General Electric Company

Thomas Burrows Hewton

Kristina H Hedengren

Carl Granger, Jr

John David Young

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.

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West Chester, OH, United States of America

Thomas Burrows Hewton