Inspection of seal for high altitude balloons

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9689808-B1
Application number	US-201514811189-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Jul 28, 2015
Priority date	Jul 28, 2015
Publication date	Jun 27, 2017
Grant date	Jun 27, 2017

Abstract

Aspects of the disclosure relate to systems and techniques for inspecting seals for high altitude balloons. In one example, a system may include a reflective surface, a translucent material on the reflective surface, and a movable light source configured to move along the reflective surface and provide light to the reflective surface. The light is provided such that it is reflected from the reflective surface and through the translucent material in order to backlight a balloon envelope seal for inspection. A method for inspecting a balloon envelope seal may include placing balloon envelope material on a table, forming a seal between portions of the material, moving a light over the seal, shining light onto a reflective portion of the table below the seal to backlight the seal, and inspecting the seal using the backlighting of the seal.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A system for inspecting seals for a balloon envelope, the system comprising:
a reflective surface;
a translucent material on the reflective surface; and
a movable light source configured to move along the reflective surface and provide light to the reflective surface such that light from the movable light source is reflected from the reflective surface and through the translucent material in order to backlight a balloon envelope seal for inspection, and the movable light source includes a housing having an open end, a closed end, and one or more sidewalls arranged between the open end and the closed end, the closed end including an image sensor configured to receive light reflected through the translucent material.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the movable light source is attached to a track such that the movable light source is movable along the track to provide light for inspection of the balloon envelope seal.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more sidewalls includes four walls arranged around the open end, each of the four walls includes an end portion configured to press balloon envelope material against the translucent material and reduce the amount of light entering the housing which does not enter the housing through the translucent material.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the image sensor is a CCD configured to receive light from the movable light source from the translucent material and generate an image of the seal.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the image sensor is configured to receive light from the movable light source from the translucent material and send information about the seal to a computing device for processing.

6. The system of claim 5 , further comprising the computing device, wherein the computing device is configured to process the information about the seal and identify a problem with the seal.

7. The system of claim 1 , further comprising the seal and the balloon envelope.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the movable light source includes a housing having an open end, a closed end, and one or more sidewalls arranged between the open end and the closed end and at least one wing portion attached to the one or more sidewalls and a light source attached to the at least one wing.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the light source includes an LED light strip.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the at least one wing portion is arranged such that light from the light source travels through the translucent material, is reflected by the reflected surface back through the translucent material and into the open end of the housing.

11. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a table, wherein the translucent material and the reflective surface are arranged on the table.

12. The system of claim 1 , wherein the reflective surface is a mirror.

13. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a heat sealer configured to move along a track and create the seal, wherein the movable light source is attached to the heat sealer.

14. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a heat sealer configured to move along a track and create the seal one portion at a time, and wherein the movable light source is configured to move along the track to backlight each portion of the seal.

15. The system of claim 1 , wherein the movable light source includes an image sensor configured to send information to a computing device for processing.

16. The system of claim 1 , wherein the movable light source is configured to receive instructions for moving along a track from a computing device.

17. The system of claim 1 , wherein the translucent material includes silicone.

18. The system of claim 1 , wherein the translucent material is arranged on a table as a heat sealing surface to facilitate creation of the balloon envelope seal.

19. The system of claim 5 , further comprising the computing device.

20. The system of claim 11 , wherein the movable light source is arranged above the surface of the table.

Assignees

• X Dev Llc

Inventors

• Fourie Daniel Henry

Classifications

• B29C66/0044

  using a separating sheet, e.g. fixed on the joining tool · CPC title

• B29C65/18

  using heated tools · CPC title

• B29C65/7441

  for making welds and cuts of other than simple rectilinear form · CPC title

• B29C66/86533

  by rails · CPC title

• B29C66/81427

  comprising a single ridge, e.g. for making a weakening line; comprising a single tooth · CPC title