Patent ID: 9239315
Filing Date: 2016-01-19
CPC Classification: G01B,G01N,G06F

Claim Text:
1. A patch for monitoring a structure for a structural anomaly, the method comprising: a sheet of material configured to be attached to the structure; and a frequency steerable array carried by said sheet of material, said frequency steerable array comprising a plurality of sources for emitting structural waves in response to an input having a variable frequency such that variations in the frequency of the input cause a direction in which the structural waves emitted by the plurality of sources propagate to be controllably steered relative to said sheet of material, wherein said frequency steerable array is configured to be responsive to the frequency of the input being swept through a predefined range so as to correspondingly scan the structural waves through a predefined range of angles relative to said sheet of material, and wherein said frequency steerable array is configured to capture the structural waves returning following interaction with the structural anomaly; and a processor configured to communicate with the frequency steerable array so as: (i) to confirm an absence of the structural anomaly in an instance in which the structural waves are reflected from an edge of the sheet of material and return to the frequency steerable array and (ii) to detect the structural anomaly in an instance in which the structural anomaly is present and the structural waves are reflected from the structural anomaly in the structure underlying the sheet of material at a location between the frequency steerable array and the edge of the sheet of material and return to the frequency steerable array before a reflection from the edge of the sheet of material.