Process and device for the positioning of a tool in relation to the axis of a tube, especially for a steam generator of a nuclear reactor
US5263059A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 3, 1992 |
| Grant date | Nov 16, 1993 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 3, 2012 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG05B19/402
- WIPO fieldControl
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
Process and device for the positioning of a tool (10) carried by a manipulating arm displaceable in three respectively perpendicular directions of space in relation to the vertical axis of a tube carried by the tube plate of a steam generator for a nuclear reactor. The process involves arranging symmetrically on the arm a set of at least three lighting sources (17) each supplying a light beam directed tangentially towards the periphery of a tube (5), retransmitting, via an optical assembly (18) also carried by the arm, the images of three specific points of the tube illuminated by the sources in the direction of a video monitor, the screen (21) of which comprises three reticles (42, 43, 44) delimiting the actual contour of the tube, and then bringing these images into coincidence with the reticles in order to center the axis (28) of the tools strictly on the axis (35) of the tube.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.