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:
Mar. 21, 2006
Filed:
Feb. 10, 2004
James C. P. Mckeon, Woodbridge, VA (US);
James C. P. McKeon, Woodbridge, VA (US);
Sonix, Inc., Springfield, VA (US);
Abstract
A method and apparatus for temperature-controlled ultrasonic inspection of an object. The temperature of a coupling medium between an ultrasonic transducer and an object under inspection is controlled to be at a predetermined temperature for which the attenuation of the ultrasonic energy in the coupling medium is reduced compared to the attenuation at an ambient temperature. This improves the efficiency of ultrasonic energy transport between the ultrasonic transducer and the object. The temperature of the object is controlled to simulate operating conditions more closely. An ultrasonic inspection system includes a temperature controller operable to maintain the temperature of the coupling medium and/or an object under inspection at a set temperature.