System and method for automated pipe measurement and alignment
AssigneeTri Tool Inc.
InventorsJustin Peter Tripp, Anthony Ray LeMaster
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method of aligning a portable machining system to a pipe end portion includes automatically moving a measurement sensor mounted to the portable machining system about the pipe end portion in a first measurement plane to generate a first set of measurement data. The method includes translating the measurement sensor from the first measurement plane to a second measurement plane. The method includes automatically moving the measurement sensor about the pipe end portion in the second measurement plane to generate a second set of measurement data and processing the first and second sets of measurement data with a processing module to determine a center and an axis of the pipe end portion.
Claims20
A method of aligning a portable machining system to a pipe end portion comprising:
- providing a portable machining system including a main spindle having a cutting bar and a measurement sensor radially spaced from the cutting bar on the main spindle;
- automatically rotating the measurement sensor with the main spindle about a pipe end portion in a first measurement plane to generate a first set of measurement data associated with the pipe end portion;
- translating the measurement sensor with the main spindle relative to a length of the pipe end portion from the first measurement plane to a second measurement plane that is separated from the first measurement plane by a linear distance;
- automatically rotating the measurement sensor with the main spindle about the pipe end portion in the second measurement plane to generate a second set of measurement data associated with the pipe end portion;
- and
- processing the first set of measurement data and the second set of measurement data with a processing module to determine a center and an axis of the pipe end portion.
A portable machining system comprising:
- a base portion;
- a main spindle movable relative to the base portion, the main spindle including a spindle face and being rotatable about an axis of the main spindle;
- a cutting bar attached to the spindle face;
- and
- at least one measurement sensor removably attached to the spindle face and radially spaced from the cutting bar on the spindle face, the at least one measurement sensor arranged to generate measurement data associated with a pipe end portion by being rotated about the pine end portion in two or more different measurement planes separated from one another by a linear distance;
- a control system operably connected to the main spindle and the at least one measurement sensor, the control system operable to control the operation and movement of the spindle and the at least one measurement sensor, the control system being arranged to receive and process the measurement data generated by the at least one measurement sensor to determine a center and an axis of the pipe end portion.
A method of aligning a portable machining system to a pipe end portion comprising:
- providing a portable machining system including a main spindle having a cutting bar and a measurement sensor radially spaced from the cutting bar on the main spindle;
- automatically rotating the measurement sensor with the main spindle about a pipe end portion in a first measurement plane to generate a first set of measurement data associated with the pipe end portion;
- translating the measurement sensor with the main spindle relative to a length of the pipe end portion from the first measurement plane to a second measurement plane that is separated from the first measurement plane by a linear distance;
- automatically rotating the measurement sensor with the main spindle about the pipe end portion in the second measurement plane to generate a second set of measurement data associated with the pipe end portion;
- processing the first set of measurement data and the second set of measurement data with a processing module associated with the machining system to determine a center and an axis of the pipe end portion;
- and
- automatically aligning the spindle to the pipe end portion based on the determined center and axis of the pipe end portion.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.