Closely spaced pipe-to-soil electrical survey method and apparatus
First Claim
1. A readily portable apparatus for making relatively closely spaced electrical surveys of sub-surface structures adapted to be manually transported therealong by a single person walking along such structures comprising a portable support, manually held reference electrode means contactible with the surface proximate the structure, a supply of lightweight, small gage, disposable elongate electrically conductive magnet wire means for electrically and mechanically connecting the apparatus with the structure at a reference location thereon, storage means for storing said supply of said wire means on said portable support, meter means electrically connected between said electrode means and said wire means for indicating the potential difference between said reference electrode means and said wire means, and distance measuring means mounted on said portable support and driven by said wire means for measuring the length of said wire means as it is played out from the apparatus as the latter is manually transported along the surface above the structure whereby the structure-to-surface potential difference may be determined by such single person at measured distances along the length of the structure.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for making relatively closely spaced pipe-to-soil potential difference measurements, the method and apparatus being characterized by a dual function economically disposable, relatively lightweight, flexible electrical wire that provides for the necessary electrical connection to a pipeline and also for accurate distance measurement at the test end of the wire along the pipeline. The wire is electrically connected at a test station or lead to the pipeline and is played out from a supply thereof carried by the surveyor along the length of the pipeline through distance measuring means. At each selected test location, the potential between the wire connected to the pipe and a reference electrode contacting the soil proximate the pipe are measured by a high resistance input meter. The wire is economically disposable and may be discarded when no longer used eliminating the need to rewind the wire.
36 Citations
24 Claims
- 1. A readily portable apparatus for making relatively closely spaced electrical surveys of sub-surface structures adapted to be manually transported therealong by a single person walking along such structures comprising a portable support, manually held reference electrode means contactible with the surface proximate the structure, a supply of lightweight, small gage, disposable elongate electrically conductive magnet wire means for electrically and mechanically connecting the apparatus with the structure at a reference location thereon, storage means for storing said supply of said wire means on said portable support, meter means electrically connected between said electrode means and said wire means for indicating the potential difference between said reference electrode means and said wire means, and distance measuring means mounted on said portable support and driven by said wire means for measuring the length of said wire means as it is played out from the apparatus as the latter is manually transported along the surface above the structure whereby the structure-to-surface potential difference may be determined by such single person at measured distances along the length of the structure.
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16. A method for making relatively closely spaced structure-to-soil potential difference surveys comprising the steps of:
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(a) providing a portable supply of a lightweight small gage, disposable, flexible elongate electrical magnet wire conductor, (b) electrically and mechanically connecting the conductor to the structure at a reference location thereon, (c) playing out the conductor along the length of the structure through a distance measuring device while transporting the portable supply of the conductor to test locations along the structure, (d) contacting the soil at such test locations proximate the structure with reference electrode, (e) measuring and observing the potential difference at each such test location between the reference electrode and the conductor, (f) recording the measured potential difference and distance indicated by the distance measuring device, and (g) leaving the conductor when the survey is completed for disposal. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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Specification