Self-propelled inspection vehicle

Self-propelled inspection vehicle for piping systems, comprising a vehicle body in the form of a rigid, tightly-sealed housing having forward and rearward end faces as seen in a given insertion direction of the vehicle into the piping, a power supply disposed in said housing, a propulsion mechanism for resiliently bracing said housing against the inner surface of the piping, at least one motor connected to said power supply and to said propulsion mechanism for driving said propulsion mechanism, a television camera optical system having a given field of view being supported on said forward end face of said housing, at least one light source associated with said given field of view being supported on said forward end face of said housing, said propulsion mechanism including a plurality of driven wheels and a non-driven distance feeler wheel, and said at least one motor being in the form of a plurality of motors each being connected to a respective one of said driven wheels.

Self-propelled inspection vehicle for piping systems, comprising a vehicle body in the form of a rigid, tightly-sealed housing having forward and rearward end faces as seen in a given insertion direction of the vehicle into the piping, a power supply disposed in said housing, a propulsion mechanism for resiliently bracing said housing against the inner surface of the piping, at least one motor connected to said power supply and to said propulsion mechanism for driving said propulsion mechanism, a television camera optical system having a given field of view being supported on said forward end face of said housing, at least one light source associated with said given field of view being supported on said forward end face of said housing, and at lesat one sensor connected to said housing for detecting obstacles.

Self-propelled inspection vehicle for piping systems, comprising a vehicle body in the form of a rigid, tightly-sealed housing having forward and rearward end faces as seen in a given insertion direction of the vehicle into the piping, a power supply disposed in said housing, a propulsion mechanism for resiliently bracing said housing against the inner surface of the piping, at least one motor connected to said power supply and to said propulsion mechanism for driving said propulsion mechanism, a television camera optical system having a given field of view being supported on said forward end face of said housing, at lesat one light source associated with said given field of view being supported on said forward end face of said housing, said propulsion mechanism including a plurality of driven wheels and a non-driven distance feeler wheel, said distance feeler wheel running on the inner surface of the piping and including a rotary pick-up for recording at least one of the motion of the vehicle and the distance travelled, to be stored synchronously with a television picture, means for fading the recorded information into a television picture, and a switching logic connected to said rotary pick-up for reversing direction of propulsion of the vehicle upon the occurrence of a forced stop.

Self-propelled inspection vehicle for piping systems, comprising a vehicle body in the form of a rigid, tightly-sealed housing having forward and rearward end faces as seen in a given insertion direction of the vehicle into the piping, a power supply disposed in said housing, a propulsion mechanism for resiliently bracing said housing against the inner surface of the piping, at least one motor connected to said power supply and to said propulsion mechanism for driving said propulsion mechanism, a television camera optical system having a given field of view being supported on said forward end face of said housing, at least one light source associated with said given field of view being supported on said forward end face of said housing, and means in the form of a radio isotope disposed on said housing for localizing the position of the vehicle in the piping from outside the piping.