EP3314229A1

EP3314229A1 - A leakage test mechanism

Info

Publication number: EP3314229A1
Application number: EP16747646.4A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Veysel Celal BEYSEL
Original assignee: Floteks Plastik Sanayi Ve Ticaret AS
Current assignee: Floteks Plastik Sanayi Ve Ticaret AS
Priority date: 2015-06-25
Filing date: 2016-06-23
Publication date: 2018-05-02
Also published as: WO2016209187A1

Abstract

The present invention is a leakage test mechanism comprising a hose (41) connected to said vessel (10) from one end and connected to an air supply (40) from the other end, in order to determine whether outward fluid leakage occurs through a vessel (10) having an air input mouth (11), characterized by comprising at least one sound/vibration sensor (50) provided in the vicinity of the vessel (10) and at least one of the vessel (10) contacting positions and which senses the vibration / sound of the leakage in case there is leakage through the vessel (10) when the inner side of the vessel (10) is filled with pressured air which is at the level described by the standard; a data recorder (60) connected to said sound / vibration sensor (50); and a process terminal (70) having a control program (71) which compiles the information received from the data recorder (60) and which calculates and gives out the result of whether the vessel (10) passes the leakage test.

Description

A LEAKAGE TEST MECHANISM TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a leakage test mechanism developed for determining whether there are faults like cracks, holes, etc. in closed storage products (vessels), particularly used for fluids and produced by means of various raw materials, after the production of said closed storage products, and for measuring the leakage amount.

PRIOR ART

Storage tanks, vessels, boxes, various radiators and various other packages, made of various plastic and / or various metal materials, are subjected to quality control tests after production. One of these tests is the leakage test made for determining whether there are any cracks and/or holes on the product.

In the present art, these leakage tests can be made by means of air pressure formed inside the vessel, by means of following up painted liquid, by means of immersion into water and applying air pressure and following up bubbles, by means of helium spectroscopy and by means of gas mass spectroscopy. Among these methods, the methods like air pressure method, painted liquid follow-up method and underwater bubble follow-up method are generally sufficient in terms of precision, and the costs of said methods are relatively lower. However, mostly these tests are realized manually, and leakage detection may not be accurate since the accuracy of the test result depends on the carefulness and assessment of the operator. The test result depends on the subjective assessment of the operator carrying out the test. Moreover, it is difficult to record the results. It is difficult to overcome the problems like product traceability, quality assurance (QA), filing of the results and recording in computer. It is substantially difficult to eliminate the human factor, to provide the same level of measurement precision, to preserve this level, to automatically record the results in the ERP system of the company, to assure quality to the customer, to follow-up the quality of the product. As a result, because of all of the abovementioned problems, an improvement is required in the related technical field.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a leakage test mechanism developed for determining whether outward fluid leakage occurs through various closed products, for instance, fuel tanks, radiators, for eliminating the above mentioned disadvantages and for bringing new advantages to the related technical field.

The main object of the present invention is to provide a leakage test mechanism where the error rate is reduced and which can be traced and assured.

In order to achieve the abovementioned object and all of the objects which are to be deducted from the detailed description below, the present invention is a leakage test mechanism comprising a hose connected to a vessel from one end and connected to an air supply from the other end, in order to determine whether outward fluid leakage occurs through said vessel having an air input mouth. Accordingly, the subject matter leakage test mechanism comprises at least one sound/vibration sensor provided in the vicinity of the vessel and at least one of the vessel contacting positions and which senses the vibration / sound of the leakage in case there is leakage through the vessel when the inner side of the vessel is filled with pressured air which is at the level described by the standard; a data recorder connected to said sound / vibration sensor; and a process terminal having a control program which compiles the information received from the data recorder and which calculates and gives out the result of whether the vessel passes the leakage test. Thus, it is determined whether there is leakage, and the leakage amount can be measured.

In a preferred embodiment of the subject matter invention, said sound / vibration sensor is a microphone which can function under water and above water and which can sense said vibration frequencies.

In a preferred embodiment of the subject matter invention, said sound / vibration sensor comprises a sound/vibration filter which filters the detected sounds / vibrations and which provides measurement of only the leakage sound / vibration. Thus, the other sounds/vibrations, existing in the medium, are eliminated, and a correct measurement can be made. In another preferred embodiment of the subject matter invention, said sound/vibration filter is positioned inside the data recorder.

In another preferred embodiment of the subject matter invention, said sound/vibration filter is positioned inside the process terminal.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Figure 1 is a representative general view of the leakage test mechanism.

Figure 2 is a representative view of the movable carrying chamber.

Figure 3 is another representative general view of the leakage test mechanism. REFERENCE NUMBERS

10 Closed vessel

1 1 Air input mouth

20 Immersion mechanism

21 Carrying arm

22 Chamber arm housing

23 Chamber arm

24 Movable carrying chamber

241 Lower arm

242 Upper arm

243 Lateral support

244 Housing

30 Pool

40 Air supply

41 Hose

50 Sound / vibration sensor

60 Data recorder

61 Sound / vibration filter

70 Process terminal

71 Control program THE DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In this detailed description, the subject matter leakage test mechanism developed for storage vessel (10), box, radiator and various other packages is explained with references to examples without forming any restrictive effect only in order to make the subject more understandable.

With reference to Figure 1 , a leakage test mechanism essentially comprises a pool (30), an immersion mechanism (20) providing placement of a vessel (10), which is to be tested, to said pool (30), an air supply (40) connected to said vessel (10), at least one sound / vibration sensor (50) positioned in the vicinity of said vessel (10), a data recorder (60) connected to said sound / vibration sensor (50), and a process terminal (70) where the information, received from the data recorder (60), is assessed. In the preferred application, computer is used as the process terminal (70). The sound / vibration sensor (50) can be optionally positioned inside the pool (30) and/or on a movable carrying chamber (24) provided on the immersion mechanism (20) and/or in a manner contacting the product (by means of methods like adhesive bonding, vacuum bonding, screwing, etc.). In the preferred application, there is a type of microphone which can function as a sound / vibration sensor (50) above water and under water. The system has been designed to be able to function both under water and above water, and there is no limitation when it is used under water. In accordance with the raw material and properties of the product, this test can also be made without immersion into water.

The immersion mechanism (20), used when the test shall be made under water, comprises a movable carrying chamber (24) and a chamber arm (23) whereon said movable carrying chamber (24) is connected, and a carrying arm (21 ) connected to said chamber arm (23). On the carrying arm (21 ), a chamber arm housing (22) is connected wherein the chamber arm (23) vertically moves. The movable carrying chamber (24) is embodied in "C" form by means of connection of at least one upper arm (242); at least one lower arm (241 ); and at least one lateral support (243). In the preferred embodiment, there are two upper arms (242) positioned in a parallel manner to each other; two lower arms (241 ) positioned in a parallel manner to each other, and two lateral supports (243) positioned in a parallel manner to each other. As a result of joining the upper arm (242), the lower arm (241 ) and the lateral support (243) to each other, a housing (244), wherein said closed vessel (10) seats, is defined. There is at least one air input mouth (1 1 ) on the vessel (10), and there is a hose (41 ) placed to said air input mouth (1 1 ) from one end and connected to said air supply (40) from the other end. There is a control program (71 ) which receives the information coming from the data recorder (60) in the process terminal (70) and which assesses and records said information. In the preferred application, ERP program is used as the control program (71 ). A barcode reader is used for reading and transferring the code number of the product and the code number of the operator, realizing the process, to the data recorder (60).

In practice, the carrying arm (21 ) and the movable carrying chamber (24) are positioned at the upper section of the pool (30). The carrying arm (21 ) can be integrated with the pool (30), or it can be embodied separately in an independent manner from each other. Before the leakage test is begun, the product barcode existing on the vessel (10) and the registration number of the operator who will make the process are read and they are transferred to the data recorder (60). Moreover, the input of the information like date, hour into the data recorder (60) is realized automatically or manually. If the test is to be made under water, the vessel (10), for which leakage test is going to be made after the data entries are completed, is placed to housing (244) in a manner seating to the lower arm (241 ). At the continuation, the chamber arm (23) is lowered such that the vessel (10), positioned inside the movable carrying chamber (24), is completely immersed into the liquid provided inside the pool (30). Air is supplied into the vessel (10) from the air supply (40) by means of the hose (41 ) connected to the air input mouth (1 1 ). After the inner side of the vessel (10) is completely filled with air at a pressure suitable to the test standard for said vessel, if there is a fault like crack, hole, opening, etc. on the vessel (10), air leakage occurs through said fault, and bubbles are formed inside water. The sound, formed by this bubble and / or the leakage, is received by the sound / vibration sensors (50) provided on the movable carrying arm (21 ) or inside the pool (30), and said sound is transferred to the data recorder (60). The data recorder (60) transfers the barcode number entered before the beginning of the test and which is related to the vessel (10), the registration number of the operator making the test, and other information like date and hour, and the sound / vibration information coming from the sound / vibration sensor (50) to the control program (71 ) provided in the process terminal (70) by using a wireless interface. The transfer process of said information can be realized in a manual or automatic manner.

In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, the sound / vibration sensors (50) are placed on the vessel (10) and / or in the vicinity of the vessel (10) and afterwards, air is supplied into the closed vessel (10) through the air supply (40) by means of the hose (41 ) connected to the air input mouth (1 1 ). After the inner side of the vessel (10) is completely filled with air at a pressure suitable to the test standard for said vessel, if there is a fault like crack, hole, opening, etc. on the vessel (10), air leakage occurs through said fault, and leakage / bubble sound occurs. The leakage sound is sensed by the sound / vibration sensors (50), and said sound is transferred to the data recorder (60). The data recorder (60) transfers the barcode number entered before the beginning of the test and which is related to the vessel (10), the registration number of the operator making the test, and other information like date and hour, and the sound / vibration information coming from the sound / vibration sensor (50) to the control program (71 ) provided in the process terminal (70) by using a wireless interface. The transfer process of this information can be realized in a manual or automatic manner.

In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, the abovementioned test can be realized without immersing the vessel into water. In this case, the measured item is not the number of bubbles / frequency / vibration / sound; the object is to only sense the leakage sound / vibration. In this case, the microphones shall be adjacent (adherent) to the vessel in various manners (adhesive bonding, vacuum bonding, screwing, etc.) and the microphones shall be placed in a manner directly contacting the vessel.

Various values of the frequencies of the leakage or bubble sound / vibration formed in case there are faults like hole, etc. on the vessel (10) are predefined to the control program (71 ). These values are not delimited with these, and they are values like bubble number, bubble output frequency, sound and / or vibration frequencies. The data coming from the data recorder (60) also match with the code number of the related product in the control program (71 ). In case the values coming to the control program (71 ) are above / outside the defined values, the vessel (10) cannot pass the test, and in case said values are under and/or within the tolerance values, the vessel (10) is deemed to pass the test. These values can be different for each vessel and / or raw material, and they are values decided during application. These values can also be given to the operator as a scheme prior to the test.

Optionally, there is a sound / vibration filter (61 ) placed to the data recorder (60) or to the process terminal (70) in order to record only the bubble and/or leakage sound / vibration or bubble number, output frequency. Thus, the other sounds and vibrations existing in the medium are eliminated, and only the bubble and/or leakage sound / vibration / bubble number / bubble output frequency are assessed. Thanks to the leakage test mechanism described above, auto-control can be provided in production. Moreover, even if the product fails after a few years usage; by using the barcode number, it can be determined whether the fault results from production or not, since all information related to production are recorded in the process terminal (70).

The protection scope of the present invention is set forth in the annexed Claims and cannot be restricted to the illustrative disclosures given above, under the detailed description. It is because a person skilled in the relevant art can obviously produce similar embodiments under the light of the foregoing disclosures, without departing from the main principles of the present invention.

Claims

A leakage test mechanism comprising a hose (41 ) connected to said vessel (10) from one end and connected to an air supply (40) from the other end, in order to determine whether outward fluid leakage occurs through a vessel (10) having an air input mouth (1 1 ), characterized by comprising at least one sound/vibration sensor (50) provided in the vicinity of the vessel (10) and at least one of the vessel (10) contacting positions and which senses the vibration / sound of the leakage in case there is leakage through the vessel (10) when the inner side of the vessel (10) is filled with pressured air which is at the level described by the standard; a data recorder (60) connected to said sound / vibration sensor (50); and a process terminal (70) having a control program (71 ) which compiles the information received from the data recorder (60) and which calculates and gives out the result of whether the vessel (10) passes the leakage test.

A leakage test mechanism according to Claim 1 , characterized in that said sound / vibration sensor (50) is a microphone which can function under water and above water and which can sense said vibration frequencies.

A leakage test mechanism according to Claim 1 , characterized in that said sound / vibration sensor (50) comprises a sound/vibration filter (61 ) which filters the detected sounds / vibrations and which provides measurement of only the leakage sound/ vibration.

A leakage test mechanism according to Claim 3, characterized in that said sound/vibration filter (61 ) is positioned inside the data recorder (60).

A leakage test mechanism according to Claim 3, characterized in that said sound/vibration filter (61 ) is positioned inside the process terminal (70).