Apparatus for examining the inner surface of pipes

Claim 1

Apparatus for examining the inner surface of a pipe comprising: a carriage having rolling means and adapted to be inserted in said pipe, means for driving said carriage axially through said pipe, a television camera conveyed by said carriage, a camera head including a window at one side thereof and rotatably mounted on said camera, a source of light contained in said camera head to illuminate the inner surface of said pipe through said window, a reflective mirror disposed in said camera head at an angle with respect to the optical axis of the lens of said television camera so as to receive the light reflected from the inner surface through said window and to reflect the light toward the lens of said camera, means to rotate said camera head about said optical axis, a source of spot light coupled to said carriage and disposed to project a spot light in a definite direction toward a point on the inner surface of said pipe so as to produce an image of said spot light on said monitor which acts as a reference point for affirming the angle of rotation of the camera head and means for converting the photographic image into an electrical signal which is sent to a monitor outside the pipe whereby the inner surface of said pipe is circumferentially scanned and displayed on said monitor.