Inside diameter, outside diameter and wall tube gage
First Claim
1. An ultrasonic system for simultaneously determining the inside and outside diameters and wall thickness of tubular objects, comprising in combination, first means containing a couplant medium capable of transferring ultrasonic energy for use in obtaining date for the measurement of said inside and outside diameters and wall thickness of said tubular objects disposed in said couplant medium in said first means, transducer means fixedly mounted externally of said tubular objects in said first means and immersed in said couplant medium for producing ultrasonic energy upon activation thereof, said transducer means comprising first and second transducers mounted diametrically opposite each other relative to said tubular objects in said first means for obtaining data for use in measuring said inside and outside diameters and wall thickness, electronic circuit means operably connected to said first and second transducers for producing electronic signals corresponding to the energy reflected back to and received by said transducers respectively from the tubular objects and processing said signals to provide output signals representative of the inside diameter, outside diameter and wall thickness of the tubular object being measured, and reference transducer means fixedly mounted externally of said tubular objects in said first means relative to a fixed surface and immersed in said couplant medium, said reference transducer means operably connected to said electronic circuit means for being activated simultaneously with said first andn second transducers for producing a reference signal, and said electronic circuit means processing said reference signal with said electronic signals so as to automatically compensate said system for temperature variations in said couplant medium
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Accused Products
Abstract
An ultrasonic apparatus and technique for rapidly and accurately measuring the inside and outside diameters and wall thickness of a tubular material. The tubes are passed between a pair of diametrically opposed ultrasonic transducers for obtaining the necessary data. A third transducer is employed to obtain a reference signal, which is used to automatically compensate for any temperature variations in the ultrasound couplant medium.
72 Citations
20 Claims
- 1. An ultrasonic system for simultaneously determining the inside and outside diameters and wall thickness of tubular objects, comprising in combination, first means containing a couplant medium capable of transferring ultrasonic energy for use in obtaining date for the measurement of said inside and outside diameters and wall thickness of said tubular objects disposed in said couplant medium in said first means, transducer means fixedly mounted externally of said tubular objects in said first means and immersed in said couplant medium for producing ultrasonic energy upon activation thereof, said transducer means comprising first and second transducers mounted diametrically opposite each other relative to said tubular objects in said first means for obtaining data for use in measuring said inside and outside diameters and wall thickness, electronic circuit means operably connected to said first and second transducers for producing electronic signals corresponding to the energy reflected back to and received by said transducers respectively from the tubular objects and processing said signals to provide output signals representative of the inside diameter, outside diameter and wall thickness of the tubular object being measured, and reference transducer means fixedly mounted externally of said tubular objects in said first means relative to a fixed surface and immersed in said couplant medium, said reference transducer means operably connected to said electronic circuit means for being activated simultaneously with said first andn second transducers for producing a reference signal, and said electronic circuit means processing said reference signal with said electronic signals so as to automatically compensate said system for temperature variations in said couplant medium
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13. A method for the simultaneous determination of the inside and outside diameters and wall thickness of a tubular member, comprising the steps of:
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a. providing an energy coupling medium capable of transferring ultrasonic energy; b. passing said tubular member having a void interior in a helical path of movement through said medium; c. impinging ultrasonic energy througn said medium in a normal direction on the exterior and interior surfaces of said tubular member from fixed energy producing means located externally of and on diametrically opposite sides thereof, whereby said energy is reflected back from said surfaces to said energy producing means; d. converting the reflected energy into electrical signals; and e. electronically processing said electrical signals into output signals proportional to the outside diameter, inside diameter and wall thickness of said tubular member. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15)
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- 16. An ultrasonic system for the simultaneous determination of the inside and outside diameters and wall thickness of a tubular member having inner and outer surfaces, comprising in combination, container means for containing a couplant medium capable of transferring ultrasonic energy for use in obtaining data for the measurement of said diameters and thickness of said tubular member, said tubular member being void and disposed in said couplant medium in said container means, first and second transducer means fixedly mounted externally of said tubular member in said couplant medium for producing ultrasonic signals upon activation thereof and mounted diametrically opposite each other relative to said tubular member for directing said ultrasonic signals normal to said tubular member, and reference transducer means fixedly mounted externally of said tubular member in said couplant medium relative to a fixed surface, said first and second transducer means and said reference transducer means operably connected with electronic circuit means including clock means for providing timing pulses at a predetermined frequency for simultaneous application to voltage pulse generator means and reference gate generator means, said voltage pulse generator means producing output pulses which are coupled to said first and second transducer means and said reference transducer means, said first and second transducer means converting said output pulses to ultrasonic signals for transmission through said couplant medium inaa normal direction relative to said tubular member in said couplant medium, at least a portion of said ultrasonic signals being reflected back from said outer surface of said tubular member to said first and second transducer means and the remainder of said ultrasonic signals being reflected back from the inner surface of said tubular member to said first and second transducer means, said first and second transducer means converting the reflected back signals to outer and inner tube surface electrical signals, said reference transducer means producing an ultrasonic signal and directing it to said fixed surface whereupon it is reflected back to said reference transducer means for conversion to an electrical reference signal, said electronic circuit means processing said surface electrical signals with reference to said electrical reference signal for automatically compensating said system for temperature variations in said couplant, amplifier means for amplifying said electrical reference signal and surface electrical signals from each of said transducers, displacement timer means receiving said electrical reference signal and producing output pulses, said outer tube surface electrical signals also being applied to said displacement timer means for terminating said output pulses therefrom whereby the time duration of said output pulses is proportional to the displacement between said first and second transducer means and said tubular member, said wall timer means also receiving said outer tube surface signals and producing output pulses, said inner tube surface signals also being applied to said wall timer means for terminating said output pulses therefrom whereby the duration of said output pulses is proportional to the thickness of said tubular member, conversion means comprising voltage ramp generators for converting the timing pulses produced by said wall timer means and said displacement timer means to voltage levels, peak reading circuit means operably connected with said voltage ramp generator means, and summation circuit means connected with said peak reading circuit means for producing analog voltages corresponding to the wall thickness, the inside diameter of and the outside diameter of said tubular member, whereby the outside and inside diameters and said wall thickness are substantially independent of temperature variations in said couplant medium.
- 19. An ultrasonic system for simultaneously determining the inside and outside diameters and wall thickness of tubular objects, comprising in combination, first means containing a couplant medium for transferring ultrasonic energy signals for use in obtaining data for the measurement of said inside and outside diameters and said wall thickness of each of said tubular objects disposed in said couplant medium in said first means, transducer means fixedly mounted externally of said tubular object in said first means and immersed in said couplant medium for producing initial ultrasonic energy signals upon activation thereof and impinging said energy signals on said tubular object being measured, said transducers means comprising first and second transducers mounted diametrically opposite each other relative to said tubular object in said couplant medium for obtaining data for use in measuring said inside and outside diameters and said wall thickness, said first and second transducers receiving first and second ultrasonic energy signals reflected back from the outer and inner surfaces of said tubular object being measured respectively, said first ultrasonic energy signal comprising a portion of said initial energy signal impinged on said tubular object being measured and being reflected from said outer surface thereof, and said second ultrasonic energy signal comprising the remainder of said initial energy signal which passes through the wall of said tubular object being measured and is reflected from said inner surface thereof, said first and second transducers converting said first and second ultrasonic energy signals to first and second electrical signals respectively, electronic circuit means operably connected to said first and second transducers for receiving said first and second electrical signals and producing further corresponding electrical signals and processing said further electrical signals with respect to a reference electrical signal to provide output signals representative of said inside diameter and outside diameter and said wall thickness of said tubular object being measured, and reference transducer means fixedly mounted externally of said tubular object in said first means relative to a fixed surface and immersed in said couplant medium, said reference transducer means operably connected to said electronic circuit means for being activated substantially simultaneously with said first and second transducers to produce said reference signal, and said electronic circuit means constructed and arranged for processing said electrical signals with respect to said reference signal such that said system automatically is compensated for temperature variations in said couplant medium whereby said output signals are independent of temperature variations in said couplant medium and the measurements of said inside and outside diameters and said wall thickness are highly accurate.
Specification