the vehicle,
calculating torque to be outputted from the second rotating electrical machine, by factoring in the torque which reduces vibrations of the vehicle,
calculating a limit value of a charging electric power value of the power storage mechanism,
calculating a limit value of a discharging electric power value of the power storage mechanism,
changing a gain in accordance with at least any one of the limit value of the charging electric power value and the limit value of the discharging electric power value, and
calculating torque requested by a driver, and
calculating the torque which reduces vibrations of the vehicle, by using a product of the torque requested by the driver and the gain.
4. A method of controlling a vehicle including a differential mechanism having a first rotary element coupled to a first rotating electrical machine, a second rotary element coupled to a second rotating electrical machine, and a third rotary element coupled to an engine, and a wheel to which torque is transmitted from the second rotary element, and an atmospheric pressure sensor for detecting an atmospheric pressure, the method comprising:
controlling any one of the second rotating electrical machines and the engine such that the controlled one of the second rotating electrical machine and the engine outputs the torque which reduces vibrations of the vehicle,
calculating torque to be outputted from the second rotating electrical machine, by factoring in the torque which reduces vibrations of the vehicle,
detecting an atmospheric pressure,
changing a gain in accordance with the atmospheric pressure, and
calculating torque requested by a driver, and
calculating the torque which reduces vibrations of the vehicle, by using a product of the torque requested by the driver and the gain.
5. A controller for a vehicle including a differential mechanism having a first rotary element coupled to a first rotating electrical machine, a second rotary element coupled to a second rotating electrical machine, and a third rotary element coupled to an engine, and a wheel to which torque is transmitted from the second rotary element, and the vehicle is mounted with a power storage mechanism for storing electric power to be supplied to said second rotating electrical machine, the controller comprising:
calculation means for calculating torque which reduces vibrations of the vehicle,
control means for controlling any one of the second rotating electrical machine and the engine such that the controlled one of the second rotating electrical machine and the engine outputs the torque which reduces vibrations of the vehicle,
control means for calculating torque to be outputted from the second rotating electrical machine, by factoring in the torque which reduces vibrations of the vehicle,
control means for calculating a limit value of a charging electric power value of the power storage mechanism,
control means for calculating a limit value of a discharging electric power value of the power storage mechanism,
control means for changing a gain in accordance with at least any one of the limit value of the charging electric power value and the limit value of the discharging electric power value,
control means for calculating torque requested by a driver, and
the calculation means includes means for calculating the torque which reduces vibrations of the vehicle, by using a product of the torque requested by the driver and the gain.
6. A controller for a vehicle including a differential mechanism having a first rotary element coupled to a first rotating electrical machine, a second rotary element coupled to a second rotating electrical machine, and a third rotary element coupled to an engine, and a wheel to which torque is transmitted from the second rotary element, and an atmospheric pressure sensor for detecting an atmospheric pressure, the controller comprising:
calculation means for calculating torque which reduces vibrations of the vehicle
control means for controlling any one of the second rotating electrical machine and the engine such that the controlled one of the second rotating electrical machine and the engine outputs the torque which reduces vibrations of the vehicle,
control means for calculating torque to be outputted from the second rotating electrical machine, by factoring in the torque which reduces vibrations of the vehicle,
control means for detecting an atmospheric pressure,
control means for changing a gain in accordance with the atmospheric pressure,
control means for calculating torque requested by a driver, and
the calculation means includes means for calculating the torque which reduces vibrations of the vehicle, by using a product of the torque requested by the driver and the gain.