General Electric Company

Henry J Scudder, Iii

Douglas S Steele

Kristina H Hedengren

David W Oliver

Rudolph A Koegl

Charles Robert Wojciechowski

Ralph Gerald Isaacs

Joseph Czechowski, Iii

George Edward Williams

Joseph Manuel Portaz

John P Keaveney

John Robert Brehm

Theodore W Sippel

Joseph J Sostarich

Thomas G Kincaid

Larry C Howington

James M Brown, Jr

Richard D Miller

Charles R Wojcienchowski

James W Schuler

An X-ray inspection system for manually or automatically performing digital fluoroscopy inspections and/or computed tomography inspections by X-ray examination of manufactured parts incorporates a computer system which automatically analyzes the inspected parts for flaws. The system includes apparatus for automatically positioning the parts in an X-ray machine for obtaining fluoroscopy and tomography views of the part and for acquiring data from the inspections at production rates. The system automatically identifies the location of rejectable flaws in the parts during the fluoroscopy scanning and subsequently identifies those locations for obtaining tomography scans, if the identified flaw location is questionable. The system can automatically reject parts containing flaws identified during the fluoroscopy inspections. This system operates in a real-time environment by providing analysis of one part while a subsequent part is being subjected to X-ray examination. The data obtained during each examination is archived and stored for tracking the part in further manufacturing processes.

X-ray inspection system

A manipulator for positioning a part includes a manipulator mandrel, manipulator arms, a pneumatic actuator ball plunger, drive motors, and shaft encoders. The motors drive the manipulator mandrel vertically perpendicular to a plane of directed X-ray beams and one whose rotation axis is vertical and perpendicular to the plane of the directed X-ray beam. The motors include positioning encoders which generate encoding pulses representative of movement of the manipulator mandrel along either axis. The pneumatic ball plunger provides for the acquiring of a gripper which holds a part to be inspected in the X-ray beam. The manipulator mandrel includes two L-shaped arms inwardly extending towards the ball plunger for acquiring a gripper having outwardly extending flanges.

Device for method for manipulating a part

A digital signal processor is connected between a refresh memory at the output of the digital computer in an x-ray tomography system and the digital-to-analog converter of a cathode ray tube display to provide a limited resolution gray scale display of a selected portion from an image signal having wide dynamic range.

Digital video window control

Growing community of inventors

Medford, MA, United States of America

Henry J Scudder, Iii