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. 07, 1990
Filed:
Dec. 02, 1988
James W Reeves, Wilmington, NC (US);
Harold B King, Jr, Wrightsville Beach, NC (US);
William M Childers, Hartselle, AL (US);
General Electric Company, San Jose, CA (US);
Abstract
To qualify the heights of inwardly projecting nuclear fuel rod-positioning stops formed in the sidewall of tubular ferrules 12 utilized in fuel bundle spacers, an automated gauging apparatus, seen in FIG. 6, is provided to handle successive ferrules on an automated basis. The apparatus includes an orienting station 32 for longitudinally reorienting each ferrule, if necessary, and angularly orienting each ferrule in a pickup position. A mechanism 68 picks each ferrule from its pickup position and places it on an arbor 84 with the rod-positioning stop surfaces bearing against arbor reference surfaces. A plurality of eddy current probes 96 (FIG. 8) are positioned to measure the proximity of ferrule peripheral surface sites adjacent the stops and thus provide output gauging signals indicative of the heights of the various stops.