Remotely interrogatable apparatus and method for detecting defects in structural members
First Claim
1. A remotely interrogatable apparatus for detecting structural defects of a workpiece, said apparatus comprising:
- a conductive path extending across at least a portion of the workpiece; and
a communication device associated with the workpiece, said communication device comprising;
a discontinuity sensor for detecting a discontinuity along said conductive path indicative of a defect within the workpiece; and
a transponder, responsive to said discontinuity sensor, for communicating with a remote interrogation device to thereby report structural defects detected within the workpiece.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The apparatus and associated method of the present invention remotely detects structural defects in a workpiece by monitoring the electrical continuity of thin crack wires deposited on or within the workpiece in response to a communication from a remote interrogation device. As a crack, delamination or other structural defect forms or propagates in a structural member or other workpiece, a crack wire located in the vicinity of the crack breaks. In addition to the crack wires, the defect sensing apparatus includes a transponder and a discontinuity sensor for detecting a discontinuity along the crack wire. In order to inspect the workpiece, a maintenance technician positions a remote interrogation device in proximity with the workpiece under inspection. The interrogation signals provided by the remote interrogation device are received by the transponder and serve to power the defect sensing apparatus. Once sufficiently energized, the discontinuity sensor typically applies a voltage to one end of the crack wire and monitors the voltage level at the other end of the crack wire to determine the crack wire has broken, thereby indicating the presence of a crack, delamination or other defect. The discontinuity sensor reports the crack wire status via the transponder to the remote interrogation device for review by the maintenance technician. The defect sensing apparatus may be integral to a structural member or form one part of a reinforcement patch that is installed during a repair to monitor the structural integrity of a repaired structural member.
121 Citations
12 Claims
-
1. A remotely interrogatable apparatus for detecting structural defects of a workpiece, said apparatus comprising:
-
a conductive path extending across at least a portion of the workpiece; and a communication device associated with the workpiece, said communication device comprising; a discontinuity sensor for detecting a discontinuity along said conductive path indicative of a defect within the workpiece; and a transponder, responsive to said discontinuity sensor, for communicating with a remote interrogation device to thereby report structural defects detected within the workpiece. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
-
-
6. A remotely interrogatable apparatus for detecting structural defects of a workpiece, said apparatus comprising:
-
a conductive path extending across at least a portion of the workpiece, said conductive path including a plurality of branches such that said conductive path extends from a first end common to each of the plurality of branches to a plurality of second ends associated with respective ones of the branches; and a communication device associated with the workpiece and coupled to said conductive path so as to detect a discontinuity along any one of the plurality of branches indicative of a defect within the workpiece, said communication device adapted to communicate with a remote interrogation device to thereby report structural defects detected within the workpiece. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9)
-
-
10. A method of remotely detecting defects within a workpiece, the method comprising the steps of:
-
transmitting an interrogation signal from an interrogation device to a remote communication device associated with the workpiece; detecting a discontinuity along a conductive path in response to the interrogation signal, wherein the conductive path extends across at least a portion of the workpiece and is coupled to the communication device, and wherein the discontinuity is indicative of a structural defect within the workpiece; and reporting a detected structural defect to the remote interrogation device. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12)
-
Specification