The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 15, 1989
Filed:
Sep. 28, 1988
Frederick C Schoenig, Jr, Wilmington, NC (US);
Edward S Walker, Wilmington, NC (US);
Michael K Cueman, Niskayuna, NY (US);
Robert A Haughton, Wilmington, NC (US);
Jaime A Zuloaga, Jr, Wilmington, NC (US);
General Electric Company, San Jose, CA (US);
Abstract
In an automated first weld apparatus, a transporter conveys nuclear fuel cladding tubes successively to a welding station where a separate end plug is welded to an open end of each tube. Thereafter, the transporter indexes the tubes successsively through a cooldown station where the weld is cooled, to a reader station where a unique end plug serial number is read, and then to a succession of inspection stations where the internal and external weld characteristics are automatically examined. The resulting inspection data is correlated with the associated serial number for record purposes and tested against quality assurance standards pursuant to sorting the tubes into accepted and rejected lots.