US 12,405,187 B2
Insertion apparatus for use with rotary machines
Deepak Trivedi, Halfmoon, NY (US); Grover Andrew Bennett, Jr., Esperance, NY (US); Sandeep Kumar, Bengaluru (IN); Manoj Kumar Koyithitta Meethal, Bengaluru (IN); David Mulford Shaddock, Troy, NY (US); Andrew Crispin Graham, Badminton (GB); and Stephen Paul Leclerc, Jr., Lake Luzerne, NY (US)
Assigned to General Electric Company, Evendale, OH (US)
Filed by General Electric Company, Schenectady, NY (US)
Filed on Nov. 26, 2019, as Appl. No. 16/696,025.
Claims priority of application No. 201941040204 (IN), filed on Oct. 4, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2021/0102870 A1, Apr. 8, 2021
Int. Cl. G01M 15/14 (2006.01); A61B 17/32 (2006.01); F01D 5/00 (2006.01); F01D 25/00 (2006.01); F01D 25/28 (2006.01); A61B 17/3207 (2006.01)
CPC G01M 15/14 (2013.01) [A61B 17/32002 (2013.01); F01D 5/005 (2013.01); F01D 25/00 (2013.01); F01D 25/285 (2013.01); A61B 17/320758 (2013.01)] 19 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An insertion apparatus for use with a rotary machine, the rotary machine defining an annular cavity extending along a circumference, said insertion apparatus comprising:
an insertion end positionable within the annular cavity and configured to travel through the annular cavity;
a steering end opposite said insertion end;
a body extending from said insertion end to said steering end and sized to fit within the annular cavity, wherein said body includes a first material having a first material stiffness and curves along the circumference as said insertion end travels through the annular cavity;
a stiffener integrally formed and fixed with respect to said body and extending from said steering end to said insertion end, wherein said stiffener includes a second material having a second material stiffness that is greater than the first material stiffness and is configured to resist bending of said body;
wherein the stiffener is fixed adjacent to one edge of the body;
wherein the edge of the body corresponding to the location of the stiffener leads an opposite edge of the body that does not correspond to the stiffener during insertion into the annular cavity;
wherein the stiffener is configured to resist bending and prevent the body from folding when being translated into the annular cavity;
wherein the body and stiffener comprise a uniform and uninterrupted cross-section extending from the insertion end to the steering end;
wherein (1) arrangement of the stiffener fixed and adjacent to one edge of the body and (2) integral formation of the body with the stiffener are cooperatively effective to provide the body with an overall stiffness, the overall stiffness being constant and unchanged prior to deformation of the body and after deformation of the body as the body curves along the circumference during insertion and movement of the body through the annular cavity;
wherein the stiffener is uncontrolled during insertion and movement of the body through the annular cavity;
at least one maintenance device coupled to said insertion end of said insertion apparatus;
a displacement mechanism configured to adjust a position of said at least one maintenance device relative to said body;
a guide tube having a segmented body including segments that are positionable relative to each other, the body and stiffener axially movable through the segments of the guide tube; and
wherein the guide tube is curved to form an at least partially helical shape.