# US 2019/0172277 A1 · Method and System of Recording Data from Borescopic Inspection

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- Number: US 2019/0172277 A1
- Document ID: US20190172277A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 16/063,966
- Filed: 2017-12-05
- Published: 2019-06-06
- Earliest claimed: 2017-12-05
- Inventors: Lin CHENG
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20190172277A1

## CPC

- G07C 5/0866: {the electronic data carrier being a digital video recorder in combination with video camera}
- B64F 5/60: Testing or inspecting aircraft components or systems
- G02B 23/2484: {Arrangements in relation to a camera or imaging device (processing or control of video signals generated by an endoscope H04N23/60, H04N23/70)}
- G06F 16/22: Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures
- G07C 5/008: {communicating information to a remotely located station (transmission systems for measured values G08C)}
- G07C 5/0808: {Diagnosing performance data (testing of vehicles G01M17/00; testing of electrical installation on vehicles G01R31/005)}
- G07C 2205/02: using a vehicle scan tool
- G07C: TIME OR ATTENDANCE REGISTERS; REGISTERING OR INDICATING THE WORKING OF MACHINES; GENERATING RANDOM NUMBERS; VOTING OR LOTTERY APPARATUS; ARRANGEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS FOR CHECKING NOT PROVIDED FOR ELSEWHERE
- B64F: GROUND OR AIRCRAFT-CARRIER-DECK INSTALLATIONS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR USE IN CONNECTION WITH AIRCRAFT; DESIGNING, MANUFACTURING, ASSEMBLING, CLEANING, MAINTAINING OR REPAIRING AIRCRAFT, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; HANDLING, TRANSPORTING, TESTING OR INSPECTING AIRCRAFT COMPONENTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G02B: OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
- G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N)

## Abstract

The present invention provides a method and a system for recording data from the borescopic inspection meaning checking whether defects occur in equipment consists of components with a borescope, the method comprising: (1) constructing the hierarchical structure of components in the equipment; the hierarchical structures of components include two levels of Module and Part, the Module comprising one or more Part(s); (2) defining the general description template of the defects; (3) defining the evaluation template for the inspection results of the Part(s); (4) defining the conclusion template of defects on Module; (5) standardizing input of data from the borescopic inspection; (6) concluding based on data from the borescopic inspection. According to the present invention, it provides an excellent measurement method for improving the reliability of modular mechanical products through quantizing the overall trend of internal defects.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method of recording data from borescopic inspection meaning checking whether defects occur in an equipment consisting of components with a borescope, comprising:
(1) constructing a hierarchical structure of components in the equipment; wherein the hierarchical structure of components comprises two levels of Module and Part, and the Module comprises one or more Part(s);
(2) defining a general description template of the defects;
(3) defining an evaluation template for inspection results of the Part(s);
(4) defining a conclusion template of the defects on the Module;
(5) standardizing input of the data from the borescopic inspection;
(6) concluding based on the data from the borescopic inspection.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, wherein the defining the general description template of defects comprises:
defining the defects that may occur on the Part(s); and
defining the general description template.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The method according to claim 2, wherein the general description template comprises:
three sections of Type, Position and Size,
the Type means defining the defects, the Position means determining positions where the defects occur on the Part(s), and the Size means defining dimensions of the defects.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The method according to claim 3, wherein the Type means defining the defects in a manner of Primary Type comprising different subtypes, Secondary Type and Remark.

### Claim 5 (depends on 3)

The method according to claim 3, wherein the Position means determining the positions where the defects occur on the Part(s) in a manner of Position 1-Position 2-Location.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, wherein the evaluation template comprises inspection results, recommendations and trend of the defects.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The method according to claim 6, wherein the inspection results of the defects comprise:
A: no further actions are required as the defects occurring on the Part(s) are in a low level;
B: repetitive inspection standard identical to those of the last borescopic inspection is adopted as the defects occurring on the Part(s) do not prominently deteriorate compared with results of the last borescopic inspection and standard of shortening the borescopic inspection is not yet met;
C: interval of the repetitive borescope inspection needs to be shortened as the defects occurring on the Part(s) further deteriorate compared to the defects of the last borescopic inspection;
D: the equipment needs to be removed within a stipulated time as serious defects occur on the Part(s) and dimensions of the defects meet the equipment removal standard;
E: the equipment needs to be removed immediately as more serious defects occur on the Part(s) and go beyond the permitted dimension scope of the defects;
F: the inspection results are underdetermined and need to be further determined with the manufacturer of the equipment as defects occurring on the Part(s) are complicated and a corresponding conclusion cannot be made according to current existing standards.

### Claim 8 (depends on 6)

The method according to claim 6, wherein the recommendations comprise Flight hours/cycles before the next repetitive inspection and hours/cycles of Continue In Service.

### Claim 9 (depends on 6)

The method according to claim 6, wherein the trend of defects comprises: New Finding, The Same and Propagated.

### Claim 10 (depends on 6)

The method according to claim 6, wherein the evaluation template further comprises Reference and Remarks.

### Claim 11 (depends on 4)

The method according to claim 4, wherein the defining the conclusion template of defects on Module comprises: defining primary types of defects to be concluded, defining the subtypes of the defects and defining dimensions of the defects.

### Claim 12 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, wherein the data from the borescopic inspection input by standardization comprise:
following information of one Part:
1) information input into the general description template;
2) information input into the evaluation template; and
3) information input into the conclusion template of defects on Modules; following information of another Part:
1) information input into the general description template;
2) information input into the evaluation template; and
3) information input into the conclusion template of defects on Modules;
until finishing input of information of borescopic inspection on all the Parts.

### Claim 13 (depends on 12)

The method according to claim 12, wherein
when the equipment is an aircraft engine or a gas turbine, data from the borescopic inspection input by standardization further comprise:
basic information of the engine;
information of engine ID plate.

### Claim 14 (depends on 7)

The method according to claim 7, wherein,
an inspection result of the Module automatically presents as normal for all Parts within the Module whose inspection results are normal;
Parts whose inspection results are C, D, E and F are automatically added to the conclusion;
Parts whose inspection results are A and B are added or not added to the conclusion.

### Claim 15 (depends on 13)

The method according to claim 13, further comprising:
data calibration comprising,
comparing the recorded basic information, Parts and defects of the engine with the historical data from the database;
if record informations of the defects on the Parts within the engine does not exist in the database after search, the present inspection record is directly stored in the database;
if description of the defects on the Parts within the engine already exists in the database after search, the input page will remind an input worker of results of the last borescopic inspection of the defects on the Parts, and the input worker can click to check the details of the last borescopic inspection so as to make a better assessment on the defects;
if record information of the defects on the Parts within the engine already exists in the database after search, the present record and the historical record should be calibrated, wherein the description of the defects cannot be submitted if the calibration thereof is not passed and the defects of the Parts should be re-measured or results of the last borescopic inspection should be amended again; the calibration formula is:
d
n
-
d
p
d
p
≥
δ
wherein, dn indicates data of defects in the present inspection measurement;
dp indicates data of defects in the last inspection measurement;
δ indicates an error threshold permitted in the measurement of defects, generally in the range of −8% to −5%;
comparing with the repetitive inspection interval recommended in the results of the present borescopic inspection with that of the last inspection results, if the recommended repetitive inspection interval, which is input by the present inspection, is larger than the repetitive inspection interval, which is input the last time, workers are reminded of calibrating the conclusion of the present repetitive inspection results.

### Claim 16 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, further comprising data storage, wherein the data include photos taken when checking whether defects occur on the equipment with a borescope, and the photos are stored in two forms, respectively being an original photo or a compressed photo.

### Claim 17 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, wherein further comprising the record exhibition which means exhibiting the previously input data during the consultation.

### Claim 18

A system of recording data from the borescopic inspection meaning checking whether defects occur in the equipment consisting of components with a borescope, comprising:
1) a component hierarchical structure model used for constructing the component hierarchical structure of the equipment, wherein the component hierarchical structure comprises two levels of Module and Part, and the Module comprising one or more Part(s);
2) a general description model used for defining defects that may occur on the Part(s) and defining the general description template comprising three sections of Type, Position and Size, wherein the Type means defining the defects, the Position means determining the position where the defects are located on the Parts and the Size means defining the dimensions of the defects;
3) an evaluation model comprising the evaluation template used for recording inspection results on the Part(s), wherein if defects occur in the inspection results on the Part(s), the evaluation template needs to record the following information: the inspection results of defects, the recommendations and the trend of defects;
4) a Module defect conclusion model used for concluding defects on the Module so as to define the conclusion template of defects on the Module, wherein the defining the conclusion template of defects on the Module includes defining the primary types of defects to be concluded, the subtypes of defects and dimensions of defects;
5) a standardization input model of the borescopic inspection results used for standardizing the input of data from the borescopic inspection, wherein the data from the borescopic inspection comprise:
following information of one Part:
(1) information input into the general description template;
(2) information input into the evaluation template;
(3) information input into the conclusion template of defects on Modules; following information of another Part:
(1) information input into the general description template;
(2) information input into the evaluation template;
(3) information input into the conclusion template of defects on Modules; until finishing input of information of borescopic inspection on all the Parts;
6) a data calibrating model used for calibrating input data and comparing the input data from the borescopic inspection with historical data in a database;
7) a data storage model used for storing the input data, wherein the data comprise photos taken when checking whether defects occur on the equipment with a borescope, and the photos are an original photo or an compressed photo;
8) a record exhibition model used for exhibiting the previous input data during consultation.