Vessel examination system
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsJack Phillip Clark, Thurman Dale Smith, Alan Carl Foster
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system for on-site, non-destructive examination of the seam welds or other portions of the walls of a vessel, for example, a nuclear reactor pressure vessel, including an instrument carrying, remotely controlled vehicle with magnetic adherence means which may be selectively propelled to any position on the walls of the vessel and including an ultrasonic signal system utilizing a triangulation technique for remotely indicating the position of the vehicle on the vessel.
Claims11
A magnetically adherent trackless vehicle adapted to be remotely propelled and steered over the surface of a magnetic body including curved surfaces thereof, comprising:
- a frame having a longitudinal axis;
- a pair of spaced wheels mounted to each of two opposite sides of said frame for supporting said vehicle on said surface, each of said wheels containing magnetic means in the form of permanent magnets for providing adherence of said vehicle to said vessel, each of said wheels being rotatably attached to one end of a suspension bracket extending generally laterally outward from said frame, the other end of said suspension bracket being pivotally attached to said frame whereby said wheels can maintain as flat a position as possible against said surface for increased adherence to curved surfaces thereof;
- separate electric drive motors coupled to the wheels on said opposite sides of said frame, said drive motors being separately and remotely energizable for propelling and steering said vehicle over said surface.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.