Patent · US Expired

Apparatus for optically checking the inner profile of a tube or bore

US4967092A · kind A · utility

61Cited by
7References
11Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateMay 17, 1989
Grant dateOct 30, 1990
Priority date
Expiry dateMay 17, 2009

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG01B11/303
  • WIPO fieldMeasurement
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

An apparatus is provided for optically checking the inner profile of a tube or a bore, especially the tubes of steam generators in nuclear power stations, the apparatus includes a probe which is positioned within and is movable longitudinally within the tube or bore and is connected to an external power supply and analysis system. The probe includes a source of light, a mechanism for causing the light to illuminate the wall of the tube or bore along a line corresponding to the intersection of the wall with a cross-sectional plane, and a mechanism for forming an image of this line on a photo-sensitive sensor, so that variations in the inner profile of the tube or bore can be determined from deviations of the image from a theoretical image corresponding to the typical profile of the tube or bore.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.