Crawling automated scanner for non-destructive inspection of aerospace structural elements

An apparatus for providing an automated movement of a non-destructive inspection (NDI) sensor about the upper and lower surfaces of a workpiece with a single continuous motion, comprising:

• an upper housing and a lower housing, each housing having forward and rear portions engaging opposing edges of the workpiece, and an elongate member interconnecting the forward and rear portions, a biasing mechanism interacting with an end portion of the elongate member to urge the forward and rear portions toward one another to cause the workpiece to be securely held therebetween,
• a drive mechanism carried by at least one of said housings for moving the apparatus in a spanwise direction over the workpiece, the drive mechanism including at least one friction element engaging a leading edge of the workpiece and a motor supported by at least one of the housings for driving the friction element along one of the upper or lower surfaces,
• an elongated guide rod encircling the upper and lower surfaces of the workpiece and being secured to at least one of the housings,
• a slider element coupled to the guide rod and movable therealong, and
• driver apparatus for moving the slider element along the guide rod.

An apparatus for providing simultaneous non-destructive inspection (NDI) of upper and lower surfaces of a workpiece, comprising:

• an upper housing and a lower housing,
• each housing including forward and rear portions engaging opposing edges of the workpiece, and an elongate member connecting the forward and rear housing portions, a biasing mechanism interacting with an end of the elongate member to urge the forward and rear portions toward one another to hold the workpiece securely therebetween, a drive mechanism for moving the housing in a spanwise direction over the workpiece, the drive mechanism including a friction element engaging a leading edge surface of the workpiece and a motor for driving the friction element along the edge surface, a guide rail mounted to a portion of the housing and extending in a chordwise direction, an NDI sensor element that is coupled to the guide rail for movement in the chordwise direction, and motion imparting apparatus for moving the NDI sensor element over the respective surface of the workpiece,
• motor apparatus for driving each of the upper and lower housings over a respective surface of the workpiece, and
• coupling apparatus for coupling the upper and lower housings together so that the upper and lower housings move simultaneously chordwise over the upper and lower workpiece surfaces.