Patent ID: 8347724

Claim:
An inspection scanner having a lower profile than prior art designs, for transmitting and receiving ultrasound beams for inspecting a volume of a structure comprising: a front wheel frame a rear wheel frame; an ultrasound (US) phased array adapted to sequentially scan a plurality of locations within said volume of said structure with ultrasonic beams angled away from said front wheel frame and said rear wheel frame and to receive ultrasound signals reflected back to the phased array; wheels attached to said front wheel frame and said rear wheel frame for carrying said front wheel frame and said rear wheel frame, the wheels allowed to rotate moving said front wheel frame and said rear wheel frame in a first direction or a second direction along an outer surface of said structure; an encoder adapted to monitor rotation of the wheels and location on said structure, and adapted to send an encoder signal corresponding to the received ultrasound signals such that each received ultrasound signal is identified with a location of said US phased array on said structure; a low-profile probe holder assembly connected to said front wheel frame and said rear wheel frame, adapted to carry the US phased array, the probe holder assembly located between said front wheel frame and said rear wheel frame, said low-profile probe holder assembly extendable to move the US phased array to various locations to one side of said front wheel frame and said rear wheel frame without requiring said front wheel frame and said rear wheel frame to be moved, thereby allowing portions of said structure, a distance away from said front wheel frame and said rear wheel frame, to be inspected that would otherwise be inaccessible without the extendable low profile probe holder assembly.