General Electric Company

Generla Electric Company

Kristina H Hedengren

William P Kornrumpf

Jeffrey Wayne Eberhard

John D Young

Robert John Filkins

Richard J Charles

James Paul Fulton

Donna C Hurley

Thadd Clark Patton

Francis Howard Little

Mark Lloyd Miller

Richard O McCary

Carl Granger, Jr

John David Young

Kwok C Tam

Robert P Alley

Patrick Joseph Howard

Douglas S Steele

David W Oliver

Rudolph A Koegl

Charles Robert Wojciechowski

Ralph Gerald Isaacs

Joseph Czechowski, Iii

Kenneth B Haefner

George Edward Williams

Joseph Manuel Portaz

Theodore W Sippel

Joseph J Sostarich

Henry J Scudder, Iii

John P Keaveney

John Robert Brehm

George H Sutton, Jr

Thomas B Hewton

Thomas G Kincaid

James W Schuler

Larry C Howington

James M Brown, Jr

Richard D Miller

Yaghoub Mahdavieh

Thomas Burrows Hewton

A thermocouple array includes a dielectric layer having via openings therethrough, a first patterned conductive layer facing one surface of the dielectric layer, and a second patterned conductive layer facing another surface of the dielectric layer. Portions of the second patterned conductive layer can extend through the via openings to couple respective portions of the first patterned conductive layer. The second patterned conductive layer has a different thermal emf than the first patterned conductive layer. The dielectric layer, the first patterned conductive layer, and the second patterned conductive layer can be surface-conformable.

Method for detecting temperature gradients in biological tissue using a

An exemplary inspection apparatus for inspecting an article comprises a flexible sensor for sensing a characteristic of the article, which sensor conforms to a surface of the article, a finger cover which fits over a finger of a user, and an attachment device for removably attaching the sensor to the finger cover. The apparatus allows the user to traverse the sensor over a large range of smoothly varying concave or convex inspection surfaces, for example, while providing the user with direct control of the sensor.

Finger controlled inspection apparatus

Thermocouple array and method of fabrication

An eddy current device for inspecting a component, such as a closed surface area of a gas turbine engine or the like, includes an eddy current array circuit having an active face for positioning on a surface portion of the component during an inspection operation and backing on a surface of the eddy current array circuit opposite to the active face. The eddy current array circuit and backing are disposed over the operating face and expandable sides of an extendible pin. The extendible pin has a slot formed therein with interior side edges which narrow toward the operating face of the pin at a predetermined slope. The expanding pin is positioned to cause the angled sides to mate while engaging the interior angled sides of the round or shaped hole to cause the exterior sides of the expandable pin to expand outwardly a greater distance as the pin is pushed deeper into the hole. This causes the eddy current circuit to conform with the shape of the surface to be inspected. The array sensor is so shaped that it can cover the closed surface in as little as one scan.

Eddy current array inspection device for shaped holes

A probe, such as an eddy current probe, which can be moved by hand to a surface to be tested. A toroidal-shaped first resilient member contacts the bottom face of a support member. An elastic membrane extends over the bore of the first resilient member, contacts the bottom lateral surface of the first resilient member, and is unattached to the radially-inward-facing surface of the first resilient member. A more elastic, second resilient member is placed in the bore, is unattached to the first resilient member, and contacts the bottom surface of the elastic membrane. A flexible, surface-conformable, eddy current sensing coil overlies a portion of the bottom side of the second resilient member. More broadly stated, the probe includes first apparatus, for providing a stand-off distance between the support member and the surface, and second apparatus, which includes a flexible sensor (such as an eddy-current sensing coil), for providing a predetermined force to the surface, the predetermined force being essentially decoupled from any force applied to the surface by the first apparatus.

Hand-holdable probe having a flexible eddy current sensor

The present invention discloses a multi-resolution detector for use in an x-ray imaging implementation such as computed tomography and digital radiography. The multi-resolution detector includes a two-dimensional, m.times.n element array of low resolution detector elements and at least one high resolution detector element located about the two-dimensional, m.times.n element array of low resolution detector elements. After an object has been completely scanned with the multi-resolution detector the scan data from both the two-dimensional, m.times.n element array of low resolution detector elements and the high resolution detector element is used to reconstruct a high resolution image. In particular, the scan data generated from the two-dimensional, m.times.n element array of low resolution detector elements is used along with the initial scan data generated from the high resolution detector element to iteratively construct a high resolution image of the object.

Multi-resolution detection for increasing in an x-ray imaging

An eddy current probe which can be moved by hand to a surface to be tested. A toroidal-shaped first resilient member contacts the bottom face of a support member. An elastic membrane extends over the bore of the first resilient member, contacts the bottom lateral surface of the first resilient member, and is unattached to the radially-inward-facing surface of the first resilient member. A more elastic, second resilient member is placed in the bore, is unattached to the first resilient member, and contacts the bottom surface of the elastic membrane. A flexible, surface-conformable, eddy current sensing coil overlies a portion of the bottom side of the second resilient member.

Hand-holdable eddy-current probe

A system and method for determining fiber-depth of at least one layer of reinforcing fibers within an electrically conductive workpiece is provided. The system comprises an eddy current probe having one or more eddy current elements for generating a respective electrical signal indicative of a spacing with respect to a predetermined section of the reinforcing fibers. A signal processor is connected to the eddy current probe to receive and to process each spacing-indication electrical signal so as to generate data indicative of fiber-depth of the predetermined section relative to a workpiece surface. A display device may be connected to the signal processor to provide visual indicia representative of the fiber depth. Further a controller may be connected to receive and store the fiber-depth data which can be used by a machining device for selectively removing material from the workpiece surface, in accordance with the stored fiber-depth data. The eddy current elements may form a substantially colinear row of eddy current elements each cooperating to determine the actual fiber axis orientation of reinforcing fibers within the workpiece.

System and method using eddy currents to acquire positional data

An eddy current surface measurement array structure for complete coverage of an underlying inspection surface without requiring mechanical scanning is disclosed. A three-dimensional array of eddy current sense elements is organized as a plurality of layers of two-dimensional sub-arrays. The sub-arrays, although in different layers, are essentially identical in configuration, and are staggered such that the sense elements of one layer provide at least partial coverage of portions of the inspection surface not covered by the sense elements of another layer. As many staggered layers are included as are necessary to ensure that no 'blind spots' remain, for complete coverage of the underlying inspection surface. The sense elements are disposed in a layered flexible structure fabricated employing high density interconnect fabrication techniques or other photolithographic techniques. Static (electronic) scanning is employed, by individual layer and by row and column within each layer, to form a two-dimensional image of the inspection surface.

Multilayer eddy current probe array for complete coverage of an

The present invention discloses a method and a system for supplementing and completing 3D CT data generated from an incomplete scanning path. If a detector is large enough to scan the object, additional data is acquired from adjacent scanning paths and combined directly with the original projection data set in order to form an exact and complete data set called the combined data set. If the object to be scanned is larger than the detector, additional data from adjacent scanning paths is acquired and reconstructed into an approximate image of the adjacent region from which appropriate projection data from the region of interest is calculated to form an exact and complete data set. In either case, a priori information about the object may be used to calculate missing projection information.

Combining a priori data with partial scan data to project three

A seam-tracking apparatus for a welding system has a welding arm which directs an energy beam toward a seam. The seam-tracking apparatus includes an eddy current sensor formed by an array of eddy current elements, each producing a respective electrical signal when positioned adjacent to the seam to be tracked. An eddy current signal processor receives each respective electrical signal so as to generate position data indicative of the location of the seam. A controller is responsive to the position data so as to align the eddy current sensor and the welding arm over the seam so that the energy beam continuously impinges on the seam, as the welding arm advances along the seam. The eddy current sensor may be flexible, in which case the seam-tracking apparatus can track a seam between workpieces having curved surfaces.

Seam-tracking apparatus for a welding system employing an array of eddy

Transducer arrays are constructed using multiple layers of transducer elements, each layer of transducer elements having energy passages such as spaces to allow free passage of energy to or from transducer elements in another layer. Each transducing element performs the same transducing (energy conversion) as the other transducing elements. The transducer arrays may be detector arrays having scintillation materials for detection of x-ray or other high energy rays with each element operable to detect the same type of energy (e.g., x-ray, gamma ray, ultrasound, etc.) as the other elements. Multiple layering of the detector elements allows construction of a diced or mosaic detector array without restrictions upon the thickness of the individual elements which might otherwise result from the kerf width.

Multilayer transducer array

A system and method is provided for aligning a scanning surface of an inspection probe relative to a workpiece surface under inspection. The probe preferably includes at least three alignment eddy current elements, each producing a respective spacing indication electrical signal in accordance with a spacing between each alignment eddy current element and the workpiece. The system further comprises processing means which receives each spacing-indication electrical signal so as to generate data indicative of the relative alignment between the scanning surface of the probe and the workpiece surface. A controller is responsive to the alignment data for aligning the probe such that in operation the scanning surface thereof is substantially parallel relative to the workpiece surface. The probe can include inspection eddy current elements, in which case the alignment and the inspection eddy current elements can be fabricated to form an integral eddy current inspection probe.

System and method for aligning an inspection probe and maintaining

An eddy current probe array is disclosed comprising a plurality of spatially correlated eddy current probe elements sufficiently disposed within a flexible interconnecting structure to collect a discrete plurality of spatially correlated eddy current measurements for nondestructive near surface flaw detection. A plurality of precisely fabricated, substantially identical elements being sufficiently distributed can accommodate inspecting an area of conductor covered by the active width of the array in a single uni-directional scan. The array structure can flexibly conform to accommodate inspection of large, irregular, curved conductive surfaces which cannot be inspected by conventional means.

Flexible eddy current surface measurement array for detecting near

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Schenectady, NY, United States of America

Kristina H Hedengren