SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR INSPECTING AN AIRCRAFT

• US 20160258884A1
• Filed: 07/31/2014
• Published: 09/08/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/12/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nuctech Company Limited (Tsinghua Tongfang Co., Ltd.), Tsinghua University
• Original Assignee: Nuctech Company Limited (Tsinghua Tongfang Co., Ltd.), Tsinghua University
• Inventors: GU, Jingyu, LI, Yulan, LIU, Yaohong, TAN, Zhen, WU, Yucheng, WANG, Weizhen, KANG, Kejun, LI, Jianmin, LI, Yuanjing
• Granted Patent: US 10,088,595 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B64F 5/60 Testing or inspecting aircraft components or systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2223/631 large structures, walls
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 23/04 and forming images of the material
• CPC Class Codes: G01V 5/22 Active interrogation, i.e. by irradiating objects or goods using external radiation sources, e.g. using gamma rays or cosmic rays
• CPC Class Codes: G01V 5/232 having relative motion between the source, detector and object other than by conveyor G01V5/226 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01J 37/023 Means for mechanically adjusting components not otherwise provided for
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/14618 Containers

Abstract

The present disclosure provides a system and method for inspecting an aircraft. A ray source and a detector locate at above and below of a fuselage of an aircraft, respectively. The ray source emits a beam of rays, which pass through the aircraft to be detected. The detector receives and converts the beam of rays that pass through the aircraft to an output signal, and generates a vertical transmission image in real time.

Claims

1. A system for inspecting an aircraft, comprising:

a portal-framed structure;

a ray source configured to emit a beam of rays, and being mounted and movable on the portal-framed structure;

a detector configured to receive and convert the beam of rays to an output signal, and being arranged in a trench that is co-planar with the beam of rays emitted from the ray source;

a controller connected to the detector and the ray source and configured to control the ray source to emit a beam of rays when an aircraft to be detected moves through a scanning region constituted by the ray source and the detector, and to control the detector to receive a beam of rays emitted from the ray source that has passed through the detected aircraft; and

an image generation module configured to receive the output signal from the detector and generate a vertical transmission image of the detected aircraft.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the portal-framed structure has a rail to allow the ray source moving along the rail, and the detector moves along a rail in the trench in synchronization to the ray source, and

wherein the controller being further configured to control the ray source to move to a predetermined position at a side along the rail, and control the detector to move to a position corresponding to the predetermined position at the side synchronously, so that a transmission inspection is performed on the side of the detected aircraft.

3. The system according to claim 2, wherein the detector has a length less than or equal to a half of a width of the portal-framed structure.

4. The system according to claim 1, wherein the ray source is an accelerator or a radioactive source that generates X-rays or Gamma-rays.

5. The system according to claim 1, wherein the detector comprises a gas or solid detector sensitive to X-rays or Gamma-rays.

6. The system according to claim 1, wherein the detector is fixed in the trench.

7. The system according to claim 6, wherein the portal-framed structure has a rail to allow the ray source moving along the rail, and wherein the controller controls the ray source moving along the rail to a side, so that a transmission inspection is performed on the side of the detected aircraft.

8. The system according to claim 6, wherein the detector has a length larger than or equal to two thirds of a width of the portal-framed structure.

9. The system according to claim 1, wherein the ray source emits a first beam of rays having a first energy and a second beam of rays having a second energy, and wherein the detector receives the first and second beams of rays, and wherein the image generation module receives the output signal from the detector and generates a dual-energy transmission image of the detected aircraft.

10. The system according to claim 1, wherein the detector comprises a first array of detectors that respond to a first portion of a beam of rays and a second array of detectors that respond to a second portion of the beam of rays and are arranged under the first array of detector, and wherein the image generation module receives the output signals of the first and second arrays of detectors and generates a dual-energy transmission image of the detected aircraft.

11. The system according to claim 1, wherein the ray source emits a beam of first-angle rays and a beam of second-angle rays, and wherein the detector comprises an array of first-angle detectors and an array of second-angle detectors that receive a beam of first-angle rays and a beam of second-angle rays that pass through the detected aircraft, respectively, the array of first-angle detectors and the array of second-angle detectors each being arranged in respective trenches at a predetermined interval substantially parallel to the portal-framed structure, and wherein the image generation module receives the output signals from the array of first-angle detectors and the array of second-angle detectors and generates a dual-viewing transmission image of the detected aircraft.

12. The system according to claim 1, wherein the portal-framed structure has a height that is adjustable.

13. A method for inspecting an aircraft, comprising steps of:

emitting a beam of rays from a ray source which is mounted and movable on a portal-framed structure;

receiving and converting the beam of rays to an output signal by a detector arranged in a trench that is co-planar with the beam of rays emitted from the ray source;

controlling the ray source to emit a beam of rays when an aircraft to be detected moves through a scanning region constituted by the ray source and the detector, and controlling the detector to receive a beam of rays emitted from the ray source that has passed through the detector aircraft; and

receiving the output signal from the detector to generate a vertical transmission image of the detected aircraft.

14. The method according to claim 13, further comprising steps of:

controlling the ray source moving to a predetermined position at a side along a rail, and controlling the detector to move to a position corresponding to the predetermined position at the side synchronously, so that a transmission inspection is performed on the side of the detected aircraft.

15. A system for inspecting an aircraft, comprising:

a portal-framed structure;

at least two ray sources configured to emit a beam of rays, the at least two ray sources being mounted on a portal-framed structure and emitting beams of rays that are co-planar with each other;

a detector configured to receive and convert the beam of rays to an output signal, which is arranged in a trench that is co-planar with the beam of rays emitted from the ray sources;

a controller connected to the detector and the at least two ray sources and configured to control the at least two ray sources to emit a beam of rays when an aircraft to be detected moves through a scanning region constituted by the at least two ray sources and the detector, and to control the detector to receive beams of rays emitted from the at least two ray sources that have passed through the detected aircraft; and

an image generation module configured to receive the output signal from the detector and generate a vertical transmission image of the detected aircraft.