Tubesheet walker for heat exchanger inspections
AssigneeWestinghouse Electric Corp.
InventorsLyman J. Petrosky, Phillip J. Hawkins
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A robotic tubesheet walker having two rails connected by a central hinge, wherein the central hinge can be opened or closed by an actuation device. Upon each rail is mounted a carriage, wherein each carriage can move along its respective rail toward or away from the central hinge by means of a drive mechanism. Each carriage further contains at least two “gripper” attachment mechanisms, such as camlocks, to grip the tubesheet. The grippers either insert into tube holes within the tubesheet to fasten the respective carriage to the tubesheet, or retract to disengage. Further attached to the central hinge is a tool support fixture, and attached to the tool support fixture is a coupler that holds maintenance or inspection tools.
Claims14
A robotic tubesheet walker for heat exchanger inspections and maintenance comprising:
- a) a first rail and a second rail;
- b) a central hinge connecting the first rail to the second rail, the central hinge being configured such that one or both of the first rail or the second rail rotates at least partially about the central hinge upon a command from a remote location;
- c) a first carriage and a second carriage, the first carriage being mounted to and configured to move along the first rail and the second carriage being mounted to and configured to move along the second rail, each such movement being remotely actuated upon a command from the remote location;
- d) a first attachment mechanism on the first carriage is remotely actuated upon a command from the remote location to fasten the first carriage to a surface of a tubesheet;
- e) a second attachment mechanism on the second carriage is remotely actuated upon a command from the remote location to fasten the second carriage to a surface of the tubesheet;
- f) a tool support fixture connected to the robotic tubesheet walker;
- and
- g) wherein the robotic tubesheet walker is solely supported from the tubesheet as it moves across at least several rows of tubes extending through the tubesheet.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.