Westinghouse Electric Corporation

Koppers Company, Inc.

U.S. Plastic and Chemical Corp.

Andrew Wowczuk

William D Pilesi

Luciano Veronesi

Douglas G Harman

A method of uniformly rotopeening the inside walls of metallic tubes to a desired final peening intensity by means of at least one rotatable peening flapper is disclosed herein. The method generally comprises the step of simultaneously rotating and orbiting the flapper within the tube while maintaining a selected stand-off distance between the inner edge of the flapper and the inside wall of the tube. The angular speed of the flapper and the stand-off distance are selected so that the slope of the curve defined by peening intensity over time is substantially flat in the vicinity of the desired final peening intensity. The method is particularly useful in uniformly and accurately peening the inside walls of the heat exchange tubes anchored in the tubesheet of a nuclear steam generator in order to relieve tensile stresses in the walls of these tubes which might otherwise lead to stress corrosion cracking in the tube walls.

Rotopeening method

An improved method and apparatus for the inspection and sorting of buttons and the like. The buttons to be inspected are fed from a feeder to a mechanical conveyance system which imparts a velocity to and a spacing between the buttons. The buttons are conveyed between a light source and detector, and the light from the source is masked to limit it to the central zone of the button. The light passing through the central zone is converted to an electrical signal by the detector. The signal value, which is a measure of button quality, is independent of velocity and time is compared to preset limits. In addition, a counter circuit determines the symmetry of the buttons. If the signal is within the limits an accept signal is generated, which cooperates in the control operation of the reject mechanism to automatically separate the acceptable and unacceptable buttons. Additionally, the detector in the vicinity of the mechanism which generates an electrical control signal to activate the reject mechanism only when a button is in the proper position relative to the reject mechanism.

Method and apparatus for the inspection and separation of symmetrical

A method and apparatus for inspecting and sorting buttons and the like. The buttons to be inspected are fed to a velocity control system which imparts a uniform velocity to each button and propels it between a light source and detector. The light from the source is controlled by a mask to limit the light to the central zone of the button. The amount of light which passes through the central zone of the button is then converted to an electrical signal by the detector electronics. The electrical signal is then compared to pre-set upper and lower limits. If the signal falls within the pre-set limits, an accept signal is generated which is used to control a reject mechanism for automatic separation of buttons for collection and use.

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Monroeville, PA, United States of America

Andrew Wowczuk