Data processing: measuring – calibrating – or testing – Measurement system – Orientation or position
Patent
1997-11-24
1999-12-14
Assouad, Patrick
Data processing: measuring, calibrating, or testing
Measurement system
Orientation or position
382141, 348 83, G06T 540
Patent
active
060029935
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an apparatus for remotely monitoring the surface of a wall of a structure, and particularly, to an apparatus for photographing the surface of a wall of a structure that is installed in a difficult to access environment. For example, the apparatus is used to monitor the surface of a red-hot inner wall of a coke oven. In this case, the apparatus is installed on a front end of a lance that has a water-cooled structure accommodating linear cameras and laser distance measuring units so as to be inserted into the coke oven. The front end of the lance may also have a non-contact distance measuring unit. The present invention also relates to an apparatus for detecting the position and inclination of the front end of the lance and correcting values measured from the wall of the coke oven accordingly.
PRIOR ART
A coke oven has many coking chambers and combustion chambers that are alternately arranged. The coking chambers receive coal, and the combustion chambers apply high temperatures of 900 to 1100 degrees centigrade to the coking chambers through walls for about 20 consecutive hours, to produce coke. The coke is discharged out of the coking chambers, and coal is again charged into the coking chambers and heated. These processes are repeated, and the coking chambers are always exposed to high temperatures.
FIG. 5(a) is a front perspective view showing one of the coking chambers. The coking chamber has an inlet (IN) and an exit (EX). The coking chamber is, for example, 6.5 m high, 0.4 to 0.46 m wide, and 16 m long. The width of the coking chamber is tapered with an inlet width of 0.4 m and an exit width of 0.46 m. The coking chamber is narrow and long. The walls of the coking chamber are made of firebricks each being about 120 mm high, 260 mm wide, and 110 mm thick.
These firebricks are exposed to high temperatures for a long time and to high pressures when a pushing machine discharges the produced coke. Since the firebricks are always exposed to thermal, chemical, and mechanical stresses, they easily suffer joint breakage, cracks, stripping, carbon adhesion, irregularities, and bends, to change the width of the coking chamber. Any damage to the firebricks easily worsens due to stress concentration, and the damaged part has a different thermal conductivity to badly affect coking processes. Small damage on the firebricks is repaired by applying molten refractory material thereto, and a lost firebrick is replaced with another. It is necessary to correctly find and locate damage to the firebricks.
The coking chamber has vertical sidewalls W1 and W2 as shown in FIG. 5(a). The sidewalls W1 and W2 must be monitored between coking processes. For this purpose, an industrial television (ITV) camera is used. The camera is inserted into the coking chamber and provides two-dimensional images of the sidewalls. The images are used to inspect the surfaces of the sidewalls.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 3-105195 installs a camera on a boom and inserts the boom into the coking chamber. The boom is moved through the coking chamber, and the camera photographs the surfaces of the sidewalls thereof. In FIG. 5(a), the width of the coking chamber is 0.4 to 0.46 m, which is very narrow compared with the length thereof. If the camera is set to face one sidewall, it will provide an image of a limited area of the sidewall. Accordingly, the camera is set obliquely to the sidewall as shown in FIG. 5(b).
FIG. 6(a) shows an area AIF of the sidewall W1 photographed by the camera obliquely set to the sidewall, and FIG. 6(b) shows an image 12 of the area AIF provided by the camera. The image 12 is perspective with a narrow view in the vicinity of the camera and a wide view away from the camera. The image 12 is inconvenient to inspect the conditions of the surface of the sidewall. Accordingly, the prior art processes the perspective image 12 to form a front view of the sidewall.
In the perspective image 12, firebricks having the same size are displayed in different sizes. A fir
REFERENCES:
patent: 4131914 (1978-12-01), Bricmont
patent: 4196471 (1980-04-01), McClure
patent: 4577385 (1986-03-01), Omae et al.
patent: 5715328 (1998-02-01), Tsukihara
Kajiya Takanori
Naito Shuji
Sugiula Masato
Yokomizo Masahiko
Assouad Patrick
Nippon Steel Corporation
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