GRIPPING AND LOCKING/UNLOCKING SYSTEM, AND APPLICATION TO THE HANDLING OF NUCLEAR MATERIALS SPECIMEN HOLDERS

摘要

The present invention relates to a system for gripping an inner tube and locking/unlocking it into and from an outer tube concentric with the inner tube. The system according to the invention is provided with one or more catching devices which allow both sealed locking/unlocking of the inner tube to the gripper member and of the inner tube in the outer tube, achieving this with only a translational movement of the gripper member over a travel A or a travel B. The system according to the invention advantageously constitutes a system for inserting and extracting a specimen holder tube intended to house a specimen of nuclear materials, such as nuclear fuels, into and from a measurement instrumentation holder tube intended to house measurement sensors and a cooling system.