PATENT CLAIM ANALYSIS

Application Number: 15887986
Application Type: Utility
Filing Date: 2018-02
Publication Date: 2018-06
Patent Classification: ["324", "226000"]

Abstract:
Provided is a method for flaw inspection of a stem joint of a valve including: an internal flaw inspection step including causing a flaw detection probe to be disposed so as to face upward in water in a tank in an ultrasonic inspection chamber, holding a valve in such fashion as to cause the tip to face the flaw detection probe, and inspecting for a flaw at the interior of the stem joint; and a surface flaw inspection step including causing a flaw detection probe to be disposed horizontally in an eddy-current inspection chamber, holding a valve in such fashion as to cause the side face of a stem of the valve to be close to and facing the flaw detection probe, inspecting for a flaw on the surface of the stem joint while the flaw detection probe and the valve are made to engage in mutual rotation. The valves are transferred from a valve loading position to the ultrasonic inspection chamber, from the ultrasonic inspection chamber to the eddy-current inspection chamber, and from the eddy-current inspection chamber to a valve unloading position in substantially simultaneous, continuous, synchronous, and/or coordinated fashion.

Claim (Index 2):
An apparatus for flaw inspection of an interior and a surface of a stem joint of an engine valve through use of an ultrasonic flaw detection probe and an eddy-current flaw detection probe, the apparatus comprising:\n a housing; an ultrasonic inspection chamber provided in the housing; and an eddy-current inspection chamber provided in the housing adjacent to the ultrasonic inspection chamber in a horizontal direction,\n the ultrasonic inspection chamber comprising\n the ultrasonic flaw detection probe, \n a tank in which the ultrasonic flaw detection probe is disposed so as to face upward in water, and \n a first valve holding mechanism holding a valve at a predetermined position in which a tip of the stem of the valve faces the ultrasonic flaw detection probe, \n \n the eddy-current inspection chamber comprising\n the eddy-current flaw detection probe which is disposed horizontally, \n a second valve holding mechanism holding a valve at a predetermined position in which a lower side face of a stem of the valve including a stem joint is close to and faces the eddy-current flaw detection probe, and \n a rotation mechanism causing the eddy-current flaw detection probe to revolve about, and relative to, an outer periphery of the stem of the valve, \n \n the housing comprising\n a valve transfer mechanism having\n three valve supports positioned at intervals of a distance between the first and the second valve holding mechanisms along the horizontal direction in which the ultrasonic inspection chamber and the eddy-current inspection chamber are adjacent and supporting the valves with the stems of the valves facing downward, the valve transfer mechanism transferring a valve from a predetermined loading position to the first valve holding mechanism, a valve which has completed internal flaw inspection and is held by the first valve holding mechanism to the second valve holding mechanism, and a valve which has completed surface flaw inspection arid is held by the second valve holding mechanism to a predetermined unloading position, in substantially synchronous fashion, by virtue of the fact that the valve supports move integrally in the horizontal direction and a vertical direction, while keeping each valve with each respective stem directed downward; and \n \n \n a control unit controlling drive of the valve transfer mechanism, the first and the second valve holding mechanisms, the ultrasonic flaw detection probe, the eddy-current flaw detection probe, and the rotation mechanism.

Metadata:
- Claim Count in Document: 1.0
- Percentile: 88.0
- Lexical Diversity: 2.91429
- Patent Class: 324.0
- Transitional Phrase Type: open
- Component Type: 1
- Foreign Priority: False
- Related Applications: ['12128316', '15761228', '10550270', '15741793', '15525527']

Analysis Scores:
- 35 USC 101 Eligibility (BERT): 0.6065334434264493
- 35 USC 102 Novelty (BERT): 0.488641259020561
- Combined Prediction Score: 0.5947442249858605
- Mean Citation Score: 228.673894
- Max Citation Score: 240.42177
- Similarity Product: 161.75655609761597

Labels:
- Claim Label 101: 1
- Claim Label 102: 1
- Claim Label 103: 1
- Claim Label 112: 0
- Combined Label: 1
- Label 101 Adjusted: 1

Dataset: test