US 12,090,538 B1 · System, apparatus, and method for quality control inspection

Abstract

Systems, methods, and devices for perforating louver perforations into a pipe are contemplated. Systems, methods, and devices for transporting pipes for perforation are contemplated. Systems, methods, and devices for performing quality control inspections of such perforations contemplated. A pipe may be oriented vertically and raised over a device that punches perforations into the pipe from the inside of the pipe toward the outside of the pipe. Various supports may contact the pipe for stabilization and to facilitate the formation of perforations without removing cut away pieces from the pipe. Electronic monitoring of the features of the pipe facilitate quality control inspection during processing. In this manner, a structurally robust pipe having a series of louver perforations along the pipe may be formed.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A method of quality control inspection of louvers formed by a louver perforation system, the method comprising:

receiving data corresponding to a pipe length and a number of perforations to form along the pipe length;
receiving data corresponding to an upper and lower blade size threshold of a louver blade portion of a perforation of the perforations to form along the pipe length;
receiving data corresponding to a maximum count of broken perforations of the perforations to form along the pipe length;
receiving data corresponding to an upper and lower opening size threshold corresponding to an opening portion of the perforation of the perforations to form along the pipe length;
forming, by the louver perforation system, a plurality of perforations along the pipe length;
collecting, by a 3D camera, an image of the perforations of the plurality of perforations during the forming;
processing the image to measure, by a controller, a blade size of the louver blade portion;
processing the image to measure, by the controller, an opening size of the opening portion of the perforation;
determining, by the controller, whether the louver blade portion of the perforation is broken and updating a count of broken perforations in response to the determining;
computing a rolling average of at least one of the blade size or the opening size;
and
displaying, on a display terminal, a graph of the rolling average.

9 more elements

A system of electronic quality control inspection of louvers formed by a louver perforation system, the system comprising:

a first robotic arm adjacent a first side of a pipe being perforated by a louver perforation system;
a first 3D camera disposed at an end of the first robotic arm and positioned to view a first perforation in the pipe;
and
a controller configured to receive data from the first 3D camera and display on a display terminal at least one of an image, graph, or measurement corresponding to the data from the first 3D camera, wherein at least one of the first 3D camera or the controller is configured to measure a size of a louver blade portion of the first perforation and wherein the controller is further configured to update a rolling average size measurement displayed on the display terminal comprising a rolling average of the sizes of multiple louver blade portions.

1 more element

A non-transitory computer readable medium containing program instructions for causing a controller to perform the method comprising:

receiving data corresponding to a pipe length and a number of perforations to form along the pipe length;
receiving data corresponding to an upper and lower blade size threshold of a louver blade portion of a perforation of the perforations to form along the pipe length;
receiving data corresponding to a maximum count of broken perforations of the perforations to form along the pipe length;
receiving data corresponding to an upper and lower opening size threshold corresponding to an opening portion of the perforation of the perforations to form along the pipe length;
forming, by the louver perforation system, a plurality of perforations along the pipe length;
collecting, by a 3D camera, an image of the perforations of the plurality of perforations during the forming;
processing the image to measure, by a controller, a blade size of the louver blade portion;
processing the image to measure, by the controller, an opening size of the opening portion of the perforation;
determining, by the controller, whether the louver blade portion of the perforation is broken and updating a count of broken perforations in response to the determining;
computing a rolling average of at least one of the blade size or the opening size;
and
displaying, on a display terminal, a graph of the rolling average.

9 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

System, apparatus, and method for quality control inspection

Life of this patent

System, apparatus, and method for quality control inspection

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims20