On January, 29th 1998 a patent "Unit for lubricating the surface of a wheel flange and/or rail contact surfaces" was issued to REBS.

The following article was published by the Eisenbahntechnischen Rundschau 5/98:

REBS wheel-flange and top-of-rail lubrication units

The lubrication of wheel flanges and rail contact surfaces has been a persistent problem for public-transport operators, vehicle and rail manufacturers for decades. The high degree of wear involved by the formation of grooves on the inside rail in curves as well as the high level of noise, has led to the development of various solutions based on the use of modern lubricants with a high solid content. However, the lubrication units must be able to spray these special lubricants without blockage problems occuring.

Wheel-flange lubrication units are generally controlled by time or distance-dependent systems. However, with top-of-rail lubrication units, the system has to be activated and controlled in the curves, as only the inner rail is sprayed in curves with tighter radii. In conventional curve-controlled wheel flange lubrication systems, the spraying process is always activated too late. When the spraying process is initiated by acceleration sensors or by bogie-interrogation through proximity switches, the vehicle is already in the curve before the lubricant is applied to the wheel flange. For this reason, REBS recommends an additional distance controlled activation of the system in curve-dependent wheel flange lubrication systems, so that the lubricant is applied to the flange before the vehicle goes into the curve. The acceleration sensors then initiate a supplementary lubrication process.

With the automatic top-of-rail lubrication units used by the Deutsche Bahn AG, the problem to be solved was how to initiate the spraying process before the curve. The system developed and patented by REBS is based on transponders mounted between the rails which, by means of an identification system, trigger the lubrication process before the curve. The principle of the REBS units makes it possible to spray the contact surface of the inner rail without interruption throughout the entire curve, and to adjust the amount of lubricant applied per unit of time or distance. In order to make this principle more economical for wheel-flange lubrication systems, REBS is currently developing a system of wheel-flange and top-of-rail lubrication units which is activated for selected areas (e.g. points and tight curves) by a GPS satellite navigation system. This process is also patented and will be substantially more economical than the version with the transponder identification system. In future, with rail vehicles whose position will be monitored using the GPS system, it will be possible to control the wheel-flange and top-of-rail lubrication systems without additional cost by means of the existing GPS receiver, working in conjunction with a PLC and appropriate software.

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