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:
Dec. 04, 2007
Filed:
Feb. 13, 2007
Tetsuro Nakagawa, Yokohama, JP;
Yasuhiro Yuguchi, Yokohama, JP;
Koichi Soma, Yokohama, JP;
Hiroshi Iimori, Chigasaki, JP;
Mitsuaki Shimamura, Yokohama, JP;
Tetsuro Nakagawa, Yokohama, JP;
Yasuhiro Yuguchi, Yokohama, JP;
Koichi Soma, Yokohama, JP;
Hiroshi Iimori, Chigasaki, JP;
Mitsuaki Shimamura, Yokohama, JP;
Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
Disclosed is a system that performs inspection and repair of an underwater structure, specifically core internals in a pressure vessel. An underwater vehicle is provided with a drive wheel, a contact force generating unit (e.g., thruster) that presses the drive wheel to a vertical wall of the underwater structure, an ascending force control unit (e.g., ballast) that controls the buoyancy of the vehicle, a guide roller that engages with and is pressed against an undersurface of the underwater structure by the ascending force controlled by the ascending force control unit. The underwater vehicle is appropriately positioned with respect to the vertical direction by the guide roller. The drive wheel is driven for rotation so that the underwater vehicle runs horizontally along the vertical wall to reach the inspection or repair site, where the inspection or repair is carried out by work tool mounted to the underwater vehicle.