Method and apparatus for cleaning and magnetizing a pipe

Abstract

Piping such as oil country tubular goods are passed to an external cleaning apparatus comprising a plurality of rotating brushes for cleaning the pipe exterior. The pipe is transported longitudinally by a conveying apparatus which also causes transverse rotation of the pipe. A brush is contained at the end of a conductive spear and the pipe is passed over the brush while rotating to clean the internal surface thereof. Once the pipe is fully disposed on the spear, electrically conductive clamps attach to the spear just behind the brush. Current is passed through the spear to produce a circumferential magnetic field in the pipe wall which field is later sensed to determine the existence of anomalies in the pipe structure. The pipe is then removed from the spear by movement over the internal cleaning brush caused by activation of the conveying apparatus in a direction opposite to its original motion which again effects cleaning of the inside surface of the pipe.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.