Apparatus for detecting defects
First Claim
1. An inspection apparatus for inspecting a railway rail comprising:
- a carriage for supporting a transducer assembly,a profiler system adapted to output profile data corresponding to a profile of the rail,an encoder in rolling contact with the rail and adapted to output an encoder signal corresponding to rotation of said encoder,said transducer assembly having a first ultrasonic phased array transducer directed toward a running surface of the rail,a system controller coupled to said profiler system to receive profile data therefrom, coupled to said encoder to receive said encoder signal therefrom, and coupled to said first ultrasonic phased array transducer,said system controller responsive to said profile data, and energizing one or more of said first ultrasonic phased array transducer elements to emit an ultrasonic beam from said first ultrasonic phased array transducer into the rail at a desired angle,wherein said first ultrasonic phased array transducer includes a roof angle of between 10 and 55 degrees and a wedge angle of between 0 and 30 degrees.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus for detecting defects in a railway rail includes a search unit and preferably a roller search unit (“RSU”) mounted on a test vehicle and in rolling contact with the running surface of the rails to inspect each rail. The RSU includes a tire filled with a liquid and a transducer assembly mounted within the tire. The transducer assembly includes one or more arrays of ultrasonic transducers directed toward the running surface of the rail. A laser profiler mounted on the test vehicle in combination with a linear encoder provide profile data which is communicated to a system controller to dynamically adjust the focal laws for the one or more arrays of transducers to dynamically steer the transmitted beams to produce the ideal inspection beam sets while the test vehicle is in motion.
58 Citations
19 Claims
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1. An inspection apparatus for inspecting a railway rail comprising:
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a carriage for supporting a transducer assembly, a profiler system adapted to output profile data corresponding to a profile of the rail, an encoder in rolling contact with the rail and adapted to output an encoder signal corresponding to rotation of said encoder, said transducer assembly having a first ultrasonic phased array transducer directed toward a running surface of the rail, a system controller coupled to said profiler system to receive profile data therefrom, coupled to said encoder to receive said encoder signal therefrom, and coupled to said first ultrasonic phased array transducer, said system controller responsive to said profile data, and energizing one or more of said first ultrasonic phased array transducer elements to emit an ultrasonic beam from said first ultrasonic phased array transducer into the rail at a desired angle, wherein said first ultrasonic phased array transducer includes a roof angle of between 10 and 55 degrees and a wedge angle of between 0 and 30 degrees. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification