Method and apparatus for testing balls with the use of eddy currents
AssigneeSKF Industrial Trading and Development Company, B.V.
InventorsHendrik Dolfsma, Hendrik van Engelenburg
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Method, according to the eddy current method, for checking damage on the surface of round, e.g., ball-shaped, metal objects, whereby a similar object is supported and made to rotate around at least one axis while an electronic contact-free scanner or sensor is aimed at the surface of the object, characterized by the fact that the round object is placed on a fixed support and a gaseous medium, e.g., air is blown against the object in such manner that between the support and the object a gas or air layer is formed which carries the object, and the object is made to rotate by the gas or air flow.
Claims6
In a method employing eddy currents for checking damage on the surface of a round, e.g., ball-shaped, metal object, wherein the object is supported and made to rotate around at least one axis while an electronic contact-free scanner or sensor is aimed at the surface of the object, the improvement comprising placing the round object on a fixed support, and blowing a gaseous medium against the object to flow between the support and the object in a direction to form a gas layer that supports the object, said step of blowing comprising blowing the gas to impart a rotational movement to the object.
In a device for employing eddy currents for checking damage to the surface of a round metal object, including a support for the object, means for making the object rotate and an electronic, contact-free scanner or sensor for scanning the object, the improvement wherein the support contains an upwardly open cavity for receiving and supporting said object, a number of channels opening into said cavity, means for connecting the channels to a gas source under pressure to urge an object in said cavity upwardly, said scanner or sensor comprising an electronic contact-free scanner or sensor mounted above said cavity.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.