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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8091423 | Weld verification system and method An inspection method and system that locates a probe proximate a region of a shaft that is welded to a slug that secures the shaft to a housing. An acoustical wavefront may be emitted from the probe into the shaft toward the slug, and a reflection of the acoustical ... | 01/10/2012 |
| 8011248 | Methods, systems, and computer program products for determining a property of construction material Methods, systems, and computer program products for determining a property of construction material. According to one aspect, a material property gauge operable to determine a property of construction material is disclosed. The gauge may include an electromagnetic s... | 09/06/2011 |
| 7926349 | Detection of defects in welded structures A method of detecting defects in a welded metal structure, comprising mounting an ultrasonic transducer at or adjacent to a weld seam, and emitting ultrasonic signals so that the signals are propagated in the weld seam acting as a wave guide, and detecting reflectio... | 04/19/2011 |
| 7770454 | Laser system and method for non-destructive bond detection and evaluation A system for evaluating the integrity of a bonded joint in an article includes a laser configured in a laser shock processing arrangement to perform a laser shock processing treatment on the article. A beam delivery system employs an articulated arm assembly to comm... | 08/10/2010 |
| 7698944 | Ultrasonic method and apparatus for evaluating spot weld zone Even in measurement in which the measurement time is limited to a short time, soundness of a spot weld zone can be evaluated with high reliability without being influenced by a positional deviation between an ultrasonic probe and the spot weld zone and the coupling ... | 04/20/2010 |
| 7690257 | Method and device for checking a welding seam present at one of the interior surfaces of a reactor pressure vessel In a method and a device for testing a weld seam (8), located on the inner surface of a reactor pressure vessel (2), by which the outer circumference of an instrumentation nozzle (4) leading into the interior of this reactor pressure vessel (... | 04/06/2010 |
| 7574916 | Using thermal bursts to apply a combined shock wavefront to structural bonds A system for applying a controlled stress on a joint in a structure includes means for applying a plurality of thermal bursts in a designated timing sequence and trajectory pattern to produce a combined shock wavefront directed toward the joint. This system can prov... | 08/18/2009 |
| 7549337 | Method for inspecting peeling in adhesive joint A method is disclosed wherein a portion of a sensor part of an optical fiber sensor is embedded in an adhesive between two joined members, and peeling in an adhesive joint of the two members is detected on the basis of measuring optical characteristics from the opti... | 06/23/2009 |
| 7426879 | Inspection method and inspection apparatus of reinforced concrete pipe Deterioration of reinforced concrete pipes is checked and the deterioration progress level is classified. Based on the inspection result, a portion to be inspected in detail in an inspection area is selected. With respect to the selected portion to be inspected in d... | 09/23/2008 |
| 7360462 | Method and equipment for inspecting reinforced concrete pipe Deterioration of reinforced concrete pipes is checked and the deterioration progress level is classified. Based on the inspection result, a portion to be inspected in detail in an inspection area is selected. With respect to the selected portion to be inspected in d... | 04/22/2008 |
| 7340958 | Methods for determining potential characteristics of a specimen based on stress wave velocity measurements Methods are provided for using stress wave velocity measurements taken of a specimen at an early age to determine potential characteristics at a later age. The data may be used to, for example, evaluate specimens and/or families and/or clones at early ages to cut co... | 03/11/2008 |
| 7341758 | Method for preparing and ultrasonically testing a thermal-spray coated article An article having a thermal-spray coating thereon is prepared by thermally spraying a coating material onto a surface of a substrate article. The coated article is nondestructively tested by directing a transmitted ultrasonic signal into the coated article, receivin... | 03/11/2008 |
| 7331249 | Non-destructive inspection apparatus and non-destructive inspection system A nondestructive inspection device nondestructively inspects an internal state of an inspection target, and transmits information indicating a progress status of the inspection to the outside of an inspection site. A nondestructive inspection system which uses this ... | 02/19/2008 |
| 7328620 | Methods and system for ultrasound inspection An ultrasound inspection system is provided. The ultrasound inspection system includes a pulse echo transducer and a processor that is operationally coupled to the transducer. The system facilitates reducing noise in an echo received from a near surface inspection a... | 02/12/2008 |
| 7328619 | Phased array ultrasonic NDT system for fastener inspections An ultrasonic probe suited for testing the integrity of sheet metal surfaces around fastener openings is provided with means to center the probe over such openings. Both a mechanical centering rod and an electronic display assist the user in centering such probe. On... | 02/12/2008 |
| 7287430 | Method of evaluating connected portions, method of connecting electrical winding conductors and apparatus therefor A method of connecting hollow conductors with a brazing alloy employs a measuring mechanism 10 for measuring a connecting state of a connecting portion after brazing hollow conductors. The measuring mechanism comprises a scanner 101 and a holder 19 | 10/30/2007 |
| 7286964 | Methods for monitoring structural health conditions Methods and recordable media for monitoring structural health conditions. The present invention provides a method for interrogating a damage of a host structure using a diagnostic network patch (DNP) system having patches. An interrogation module partitions the plur... | 10/23/2007 |
| 7282663 | Forge welding process An automated method for forge welding tubulars including heating the tubular ends to be joined in a welding chamber while the heated tubular ends are maintained aligned and parallel relative to each other and at a small spacing, whereupon the heated tubular ends are... | 10/16/2007 |
| 7272529 | Dual wall turbine blade ultrasonic wall thickness measurement technique A method and apparatus is provided to analyze a dual wall structure having at least one hollow core therein and having the same unknown material sound velocities in walls and in post as well. A transducer is located in at least two different positions with respect t... | 09/18/2007 |
| 7256365 | Electrode holder with integrated ultrasound sensor A connecting element for connecting and/or fixing an electrode with an electrode arm of a welding apparatus has a base body; and a sensor selected from the group consisting of a sensor for introducing ultrasound waves into an electrode, a sensor for receiving ultras... | 08/14/2007 |
| 7243029 | Systems and methods of hydrocarbon detection using wavelet energy absorption analysis Disclosed herein are systems and methods of hydrocarbon detection based on wavelet energy absorption analysis. One disclosed hydrocarbon detection method embodiment includes: a) obtaining seismic trace data for a region of interest; and b) processing the seismic tra... | 07/10/2007 |
| 7234353 | Non-fluid acoustic coupling An apparatus examines the internal structure of an object disposed substantially in a medium such as air. The apparatus has an acoustic transducer assembly that emits and receives acoustic signals and an acoustic coupler that acoustically couples the acoustic transd... | 06/26/2007 |
| 7234355 | Method and system for inspecting flaws using ultrasound scan data A method and system for detecting weld signatures from an ultrasound scan data obtained from scanning a pipeline is provided. The method includes a step for mapping multiple amplitude responses from the ultrasound scan data, each amplitude response being representat... | 06/26/2007 |
| 7234519 | Flexible piezoelectric for downhole sensing, actuation and health monitoring Thin flexible piezoelectric transducers are bonded to or imbedded into oilfield tubular members or structural members. The transducers may be used to telemeter data as acoustic waves through the members. By proper spacing of transducers and phasing of driving signal... | 06/26/2007 |
| 7222514 | Laminate material testing methods and systems Techniques for ultrasonically evaluating damage to a laminate structure include use of a diagnostic device having at least two modes of operation including a calibration mode and a test mode with the calibration mode providing calibration parameters specific to the ... | 05/29/2007 |
| 7210329 | Method for determining temporal and amplitude threshold values of gates during ultrasound testing of spot welding joints The invention relates to a method for determining the threshold value of screens which enable an evaluation of a sound coupling during the ultrasound testing of a series of spot welding joints of a selected type. Initially, a geometrical minimal thickness dMin is es... | 05/01/2007 |
| 7203133 | Ultrasound sensor system The invention relates to an ultrasound sensor system, especially for a welding electrode, comprising a sensor (5, 6, 7, 10) which, during the detection process, passes ultrasonic waves of a desired oscillation mode into areas to be detected and/or detects ult... | 04/10/2007 |
| 7181942 | Device and method for connections made between a crimp connector and wire An ultrasonic device and method obtains desirable crimp connections between a crimp connector and a wire, or bundle of wires, by assessing the desirability of connections made in a wire-to-wire connection and in other situations where two materials with good acousti... | 02/27/2007 |
| 7174255 | Self-processing integrated damage assessment sensor for structural health monitoring A small, lightweight, portable, and inexpensive self-processing integrated damage assessment sensor (SPIDAS) that may be temporarily or permanently attached to a structure for structural health monitoring is provided. The SPIDAS device employs an electromechanical i... | 02/06/2007 |
| 7168322 | Method for ultrasonic control of weld joints The invention concerns a method for non-destructive ultrasonic control, combining time-of-flight diffraction (TOFD) and inclined longitudinal wave techniques, of weld joints assembling two abutted parts. The method consists of using the time-of-flight diffraction te... | 01/30/2007 |
| 7132617 | Method and system for assessing quality of spot welds A system and method for assessing the quality of spot weld joints between pieces of metal includes an ultrasound transducer probing a spot weld joint. The ultrasound transducer transmits ultrasonic radiation into the spot weld joint, receives corresponding echoes, a... | 11/07/2006 |
| 7104132 | Acoustic coupling with a fluid bath An apparatus examines the internal structure of an object disposed substantially in a medium such as air. The apparatus has an acoustic transducer assembly that emits and receives acoustic signals and an acoustic coupler that acoustically couples the acoustic transd... | 09/12/2006 |
| 7083327 | Method and apparatus for detecting kissing unbond defects A active thermographic method for detecting subsurface defects in a specimen, particularly kissing unbond defects, includes heating a specimen, applying a force to the surface of the specimen to shift and separate the walls of the defect, and obtaining thermographic... | 08/01/2006 |
| 7061381 | Ultrasonic transmitter and receiver systems and products using the same A transceiver preferably embedded within a wearable security watch, PDA, or other device which achieves a variety of wireless ultrasonic and/or radio-frequency based functions, including digital identification and proximity and sensation monitoring of assets, indivi... | 06/13/2006 |
| 7055389 | Acoustic coupling with a fluid retainer An apparatus examines the internal structure of an object disposed substantially in a medium such as air, which essentially totally reflects acoustic signals in the 1-200 MHz frequency range. The apparatus has an acoustic transducer that emits and receives acoustic ... | 06/06/2006 |
| 7036287 | Method and device for inspecting and monitoring the seal integrity of sterile packages A system for inspecting seal integrity of a sealed package including a visual inspection system and a medical packaging system having an integral peel testing device. ... | 05/02/2006 |
| 7024315 | In-situ structural health monitoring, diagnostics and prognostics system utilizing thin piezoelectric sensors A method of detecting a damaged feature within a structure includes embedding a plurality of thin piezoelectric ceramic sensors on the structure. A first sensor is excited so that the first sensor produces a responsive signal in the structure. The responsive signal ... | 04/04/2006 |
| 7017421 | Actuator and sensor system for composite structures An actuator and sensor system (1) for composite structures, especially carbon-fiber reinforced plastic structures (10) with piezo-ceramic actuators, particularly for active vibration dampening and/or shape control purposes, as well as fiber Bragg grati... | 03/28/2006 |
| 7010980 | Method of determining the porosity of a workpiece The porosity of a workpiece, in particular a workpiece made of a fiber composite material is determined. An ultrasonic signal is injected into the workpiece and an ultrasonic echo signal is received from the workpiece. The variation of the amplitude of the ultrasoni... | 03/14/2006 |
| 6996480 | Structural health monitoring system utilizing guided lamb waves embedded ultrasonic structural radar A method and device for performing ultrasonic damage detection in a thin-wall structure using an array of embedded Piezoelectric Wafer Active Sensors (PWAS) for the transmission and reception of guided waves and a signal processing methodology based on the beamformi... | 02/07/2006 |
