Ultrasonic inspection method and apparatus with audible output

An ultrasonic inspection method employing reflections from discontinuities within an object of recurrent transmitted pulses of ultrasonic energy comprising:

• recurrently transmitting pulses of ultrasonic energy into an object along a beam axis,
• receiving by transducer means reflected ultrasonic wave pulses from over a range of distances within the object and converting the same to ultrasonic electrical signals,
• processing ultrasonic electrical signals to form data for display thereof which display includes a range dimension,
• converting ultrasonic electrical signal to an audio frequency signal,
• converting the audio frequency signal to audible signal form to provide an audible presentation of ultrasonic electrical signals, and
• displaying with the processed ultrasonic electrical signals a continuously moving cursor that continuously moves during the audible presentation in synchronization with the audible presentation.

An ultrasonic inspection method employing reflections from discontinuities within an object of recurrent transmitted pulses of ultrasonic energy comprising:

• recurrently transmitting pulses of ultrasonic energy into an object along a beam axis,
• receiving by transducer means reflected ultrasonic wave pulses from over a range of distances within the object and converting the same to ultrasonic electrical signals,
• processing ultrasonic electrical signals to form data for display thereof which display includes a range dimension,
• converting ultrasonic electrical signals to an audio frequency signal,
• converting the audio frequency signal to audible signal form to provide an audible presentation of ultrasonic electrical signals,
• displaying with the processed ultrasonic electrical signals a moving cursor in synchronization with the audible presentation,
• generating an audio range marker signal at a selected time during conversion of ultrasonic electrical signals to an audio frequency signal, and
• combining said audio range marker signal with said audio frequency signal to provide the audible presentation with an audible marker signal.

An ultrasonic inspection system responsive to reflections from discontinuities within an object of recurrent transmitted pulses of ultrasonic energy comprising:

• ultrasonic transducer means,
• pulse transmitter means for pulse energizing said transducer means for recurrently transmitting ultrasonic energy into an object under inspection, said transducer means receiving reflected ultrasonic wave pulses from over a range of distances within the object and converting the same to ultrasonic electrical signals,
• means for converting ultrasonic electrical signals from the transducer means which are received from over at least a portion of said range to an audio frequency signal,
• first and second time variable means for simultaneously respectively increasing and decreasing the audio frequency signal amplitude with time, and
• first and second electro-acoustic transducer means responsive to outputs from said respective first and second time variable means for audibly reproducing said time varying audio frequency signals to provide an audible presentation having a stereophonic spatial effect dependent upon distance of travel of said reflected ultrasonic wave pulses to provide an audible indication of depth of reflections.

An ultrasonic inspection system responsive to reflections from discontinuities within an object of recurrent transmitted pulses of ultrasonic energy comprising:

• ultrasonic transducer means,
• transmitter means for pulse energizing said transducer means for recurrently transmitting ultrasonic energy into an object, said transducer means receiving reflected ultrasonic wave pulses from over a range of distances within the object and converting the same to ultrasonic electrical signals,
• visual display means,
• means for processing ultrasonic electrical signals from the transducer means received over said range to form data for display at said visual display means of at least one line of reflected signal information,
• means for converting ultrasonic electrical signals from the transducer means which are received from over at least a portion of said range to an audio frequency signal,
• electro-acoustic transducer means responsive to the audio frequency signal from said converting means to provide an audible presentation thereof, and
• moving cursor signal generator means for generating a moving cursor signal for display of a continuously movable cursor at said visual display means during the audible presentation, the movement of which continuously movable cursor is synchronized with the audible presentation from the electro-acoustic transducer means.

An ultrasonic inspection system responsive to reflections from discontinuities within an object of recurrent transmitted pulses of ultrasonic energy comprising:

• ultrasonic transducer means,
• transmitter means for pulse energizing said transducer means for recurrently transmitting ultrasonic energy into an object, said transducer means receiving reflected ultrasonic wave pulses from over a range of distances within the object and converting the same to ultrasonic electrical signals,
• visual display means,
• means for processing ultrasonic electrical signals from the transducer means received over said range to form data for display at said visual display means of at least one line of reflected signal information,
• means for converting ultrasonic electrical signals from the transducer means which are received from over at least a portion of said range to an audio frequency signal,
• electro-acoustic transducer means responsive to the audio frequency signal from said converting means to provide an audible presentation thereof,
• moving cursor signal generator means for generating a moving cursor signal for display at said visual display means, the movement of which cursor is synchronized with the audible presentation from the electro-acoustic transducer means,
• a signal generator for generating an audio range marker signal at a selected time during operation of said ultrasonic electrical signal converting means, and
• means for combining said audio range marker signal with the audio frequency signal from said ultrasonic electrical signal converting means to provide the audible presentation with an audible marker signal.