Westinghouse Electric Corporation

Mark E Wylie

Stuart L Rieben

John J Wilhelm

Kenneth S Gerkey

Hassan J Ahmed

Robert H Sturges, Jr

Richard M Kobuck

Hans E Leumann

Ralph W Kugler

Thomas W Miller

John G Dorman

Harvey D Kucherer

A wire harness assembly arrangement acquires, prepares and routes various sections of wire by means of a wiring tool apparatus attached to a robotic manipulator. The tool apparatus moves coincident with an arm of the process controlled robotic manipulator and acquires the wire section through a front end portion. The first end of the wire section is fed into the tool apparatus and through a tail end portion of the tool apparatus. The next portion is wound around a spool member disposed within the tool apparatus and rotatable in response to a controlled motor operation. The front end portion is movable in relation to a wire feeding unit so that the wire section wound around the spool member is wound in a helical manner. The wire harness assembly arrangement can also include a strip/crimp station to prepare the acquired wire section for termination. The process controlled robotic manipulator then routes the acquired wire section along a predetermined path to form a part of the wire harness assembly. During the wire routing operation, the motor exerts a reverse torque on the spool member to prevent the wire section from springing off of the spool member.

Double-ended termination and routing arrangement for an automated wiring

An improved apparatus for applying an end plug to an end of a fuel rod tube includes a housing having spaced inlet and outlet ends adapted to receive the end plug and tube end, respectively, one of three alternative embodiments of a guide arrangement which defines an internal guide channel aligned in tandem with the inlet and outlet ends of the housing along a common axis, and cylindrical ram movable along the axis for engaging and moving the end plug from the inlet end through the guide channel to the outlet end where the plug is applied to the tube end. The guide arrangement, whether is takes the form of a deformable bushing, a series of radially-mounted inwardly-biased runners or a series of parallel-mounted inwardly-biased rolls, defines the guide channel with a cross-sectional size smaller than that of the end plug and when contacted by the moving plug yieldably expands such that the guide channel conforms to the external surface of the end plug and thereby establishes and maintains guiding contact therewith as the end plug is moved through the guide channel.

Apparatus for applying an end plug to an end of a fuel rod tube

An improved apparatus for applying an end plug to an end of a fuel rod tube includes a housing having spaced inlet and outlet ends adapted to receive the end plug and tube end, respectively, one of three alternative embodiments of a guide arrangement which defines an internal guide channel aligned in tandem with the inlet and outlet ends of the housing along a common axis, and a cylindrical ram movable along the axis for engaging and moving the end plug from the inlet end through the guide channel to the outlet end where the plug is applied to the tube end. The guide arrangement, whether it takes the form of a deformable bushing, a series of radially-mounted inwardly-biased runners or a series of parallel-mounted inwardly-biased rolls, defines the guide channel with a cross-sectional size smaller than that of the end plug and when contacted by the moving plug yieldably expands such that the guide channel conforms to the external surface of the end plug and thereby establishes and maintains guiding contact therewith as the end plug is moved through the guide channel.

An improved apparatus for applying an end plug to an end of a fuel rod tube includes a housing having spaced inlet and outlet ends adapted to receive the end plug and tube end, respectively, one of three alternative embodiments of a guide arrangement which defines an internal guide channel aligned in tandem with the inlet and outlet ends of the housing along a common axis, and a cylindrical ram movable along the axis for engaging and moving the end plug from the inlet end through the guide channel to the outlet end where the plug is applied to the tube end. The guide arrangement, whether it takes the form of a deformable bushing, a series of radially-mounted inwardly-biased runners or a series of parallel-mounted inwardly-biased rolls, defines the guide channel with a cross-sectional size smaller than that of the end plug and when contacted by the moving plug yieldably expands such that the guide channel conforms to the external surface of the end plug and thereby establishes and maintains guiding cntact therewith as the end plug is moved through the guide channel.

An apparatus for applying an end plug to a nuclear fuel rod tube end includes a stationary base, a support carriage and a track assembly mounting the support carriage on the base for reciprocal movement relative to the base. The carriage is movable along a generally linear path between extreme positions located remote from and adjacent to the stationarily-positioned tube end to which the end plug is to be applied. The apparatus also includes a plugger guide supported on the carriage for movement therewith. The plugger guide has an elongated central bore with one end for receiving the end plug and an opposite end for receiving the tube end. An end plug supply magazine, mounted on the carriage and which in turn mounts the plugger guide, delivers the end plug into alignment with the one end of the plugger guide's central bore. An actuator stationarily disposed on the base adjacent to the carriage includes a drive member movable between retracted and extended positions and coupled to the carriage via a drive force aligning and transmitting assembly. The drive force transmitting assembly includes a plunger element aligned with the central bore of the plugger guide for transferring the end plug to the one end of the bore of the guide means and for reciprocally moving the carriage between its remote and adjacent positions as the drive member is moved between its respective retracted and extended positions to apply the end plug to the tube end.

Apparatus and method for applying an end plug to a fuel rod tube end

An interactive system (10) for facilitating assembly of fuel rods into nuclear fuel assemblies having specific grid location requirements for the fuel rods, includes an operator work station (12) adapted for positioning between a supply of fuel rods and a fuel assembly loading magazine (22). Identifying data with each fuel rod is read by the operator with a manual scanner (24) for input and comparison by a computer (28) with the stored data for the particular fuel assembly to be assembled. The proper grid location for the fuel rod is then displayed on a screen (32) prompting the operator to insert the rod through a prompter/detector apparatus (36) mounted on one end of the magazine. In the preferred embodiment, the apparatus (36) includes a pair of motorized, slotted guide bars (54, 56) controlled by the computer (28) to intersect over the proper grid location for the particular fuel rod type. Sensors (92, 94, 95) are provided on the guide bars (54, 56) for automatically detecting insertion and verifying identification of the fuel rod loaded into the magazine through control logic in the computer (28). Alternate embodiments of the prompter/detector apparatus (110, 140 and 170) are disclosed to provide different degrees of prompting to assist the operator to insert each fuel rod in the proper grid location.

Pattern fuel assembly loading system

The sleeving method comprises inserting a metal sleeve within a tube so as to bridge the defective region of the tube. The sleeve is constructed to have annular slots on the outside thereof that are capable of tightly contacting the inside surface of the defective tube and creating a labyrinth-type seal therebetween. The sleeve is also constructed to have an expander member captured therein that may be pulled through the sleeve thereby causing expansion of those portions of the sleeve having the annular slots therein. Once such a sleeve has been inserted into the defective tube, the sleeve is internally expanded in the area of the sleeve wherein the annular slots are located by pulling the expander member through the sleeve. The expansion of the sleeve in the area wherein the annular slots are located causes the lands between each annular slot to closely contact the inside surface of the tube. The other end of the sleeve can then be either similarly attached to the tube or otherwise attached to the tube.

Sleeving method

A system for ascertaining dimensions which comprises a measuring module and several gage extenders which can be used either alone or in combination with gaging blocks. The measuring module includes a drum member rotatably mounted on a support and at least one measuring member operably associated with the drum member. At least one end of the measuring member extends from the drum such that for rotational movement of the drum member in a first direction the free end of the measuring member is drawn up onto the drum and for rotational movement in a second direction the free end of the measuring member is played out from the drum member. The drum is rotated at a constant torque and the rotational movement of the drum is transmitted to a rotational position transducer. The rotational position transducer provides an output signal which is used in part to generate an electronic readout reflective of the movement of the measuring member. The gage extenders consist of elongated members which can be used individually with the measuring module or in combinations of two or more gaging members with the measuring module. The gaging members are of a predetermined length. The measuring system consisting of the measuring module and gaging members can be used in combination with gaging blocks for the purpose of measuring inside dimensions of workpieces.

High precision electronic digital measurement system wound on

The tube plug comprises a shell having a tapered inner surface against which an externally tapered expander member moves by application of a pulling force. The motion of the expander member relative to the shell causes the shell to expand into contact with a heat exchange tube thereby plugging the tube. The expander member is formed from a hardened metal with tangentially blended leading radius and a self-locking trailing edge which provides for ease in expanding the shell while preventing inadvertent unlocking of the plug. The shell has a substantially uniform wall thickness throughout the portion of the shell which experiences expansion so that the force necessary to perform the expanding process does not increase beyond the strength limitations of the installation equipment as the expander member is moved through the shell. The shell also has a plurality of lands on the outside surface thereof whose depth increases from closed end to open end of the shell so that a uniform wall thickness can be maintained in that region while allowing the lands to contact the inner surface of the heat exchange tube.

Tube plug

The plug installation apparatus comprises a mechanism for moving an internally captured expander member relative to the shell wherein it is captured thereby expanding the plug into contact with the internal surface of a tube within which the plug is disposed. The apparatus further comprises a sensor mechanism for determining that the plug has been properly inserted in the tube prior to expanding the plug for preventing improper expansion of the plug. The apparatus also comprises force measuring devices for determining and verifying that the proper amount of force has been applied to the expander member.

Growing community of inventors

Monroeville, PA, United States of America

Mark E Wylie