Apparatus and method for detecting pipeline defects
First Claim
1. A method for detecting defects or damage in the interior wall of a pipe or pipeline, comprising:
- obtaining a probe comprising an optical sensor or viewer comprising a lens capable of viewing about 360 degrees, a direction locator, and a distance measurer, wherein said probe is in communication with a computer or data processor for processing data from said probe;
passing said probe through the interior of said pipeline while illuminating at least a portion of said pipeline interior wall with said light source and viewing and transmitting for recording views of said pipeline interior wall where illuminated with said probe;
recording said location and distance of said probe in said pipeline as data for at least some of said views; and
processing said recorded views and direction and distance data such that said views are digitized and displayed in real-time as forward views and side-scan views and wherein said side-scan views are unfolded images showing approximately 360 degrees of the pipeline wall.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus and method are disclosed for scanning and detecting defects in sewer and similar pipelines that eliminate the need to stop and pan-and-tilt areas of concern. In the method of the invention, a pipeline (15) inspection probe (10) of the apparatus of the invention comprising a CCD camera (14) with fish-eye lens (12) travels through the pipeline (15) on a self-propelled tractor automatically collecting data and transmitting it to a computer to provide a real-time display of the pipeline (15) interior with quasi three-dimensional information for effective and quick data analysis and management. The data includes digitized forward views and unfolded 360 degree laid-flat side-san (22) views of the pipeline (15) interior. Additionally, the digitized data may be stored for further analysis, tabulation, and for use with pipeline infrastructure maintenance software.
94 Citations
23 Claims
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1. A method for detecting defects or damage in the interior wall of a pipe or pipeline, comprising:
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obtaining a probe comprising an optical sensor or viewer comprising a lens capable of viewing about 360 degrees, a direction locator, and a distance measurer, wherein said probe is in communication with a computer or data processor for processing data from said probe; passing said probe through the interior of said pipeline while illuminating at least a portion of said pipeline interior wall with said light source and viewing and transmitting for recording views of said pipeline interior wall where illuminated with said probe; recording said location and distance of said probe in said pipeline as data for at least some of said views; and processing said recorded views and direction and distance data such that said views are digitized and displayed in real-time as forward views and side-scan views and wherein said side-scan views are unfolded images showing approximately 360 degrees of the pipeline wall. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A method for detecting defects or damage in the interior wall of a pipe or pipeline, comprising:
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providing a probe comprising a light source, an optical sensor or view comprising a lens capable of viewing about 360 degrees, a direction locator comprising a gyro sensor, and a distance measurer, wherein said probe is in communication with a computer or data processor for processing data from said probe; passing said probe through the interior of said pipeline while illuminating at least a portion of said pipeline interior wall with said light source and viewing and transmitting for recording views of said pipeline interior wall where illuminated with said probe; recording and direction and distance of said probe in said pipeline as data for at least some of said views as the probe passes through the pipeline; processing said recorded views and direction and distance data such that said views are digitized and displayed in real-time as forward views and side-scan views, wherein said side-scan views are unfolded images showing approximately 360 degrees of the pipeline wall, and wherein said direction is obtained from pipeline deflection calculated using gyro sensor data by integrating the following formula;
Theta-e(i)-Theta(t)-Theta-error/1 *twhere;
Theta-error is the difference in angle observed between gyro data measured as the probe goes forward and comes back through the pipeline;
T is total time;
Theta(t) is the time from the beginning of the measurement; and
Theta-c(t) is the compensated angle, andreturning said probe through said pipeline after passing through said pipeline, and recording said direction locator data as the probe passes through the pipeline and as the probe is returned through the pipeline. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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- 10. An apparatus for detecting defects or damage in the interior of a sewer pipeline comprising a sewer pipeline inspection probe and data processing software that digitizes data from said probe in real time, providing both forward and unfolded side-scan of the sewer pipeline interior, wherein said software includes instructions for manipulating the pixels from the digitized views such that at least one sampling circle is obtained for each frame of the forward view and successive scans can be concatenated so that the side-scan view may be displayed as an unfolded, laid-flat, side-scan image encompassing about 360 degrees.
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13. A method for obtaining real-time unfolded side-scan images of an interior pipeline wall substantially simultaneously or synchronously with forward images of the pipeline interior for use in inspecting the pipeline wall for defects or damage, said method comprising:
- passing a lighted probe comprising a camera with a fish-eye lens through said pipeline obtaining forward or frontal views having about a 360 degree radius at periodic intervals;
relaying said views in analog data format to a data processor or computer;
converting said analog data to digital data;
manipulating pixels from said digital data on a frame capture board such that at least one sampling circle is obtained for each side-scan view;
displaying an unfolded 360 degree image of the side-scan view of said interior pipeline wall. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
- passing a lighted probe comprising a camera with a fish-eye lens through said pipeline obtaining forward or frontal views having about a 360 degree radius at periodic intervals;
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19. A method for detecting internal pipeline defects or damage, comprising:
- passing a lighted probe comprising a video camera with a fish-eye type of lens through at least a portion of the interior of said pipeline, illuminating said pipeline and recording forward and side-scan images periodically and synchronously during said passing;
noting simultaneously with said recording of at least said side-scan images the location of the probe in the pipeline at the time of recording of said image; and
digitizing and processing said images for display wherein said processing comprises pixel manipulation on at least one line of a sampling circle to obtain an unfolded image of the side-scan view. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23)
- passing a lighted probe comprising a video camera with a fish-eye type of lens through at least a portion of the interior of said pipeline, illuminating said pipeline and recording forward and side-scan images periodically and synchronously during said passing;
Specification