Flexible and/or deformable mechanical elements with radiographic markers
Inventors
Assignees
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Publication Number
US-12216066-B2
Publication Date
2025-02-04
Expiration Date
Abstract
A flexible and/or deformable mechanical element may comprise one or more radiographic markers. The one or more radiographic markers may have a radiopacity greater than a radiopacity of a parent material forming a body of the mechanical element. A radiographic image of a portion of an assembly into which the mechanical element has been installed may include a representation of the one or more radiographic markers that indicates a condition of the mechanical element.
Core Innovation
The invention provides a flexible and/or deformable mechanical element, including an O-ring, that incorporates one or more radiographic markers of higher radiopacity than the material of the element. The marker materials include one or more second materials having one or more radiopacities greater than a radiopacity of a polymeric first material.
After installation in an assembly, radiographic imaging reveals representations of the marker(s), and orientation, shape, and/or pattern displacement indicates conditions such as rolling, extrusion/displacement from a gland, cutting/severing, tearing/damage, and improper installation. The marker configuration can include stripe/perimeter patterns, including continuous circumferential stripe representations and stripe/perimeter relationships relative to outer, upper, and lower perimeters.
Marker representations can vary in appearance, including solid or dashed representations and differences based on differing marker materials/brightness, and the disclosure includes configurations for multiple or embedded markers. The concept extends to other deformable elements, including drive belts, elastomeric coupling inserts/spiders, and diaphragms, where exterior/interior/embedded line or radial or circumferential markers are used to detect damage, misalignment, or distortion without disassembly and potentially while operating.
Claims Coverage
The claim coverage identifies 6 inventive features centered on an O-ring with a polymeric continuous-loop cord carrying radiographic markers higher in radiopacity than the cord, together with marker patterns and stripe configurations that indicate O-ring condition in radiographic images.
Radiopaque marker on polymeric continuous-loop o-ring cord
An O-ring comprising a cord comprising a polymeric first material formed into a continuous loop and one or more radiographic markers on a surface of the cord, the radiographic markers comprising one or more second materials having one or more radiopacities greater than a radiopacity of the first material.
Radiographic marker pattern displacement indicates o-ring condition
An arrangement in which radiographic markers on the O-ring are arranged in a pattern that, through displacement of parts of the pattern in a radiographic image, indicates a condition of the O-ring.
Perimeter-encircling radiographic marker for the cord
An O-ring in which one or more radiographic markers extend around a perimeter of the cord.
Continuous stripe radiographic marker around the cord perimeter
An O-ring in which a radiographic marker is formed as a stripe that extends around the perimeter of the cord, the stripe having a width less than a thickness of the cord.
Stripe positioned between outer and upper perimeters based on outer/upper/lower faces
An O-ring in which the cord outer face/outer perimeter, upper face/upper perimeter, and lower face/lower perimeter define outermost/uppermost/lowermost perimeters and the radiographic markers include a first stripe that continuously encircles the outer face and is positioned between the outer perimeter and the upper perimeter.
Radiopaque second materials as marker particles
An O-ring in which one or more second materials are particles selected from titanium, tungsten, boron, gold, silver, titanium dioxide, bismuth oxide, zirconium oxide, and barium sulfate.
The inventive features center on an O-ring with a polymeric continuous-loop cord carrying radiographic markers having higher radiopacity than the cord, and on using radiographic-marker pattern displacement and perimeter/stripe configurations to indicate an O-ring condition in radiographic images.
Stated Advantages
Radiographic imaging of the O-ring reveals marker representations whose orientation, shape, and/or pattern displacement indicates conditions such as rolling, extrusion/displacement, cutting/severing, tearing/damage, and improper installation.
Damage, misalignment, or distortion of other deformable elements, including drive belts, elastomeric coupling inserts/spiders, and diaphragms, can be detected without disassembly and potentially while operating.
Documented Applications
Radiographic inspection of an installed O-ring in an assembly to detect conditions including rolling, extrusion/displacement from a gland, cutting/severing, tearing/damage, and improper installation.
Radiographic inspection of other deformable elements, including drive belts, elastomeric coupling inserts/spiders, and diaphragms, to detect damage, misalignment, or distortion without disassembly and potentially while operating.
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