AUSTRIAN track maintenance machine manufacturer Plasser & Theurer registered a total of 31 patents with the Austrian Patent Office in 2023.
The family-owned business has registered over 10,000 patents since 1953, one-quarter of which are still valid, and says it is “focused on innovation.”
According to the Austrian Patent Office’s recently-published annual report, Plasser & Theurer ranked third in the number of patents registered during 2023. A total of 2242 inventions were registered last year.
The patents registered in 2023 relate to a variety of track maintenance fields, including:
• Tamping units
• Levelling and lining measuring systems
• Lifting and lining units
• Ballast regulating machines
• Track motor vehicles
• Track inspection vehicles and systems
• Propulsion systems
• Superstructure elements
Plasser & Theurer says that the number of patents it has registered shows that the company is striving to support the railway sector with innovations and make it future-proof, even in challenging times.
The company recently confirmed that all of its new track maintenance machines are compatible with hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO) 100 biofuel.
Last year Plasser & Theurer unveiled a non-contact turnout measuring system that records all necessary parameters during a short pass over the main and diverging tracks, reducing turnout inspection times to as little as 4 minutes.
