JP2000304660A - Leakage-inspecting device for automobile - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the cost and improve the reliability by rotating an ultrasonic oscillator around an axial line that crosses the radiation direction of ultrasonic waves. SOLUTION: While an ultrasonic oscillator 1 is being rotated, an ultrasonic receiver 2 is moved along the peripheral edge of a door sash. When there is a leaked part, ultrasonic waves are leaked to the outside of an automobile W via the leaked part, the reception level of the ultrasonic waves increases with peaks for a plurality of times with a period corresponding to the rotary speed of the ultrasonic oscillator 1 when the ultrasonic receiver 2 moves to a part that faces the leaked part, thus inputting a signal from the ultrasonic receiver 2 to a diagnosis device and detecting the presence or absence and the position of the leakage and hence improving reliability and at the same time reducing facility costs since the ultrasonic oscillator is used less frequently.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automobile leak inspection apparatus using ultrasonic waves.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as this kind of leak inspection apparatus,
According to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-88424, an ultrasonic oscillator is provided inside a vehicle and an ultrasonic receiver is provided outside the vehicle, and the receiver is moved along a leak inspection site of the vehicle. It is known that the presence / absence of a leak is detected by the presence / absence of reception of an ultrasonic wave from the oscillator by the receiver.

[0003] In this apparatus, an oscillator unit in which a plurality of ultrasonic oscillators are incorporated in different directions from each other is formed, and this oscillator unit is disposed inside a vehicle, and the ultrasonic unit is directed toward the entire region of the leak inspection site. Is radiated.

[0004]

In the above-mentioned prior art, since an oscillator unit incorporating a plurality of ultrasonic oscillators is used, there is a problem that equipment costs are increased.

[0005] In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide an inexpensive and highly reliable leak inspection apparatus.

[0006]

In order to solve the above problems,
The present invention provides an ultrasonic oscillator arranged inside an automobile,
An ultrasonic receiver disposed outside of the vehicle, moving the receiver along a leak inspection site of the vehicle, and detecting the presence or absence of a leak by the presence or absence of reception of ultrasonic waves from the oscillator by the receiver. In such a vehicle leak inspection apparatus, there is provided a rotating means for rotating the oscillator around an axis intersecting the ultrasonic radiation direction.

According to the present invention, ultrasonic waves are emitted in all directions around the rotation axis by the rotation of the ultrasonic oscillator. If the rotational speed of the ultrasonic oscillator is set so that the ultrasonic oscillator rotates many times while the ultrasonic oscillator moves a small distance, when the ultrasonic receiver moves to the leak location, the ultrasonic receiver becomes supersonic. Ultrasonic waves emitted from the sound wave oscillator are received a plurality of times at a period corresponding to the rotation speed of the oscillator. Thus, the presence or absence of a leak can be reliably detected.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an ultrasonic oscillator disposed inside a vehicle W, and reference numeral 2 denotes an ultrasonic receiver disposed outside the vehicle W.

The ultrasonic receiver 2 is moved by a robot (not shown) along a leak inspection portion of the automobile W, for example, a peripheral portion of a door sash. In addition, the ultrasonic receiver 2
Are arranged on both sides of the automobile W, but FIG. 1 shows only one ultrasonic receiver 2 on one side.

As shown in FIG. 1B, an ultrasonic oscillator 1 includes a speaker 1 in a box 1a having a power supply and an oscillation circuit built therein.
b at a predetermined frequency (for example, 40 KH
The ultrasonic wave z) is emitted from the speaker 1b.

In this embodiment, a rotating means 3 for rotating the ultrasonic oscillator 1 is provided. The rotating means 3 is constituted by providing a rotating body 3b driven by a motor on a base 3a having a built-in motor, and a speaker 1b is provided on a bracket 3c standing on the rotating body 3b. The ultrasonic oscillator 1 is mounted so as to face a direction crossing O at a predetermined angle θ (for example, 45 °). Thus, the ultrasonic oscillator 1 is rotated around the axis O intersecting the radiation direction of the ultrasonic waves.

The rotational speed of the ultrasonic oscillator 1 by the rotating means 3 is set to be considerably higher than the moving speed of the ultrasonic receiver 2, and for example, the moving speed of the ultrasonic receiver 2 is 5 mm /
Seconds, the rotation speed of the ultrasonic oscillator 1 is 300 rpm
Set to about m.

At the time of the leak inspection of the automobile W, the ultrasonic receiver 2 is moved along the peripheral portion of the door sash while rotating the ultrasonic oscillator 1. If there is a leak,
The ultrasonic wave leaks out of the automobile W through the leak location,
When the ultrasonic receiver 2 moves to the portion facing the leak location, the reception level of the ultrasonic wave peak-wise increases a plurality of times at a period corresponding to the rotation speed of the ultrasonic oscillator 1 as shown in FIG. Thus, the signal from the ultrasonic receiver 2 can be input to a diagnostic device such as a personal computer (not shown) to detect the presence or absence of a leak and the position of the leak location.

In the above-described embodiment, the speaker 1b of the ultrasonic oscillator 1 is directed obliquely upward for a door sash inspection of the upper part of the automobile. A speaker pointing obliquely downward may be provided in addition to the sound wave oscillator 1. In any case, by rotating the ultrasonic oscillator 1, ultrasonic waves can be emitted in both the left and right directions of the vehicle, and there is no need to provide separate ultrasonic oscillators for the left side and the right side, so that the cost is reduced.

[0015]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the presence or absence of a leak can be reliably detected, the number of ultrasonic oscillators used can be reduced, and the equipment cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1A is a perspective view showing a leak inspection state by the apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a perspective view showing an ultrasonic oscillator and a rotating unit.

FIG. 2 is a graph showing a signal change at a leak point of the ultrasonic receiver.

[Explanation of symbols]

 W automobile 1 ultrasonic oscillator 2 ultrasonic receiver 3 rotating means

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing from the front page (72) Inventor Atsushi Osada 1-10-1 Shinsayama, Sayama City, Saitama Prefecture Honda Engineering Co., Ltd. (72) Keiichiro Maekawa 1-10-1, Shinsayama, Sayama City, Saitama Prefecture Hong DA Engineering Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 2G067 AA26 BB11 BB31 DD13

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An ultrasonic oscillator disposed inside a vehicle, and an ultrasonic receiver disposed outside the vehicle, wherein the receiver is moved along a leak inspection site of the vehicle, and In a vehicle leak inspection device that detects the presence or absence of a leak by the presence or absence of reception of an ultrasonic wave from the oscillator, a rotating unit that rotates the oscillator around an axis that intersects the ultrasonic radiation direction is provided. Inspection equipment for automobiles.