Patent ID: 9404871
Filing Date: 2016-08-02
CPC Classification: F01D,G01N

Claim Text:
1. A system for steering a camera head mounted to a bending neck of an insertion tube of a video inspection device displaying a video image of an object obtained by the insertion tube on a video display, the system comprising: a pointing device for outputting signals representative of the coordinates of the position of the pointing device, wherein a stationary position of the pointing device is the position at which the pointing device does not move the insertion tube; a timer for determining the elapsed time between when a distance of a displacement of the pointing device from the stationary position exceeded a second displacement zone threshold distance and when the distance of the displacement of the pointing device from the stationary position returns to a point less than a first displacement zone threshold distance, wherein the first displacement zone threshold distance is an outer bound of a first displacement zone surrounding the stationary position and the second displacement zone threshold distance is an outer bound of a second displacement zone surrounding the first displacement zone, and wherein the second displacement zone threshold distance is greater than the first displacement zone threshold distance; a processor for determining whether the elapsed time is less than a displacement time threshold; and an articulation cable actuator for, if the elapsed time is less than the displacement time threshold, moving a set of bending-neck articulation cables of the insertion tube by a fixed distance in a direction based on the direction of the displacement of the pointing device from the stationary position that exceeded the second displacement zone threshold distance.