Shroud contact wear sensor in a turbo machine
First Claim
1. In a turbo machine having a shroud disposed on the inner surface of a casing as opposed to the tip of rotor blades, said shroud having a hole therein defined by a conical surface diverging from the inner towards the outer periphery of the shroud such that a hole is worn in a convergent end of the conical surface as an inner peripheral surface of the shroud wears, a shroud wear sensor comprising:
- light-transmitting means for transmitting light from the outer periphery of said shroud toward said conical surface;
light-receiving means for receiving the light from said light-transmitting means, that has been reflected from said conical surface;
image processing means for determining the diameter of any opening in the convergent end of the conical surface on the basis of the quantity of the light received by said light-receiving means, andfor determining the amount that the shroud has worn at the inner peripheral surface of said shroud from the relation between the diameter of any initial opening in the distal end of the conical surface and the current diameter of the opening in the convergent end of said conical surface.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention is for use in measuring the amount of wear of a shroud disposed on the inner surface of a casing in a turbo machine. A sensor body enclosing a half mirror and defining a purge air intake port is mounted to a shroud disposed on the inner surface of a casing as opposed to the tip of rotor blades. A small conical hole is formed in the shroud at the end of the sensor body. The sensor body is connected to an electronics section, including a light-emitting circuit and an image processing circuit, by a light-transmitting fiber optic cable and a light-receiving multi-core fiber optic cable respectively. The electronics section calculates the amount of wear of the shroud from the amount of light reflected from the surface defining the conical hole, an opening in the end of which varies in size as the shroud wears. Therefore, the amount of wear of the shroud surface is measured without being influenced by variations in temperature and the measurement is thus highly precise.
11 Citations
5 Claims
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1. In a turbo machine having a shroud disposed on the inner surface of a casing as opposed to the tip of rotor blades, said shroud having a hole therein defined by a conical surface diverging from the inner towards the outer periphery of the shroud such that a hole is worn in a convergent end of the conical surface as an inner peripheral surface of the shroud wears, a shroud wear sensor comprising:
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light-transmitting means for transmitting light from the outer periphery of said shroud toward said conical surface; light-receiving means for receiving the light from said light-transmitting means, that has been reflected from said conical surface; image processing means for determining the diameter of any opening in the convergent end of the conical surface on the basis of the quantity of the light received by said light-receiving means, and for determining the amount that the shroud has worn at the inner peripheral surface of said shroud from the relation between the diameter of any initial opening in the distal end of the conical surface and the current diameter of the opening in the convergent end of said conical surface. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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Specification