Ultrasonic testing of fitting assembly for fluid conduits with a hand-held apparatus
First Claim
1. A tool for evaluating a fitting assembly of the type having a conduit assembled at one end to a fitting comprising a body, a nut, and at least one conduit gripping device, the tool comprising:
- a source adapted to apply mechanical energy into the conduit;
said source receiving reflected energy and producing a signal related thereto; and
an analyzer that determines axial position within the fitting assembly of an end of the conduit relative to said source.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Hand-held apparatus and method for determining relative and/or absolute axial position of a conduit end within a fluid coupling includes application of input ultrasonic energy in the form of transient shear waves and analyzing the reflected energy. Application of the input energy collected at different radial positions about a first axial location is used with wavelet based correlation techniques to better analyze the reflected energy signals. Quality of the abutment between the conduit end and a surface associated with the coupling may also be determined as a separate or combined feature of the axial position determination.
74 Citations
24 Claims
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1. A tool for evaluating a fitting assembly of the type having a conduit assembled at one end to a fitting comprising a body, a nut, and at least one conduit gripping device, the tool comprising:
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a source adapted to apply mechanical energy into the conduit;
said source receiving reflected energy and producing a signal related thereto; andan analyzer that determines axial position within the fitting assembly of an end of the conduit relative to said source. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A tool for evaluating a fitting assembly of the type having a conduit assembled at one end to a fitting comprising a body, a nut, and at least one ferrule, the tool comprising:
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a source adapted to apply mechanical energy into the conduit;
said source receiving reflected energy and producing a signal related thereto; andan analyzer that determines a characteristic of an end portion of the conduit within the fitting as a function of said signal, wherein said characteristic relates to the relative axial position of an impression in the conduit formed by the at least one ferrule assembled to the conduit,relative to a position of the source.
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24. A tool for evaluating a fitting assembly of the type having a conduit assembled at one end to a fitting comprising a body, a nut, and at least one ferrule, the tool comprising:
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a source adapted to apply mechanical energy into the conduit;
said source receiving reflected energy and producing a signal related thereto; andan analyzer that determines a characteristic of an end portion of the conduit within the fitting as a function of said signal, wherein said characteristic relates to the presence of an impression in the conduit formed by the at least ferrule assmbled to the conduit.
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Specification