JPH05131922A - In-pipe running vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To recover an in-pipe running vehicle easily and speedily by retracting drive wheels and inversely rotating auxiliary wheels when a car body is in failure to be recovered, by elevatably incorporating a drive frame in the car body, installing the drive wheels on the drive frame, and installing the auxiliary wheels on the car body. CONSTITUTION:For running a car body 1 in a tube 17, air pressure is supplied from the outer side of the tube 17 to an elevation means 12 assembled between the car body 1 and a drive frame 3 freely capable of elevation in a space 2. The dive frame 3 then protrudes down the car body 1, and drive wheels 11 connected to a drive motor 4 and a guide wheel 16 are applied to the wall of the tube 17 respectively, so the car body 1 is run. In the meanwhile, when it becomes difficult for the car body 1 to run by any trouble, the air pressure inside an air cylinder 13 in the elevation means 12 is released. The drive frame 3 then moves up by an energization force of a spring 14 to retract the drive wheels 11, while auxiliary wheels 15 are applied to the wall of the tube 17. By drawing the car body 1, therefore, the auxiliary wheels 15 are rolled, and the car body 1 can be recovered easily.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pipe running vehicle in which a gas pipe, a water pipe, and other pipes are equipped with various measuring and inspecting equipments and towed while being towed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a means for inspecting a pipe for damage or the like, it is known to use a traveling vehicle which is driven by a motor in a pipe.

A system in which a drive motor is mounted on this traveling vehicle and the rotation of the drive motor is directly transmitted to the drive wheels while decelerating by a worm gear to travel (Japanese Patent Application No. 62-1926).
45) and a clutch mechanism between this worm gear and the drive wheels to turn power transmission on and off.
There is a system configured so that it can be done.

[0004]

However, in the above method, the former method of directly transmitting power by using the warm gear causes a failure in the electric system, the drive motor or the power transmission mechanism, and the traveling vehicle must be recovered. When occurs,
As you can understand from the characteristics of the warm gear, the drive wheels cannot rotate in the opposite direction, so it may take some time to collect them or it may become impossible to collect them. On the other hand, the latter method that incorporates the clutch does not have the problems described above, but this type of vehicle uses low speed rotation and large torque, so the clutch mechanism becomes large and it is not suitable for small diameter pipes. There is a problem that it cannot be applied.

An object of the present invention is to provide an in-pipe traveling vehicle which can be easily recovered even if a drive mechanism fails and can be downsized to be applied to a small-diameter pipe.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention proposes the following traveling vehicle in a pipe.

A drive frame is installed in the traveling vehicle body so as to be vertically movable by remote control, a drive wheel rotated by a drive motor is attached to the drive frame, and a pipe wall is provided when the drive wheel is raised to the traveling vehicle body side. In-pipe traveling vehicle with a configuration in which a free rotation type auxiliary wheel that comes into contact with the vehicle is attached.

The means for raising and lowering the drive frame is not particularly limited, but in order to make the whole compact and lightweight, it is practical to use a raising and lowering device that lowers it by air pressure and raises it by spring force.

Next, since the auxiliary wheels are means for facilitating movement in the pipeline when the vehicle body is collected,
Free rotation is a condition. However, as a means for facilitating the movement, a sled that is likely to slide may be used instead of the auxiliary wheel.

[0010]

When the vehicle travels in the pipe, the drive frame is lowered and the drive wheels are in contact with the pipe wall. On the other hand, when it becomes impossible to reverse or rotate the drive wheels due to a failure of the drive system, etc., the drive frame is raised to retract the drive wheels, and auxiliary wheels (sledding) are applied to the pipe wall instead of the drive wheels. Contact. In this state, pulling the pullback wire or the power supply cable makes it possible to easily collect the traveling vehicle from the pipe.

[0011]

1 and 2, reference numeral 1 is a traveling vehicle body, 2 is an inverted U-shaped drive device built-in space vertically formed in the body of the vehicle body 3, and 3 is vertically movable in the space 2. The drive frame 4 includes a drive motor 4, a drive shaft 5, a worm gear 6, a worm wheel 7, a drive chain wheel 8, a drive chain 9 and a driven chain wheel 10. It has been incorporated. 11
Is a drive wheel driven by the drive motor 4 and is attached to the lower end of the drive frame 3.

Reference numeral 12 designates an elevating device for the drive frame 3 incorporated between the vehicle body 1 and the drive frame 3. The elevating device 12 comprises a bellows type air cylinder 13 and a spring 14.
When the air pressure is applied to the air cylinder 13, the spring 14 beats (extends) the spring 14 to lower the drive frame 3, and when the air pressure is released, the spring 14 is released.
Is contracted and the drive frame 3 is raised.

Reference numeral 15 is an auxiliary wheel attached to the lower portion (bottom portion) of the vehicle body 1, and the drive frame 3 (driving wheel 11) is the vehicle body 1.
When it projects from (dashed line in FIG. 2), it is set apart from the tube wall and comes into contact with the tube wall when retracted. Reference numeral 16 is a guide wheel attached to the upper portion (ceiling) of the vehicle body 1, and 17 is a pipe.

In the above embodiment, when traveling inside the pipe 17, the lifting device 12 is supplied with air pressure from outside the pipe 17. For this reason, the drive frame 3 projects downward from the vehicle body 1, and the drive wheel 11 and the guide wheel 16 come into contact with the tube wall, so that the drive wheel 4 is driven to rotate and drive by itself. ..

On the other hand, when the electric system, the drive transmission mechanism such as the drive motor 4 or the worm gear 6 fails and the self-propelling becomes difficult, the air pressure in the air cylinder 13 of the lifting device 12 is released. .. When the air pressure is released,
The force of the spring 14 wins (contracts), the drive frame 3 rises, the drive wheel 11 retracts into the vehicle body 1, and the auxiliary wheel 15 abuts on the pipe wall instead. When the traveling vehicle is pulled from the entrance side in this state, the traveling vehicle runs backward in the pipe 17 with the auxiliary wheels 15 (or sleds), and can be easily collected.

[0016]

Effects of the Invention a. When the electric system, drive system, etc. of the traveling vehicle breaks down and is recovered, the drive wheels can be retracted and the auxiliary wheels can be run in reverse, so the inspection equipment including the traveling vehicle can be collected easily and reliably. it can.

B. Since the clutch mechanism for making the drive wheels free is not incorporated, the size of the vehicle body can be reduced as much as possible, and thus the effect is great when applied to a traveling vehicle for small diameter pipes.

C. When the drive wheel is retracted, the air pressure is released instead of electric control, so that there is no trouble in the electric system, and it can be operated reliably and the operation is simple.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional side view of a traveling vehicle according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line AA ′.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Car Body 3 Drive Frame 4 Drive Motor 11 Drive Wheel 12 Lifting Device 13 Air Cylinder 14 Spring 15 Auxiliary Wheel

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A driving frame is incorporated in a traveling vehicle body so as to be vertically movable by remote control, a driving wheel rotated by a drive motor is attached to the driving frame, and when the driving wheel is raised to the traveling vehicle side. An in-pipe traveling vehicle with a configuration in which a free rotation type auxiliary wheel that comes into contact with the pipe wall is attached. 2. The in-pipe traveling vehicle according to claim 1, wherein a drive frame lifting device for lowering the drive frame by air pressure and raising the drive frame by utilizing elasticity of a spring is incorporated in the traveling vehicle body. 3. The in-pipe traveling vehicle according to claim 1, wherein a traveling sled is attached to the traveling vehicle body side in place of the auxiliary wheel.