Method and camera system for the inspection of boiler tubes
US4699485A · kind A · utility
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 29, 1985 |
| Grant date | Oct 13, 1987 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 29, 2005 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG03B37/005
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
In a fire tube boiler, combustion takes place in elongated boiler tubes, which are subject to corrosion, wear, deposition build-up and color changes. A cylindrical camera body, round in cross-section, is inserted into a still-hot boiler tube. The camera body is cooled by cooling fluid and is pushed along the tube using extension rods. A motion picture film strip, preferably color instant film within a cassette, is advanced by remote control, by the operator, to expose a sequence of film frames on the cassette's film plane, as the camera body is progressed within the tube. The tube is dark so that a camera shutter is not used. Instead, tiny light sources, such as incandescent bulbs and/or a swingable mirror, are used to select the exposure time of the film. A fixed-focus and fixed-distance lens system focuses the images from the tube's inner wall on the film plane.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.