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:
Feb. 13, 1996
Filed:
Sep. 13, 1993
William E Pirl, Levelgreen, PA (US);
Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Pittsburgh, PA (US);
Abstract
System and method for laser welding an inner surface of a tubular member, which tubular member may be a repair sleeve disposed in a nuclear heat exchanger heat transfer tube. The system includes a laser for generating high intensity laser light sufficient to fuse the sleeve to the inside diameter of the heat exchanger tube, the tube being of the type typically found in nuclear heat exchangers. A fiber-optic cable is optically coupled to the laser for conducting the laser light therethrough. The fiber-optic cable has a predetermined configuration to homogenize the laser light so that the laser light obtains the desired spatial coherency as the light is emitted from the fiber-optic cable. A mirror is optically coupled to the fiber-optic cable so as to receive the homogenized light beam emitted from the fiber-optic cable. The mirror is also optically coupled to the inner diameter of the sleeve for reflecting the homogenized light beam onto the inner diameter of the sleeve to weld or fuse the sleeve to of the tube. In this manner, the sleeve is welded to the inside diameter of the tube to sleeve the tube.