Remotely operated diagnostic tube sampling device and method of sampling
AssigneeWestinghouse Electric Corp.
InventorsWilliam G. Clark, Jr., Warren R. Junker, James A. Begley, Richard J. Jacko, William A. Byers
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A robotic sampling device (32) for cutting part of a tube wall (12) for sampling, containing a cutting head (36), a retrieval assembly (38) and a drive mechanism (40), is used to cut a window or hole (60) in the tube wall (12) and retrieve the tube wall sample (56), where the sample can be mounted onto a separate tube for testing the physical properties of the cut wall portion, and where a video probe (62) and the like can be passed through the window (60) to monitor conditions near the support plates (14) and tube sheets (16).
Claims17
A remotely operated diagnostic tube sampling device, movable within a metal tube to be sampled, comprising:
- (A) An emitter and a receiver of at least one of electromagnetic fields and ultrasonic waves, capable, when inserted in a metal tube to be sampled, of locating defects in the metal tube wall;
- (B) a cutting head capable of cutting a hole completely through said metal tube to provide a sample;
- (C) a retrieval assembly capable of engaging said sample portion and detaching it;
- (D) a probing means extendable from the device, and capable of passing through the hole to be cut in the tube to be sampled, and probing the environment around the device;
- (E) an instrumentation means to receive and interpret signals associated with the electromagnetic fields or ultrasonic waves;
- and
- (F) an associated driving mechanism capable of moving the sampling device within the tube length.
A method of removing, an interior portion of a metal tube, comprising the steps:
- (A) inserting into a metal tube to be sampled, a remotely operated diagnostic sampling device, for cutting through a portion of a metal tube wall for analysis, where the device contains an emitter and receiver of at least one of electromagnetic fields and ultrasonic waves, a cutting head, and a retrieval assembly to detach a cut wall portion;
- (B) moving the sampling device within the metal tube by a driving mechanism while selectively emitting and receiving at least one of electromagnetic fields and ultrasonic waves by the sampling device, to locate defects in a portion of the metal tube wall for analysis by means of an instrumentation means to receive and interpret signals associated with the electromagnetic fields or ultrasonic waves;
- (C) cutting a hole with the cutting head from the inside of the tube through the metal tube wall where defects were located to provide a cut, removable metal tube wall portion containing defects and engaging the removable wall portion with the retrieval assembly to detach the cut wall portion;
- (D) removing such cut metal wall portion to leave a hole through the tube wall;
- (E) examining the environment external to the cut tube by a probe through the hole;
- (F) inserting sleeving inside the tube to cover and close the hole through the tube wall;
- and
- (G) moving the sampling device with the cut metal wall portion out of the tube by the driving mechanism.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.