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:
Jan. 04, 1994
Filed:
Mar. 06, 1992
Michael G Luttrell, Deerfield Beach, FL (US);
James B O'Maley, Lighthouse Point, FL (US);
Kenneth R Solomon, Ft. Lauderdale, FL (US);
New York Institute of Technology, Old Westbury, NY (US);
Abstract
An ultrasonic inspection system uses a submerged ultrasonic transducer to provide an ultrasonic beam focused to a small spot on a submerged surface of a member to be internally inspected. By use of a focused beam projected through a fluid, such as water, to a submerged surface, the ultrasonic energy is efficiently coupled to a surface area which may be small and/or of irregular or curved shape. Systems and methods for inspecting turbine rotor blade tenons permit a turbine rotor with hundreds of blades to be rotated past a submerged transducer with automatic recording and processing of ultrasonic echoes to develop two-dimensional color images of internal portions of tenons at which cracks may typically occur. Automated adjustment of beam focusing of a transducer including an array of elements and threshold monitoring of fault-indicative echo returns are provided for.