Automated system for controlling the quality of regularly-shaped products during their manufacture

Claim 1

A method for obtaining nondestructive measurements of regularly-shaped objects, comprising: a) scanning an object with a plurality of penetrating radiation sources along a plurality of paths through a cross-section of the object; b) generating signals representative of the radiation attenuation along each of the plurality of paths; c) converting the attenuation signals to signals representative of the density/length of the object along each of the plurality of paths; d) processing the density/length signals to determine, by use of a computer model of the object to be examined, dimensional measurements of the cross-section of the object scanned; e) measuring the temperature at the cross-section of the object as it is being scanned and generating temperature signal representative of the temperature at the scanned cross-section of the object; and f) predicting the dimensional measurements of the scanned cross-section at a desired temperature from the temperature signal and dimensional measurements obtained at the existing temperature of the scanned cross-section using dilatometry data specific to the dimension measured.

Claim 2

A method for obtaining nondestructive measurements of regularly-shaped objects, comprising: a) scanning an object with a plurality of penetrating radiation sources along a plurality of paths through a cross-section of the object; b) generating signals representative of the radiation attenuation along each of the plurality of paths; c) converting the attenuation signals to signals representative of the density/length of the object along each of the plurality of paths; d) processing the density/length signals to determine, by use of a computer model of the object to be examined, dimensional measurements of the cross-section of the object scanned; e) measuring the temperature at the cross-section of the object as it is being scanned and generating temperature signal representative of the temperature at the scanned cross-section of the object; and f) predicting the dimensional measurements of the scanned cross-section at a desired temperature from the temperature signal and dimensional measurements obtained at the existing temperature of the scanned cross-section using dilatometry data specific to the dimension measured.

Claim 4

An apparatus for obtaining nondestructive measurements of regularly-shaped objects, comprising: a) means for scanning an object with a plurality of penetrating radiation sources along a plurality of paths through a cross-section of the object; b) means for generating signals representative of the radiation attenuation along each of the plurality of paths; c) means for converting the attenuation signals to signals representative of the density/length of the object along each of the plurality of paths; d) means for processing the density/length signals to determine, by use of a computer model of the object to be examined, dimensional measurements of the cross-section of the object scanned; e) means for measuring the temperature at the object as it is being scanned and generating temperature signals representative of the temperature at the scanned cross-section of the object; f) means for calculating the predicted dimensional measurements of the scanned cross-section at a desired temperature from the temperature signal and dimensional measurements obtained at the existing temperature of the scanned cross-section using dilatometry data specific to the dimension measured; and g) means for comparing the measured dimensions of the object to the dimensions of the computer model of the object to generate variance signals, wherein the variance signals represent flaws; h) means for accumulating variance signals associated with each scanned cross-section of the object, together with position signals associated with each scanned cross-section of the object, means for generating control signals to mark sections of the object scanned which vary from the computer model of the object in response to accumulated variance signals and associated position signals.

Claim 5

An apparatus for obtaining nondestructive measurements of regularly-shaped objects, comprising: a) means for scanning an object with a plurality of penetrating radiation sources along a plurality of paths through a cross-section of the object; b) means for generating signals representative of the radiation attenuation along each of the plurality of paths; c) means for converting the attenuation signals to signals representative of the density/length of the object along each of the plurality of paths; d) means for processing the density/length signals to determine, by use of a computer model of the object to be examined, dimensional measurements of the cross-section of the object scanned; e) means for measuring the temperature at the object as it is being scanned and generating temperature signals representative of the temperature at the scanned cross-section of the object; f) means for calculating the predicted dimensional measurements of the scanned cross-section at a desired temperature from the temperature signal and dimensional measurements obtained at the existing temperature of the scanned cross-section using dilatometry data specific to the dimension measured; and g) means for comparing the measured dimensions of the object to the dimensions of the computer model of the object to generate variance signals, wherein the variance signals represent flaws; h) means for accumulating variance signals associated with each scanned cross-section of the object, together with position signals associated with each scanned cross-section of the object, means for generating control signals to mark sections of the object scanned which vary from the computer model of the object in response to accumulated variance signals and associated position signals.

Claim 7

An apparatus for obtaining calibrated nondestructive measurements of regularly-shaped objects, comprising: a) means for scanning an object with a plurality of penetrating radiation sources along a plurality of paths through a cross-section of the object; b) means for generating signals representative of the radiation attenuation along each of the plurality of paths; c) means for converting the attenuation signals to signals representative of the density/length of the object along each of the plurality of paths; d) means for processing the density/length signals to determine, by use of a computer model of the object to be examined, dimensional measurements of the cross-section of the object scanned; e) means for measuring the temperature at the cross-section of the object as it is being scanned and generating temperature signals representative of the temperature at the cross-section of the object; f) means for calculating the predicted dimensional measurements of the Scanned cross-section at a desired temperature from the temperature signal and dimensional measurements obtained at the existing temperature of the scanned cross-section using dilatometry data specific to the object's shape and material; g) means for determining the geometric parameters of each of the plurality of penetrating radiation paths; h) means to generate formulas representative of the radiation path's geometric parameters; and i) means to correct the dimensional measurements using the formulas generated to represent the radiation path's geometric parameters.

Claim 8

An apparatus for obtaining calibrated nondestructive measurements of regularly-shaped objects, comprising: a) means for scanning an object with a plurality of penetrating radiation sources along a plurality of paths through a cross-section of the object; b) means for generating signals representative of the radiation attenuation along each of the plurality of paths; c) means for converting the attenuation signals to signals representative of the density/length of the object along each of the plurality of paths; d) means for processing the density/length signals to determine, by use of a computer model of the object to be examined, dimensional measurements of the cross-section of the object scanned; e) means for measuring the temperature at the cross-section of the object as it is being scanned and generating temperature signals representative of the temperature at the cross-section of the object; f) means for calculating the predicted dimensional measurements of the Scanned cross-section at a desired temperature from the temperature signal and dimensional measurements obtained at the existing temperature of the scanned cross-section using dilatometry data specific to the object's shape and material; g) means for determining the geometric parameters of each of the plurality of penetrating radiation paths; h) means to generate formulas representative of the radiation path's geometric parameters; and i) means to correct the dimensional measurements using the formulas generated to represent the radiation path's geometric parameters.