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US 11,442,042 B2Granted
Flexible ceramic coil circuit for high temperature non-destructive inspection
AssigneeOlympus Scientific Solutions Americas Inc.
InventorsMatthew Edward Stanton, C. Tricia Liu
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Disclosed is a flexible coil circuit for a non-destructive inspection probe. The coil circuit is made of multiple layers of thin flexible ceramic material, each ceramic layer having a metallization layer deposited thereon. The circuit is capable of continuous operation at temperatures up to 350° C. The metallized layers are able to slide freely over one another as the probe is flexed, enabling the probe to conform to the circumference of pipes as small as 2 inches in diameter.
Claims23
A measurement probe comprising:
- at least two layers of an electrically insulating material and a constraint along at least one edge of the at least two layers of electrically insulating material, preventing the at least two layers of electrically insulating material from separating, the constraint comprising at least one of (1) a stud or (2) an edge wall;
- and
- at least one metallization layer deposited on a first surface of one of the at least two layers of the electrically insulating material;
- wherein the probe is configured to scan a surface of a test object with a surface of at least one of the at least two layers of the electrically insulating material facing towards the surface of the test object;
- and
- wherein the at least two layers of the electrically insulating material are stacked and held captive by the constraint, the constraint allowing movement of a respective one of the at least two layers with respect to another of the at least two layers to facilitate flexibly conforming at least a portion of the measurement probe to a curved surface.
3 more elements
A method for performing non-destructive inspection, the method comprising:
- applying an inspection probe to a test object, the inspection probe comprising:
- at least two layers of an electrically insulating material and a constraint along at least one edge of the at least two layers of electrically insulating material, preventing the at least two layers of electrically insulating material from separating, the constraint allowing movement of a respective one of the at least two layers with respect to another of the at least two layers, and the constraint comprising at least one of (1) a stud and a cap, or (2) an edge wall including a lip;
- and
- at least one metallization layer located on a first surface of one of the at least two layers of the electrically insulating material;
- wherein the applying the probe comprises orienting a surface of at least one of the at least two layers of the insulation material toward a surface of the test object, including flexibly conforming at least a portion of the inspection probe to a curved surface using the movement of a respective one of the at least two layers of electrically insulating material with respect to another of the at least two layers of electrically insulating material.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.