Deployable Cup Pipe Camera for Long-Range Gas Line Inspection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing robotic systems for inspecting small diameter natural gas pipelines are destructive and limited in range, causing internal pipe surface damage and unable to provide accurate visual data due to heavy push rods and friction limitations.
Innovation Solution
A camera inspection system using a lightweight tether and deployable cup assembly with petals that self-propel within the pipeline, capturing images and storing them for later review, allowing for long-range inspection without damaging the pipe surfaces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If a heavy push rod is used to move the camera through the pipeline, then the camera can be propelled forward, but it causes internal pipe surface damage and is limited in range due to friction
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the heavy mechanical push rod system with a lightweight camera system that utilizes the existing gas flow within the pipeline to propel itself forward. The camera system includes a gas flow capture mechanism that harnesses the kinetic energy of the flowing natural gas to drive the camera through the pipeline, eliminating the need for external pushing forces that could damage the pipe interior.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention employs pneumatic principles by capturing and utilizing the pressurized gas flow already present in the natural gas pipeline. The camera system includes gas capture ports or vanes that redirect the flowing gas to create thrust, allowing the camera to move through the pipeline using the medium already present in the system rather than introducing external mechanical force.
2Length of moving object
If a heavy push rod system is used for camera inspection, then the camera can be moved, but the inspection range is limited due to friction and weight constraints
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the heavy mechanical push rod propulsion system with a lightweight camera system that uses the existing gas flow to propel itself. This substitution dramatically reduces the weight of the moving inspection system while extending the inspection range, as the camera can travel throughout the pipeline as long as gas is flowing, rather than being constrained by the physical limitations of a push rod mechanism.
3Measurement precision
If a camera system is deployed to inspect small diameter pipelines, then visual data can be collected, but the system must be lightweight to navigate the small pipes
Solution Approach 1:
The invention uses the pressurized gas flow in small diameter pipelines to propel a lightweight camera system. The camera captures high-resolution images of the pipe interior, and the pneumatic propulsion mechanism allows the camera to navigate through small diameter pipes without requiring a heavy mechanical push rod system, thereby maintaining both low weight and high inspection capability.
4Ease of operation
If manual pushing of the camera is used, then the camera can be moved through the pipeline, but it causes scraping and damage to internal pipe surfaces
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual mechanical pushing with an automated pneumatic propulsion system. The camera system automatically captures gas flow and uses it to propel itself through the pipeline, eliminating the need for manual handling that could cause scraping or damage to the pipe interior while maintaining ease of deployment through simple introduction of the camera into the flowing gas.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables precise identification and location of defects in small diameter pipelines, eliminating surface damage and extending inspection range up to 1000 feet, facilitating accurate defect detection and repair.
Implementation Method 1
a cup assembly with various flower-like petals shaped to capture natural gas flow to move the camera system downstream in the direction of gas flow
Implementation Method 2
a tether provided on a spool, or the like, secured to an upstream side of the housing; the tether having a known length and known graduations and indicia
Data Source
AI summary
A small diameter pipe inspection system for capturing images of an inner wall of a pipe into which the pipe inspection system is travelling, using an on-board camera, a cup assembly with petals operably interconnected so as to be expandable to a deployment position in order to rest against an inner wall of a pipe within which the pipe inspection system is located, and to be retractable to a collapsed position in order to allow a gap with respect to the inner wall of the pipe, whereby, when the petals are expanded to the deployment position, the cup assembly blocks passage of a gas flowing through the pipe, increasing pressure on the petals so as to cause the camera system to travel along the pipe towards a lower pressure in the pipe in the direction of downstream gas flow.