JPS5839284B2 - Pipe shape measuring device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an apparatus that can automatically measure the circumference, wall thickness, etc. of any part of a steel pipe on a pipe production line without removing it from the pipe production line.

In a pipe manufacturing line, there is a work process in which the wall thickness and other dimensions of a portion to be cut, which is to become the end of a finished product, are measured.

Conventionally, these dimensions have been measured by an optical method, a radiation method, a mechanical method, or a combination thereof, but such measurement methods require complicated equipment and have insufficient measurement accuracy.

An object of the present invention is to eliminate the drawbacks of conventional measuring means by providing a device that can automatically and accurately measure various dimensions without removing the steel pipe to be measured from the pipe manufacturing line.

Roughly dividing each component in the device of the present invention, it includes a pair of ultrasonic detection sections that engage with the outer circumferential surface of the steel pipe to be measured, and a pair of ultrasonic detection sections that are held at opposite positions in the horizontal direction so as to be able to move symmetrically. A width adjustment mechanism, an elevation adjustment mechanism that adjusts the vertical position of the width adjustment mechanism, a support mechanism that supports the elevation adjustment mechanism, and a measurement circuit that electrically processes a detection signal from the ultrasonic detection section. It consists of

The apparatus of the present invention has a centering configuration in which the detection section is positioned at an appropriate position of the steel pipe to be measured, that is, correctly opposed to the diameter of the steel pipe, using the width adjustment mechanism and the elevation adjustment mechanism described above.

As such a centering structure, the apparatus of the present invention employs a mechanical type and an electro-mechanical type using electric equipment.

Further, as support mechanisms for the apparatus main body, there are those that fix the apparatus main body at an optimum position on the pipe production line, and those that allow the apparatus main body to be moved around this optimum position.

Although these mechanisms can be arbitrarily combined as needed, two typical embodiments will be described below with reference to the drawings.

The first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 uses an electro-mechanical centering mechanism and a mechanism for fixing the device body, which engages with the outer peripheral surface of the steel pipe P to be measured. and a pair of ultrasonic detectors 1 equipped with a load cell 143 that detects the contact pressure at each securing point, and a pair of support arms that hold the ultrasonic detectors 1 in opposing positions in the horizontal direction. 21 and 1
Width adjustment mechanism 2 equipped with differential screw members 21 and 22 that move the pair of support arms 21 symmetrically in the horizontal direction, and elevation adjustment mechanism 3 equipped with screw members 32 that move the width adjustment mechanism 2 up and down.
It consists of a support frame 4 that fixes and supports the elevation adjustment mechanism at a predetermined position on the pipe manufacturing line, and a measurement circuit 6 that electrically processes the detection signal from the ultrasonic detector 1.

On the other hand, the second embodiment shown in FIGS. 5 to 7 uses a mechanical centering mechanism and a mechanism that movably supports the device body, and the outer circumferential surface of the steel pipe P to be measured is An ultrasonic detection unit 1a including a pair of pneumatic cylinders 13a that are elastically engaged, a support arm 21a that holds the ultrasonic detection unit 1a in a horizontally opposing position, and a support arm 21a that holds the ultrasonic detection unit 1a in a horizontally opposing position. The differential screw members 15a and 131 are moved symmetrically to
The width adjustment mechanism 23 includes a width adjustment mechanism 23, the elevation adjustment mechanism 33 includes a pneumatic cylinder 32a that moves the width adjustment mechanism 2a up and down, and the elevation adjustment mechanism 3a is movably supported near a predetermined position on the pipe manufacturing line. A support mechanism 4a and a measurement circuit 6 (FIG. 4) that electrically processes the detection signal from the ultrasonic detector 1a.
It consists of

First, a first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4.

As shown in FIG. 1, for example, an ultrasonic probe is used as the detection element 11 in the ultrasonic detection unit 1 of this embodiment,
It is supported at the tip of a support pipe 13 by an element holder 12, and the left and right detection parts have a completely symmetrical structure.

The detection section is provided with an abutment guide 14 having guide rollers 141 disposed at upper and lower positions close to the detection element 11, respectively.

This abutting guide 14 is spline-engaged with the support pipe 13 and can only slide in the axial direction, not in the circumferential direction of the pipe 13, and is always supported by the reaction force of the spring 15. A suppression tendency is attached toward the detection end.

The positions of the engagement tips of the upper and lower guide rollers are exactly the same, and when these two guide rollers contact the steel pipe P to be measured with the same pressure, the detection end of the detection element 11 is aligned in the axial direction of the steel pipe. This is how it should be.

For this reason, as shown in FIG.
A load cell 143 is installed inside the bearing part of the guide roller 141 using a spring 142 so as to operate in conjunction with the guide roller 141, and the contact load applied to the pair of upper and lower guide rolls 141 can be led out and detected. That's how it is.

The ultrasonic detection unit 1 is attached to the tip of the support arm 21 of the width adjustment mechanism 2.

The support arm 21 is combined in a symmetrical structure on the left and right sides, similar to the ultrasonic detection unit 1, and the upper support end side has a width adjustment holder 22.
The left and right sides are opposite threads (right-hand thread and left-hand thread)
It is threaded to form a differential screw member.

As shown in FIG. 2, the free end of the support arm 21 is connected to a guide shaft 24 which extends in parallel to and exits from the lifting block 31 at intervals.
are connected to each other.

The width adjustment holder 22 is rotatably held by the lifting block 31, and is rotated by operating the width adjustment handle 23, thereby moving the pair of left and right support arms 21, which are fitted with reverse screws, in opposite directions. By symmetrical movement (differential screw action), the detection width formed at the center by the pair of left and right ultrasonic detection sections 1 can be adjusted to expand or contract.

The width adjustment error is absorbed and canceled out by the spring 15.

The lifting block 31 of the lifting adjustment mechanism 3 is supported by a screw shaft 32 that supports the center of gravity so that the vertical position can be adjusted, and as shown in FIG. 33 is upright so that the lifting and lowering operations can be performed stably.

Since a relatively large load is applied to the screw shaft 32, a thick square screw shaft is used, and it is screwed into the female thread 341 of the bevel gear 34 provided on the ceiling 41 of the support frame 4, so that it can be moved up and down. The height can be adjusted by operating the handle 35.

Since water is used as a medium for the ultrasonic probe used in the ultrasonic detection section of this device, medium passages 311 and 211 are provided in the lifting block 31, width adjustment holder 22, support arm 21, and support pipe 13, respectively.

131 is provided so that water sent from the medium supply system 5 can be supplied to the detection element 11.

Next, the operation of the apparatus of the first embodiment will be explained.

First, by operating the width adjustment handle 23, the detection width of the ultrasonic detector 1 is set in advance in accordance with the nominal outer diameter of the steel pipe P to be measured.

This width setting is performed using various length gauges.

Next, operate the lifting handle 35 and lift the lifting block 31.
is lowered to align the left and right sets of ultrasonic detection units 1 to positions corresponding to the diametrical line of the steel pipe.

Each of the guide rollers 141 provided in the ultrasonic detection section is equipped with a load cell 143. As shown in FIG. 4, the contact load applied to each roller 141 is directly introduced into the control circuit 61, so that In each ultrasonic detection section, when the detected loads of the load cells on the upper and lower rollers are balanced, it is determined that the detection element 11 is in the correct engagement position, and the control circuit 61 issues a start signal and the operation is performed at that position. Height adjustment is complete.

During measurement, the steel pipe P to be measured is rotated, ultrasonic waves are emitted from each detection element 11, and reflected waves B1. B'1 and the reflected wave from the tube inner surface B2. B'
2 is received by the transmitting/receiving circuit 62, displayed in the storage/display circuit 63, converted into a numerical value by the A/D converter 64, and then the reflection round trip time is calculated by the calculating circuit 6.
5, and display the measurement results of the pipe diameter and wall thickness on the record display 66.

Since the nominal outer diameter, outer diameter upper and lower limits, wall thickness upper and lower limits, sensing element spacing, etc. of the steel pipe to be measured are preset in the arithmetic circuit 65, the outer diameter of the steel pipe is calculated as follows: D = L (11 + 132 ), and the wall thickness T can be directly determined from tl and t2.

Fine adjustment of the position setting error of the detection element 11 can also be performed as follows.

The positioning error of the detection element in the horizontal diametrical direction of the steel pipe P to be measured is absorbed and offset by the spring 15 attached to the support pipe 13.

The positioning error of the detection element in the vertical diametrical direction of the steel pipe P to be measured can be determined while the measurer observes the pulse height, width, interval, etc. appearing on the screens 8a and 8b of the memory scope schematically shown in Fig. 4. , by finely adjusting the rotation of the handle 35.

Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 to 1.

The ultrasonic detection unit 1a in this embodiment is similar to that in the first embodiment;
This is substantially the same as the ultrasonic detection section 1 in the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 1, an element holder 12a that supports the detection element 11a is fixed to one end of a pneumatic cylinder 13a.

A thread 131a is cut on the outer periphery of the reduced diameter portion of the pneumatic cylinder 13a, and a worm wheel 15a having a female thread cut on the inner surface and a worm gear cut on the outer surface is attached to the thread 131a.

These members constitute a differential screw member.

The worm wheel 15a is held by a support arm 21a of a width adjustment mechanism 2a, which will be described later, so that it can rotate but is restricted from moving in the axial direction.

The piston rod 132a of the pneumatic cylinder 13a passes through the inside of the reduced diameter portion of the cylinder, and an abutment guide 14a holding a guide roller 141 is fixed to the tip thereof.

Water is supplied from the medium supply system 5 into the element holder 12a as a medium for ultrasonic flaw detection.

The width adjustment mechanism 2a includes a support arm 21 having a substantially arch shape.
a, a driving bevel gear 22a, a pair of driven bevel gears 24a, a pair of connecting rods 25a, and a pair of worms 26a.

As best shown in FIG. 5, the center portion of the support arm 21a is connected to a pneumatic cylinder 32a of a lifting adjustment mechanism 33, which will be described later.
The support arm 21a is connected to the piston rod 321a, and the above-mentioned ultrasonic detection section 1a is attached to both ends of the support arm 21a.

The aforementioned worm wheel 15a is rotatably supported at the end of the support arm 21a, and the pneumatic cylinder 13a is supported so as to be slidable in the axial direction without being rotatable.

A driven bevel gear 24a is attached to the upper end of the connecting rod 25a, and a worm 26a is provided to the lower end.

The width adjustment handle 23a is rotatably supported at the center of the support arm 21a, and the drive bevel gear 22a is fixed to the rotation center axis 231a of the width adjustment handle 23a.

A pair of driven bevel gears 24a mesh with the driving bevel gear 22a, and the worm 26a meshes with the worm wheel 15a.

Therefore, by turning the width adjustment handle 23a, the pair of pneumatic cylinders 13a are moved symmetrically with respect to the axis of the steel pipe P to be measured (differential screw action).

As shown in FIG. 5, the elevation adjustment mechanism 33 is made up of a pneumatic cylinder 32a and a truck 34a.

The pneumatic cylinder 32a is fixed to the truck 34a, and the tip of the piston rod 321a of the pneumatic cylinder 32a is connected to the center of the support arm 21a.

Wheels 341a are rotatably attached to both ends of the trolley 34a, and engage with rails 41a of a support mechanism 4a, which will be described later.

As shown in FIG. 5, the support mechanism 4a consists of a set of rails 41a spaced apart in parallel in the vertical and horizontal directions, and is installed at a predetermined location on the pipe manufacturing line.

As shown in the figure, a pair of upper and lower wheels 41a are the wheels 34.
1a is sandwiched and supported from above and below, so the wheels 341a
will not rise from the rail 41a.

The operation of the device of the second embodiment will be explained.

First, several types of measurement units are prepared in advance, corresponding to various dimensional ranges of the steel pipe to be measured.

This measurement unit has an ultrasonic detection section 1 mounted on a support arm 21a.
A is attached as described above.

Select an appropriate measuring unit based on the nominal dimensions of the steel pipe to be measured, and
1a and roughly adjust the height position.

Next, turn the width adjustment handle 23a to
The horizontal facing distance of a is roughly adjusted.

In this way, the measuring device that is roughly ready for centering is moved, and the steel pipe to be measured P that is waiting at the measuring position is
to engage.

Fine adjustment of centering is performed using pneumatic cylinders 13a1 and 32a.
This is done automatically by activating both simultaneously.

That is, the horizontal and vertical centering errors are absorbed and offset by the elastic pressing force of each pneumatic cylinder.

In this way, the measurement work described above is performed.

According to the measuring device of the present invention, it is possible to measure the dimensions at any part in the longitudinal direction of the steel pipe, so the dimensions of the portion to be cut can be measured in advance, thereby eliminating the need for unnecessary cutting operations.

Further, by relatively spirally moving the steel pipe and the measuring device, it becomes possible to check the outer diameter and wall thickness over the entire length of the pipe in a spiral manner.

Since this device can be installed directly on the pipe manufacturing line, measurement operations can be performed automatically online, greatly contributing to improving work efficiency.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a partially sectional front view showing a tube shape measuring device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 is a thousand-year map seen from line II-II in Figure 1. FIG. 3 is a partial sectional view of the guide roller. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the measurement operation. FIG. 5 is a partially sectional front view showing a tube shape measuring device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a partially cutaway side view taken along the line ■-■ in FIG. FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view taken along the line ■-■ in FIG. 1: Ultrasonic detection unit, 11: Detection element, 12: Element holder, 13:
Support pipe, 14: Contact guide, 15: Spring, 2: Width adjustment mechanism, 21: Support arm, 22: Width adjustment holder, 23
: Width adjustment handle, 24 guide shafts, 3: Lift adjustment mechanism, 3 lift blocks, 32: Screw shaft, 33 guide shafts,
34: bevel gear, 35: lifting handle, 4: support frame,
5: Medium supply system, 6: Measurement circuit, 61: Control device, 62
: Ultrasonic transmitting/receiving circuit, 63: Memory/display circuit, 64: A
/D converter, 65: Arithmetic circuit, 66: Recording/display device, 7
: turning roller, P: steel pipe to be measured, 1a: ultrasonic detection section, 11a: detection element, 12a: element holder, 13
a: Pneumatic cylinder, 14a: Contact guide, 15a: Worm wheel, 2a: Width adjustment mechanism, 21a: Support arm, 22a: Drive bevel gear, 23a: Width adjustment handle, 2
4a: Driven bevel gear, 25a: Connecting rod, 26a: Worm, 3a: Lifting adjustment mechanism, 32a: Pneumatic cylinder, 34a
: Trolley, 4a: Support mechanism, 41a: Rail.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A pair of ultrasonic detectors that engage with the outer circumferential surface of a steel pipe to be measured, a width adjustment mechanism that holds the ultrasonic detectors in horizontally opposed positions so as to be able to move symmetrically; Pipe shape measurement consisting of an elevation adjustment mechanism that adjusts the vertical position of the width adjustment mechanism, a support mechanism that supports the elevation adjustment mechanism, and a measurement circuit that electrically processes detection signals from the ultrasonic detection section. Device. 2 A pair of ultrasonic detectors equipped with a load gel that engages with the outer circumferential surface of the steel pipe to be measured and detects the contact pressure at each securing point, and the ultrasonic detectors are placed in opposite positions in the horizontal direction. a width adjustment mechanism that includes a pair of support arms that are held in place, and a differential screw member that moves the pair of support arms symmetrically in the horizontal direction; and a lift adjustment mechanism that includes a screw member that moves the width adjustment mechanism up and down. Claim 1, which comprises a mechanism, a support frame that fixes and supports the lifting adjustment mechanism at a predetermined position on a pipe manufacturing line, and a measurement circuit that electrically processes a detection signal from the ultrasonic detection section. Pipe shape measuring device 3 described in Section 3: an ultrasonic detection unit including a pair of pneumatic cylinders that are elastically engaged with the outer circumferential surface of a steel pipe to be measured, and the ultrasonic detection unit is held at opposing positions in the horizontal direction. A width adjustment mechanism including a support arm and a differential screw member that moves the ultrasonic detection section symmetrically in a horizontal direction, an elevation adjustment mechanism including a pneumatic cylinder that moves the width adjustment mechanism up and down, and the elevation adjustment. The pipe according to claim 1, comprising a support mechanism that movably supports the mechanism near a predetermined position on a pipe production line, and a measurement circuit that electrically processes a detection signal from the ultrasonic detection section. Shape measuring device.