Method for reestablishing holes in a component
AssigneeSiemens Westinghouse Power Corporation
InventorJulie M. McGraw
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method for determining the angular orientation of a hole in a component relative to the component's surface includes the step of angularly varying a machine vision system and a hole in a component relative to each other such that the machine vision system views the hole at a plurality of angles. The machine vision system determines the angular orientation of the hole relative to the component surface by detecting the angle at which the greatest amount of light emanates from the hole. The machine vision system and the hole in the component can be angulary varied relative to each other by moving the machine vision system at various angles relative to the hole in the component, or by moving the component at various angles relative to the machine vision system. The component can be a turbine engine component.
Claims20
A method for determining the angular orientation of a hole in a component relative to the components surface comprising the step of:
- angularly varying a machine vision system and a hole in a component relative to each other such that the machine vision system views the hole at a plurality of angles, wherein the machine vision system determines the angular orientation of the hole relative to the component surface by detecting the angle at which the greatest amount of light emanates from the hole.
A method for reestablishing an opening in a component comprising the steps of:
- backlighting a component having at least one hole so that light can pass through the at least one hole in the component;
- scanning an outer surface of the component with a machine vision system to generally locate the at least one hole;
- angularly varying the machine vision system and the at least one hole relative to each other so that the machine vision system views the hole at a plurality of angles, the machine vision system being programmed to determine the angular orientation of the at least one hole relative to the outer surface of the component by detecting the angular orientation at which the greatest amount of light emanates from the opening;
- and
- drilling the at least one hole in the component at the angular orientation determined by the machine vision system.
A method for reestablishing an opening in a turbine engine component comprising the steps of:
- placing a turbine engine component atop a multi-axis table controlled by a CNC, the component having a surface including at least one hole;
- backlighting the component so as to allow light to emanate from the at least one hole in the component;
- scanning the component surface with a machine vision system to locate the at least one hole;
- varying the angle at which the machine vision system views the at least one hole by positioning the machine vision system at various angles relative to the at least one hole in the component, wherein the machine vision system determines the angular orientation of the at least one hole relative to the component surface by detecting the angle at which the greatest amount of light emanates from the at least one hole, the machine vision system further determining the centerline of the at least one hole;
- aligning a laser with the at least one hole at the angular orientation determined by the machine vision system;
- and
- laser drilling the at least one hole substantially along the centerline of the at least one hole so as to substantially remove any obstructions from the at least hole while maintaining the geometry of the at least hole and the orientation at which the at least one hole was originally cut is maintained.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.