A set of radial springs to bias the sensor arms of an inline pipeline inspection tool radially outward towards the pipe wall. The springs are resilient clips typically made of metal which bias adjacent sensor arms away from one another and radially outward. There are two sets of springs, a forward set and a rearward set which operate independent of each other. Each set of springs operates on a plane which is perpendicular to the axis of the body of the tool and perpendicular to the planes upon which the sensor arms extend.

A multifunctional light-duty soft robot includes paired wheel power mechanisms, soft contact mechanisms, buffer spring mechanisms and a middle frame deformation mechanism. Each of the paired wheel power mechanisms includes a wheel frame and a wheel rotatably connected thereto. The wheel frame is internally provided with a power mechanism connected with a wheel axis of the wheel. Each of the soft contact mechanisms includes a flexible cantilever and a soft transmission belt. The two paired wheel power mechanisms are respectively arranged at two ends of each of the flexible cantilevers. The wheel on one of the paired wheel power mechanisms is connected with the wheel on the other of the paired wheel power mechanisms. The buffer spring mechanisms are arranged between the wheel frames and the wheels. The middle frame deformation mechanism includes a connection unit and two movable units rotatably connected to the connection unit respectively.

An inline inspection tool of this disclosure includes at least one sensor arm (50) having a sensor head (30) located at its distal end (51), the sensor head including an arched-shaped pipe contacting portion (33) between its forward and rearward ends (32, 34), the pipe contacting portion having a radius R and a width W.sub.C; and at least one triaxial sensor element (31) having at least a portion located directly below the arched-shaped pipe contacting portion and having a width W.sub.S, W.sub.C<W.sub.S. During the tool's travel through a pipeline, contact of the sensor head with the pipe wall lies along a single line of travel substantially equal to the width W.sub.C. Because of its shape, the sensor head better traces and maintains contact with the pipe wall to detect dents, wrinkles, weld intrusions, and other defects or anomalies in the pipe wall.

Cable storage drum-reels, methods and systems are provided for deploying and retracting at least one push-cable with a distally mounted camera into and out of a pipe or cavity for applications such as plumbing and underground utility location. In an exemplary embodiment, a cable storage drum may include a centrally mounted axially projecting hub, and a housing to removably receive and rotatably support the cable storage drum. The housing may include an inside portion, and an outside portion with a front face and a rear face. The front face has an opening and is sloped inward toward the inside portion of the drum allowing a push-cable to be directed as desired into the cable storage drum and around the drum-reel. One or more cable guide points may be included for providing additional directional guidance of the push-cable into the drum and onto the hub.

A system for operation and integrity management of a pipeline stores field data obtained from an operational system, and in-line data obtained from an in-line inspection vehicle and external data from a video camera on an external companion device. The system performs data processing on the in-line data and field data to generate input for risk modeling and performs risk modeling of the pipeline using the input to predict a risk of one of a plurality of failure mode states at a portion of the pipeline. The system may initiate risk monitoring for the portion of the pipeline by the operational system and the in-line inspection vehicle.

Sewer line and lateral inspections are made in order to detect leaks and improper connections, using steam injected into a section of sewer line. Thermal imaging of the vicinity indicates leaks and illegal connections.

An in-line inspection tool for a pipeline includes a body that is propelled through the pipeline and a plurality of sensor assemblies mounted to the body. The sensor assemblies are distributed circumferentially about a central axis of the body with each sensor assembly configured to move through a range of radial positions in a respective radial direction. A first sensor assembly of the plurality of sensor assemblies includes a first elongate arm, a first sensor carried by the first arm, and a first spacer that extends from the first arm. A second sensor assembly of the plurality of sensor assemblies includes a second elongate arm and a second sensor carried by the second arm. The first spacer contacts the second arm and maintains an expected circumferential spacing between the first arm and the second arm over the range of radial positions as the body is propelled through the pipeline.

The present application discloses a pipeline radar and television inspection robot which includes a robot body, a directional drilling lifting device, a directional drilling rotary device, a directional drilling swing device, a radar, cameras and a driving apparatus; wherein the directional drilling lifting device is on a front part of the robot body; the directional drilling rotary device is on the directional drilling lifting device; the directional drilling swing device is on the directional drilling rotary device; the radar and the cameras are on the directional drilling swing device; the driving apparatus are on a bottom of the robot body. The directional drilling lifting device, the radar and the cameras are plugged in the robot body. The robot body electrically connects to cables which electrically connect to a control system. The cameras and the radar are able to be adjusted and the components are connected as modules.

An assembly is provided that includes first and second end plates adapted to be coaxially aligned when in use. One or more members extend from the end plates or an annular ring, the annular ring provided between the end plates, the other of the end plates or annular ring comprising one or more first slots at one end thereof to be aligned with and for receiving the one or more members of the first end plate, and one or more second slots at the other end thereof to be aligned with and for receiving the one or more members. Resilient sealing members are provided around the one or more members between the end plates and annular ring, and an urging mechanism urges the first and second end plates towards the annular ring to deform the first and second resilient sealing members to engage the inner wall of the pipe.

A pig is provided for passing through a pipeline having a pipeline wall. The pig comprises at least one functional unit for cleaning the pipeline and/or for receiving pipeline information. The pig also comprises at least one magnet unit which is provided for magnetizing the pipeline wall, and which has a plurality of magnets. The magnet unit has a plurality of segments each with at least one magnet. The magnetizing devices of mutually adjacent segments are angled at least by approximately 90° to one another.