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. 25, 2012
Filed:
Nov. 27, 2009
Barry A. Fetzer, Renton, WA (US);
James C. Kennedy, Renton, WA (US);
Thomas E. Riechers, Bonney Lake, WA (US);
Fred D Young, Bellevue, WA (US);
Barry A. Fetzer, Renton, WA (US);
James C. Kennedy, Renton, WA (US);
Thomas E. Riechers, Bonney Lake, WA (US);
Fred D Young, Bellevue, WA (US);
The Boeing Company, Chicago, IL (US);
Abstract
An ultrasonic probe includes a probe body having a contact surface and a cavity that is open at the contact surface, an ultrasonic transducer carried by the body, and a spacer within the cavity. The spacer has a first surface acoustically coupled to the transducer, and a second (coupling) surface within the cavity. The spacer propagates an acoustic signal between the transducer and the coupling surface. The coupling surface is spaced apart from the contact surface to form a recess within the body. The body further has at least one port for circulating a coupling fluid into the recess. Depth of the recess is selected to balance gravitational force on the coupling fluid versus surface tension of the coupling fluid so a bead of the fluid forms over an edge of a structure under inspection as the probe is moved over the edge.