JPH0755455A - Outer diameter and thickness measuring apparatus for pipe - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an apparatus for measuring the outer diameter and the thickness of a pipe in order to determine the extent of damage of pipe for boiler, for example, in which the measuring work is simplified by inputting the measurement data of pipe to a microcomputer and then arranging and editing the measurement data along with the measuring position data and identification data of pipe by means of the microcomputer. CONSTITUTION:Outer diameter of a pipe 15 is measured manually by means of a digital vernier calipers and the thickness is measures by means of an ultrasonic probe 2 and a thickness gauge 3. The measurements are inputted to a microcomputer 6 through communication lines 21, 20. On the other hand, measuring position and identification data of the pipe are inputted on input ten keys to the microcomputer 6 where the data is displayed on a liquid crystal display and stored in a memory card 7 after being arranged and edited. This constitution allows edition of many measurement data accurately through a simple measuring work.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an outer diameter and wall thickness measuring device for measuring outer diameter and wall thickness in order to adjust the degree of damage to tubes such as superheated tubes and reheated tubes of boilers.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, the boiler tube is measured by visually measuring the outer diameter with a caliper or by reading the measured data with a digital caliper and measuring the wall thickness with a UT sensor (ultrasonic probe). The data recorded along with the measurement positions of the tubes are recorded on a recording paper, the necessary measurement points are sequentially measured, and the memos are taken. Was compiled and the measurement data was organized, and various forms were manually created.

[0003]

For this reason, it is sometimes necessary to take a memo of the measured value in a dark boiler, which may result in an erroneous entry or a wrong measured value. In addition, reading the data from the recorded recording paper and organizing the data required a great deal of labor and nerves. This requires much labor as the number of measurement points increases.

Therefore, according to the conventional method, the outer peripheral surface of the pipe is measured at a pitch of 90 degrees at the maximum, and the minimum value of the outer diameter and the wall thickness is noted in the measurement. Therefore, it was not possible to obtain sufficient detailed data on the cross section of the pipe. or,
If such an outer diameter or wall thickness is to be measured and immediately recorded automatically, it is necessary to bring large-scale equipment such as a personal computer to the site and install it, which makes it difficult to work in a narrow boiler.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention inputs measured outer diameter data and wall thickness data of a pipe to a communication line or directly to a microcomputer, and further to a measurement position related to the measurement. And pipe type data, such as element number indicating the row of pipe, pipe identification number, measured height position of pipe, angular position on outer peripheral surface, etc., from an input device such as a numeric keypad to a separate microcomputer. The data is input, the data is organized according to a predetermined program, edited, recorded in an external storage device such as a memory card, and registered.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a rotating mechanism is used to enable continuous measurement of the outer peripheral surface of the pipe.
The differential transformer that measures the outer diameter and the ultrasonic probe that measures the wall thickness are rotated so that the outer peripheral surface of the pipe slides, and the sensor position on the outer peripheral surface is obtained with a potentiometer to easily obtain the cross-sectional shape of the pipe. It was made to be able to be done. Accurate and large amount of measurement data can be obtained by such means, and the measured data is organized, edited, and registered in the external storage device, so that the on-site labor is improved and the man-hour of the measurement work is significantly reduced. It is done.

That is, according to the invention of claim 1, a digital caliper for measuring the outer diameter of the pipe, an ultrasonic probe and an ultrasonic wall thickness gauge for measuring the wall thickness of the pipe, a measuring position of the pipe and An input device for inputting pipe identification data, a microcomputer for inputting data from the input device, measurement data of the digital calipers and data from the ultrasonic wall thickness gauge, and organizing and editing these data. The present invention provides a pipe outer diameter and wall thickness measuring device characterized by comprising an external memory for storing edited data from the same microcomputer.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a rack having an arc shape along the outer circumference of the pipe to be measured, a rotating mechanism for rotating the rack around the pipe, and a rack held by the rack,
A movable piece for a differential transformer and an ultrasonic wall thickness probe that rotate with the rotation of the rack and slide on the outer circumference of the tube, a potentiometer that detects a rotation angle in conjunction with the rotation of the rack, and From the input device for inputting the measurement position of the pipe and the identification data of the pipe, the data from the input device, the pipe outer diameter data from the differential transformer, the pipe wall thickness data from the ultrasonic wall thickness gauge, and the potentiometer. Pipe diameter and wall thickness measuring device characterized by comprising a microcomputer for inputting the rotation angle data of the above, organizing and editing the data, and an external memory for storing the edited data from the microcomputer. Is provided.

[0009]

Since the present invention is the means as described above, in the invention of claim 1, the outer diameter of the pipe is manually measured by a digital caliper, and the measured data is sent through a communication line or directly by a microcomputer. Is entered. Also, for the wall thickness data of the pipe, the ultrasonic probe is also manually contacted with the pipe surface,
The ultrasonic wall thickness meter oscillates an ultrasonic wave with a wavelength of 5 to 20 MHz from the probe, detects the sound waves that are hit back on the tube front surface and the tube back surface, and calculates the wall thickness based on the time difference and the speed of sound transmitted in the metal. , Or input directly to the microcomputer via the communication line. On the other hand, from the input device, the measurement position of the pipe, the identification data of the pipe, for example, the element number indicating the row of the pipe, the identification number of the pipe,
The height of the measuring position of the pipe, the angle of the outer peripheral surface, etc. are input to the microcomputer from an input device such as a numeric keypad. The input data such as outer diameter, wall thickness, pipe measuring device, identification, etc. are organized and edited by a microcomputer according to a predetermined program and stored in an external storage device such as a memory card. , Will be registered.

Further, in the invention of claim 2, when the pipe to be measured is clamped, the rack is rotated to a predetermined position by the rotating mechanism. A movable piece of a differential transformer and a probe for an ultrasonic wall thickness gauge are attached to the rack, and the outer diameter and wall thickness of the tube are semi-automatically slid along the outer circumference of the tube as the rack rotates. The measurement data is input to the microcomputer via a communication line or directly. Further, since the potentiometer measures the rotation angle in conjunction with the rotation of the rack and inputs the rotation angle to the microcomputer, in the invention of claim 1, the outer diameter, the wall thickness and the angle of the outer peripheral surface of the pipe are manually input from the input device. However, according to the second aspect of the present invention, the data is automatically input from the differential transformer mounted on the rack, the ultrasonic probe, and the potentiometer. The data input to the microcomputer in this manner is organized, edited, stored in an external storage device, and registered as in the first aspect of the invention.

Therefore, according to the first and second aspects of the present invention, a large amount of accurate measurement data can be obtained, and the measured data is organized, edited and registered in the external storage device, so that the measurement work is significantly performed. Be improved.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be specifically described below based on the embodiments shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a pipe outer diameter and wall thickness measuring apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 1 is a caliper for measuring the outer diameter of the pipe 15, and the measured value is a digital caliper converted into digital data.
2 is an ultrasonic probe for measuring the wall thickness of the tube 15
This is a device that oscillates an ultrasonic wave with a wavelength of 0 MHz to detect the acoustic waves reflected on the front and back surfaces of the tube 15 and sends a signal to the ultrasonic wall thickness gauge 3. The time difference between the two and the tube previously determined by the calibration piece Calculate the wall thickness based on the speed of sound transmitted in 15 metals,
It is output as a digital signal.

Reference numeral 6 denotes a microcomputer, to which the ten-key input device 5, the liquid crystal display 4, and the memory card 7 are respectively connected, and which receives the measured outer diameter and wall thickness of the pipe, and transmits these data in accordance with a predetermined program. It is organized and edited and displayed on the liquid crystal display 4 or stored in the memory card 7. Reference numeral 8 denotes a semi-automatic measuring instrument which will be described later in a second embodiment, which corresponds to the digital caliper 1 and the ultrasonic probe 2 in the first embodiment and is omitted in the drawing, but is input by a changeover switch or the like. It can be used by switching the method to semi-automatic.

Next, the operation of the first embodiment having such a configuration will be described. In FIG. 1, for the pipe to be measured 15,
The outer diameter is manually measured using the digital caliper 1, and the measured value as digital data is based on the communication function (the communication method differs depending on the caliper manufacturer, but usually serial communication is used to reduce wiring). It is sent to the microcomputer 6 via the communication line 20. If the distance to the microcomputer 6 is short, the measurement data may be directly input to the microcomputer 6 instead of the communication line 20.

As for the wall thickness of the pipe 15, the ultrasonic probe 2 is manually pressed against the pipe 15 in the same manner as the outside diameter measurement with a caliper to emit an ultrasonic wave. From the time difference between the surface wave echo reflected from 15 and the back wave echo, the wall thickness is calculated and measured by the speed of sound passing through the target metal that has been calibrated in advance, and is also converted into digital data to be serial data as communication line 21. Then, the thickness is transmitted by communicating with the microcomputer 6. This communication line 21
Of course, if the distance from the microcomputer 6 is short, it may be directly input.

The data of the tube outer diameter and the wall thickness are temporarily stored in the memory inside the microcomputer 6 and the liquid crystal display unit 4
You can check the contents. Liquid crystal display unit 4
If the measured value displayed on is abnormal or is judged to be incorrect, instruct re-measurement, and if it is judged to be correct, know which position of the tube was measured. Like the pipe position information (for example, the element number indicating the pipe row of the boiler, the pipe number, the height position, and the wall thickness at which position on the outer circumference of the pipe, etc.) is a numeric keypad input device in accordance with a predetermined rule. Input to microcomputer 6 at 5.

Since the input numerical information is displayed on the liquid crystal display 4, after confirming that all the information is correct on the display 4, the ten-key input device 5 instructs the microcomputer 6 to register. The microcomputer 6 checks that the input data is correct according to a predetermined rule, edits the data according to a predetermined program, and registers (memorizes) the data in the memory card 7. By sequentially performing this, data such as the number of the pipe measured on the memory card 7, the circumferential position of the measurement point, the position in the length direction, the outer diameter of the pipe corresponding to them, the wall thickness, etc. Since the items are arranged and recorded in order, it is necessary to manually take a note on the recording paper each time and tabulate and organize them.

Reference numeral 8 is a semi-automatic measuring instrument according to a second embodiment which will be described later, and is connected by a changeover switch (not shown) or the like, and a microcomputer is used instead of the digital caliper 1, the ultrasonic probe 2 and the wall thickness gauge 3. 6 can be input. The data from the measuring instrument 8 is processed in the same manner as above.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the construction of a pipe outer diameter and wall thickness measuring apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In the second embodiment, reference numerals 2 to 7 are the same as those in the first embodiment,
The characteristic point is that the semi-automatic measurement including the portions indicated by reference numerals 9 to 14 is performed. This is because the first embodiment directly measures the pipe 15 manually, whereas the second embodiment
In the embodiment, the outer diameter and the wall thickness of the pipe 15 are continuously obtained as data by a sensor described later orbiting the outer periphery of the pipe 15, and the outer peripheral position of the pipe 15 is automatically measured, so that it can be manually operated. It reduces the measurement work.

In FIG. 2, 14 is a whole of the manual rotary type measuring instrument, and 11 is a sensor driving gear box which is internally equipped with gears and to which a sensor driving handle 13 is connected. Reference numeral 10 denotes a sensor-driven arc rack, which has an arc shape, meshes with a gear in the sensor-drive gear box 11, and rotates the sensor-drive handle 13 to ±.
It rotates 45 degrees. Reference numeral 12 denotes a potentiometer which is coupled with a gear in the sensor drive gear box 11 to detect the rotation angle of the sensor drive arc rack and converts this angle information into digital data.

A differential transformer 9 and an ultrasonic probe 2 are mounted on the inner peripheral side of the sensor-driven circular rack 10 so as to slide on the surface of the pipe 15, respectively. It is designed to slide on the surface of and move on the circumference. The differential transformer 9 converts the amount of change into a change in voltage by a member that moves in and out in response to a change in the circumferential surface of the tube 15, and inputs it to the microcomputer 6 as a digital value. (Note that the ultrasonic probe 2 and the tube 15 of the differential transformer 9
The state of contact with is shown in the A section as an AA cross section. ) Next, the operation of the second embodiment having such a configuration will be described. In FIG. 2, the manual rotary measuring instrument 14 is
When the tube 15 is clamped by a clamp mechanism (not shown), the sensor-driven arc rack 10 is set so as to match the center of the tube 15, and the ultrasonic probe 2 and the differential transformer 9 are pressed against the surface of the tube 15. The outer diameter of the tube 15 is detected as a change in voltage of the differential transformer 9 as a change in voltage, the voltage is converted into a digital value length from a value calibrated by a calibration piece in advance, and is stored in the microcomputer 6 and edited. After that, it is registered in the memory card 7. The microcomputer 6 memorizes the measured values of the minimum and maximum diameters of the tube with the differential transformer, and linearly interpolates between them to obtain the outer diameter. Further, for the measurement of the outer diameter, the measurement data is transferred to a higher-order computer, the center point of the pipe 15 is obtained by the least-squares method by this higher-order computer, and the displacement of the radius is obtained from this center point. It is also possible to obtain the outer diameter together with the measurement on the surface opposite to the outer circumference of the pipe.

The wall thickness is the same as that of the sensor-driven circular rack 10.
Data is obtained through the ultrasonic wall thickness gauge 3 by the ultrasonic probe 2 attached to the. The position of the outer periphery of the pipe 15 at this time was manually input by the ten-key input device 5 in the first embodiment, but can be obtained by the potentiometer 12 from the rotation angle of the arc rack 10. Other position information of the pipe 15 (number of pipe, height position, etc.) is input from the ten-key input device 5 as in the first embodiment to obtain data for a half circumference of the pipe 15. The potentiometer 12 has a resistance value that changes in proportion to the rotation angle.
The arbitrary angular position can be found by memorizing the data of the 0 degree position and performing linear interpolation between them. Since the second embodiment measures the half circumference of the pipe, the other half, that is, 180
For 360 degrees, it is possible to instruct the microcomputer to add 180 degrees because it is measured with the same measuring instrument, and it is possible to acquire data for the entire circumference.

The sensor-driven circular rack 10 is driven by rotating the sensor-driving handle 13 so that the sensor-driven circular rack 10 is housed in the sensor-driven gear box 11 to rotate the sensor-driven circular rack 10 by ± 45 degrees via the gears. At this time, when the sensor-driven arc rack 10 rotates, this rotation is transmitted via the gear, and the potentiometer 12 inputs the rotational position information into the microcomputer 6 for automatic measurement.

The functions of the microcomputer 6, the liquid crystal display 4, the ten-key input device 5, and the operation of the memory card 7 are the same as those in the first embodiment described above, and the description thereof will be omitted. Again 1
Is a digital caliper and is connected by switching with a changeover switch (not shown) or the like. Instead of the manual rotary measuring instrument 14, the digital caliper 1 is used to input the outer diameter, and the probe 2 is also manually moved. It is also possible to input and output wall thickness data.

FIG. 3 shows the data of the outer diameter and the wall thickness of the pipe, which are measured as in the first and second embodiments described above, are intensively processed by another central data processing device in the field such as a boiler facility. It is a block diagram of the treatment apparatus in case of performing. The communication function of the outer diameter / wall thickness simple recording device 16 having a communication function installed at the site or the memory card 7 is removed, and this is inserted into the slot of the communication device, and is transferred to another office via the communication circuit 22. The measurement result is transferred to the installed data processing device 17. The data processing device 17 can calculate reports for various customers, information on aged deterioration of pipes, etc., and output various forms 19 with the printer 18. As a result, it is possible to automatically output the fact that the form was handwritten while accumulating the recording papers that the person notes.

[0026]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, when the outer diameter and the wall thickness of the boiler tube, etc. are measured by the ultrasonic probe and the caliper, the measurement data is input to the microcomputer. As a device for organizing and editing the measurement data with the input device and the display device and storing it in the external storage device,
In addition, since a device that holds the ultrasonic probe and the differential transformer and rotates around the outer circumference of the pipe is provided, and a device for inputting the data in the circumferential position of the measurement position of the pipe using the potentiometer is used. , Organizing and editing measurement data, which was conventionally created manually, and the creation of forms associated with this are mechanized,
Accurate data can be organized, and the number of man-hours for these operations can be significantly reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a device configuration diagram of a pipe outer diameter and wall thickness measuring apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a device configuration diagram of a pipe outer diameter and wall thickness measuring apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a device of a data processing device when centrally processing the measurement data in the first and second embodiments of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Digital caliper 2 Ultrasonic probe 3 Ultrasonic thickness gauge 4 Liquid crystal display 5 Numerical keypad input device 6 Microcomputer 7 Memory card 9 Differential transformer 10 Sensor-driven arc rack 11 Sensor-driven gearbox 12 Potentiometer 13 Sensor drive handle 14 Manual rotary measuring instrument 15 tubes

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A digital caliper for measuring an outer diameter of a pipe, an ultrasonic probe and an ultrasonic wall thickness gauge for measuring a wall thickness of the pipe, and a measurement position of the pipe and identification data of the pipe are input. And an input device for inputting data from the input device, the digital caliper measurement data and the ultrasonic wall thickness gauge, and organizing and editing these data, and editing data from the microcomputer. An external diameter and wall thickness measuring device for a pipe, comprising: 2. A rack having an arc shape along the outer circumference of a pipe to be measured, a rotating mechanism for rotating the rack around the pipe, a rack held by the rack, and rotating with the rotation of the rack to rotate the rack. Movable piece for differential transformer and ultrasonic thickness gauge probe that slides on the outer circumference of the pipe, potentiometer that detects the rotation angle in conjunction with the rotation of the rack, measurement position of the pipe, and identification data of the pipe Input device for inputting, data from the input device, pipe outer diameter data from the differential transformer, pipe wall thickness data from the ultrasonic wall thickness gauge, and rotation angle data from the potentiometer are input. A pipe outer diameter and wall thickness measuring device comprising a microcomputer for organizing and editing data, and an external memory for storing editing data from the microcomputer.