JPS60256032A - Remote visual inspection apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enlarge a visually observable range by improving the insertion property of an inspection head while facilitating the location of the inspection head, by forming the guide tube for a remote visual inspection apparatus from a grid structure and providing a guide rail and a position code to said guide tube. CONSTITUTION:A guide tube 20 consists of a ring 11 being a circumferentially directed member and a rail 12 being an axially directed member. The rail 12 has functions, which secures the space permitting the passage of an inspection head 9 and locates the inspection head 9 in the circumferential direction as the structure of the guide tube 20. A guide groove 14 is provided to the inspection head 9 and, by inlaying said guide groove 14 with a guide rail 13, the inspection head 9 can smoothly move through the guide tube 20. A proper code 21 is preliminarily provided to the inner surface of each ring 11 and read by the inspection head 9. By this method, the location of the inspection head 9 in the axial direction is enabled.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Application of the Invention] The present invention is applicable to monitoring and inspection of pressure vessels, mechanical equipment, etc. that are located in locations that are impossible or inappropriate for human access due to high radiation, high temperature, or narrow spaces. The present invention relates to a remote visual inspection device used to visually confirm necessary parts.

[Background of the invention]

FIG. 1 shows an example of a generally used guide tube type visual inspection device. concrete floor 1. Consider a case where it is necessary to visually inspect the central region of the body of an inspection object (for example, a container, piping, etc.) 4 installed in a room surrounded by walls 2 and a ceiling 3, particularly a welded joint 5.

At this time, the guide tube 6 is generally placed at the part of the welded joint 5 to be inspected through the through hole 8 in the floor 7, which is accessible to one person. For this reason, it is preferable that the guide tube 6 has a structure that allows easy deformation and processing and allows the viewing range of the necessary portion to be as wide as possible. Further, as a visual inspection device inserted into the interior, a fiberscope or the like is usually used.

FIGS. 8 and 9 show the structure of a guide tube 6 that has been commonly used in the past. The guide pipe 6 is a metal pipe, and has a window in a part where visual inspection is required.

This type of visual inspection device requires the following two requirements. In other words, the first thing to do is to have as wide a field of view as possible. In the metal pipe type guide tube, the observation window 10 is provided by machining. For this reason, the guide tube 6 is connected to the product to be inspected 4.
Considering that it is necessary to perform deformation along the guide tube 6, it is desirable to perform this machining after deformation of the guide tube 6, which makes the machining troublesome. Furthermore, since there is a limit to the aperture ratio of the observation window 10, there is also a limit to the visible range. This becomes a big problem especially when it is desired to view a certain space widely.

Further, guide tube type remote inspection devices are generally used for inspection of narrow spaces. In such a case, it is important to accurately grasp the viewing direction and the position of the inspection head 9.

However, in the conventional structure as shown in FIG. 8, it is impossible to position the inspection head 9 having a viewing lens in the circumferential direction of the guide tube 6. In addition, the inspection head 9 is connected to the observation window 10.
It's difficult to even point it in the right direction.

Furthermore, it is possible to grasp the position of the guide tube 6 in the longitudinal direction by providing an appropriate position symbol on the inner surface of the guide tube 6 and visually observing it. However, if the circumferential position of the inspection head cannot be determined, It is also difficult to provide position marks on the inner wall surface of the building.

In general, in this type of inspection device, if a problem occurs in relation to the guide tube, for example, in a situation where the inspection head 9 cannot be inserted or pulled out on the accessible floor 7 in FIG. 1, the guide tube 6 It is preferable to be able to inspect the inspection device from outside, but in the case of the conventional method as shown in Figure 2, it is impossible to inspect the inspection device from outside. Since the festival window 10 usually has only a small amount of space, or is located on the side that is virtually impossible to access, there is a significant difficulty in carrying out this inspection.

From the viewpoint of insertability of the inspection head 9 into the guide tube 6, in this conventional structure, the observation window mark serves as a guide mechanism for the guide tube 6 (
Because the inner wall of the guide tube is discontinuous, there is a high possibility that the inspection head 9 will stick as described above.

[Purpose of the invention]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to facilitate the circumferential and axial positioning and grasping of the position of an inspection head within the guide tube in a remote inspection device having a guide tube, and to insert the inspection head within the guide tube.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a remote inspection device that improves the ease with which the guide tube can be pulled out and also facilitates inspection from the outside surface of the guide tube in case of an emergency.

[Summary of the invention]

The present invention adopts a wire mesh-like lattice structure instead of the conventional pipe notch type guide tube, and makes the inner surface structure of the guide tube uniform to improve the ease of insertion of the inspection head. Guide the lattice while expanding the range circumferentially of the tube.

Utilizing it as an axial guide rail and position coordinates makes it easier to determine and grasp the position, and also makes inspection from the outside of the guide tube easier.

[Embodiments of the invention]

An embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 1(a), (b) and 2.
This will be explained using figures. FIG. 1(b) is an enlarged view of part B.

The transparent tube 20 is made up of a ring 11 which is a circumferential member and a rail 12 which is an axial member.

It is appropriate for the material of both to be metal from the point of view of strength 2 manufacturing method, etc., but in this embodiment, the material is not limited as long as it can ensure the function as an appropriate structure.

The rings 11 have a function of holding the rails 12 at appropriate intervals in the circumferential direction, and are provided at appropriate intervals in the axial direction.

The rail 12 serves as a structure for the guide tube 20 and the inspection head 9
The inspection head 9 has a function of positioning the inspection head 9 in the circumferential direction. A rail that has a guiding function and engages with the inspection head is particularly referred to as a guide rail 13.

On the other hand, the inspection head 9 is provided with a guide groove 4, which engages with the guide rail 13, allowing the inspection head 9 to move smoothly within the guide tube 20 and positioning in the circumferential direction. can be done.

In addition, a rail 12 is provided in front of the lens 15 of the inspection head 9.
installation can be omitted.

Such a wire mesh lattice structure guide tube has the following effects.

First, the inspection head 9 has a guide rail 13 and a guide groove 14.
Since the relative positional relationship in the circumferential direction is completely fixed, if the guide tube 20 is fixed in an appropriate direction,
The necessary inspection target area can be visually observed with extremely good reproducibility. in this case.

Other than the ring 11, there is nothing blocking the front of the field of vision.
In general, this ring 11 occupies only a small length (width of the ring 11) compared to the total length of the guide tube 20, so compared to the conventional structure where it can be seen only through the notched observation window 10, the visible range is narrower. to improve.

On the other hand, positioning in the axial direction is possible by controlling the insertion amount of the inspection head 9 and the cable connected to it from the groundable floor 7, but it is difficult to grasp the position with the conventional method, as shown in Figure 1 (b). ), this is possible by providing an appropriate code 21 on the inner surface of each ring 11 in advance and reading this with the inspection head 9.

Furthermore, most of the guide tube 20 has an open structure that allows inspection from the outside, which is advantageous in terms of ventilation when the inspection head 9 has a heat generating component such as a light source. This is very advantageous in the event that the inspection head 9 becomes stuck and requires adjustment or repair from the outside.

Further, in such a guide tube having a wire mesh lattice structure, the inner surface in contact with the inspection head 9 is the rail 12 or the guide rail 13, and can be made completely uniform in the axial direction of the guide tube 20.

This improves insertion ease compared to the conventional pipe notch type, which has a notch in the axial direction, and reduces the possibility of sticking. In particular, if necessary, the effect can be further improved by employing a lubricating metal or a bearing structure for the guide rail 13 and guide groove 14.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show another embodiment of the present invention.

This embodiment differs from the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 in the structure of the guide rail 10.

That is, in the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the guide rail uses the same rail as the other rails constituting the structure as the guide tube 23. In this case, if the arrangement of the rails 12 in the circumferential direction is uniform, when the inspection head 9 is inserted through the through hole 8 of the accessible floor 7, the circumferential fit with the guide groove 14 in the inspection head 9 will be improved. Visual observation in any direction was possible by changing the position.

However, in some cases, a more reliable guide mechanism may be desirable even if the degree of freedom in the viewing direction is disadvantageous.

The embodiments shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 are examples in which the structure of the guide rail 16 is different from that of the other rails 12, assuming such a case.

In this case as well, an improvement in accuracy can be expected by using Oiles metal or bearings to engage the guide rail 16 with the guide groove 14.

In addition, in the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the ring 1
It is also easy to automatically detect, record, and control the position of the inspection head 9 by regarding 1 as the coordinate in the axial direction of the guide tube and detecting this mechanically or electrically.

FIGS. 5 and 6yA show other embodiments of the present invention.

Depending on the device in which the inspection device is used, it may be preferable that the guide tube 6 is hermetically sealed or that a pipe cutout type is used.

In such a case, this modification provides a pipe cutout type structure that allows positioning.

5 and 6, a guide rail 16 is provided inside the guide tube 6 by a method such as welding or gluing. By engaging this with the guide groove 14 provided in the inspection head 9, it is possible to determine the position of the inspection head 9 in the circumferential direction.

In this case, the method of axial positioning of the guide tube 6 can be the same as in the embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 to 4.

This method is particularly suitable in cases where it is not appropriate to adopt a wire mesh lattice structure such as acrylic for the guide tube.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, by adopting a wire mesh-like lattice structure in the guide tube for a remote visual inspection device used by being inserted into the guide tube, insertability of the inspection head is improved, the visible range is expanded, and inspection This has the effect of making it easier to position the head in the circumferential direction and axial direction and to grasp the position.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1(a) is a structural diagram of a guide tube used in a remote visual inspection device according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1(b) is an enlarged view of section B in FIG. 1(a), and FIG. Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view in the direction perpendicular to the axis of Figure 1 (a), Figure 3 (a) is a structural diagram of another embodiment of the guide tube, and Figure 3 (b) is a cross-sectional view of the tube in Figure 3 (a). Figure 4 is an enlarged view of part 0 showing the axial cross section of the guide tube when two of the constituent grids have been modified specifically for use as a guide.
FIG. 5 is a structural diagram of another embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 6 is a Vl-VIB sectional view of FIG. 5, and FIG. Fig. 8 is a structural diagram of a conventional remote inspection device with an observation window cut into a metal pipe and a guide tube, and Fig. 9 is a sectional view taken along line IX-IX in Fig. 8. be. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11...Ring, 12...Rail, 13...Guide rail, 14...Guide groove, 15...Lens, 1
6... Guy Shizuka 7m /J // Grandpa, 3m

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A remote visual inspection device comprising a guide tube and a visual inspection head that moves within the guide tube, characterized in that the guide tube has a lattice structure and is provided with a guide rail and a position code. .