SCANNING FLAW DETECTOR Russian patent published in 2010 - IPC G01N27/82 

FIELD: physics.

SUBSTANCE: device consists of a trolley and electronic apparatus on said trolley. The trolley has three wheels, two of which are running wheels and the third a supporting wheel. The trolley scans the outer surface of a pipe with a group of eddy current sensors and is held on the surface of the pipe by a rope around the pipe and spring-loaded clamping roller attached to the upper side of the trolley. The trolley is moved to the required spiral angle through individual control of the rate of rotation of the left- and right-hand driving wheels. The trolley is moved to the required path using signals from two accelerometres lying in the plane of the frame of the trolley. The axes of sensitivity of the accelerometres lie at an angle of 90 degrees relative each other so that the longitudinal construction line of the trolley lies in the middle between axes of sensitivity of the accelerometres. Availability of a third accelerometre whose axis of sensitivity is perpendicular to the plane of the trolley enables to evaluate the position of the trolley around the pipe. A wheel odometer measures the distance travelled by the apparatus. Information on coordinates of the detected defects and their value is transmitted from an onboard computer over a radio channel to a portable computer for monitoring by an operator.

EFFECT: minimum weight and automatic marking with paint of a place with major defects.

5 dwg