KR200353038Y1 - Apparatus for inspecting a tube using supersonic wave - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an ultrasonic flaw detector for defect inspection of various tube structures, the support arm assembly is slidably introduced into the hollow of the predetermined tube to be inspected, and selectively opened in the direction of the inner wall of the tube by a joint; An elastic member in the support arm assembly to provide an elastic force such that a portion adjacent to an inner wall of the tube is biased in a direction in which the inner wall is in close contact with the inner wall; An ultrasonic probe fixed to at least one side of the support arm assembly; And a driving unit for horizontally moving the support arm assembly along the hollow of the tube.

According to the present invention, there is an advantage that accurate ultrasonic flaw detection is possible regardless of the change in the input depth of the ultrasonic probe into the hollow of the tube or the internal diameter imbalance of the tube.

Description

Ultrasonic flaw detector for tube inspection {APPARATUS FOR INSPECTING A TUBE USING SUPERSONIC WAVE}

The present invention relates to an ultrasonic flaw detector, and more particularly, in flawless tube structures using ultrasonic waves, the accuracy of flaw detection is introduced by introducing the ultrasonic probe into the hollow of the tube while maintaining a constant distance between the ultrasonic probe and the inner wall of the tube. It relates to an ultrasonic flaw detector for tube inspection that can improve the.

In the flaw detection method using ultrasonic waves, ultrasonic waves of several to several tens of MHz are irradiated into an inspection material to analyze the amount and duration of defects of ultrasonic waves reflected from discontinuous parts in the form of cracks, etc. As a flaw detection method, it is very useful for inspecting various industrial materials such as various welded parts, round bars, hollow axles, pipes, etc. due to its characteristics that can easily grasp the internal state without destroying the inspected material.

For ultrasonic flaw detection, the flaw detector must be configured according to the type, shape, and material of the inspected material. Especially for flaw detection of a tube structure such as a hollow axle for a high-speed railway vehicle, the ultrasonic probe is injected into the hollow of the tube for precise flaw detection. There is a need for a flaw detector that can perform ultrasonic irradiation and its reflected wave detection operation in a thickness direction from an inner wall.

1 schematically shows the configuration of an ultrasonic flaw detector for tube inspection according to the prior art. As shown in the drawing, the conventional ultrasonic flaw detector has a horizontal feed force to the ultrasonic probe 10 through the ultrasonic probe 10 and the connecting rod 11 that are introduced into the hollow of the tube 1 to be inspected. It includes a drive unit 12 for providing.

The ultrasonic probe 10 is a module that irradiates ultrasonic waves from the inner wall of the tube 1 in the thickness direction and detects the reflected waves, and is fixed to the tip of the connecting rod 11 connected to the driving unit 12 along the hollow. As you move forward or backward, you will perform a test on each section of the tube.

However, according to the above configuration, the ultrasonic transducer 10 and the connecting rod are gradually increased as the injection depth of the ultrasonic transducer 10 into the tube increases, that is, as the length of the connecting rod 11 introduced into the tube becomes longer. Since the connecting rod 11 is gradually struck downward by the self-weight of (11) (see FIG. 2), a problem arises that the distance d between the ultrasonic transducer 10 and the inner wall of the tube gradually decreases. . As described above, the phenomenon in which the d value fluctuates with respect to the longitudinal direction of the tube may also occur when the inner diameter of the tube is uneven or various foreign substances are present therein.

In general, the ultrasonic flaw detection property is sensitively dependent on the distance between the ultrasonic probe 10 and the point to be inspected. In view of this point, the variation of the d value results in a slope of the tube in the longitudinal direction. It will act as a factor of deteriorating the inspection accuracy.

The present invention was devised to solve the above problems, and to provide an ultrasonic flaw detector for tube inspection that can maintain a constant flaw detection irrespective of the change in the tube depth or tube inner diameter. There is this.

The following drawings attached to this specification are illustrative of the preferred embodiments of the present invention, and together with the detailed description of the present invention to serve to further understand the technical spirit of the present invention, the present invention is a matter described in such drawings It should not be construed as limited to.

1 is a partial cross-sectional view showing the configuration of an ultrasonic flaw detector for tube inspection according to the prior art.

FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a configuration illustrating a case where an ultrasonic probe is deeply inserted in FIG. 1. FIG.

Figure 3 is a partial cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the ultrasonic flaw detector for tube inspection according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 4 is a block diagram showing an example of using the ultrasonic flaw detection apparatus according to the present invention for the flaw detection of the hollow vehicle axle.

Figure 5 is a block diagram of a power supply unit of the mobile bogie structure provided in the ultrasonic flaw detection apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 6 is a block diagram of a polishing and exhaust device provided in the ultrasonic flaw detector according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

<Description of main reference numerals in the drawings>

1 ... tube 100 ... support arm assembly

100a ... supporting arm 100b, 100c, 100d, 100e ... joint

101 ... Sliding bracket 102 ... Ultrasonic transducer

103.Elastic member 104 ... Connecting rod

105 Drive unit 106 Power supply unit

107 ... brush member 108 ... duct

109 ... dust collector

In order to achieve the above object, an ultrasonic flaw detector for inspecting a tube according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention is slidably input into a hollow of a predetermined tube, which is an inspected material, and selectively in the inner wall direction of the tube by a joint. Spreading arm assembly; An elastic member in the support arm assembly to provide an elastic force such that a portion adjacent to an inner wall of the tube is biased in a direction in which the inner wall is in close contact with the inner wall; An ultrasonic probe fixed to at least one side of the support arm assembly; And a driving unit for horizontally moving the support arm assembly along the hollow of the tube.

Preferably the support arm assembly has support arms interconnected by four joints to form a substantially rhombus shape, wherein in the rhombic support arm assembly, two symmetrical joints are adjacent to the inner wall of the tube, A connecting rod of the driving unit may be connected to one side of the remaining two joints.

The connecting rod is preferably installed to rotate alternately clockwise and counterclockwise in the range of -185 ° to + 185 ° about the axis of the tube.

The elastic member is preferably interposed between the two joints to provide an elastic force in a direction in which two joints adjacent to the inner wall of the tube are spaced apart from each other.

The present invention further includes a sliding bracket fixed to two joints adjacent to the inner wall of the tube and directly contacting the inner wall of the tube, wherein the ultrasonic transducer is installed in the sliding bracket in a state spaced apart from the inner wall of the tube. It is desirable to be.

In addition, the present invention may further include a power providing unit for providing a rotational force so that the tube rotates at a constant speed about its axis.

The power supply unit, the moving cart body having a wheel for movement; A pair of rollers installed on the moving cart body to support a tube, which is an inspection material, from below; And a motor unit providing a rotational force to the roller to substantially rotate the tube at a constant speed about its axis.

Additionally, the present invention includes a brush member for polishing the tube while being injected from one end of the tube to the other end; A duct whose inlet is aligned with the other end of the tube; And a dust collector configured to suck and collect abrasive dust in the tube through the duct.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Figure 3 shows the configuration of the ultrasonic flaw detector for tube inspection according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to Figure 3, the present invention is equipped with an ultrasonic probe 102, but the support arm assembly 100 and the support arm assembly 100 is put into the hollow in contact with the inner wall of the tube (1) to be inspected material, the support arm assembly 100 It includes a drive unit 105 for horizontally moving along the hollow of the tube (1).

The ultrasonic transducer 102 is a module for irradiating ultrasonic waves of several to several tens of MHz in the thickness direction from the inner wall of the tube 1 and detecting the reflected waves, and a conventional transducer configured to transmit and receive ultrasonic waves of longitudinal or longitudinal waves may be used. have. The ultrasonic probe 102 is introduced into the hollow of the tube 1 in a state of being mounted on at least one side of the support arm assembly 100.

The support arm assembly 100 is a connection body of the predetermined support arms 100a sliding in the hollow while maintaining a state of being in close contact with the inner wall of the tube 1, and preferably has a support arm having a bar shape. 100a have at least one joint so as to symmetrically open toward the inner wall direction of the tube 1, and an elastic member 103 which elastically biases the support arms 100a in the inner wall direction of the tube 1. .

Preferably, the support arm assembly 100 may support the ultrasonic transducer 102 more stably than other structures by forming the support arms 100a interconnected to substantially form a rhombus shape. In this case, the four portions corresponding to each vertex of the rhombus are preferably provided with joints 100b, 100c, 100d, and 100e corresponding to the hinge structure, and any two symmetrical vertex portions are spaced apart from each other in the direction of the inner wall of the tube 1. Between the joints 100b and 100c corresponding to the two vertices, the elastic member 103 corresponding to the spring is preferably interposed to elastically bias in the direction of the dotted arrow.

The support arm assembly 100 is not limited to a substantially rhombus shape, and may be deformed into various structures as long as the support arm assembly 100 includes symmetrical support arms 100a that are in close contact with the inner wall of the tube 1. In addition, the structure of the joint provided in the support arm assembly 100 is not necessarily limited to the hinge structure, and various structures may be employed as long as the support arms 100a are rotatably connected to each other.

The sliding brackets 101 are preferably fixed to two symmetrical joints 100b and 100c in the support arm assembly 100 adjacent to the inner wall of the tube 1 so that the sliding arm 101 is directly connected to the inner wall of the tube 1 directly. In contact with each other, at least one of the sliding brackets 101 includes the aforementioned ultrasonic probe 102. At this time, the ultrasonic transducer 102 is preferably installed to be spaced apart from the inner wall of the tube 1 by a predetermined distance to prevent damage due to contact with the inner wall.

Meanwhile, in the support arm assembly 100, the connecting rod 104 of the driving unit 105 is connected to one side joint 100d of the other two joints 100d and 100e. The driving unit 105 substantially linearly transfers the support arm assembly 100 along the hollow of the tube 1 by advancing or reversing the connecting rod 104 connected thereto. The driving unit 105 may be formed of a conventional air cylinder or a power cylinder, and may be variously modified, including a gear assembly and a motor such as a pinion / rack that are engaged with each other.

The connecting rod 104 may be rotatably installed about an axis of the tube 1 so that ultrasonic flaw detection may be evenly performed on each part of the tube 1. Here, the specific technical means for configuring the connecting rod 104 to be rotatable about its axial direction can be employed because a variety of well-known techniques can be employed, the detailed description thereof will be omitted. The connecting rod 104 is preferably installed to rotate alternately clockwise and counterclockwise to prevent the wires and the like extending to the ultrasonic transducer 102 to be twisted. The rotation range of the connecting rod 104 is preferably set in the range of -185 ° to + 185 ° in consideration of an overlapping area capable of increasing flaw detection reliability.

As an alternative for evenly performing ultrasonic flaw detection on each part of the tube 1, the tube 1, which is a test material, may be installed to rotate at a constant speed about its axis as shown in FIG. To this end, the present invention includes a predetermined drive motor 106a for generating a rotational force, and a power transmission means 106b configured to transfer a rotational force of the drive motor 106a directly to the tube 1, for example, a belt or a roller. The power providing unit 106 may be further included.

The power supply unit 106 having the above-described configuration is very usefully applied when the tube 1 corresponds to a hollow vehicle axle having a wheel 1a so that the power transmission unit 106b is hollow for a railway vehicle. By transmitting the rotational force in contact with the wheel 1a of the axle, ultrasonic flaw detection for each part can be performed evenly.

On the other hand, when the tube 1 to be inspected corresponds to the hollow axle for a railway vehicle without the wheel 1a, the power supply unit 106 may be configured as a mobile truck structure as shown in FIG. . In this case, a moving wheel 106-2 is provided at the lower portion of the moving cart main body 106-1 to move the tube 1, i. A pair of rollers 106-3, which are in contact with the axles while supporting the axle, and a motor unit 106-4 that provides rotational force to the rollers 106-3, are provided so that the hollow axle for the railway vehicle is fixed at the time of ultrasonic inspection. It is possible to rotate at speed.

In order to increase the ultrasonic incidence efficiency of the tube 1 to be inspected, it is necessary to remove various foreign substances present in the outer circumference of the tube 1 as well as to maintain the clean state, as shown in FIG. 6. Brush member 107 for polishing the inner circumferential surface of the tube while being selectively introduced from one end of the tube 1 to the other end, and to the other end of the tube 1 to exhaust abrasive dust according to the operation of the brush member 107. A duct 108 in which the inlet is axially aligned, and a dust collector 109 for sucking and collecting abrasive dust through the duct 108 may be provided. Here, in particular, when the tube 1 to be inspected corresponds to a hollow axle for a railroad vehicle having a wheel 1a, accurate axial alignment between the tube 1 and the duct 108 is important to increase the exhaust efficiency. To this end, in the present invention, the sensor unit 110 for sensing the position of the tube 1 by the touch on the wheel 1a and the actuator 111 in conjunction with the output signal of the sensor unit 110 are driven. As a result, a control motor 112 for adjusting the position of the duct 108 may be further provided.

Ultrasonic flaw detector according to the present invention having the configuration as described above is provided as a single, respectively, corresponding to both ends of the tube (1) as shown in Figure 4, the support arm assembly 100 into the tube (1) at the same time in both directions at the same time May be modified to inject.

Hereinafter, the operation of the ultrasonic flaw detector for inspecting the tube 1 according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described.

The present invention is provided with a support arm assembly 100 which is elastically biased in the direction of the inner wall of the tube (1), which is inserted into the hollow of the tube (1) to the sliding bracket 101 part of the tube (1) In a state in which it is in contact with the inner wall to move linearly at a constant speed using the drive unit 105, and also operating the ultrasonic transducer 102 in the sliding bracket 101, the distance between the target point of the inspection and the ultrasonic probe 102 is fixed. Precise ultrasonic flaw detection is performed for each part of the tube 1 while keeping it secure.

More specifically, the support arm assembly 100 preferably has a structure in which the support arms 100a are interconnected by joints 100b, 100c, 100d, and 100e to form a rhombus shape, and on the inner wall of the tube 1. Since the elastic member 103 is elastically biased with respect to the sliding brackets 101 fixed to the two joints 100b and 100c to be adjacent to each other, the sliding brackets 101 are built in the ultrasonic probe 102. Sliding along the hollow in close contact with the inner wall of the tube (1). According to this configuration, the distance between the ultrasonic transducer 102 and the inner wall of the tube 1 is kept constant regardless of the change in the input depth of the support arm assembly 100 or the inner diameter imbalance of the tube 1.

The horizontal transfer operation of the support arm assembly 100 on which the ultrasonic transducer 102 is mounted is preferably performed simultaneously with the rotation operation of the tube 1 by the power supply unit 106 to all parts of the tube 1. Precise flaw detection can be performed.

In the above, preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Here, the terms or words used in the present specification and claims should not be construed as being limited to ordinary or dictionary meanings, but should be construed as meanings and concepts corresponding to the technical spirit of the present invention. Therefore, the embodiments described in the specification and the drawings shown in the drawings are only the most preferred embodiment of the present invention and do not represent all of the technical ideas of the present invention, various modifications that can be replaced at the time of the present application It should be understood that there may be equivalents and variations.

The ultrasonic flaw detector according to the present invention can maintain the distance between the probe point and the ultrasonic probe along the longitudinal direction of the tube irrespective of the input depth or the internal diameter imbalance to the hollow of the predetermined tube to be inspected. Can be performed.

The ultrasonic flaw detector according to the present invention has an advantage that the support arm assembly is elastically biased to closely adhere to the inner wall of the tube so that it can be universally applied to the flaw detection of various tube structures without restriction of the length or inner diameter of the tube to be inspected. .

Claims (8)

A support arm assembly which is slidably introduced into a hollow of a predetermined tube to be inspected and which is selectively opened in an inner wall direction of the tube by a joint; An elastic member in the support arm assembly to provide an elastic force such that a portion adjacent to an inner wall of the tube is biased in a direction in which the inner wall is in close contact with the inner wall; An ultrasonic probe fixed to at least one side of the support arm assembly; And Ultrasonic flaw detection apparatus comprising a; drive unit for horizontally moving the support arm assembly along the hollow of the tube. The method of claim 1, The support arm assemblies are interconnected by four joints to form a substantially rhombus shape, In the rhombus-shaped support arm assembly, two symmetrical joints are adjacent to the inner wall of the tube, while one of the other two joints is connected to the driving rod of the ultrasonic flaw detection apparatus. The method of claim 2, Ultrasonic flaw detection apparatus characterized in that the connecting rod is installed to rotate alternately clockwise and counterclockwise in the range of -185˚ ~ + 185˚ around the axis of the tube. The method of claim 2, wherein the elastic member, And an ultrasonic flaw detector interposed between the two joints adjacent to the inner wall of the tube to provide an elastic force in a direction in which the two joints are spaced apart from each other. The method of claim 2, And a sliding bracket fixed to two joints adjacent to the inner wall of the tube and directly contacting the inner wall of the tube. And the ultrasonic probe is installed in the sliding bracket in a state spaced apart from the inner wall of the tube. The method of claim 1, Ultrasonic flaw detector further comprises a power supply for providing a rotational force to rotate the tube at a constant speed about its axis. The method of claim 6, wherein the power providing unit, A moving cart body having a moving wheel; A pair of rollers installed on the moving cart body to support a tube, which is an inspection material, from below; And And a motor unit providing a rotational force to the roller to substantially rotate the tube at a constant speed about its axis. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, Brush member for polishing the tube while being injected from one end of the tube to the other end; A duct whose inlet is aligned with the other end of the tube; And And a dust collector configured to suck and collect abrasive dust in the tube via the duct.