Process and apparatus for locating coated cooling holes on turbine vanes
First Claim
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1. A process for locating coated cooling holes on a part comprising the steps of:
- providing a scanning system with a laser and a laser spot sensor;
scanning a surface of said part in a region containing said cooling holes with said laser and said laser spot sensor and storing information about said region in the form of point cloud data representing points on said surface;
said scanning step comprising programming said laser spot sensor to scan in a two dimensional plane over said region containing said cooling holes and outputting from said laser spot sensor depth information about said part surface as said laser spot sensor scans in said two dimensional plane and recording position information about said sensor as said sensor scans said surface using the servo mechanisms which drive the sensor; and
processing said point cloud data to determine a center point for each cooling hole in said region.
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Abstract
The present invention relates to processes and systems for locating coated cooling holes on parts such as turbine vanes. In a first embodiment of the present invention, a thermal imaging technique is utilized to obtain the locations of the cooling holes on a turbine vane. In a second embodiment of the present invention, a laser scanning technique is utilized to obtain the locations of the cooling holes on a turbine vane.
27 Citations
10 Claims
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1. A process for locating coated cooling holes on a part comprising the steps of:
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providing a scanning system with a laser and a laser spot sensor; scanning a surface of said part in a region containing said cooling holes with said laser and said laser spot sensor and storing information about said region in the form of point cloud data representing points on said surface; said scanning step comprising programming said laser spot sensor to scan in a two dimensional plane over said region containing said cooling holes and outputting from said laser spot sensor depth information about said part surface as said laser spot sensor scans in said two dimensional plane and recording position information about said sensor as said sensor scans said surface using the servo mechanisms which drive the sensor; and processing said point cloud data to determine a center point for each cooling hole in said region. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9)
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6. A system for locating coated cooling holes in parts which comprises:
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a laser for generating a beam of light onto a surface of a part containing a plurality of cooling holes; a laser spot sensor for receiving light reflected from said surface of said part; said laser spot sensor being programmed to scan in a two dimensional plane over said region containing said cooling holes and for outputting from said laser spot sensor calibrated depth information about said part surface as said laser spot sensor scans in said two dimensional plane; means for recording position information about said sensor as said sensor scans said surface using the servo mechanisms which drive the sensor; a computer having a memory device, said computer being connected to said laser spot sensor for receiving information in the form of point cloud data; and means within said computer for processing said point cloud data to determine the location of each cooling hole in said scanned surface. - View Dependent Claims (7)
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10. A process for locating coated cooling holes on a part comprising the steps of:
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providing a scanning system with a laser and a laser spot sensor; scanning a surface of said part in a region containing said cooling holes with said laser and said laser spot sensor and storing information about said region in the form of point cloud data representing points on said surface; processing said point cloud data to determine a center point for each cooling hole in said region; and said processing step comprising digitally creating said surface of said part from said point cloud data and digitally subtracting said created surface from said point cloud data to create subtracted data which corresponds to laser scan points where the laser spot intercepts part and hole interface regions.
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Specification