JPH05149079A - Excavation derectional controller of excavator - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To realize a mechanism capable of freely controlling an excavation direction of an excavator by using a pair of hollow type reduction gears and a pair of circular members rotated relatively by them. CONSTITUTION:In an excavation directional controller 5, the first and the second hollow type marmonic reduction gears 7 and 8 are arranged in a coaxial state. The first and the second circular mars 11 and 12 are so constituted that they are rotated by them. The first and the second circular members 11 and 12 have the inclined ends 112 and 121, and they are overlapped each other in a relatively rotatable state. 'The overlapped end is inclined against the rotary axis 2a by a certain angle. A rotary shaft 2 of an excavator drill is provided in a state to pass through hollow sections 113 and 123 of the first and the second circular members.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a control device for controlling the excavation direction of an excavator typified by an oil well excavator, which uses a hollow type harmonic gear transmission to rotate an excavator drill. The present invention relates to an excavation direction control device for an excavator configured to control the excavation direction of a drill bit supported at its tip by bending a shaft with respect to its rotation axis.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In excavators such as oil well excavators,
An excavation direction control device that changes the traveling direction of the drill is required in order to continue the excavation operation by bypassing the hard rock. In addition, such an excavation direction control device is necessary to correct the excavation direction to a target direction even when the excavation direction is distorted for some reason during excavation. Conventionally, JP-A-57-21695, JP-A-57-100290, and JP-A-58-2103 have been used.
Various excavation direction control mechanisms have been proposed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 00, etc. However, these mechanisms are not fully satisfactory because they have problems that the excavation direction cannot be controlled in all directions and that the mechanism is complicated.

[0003]

In view of this point, the applicant of the present invention previously disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 2-189883 that a plurality of hollow type harmonic gear transmissions and a plurality of eccentric rotating members are combined. , Has proposed a drilling direction control device with a compact structure that can control the drilling direction in all directions.

An object of the present invention is to use a combination of a pair of hollow type harmonic gear transmissions and a pair of annular members to achieve the same function as the control device disclosed in the specification of the above patent application. It is to realize an excavation direction control device for an excavator.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in the excavation direction control device for an excavator of the present invention,
The first and second hollow harmonic gear transmissions are coaxially arranged, and are configured to rotate the first and second annular members, respectively. In addition, these first and second annular members are in a relatively rotatable state,
Their annular end faces are superposed on each other. For example, they are superposed on each other via ball bearings. These superposed end faces are set as inclined faces that are inclined at a constant angle with respect to the rotation axis. The rotary shaft of the excavator drill is arranged so as to penetrate through the hollow portions of the first and second annular members.

Further, the excavation direction control device of the present invention is the first
And a drive control means for the second hollow harmonic gear transmission, the drive control means rotating the first and second annular members relative to each other by a predetermined angle to rotate the rotary shaft with respect to its rotation axis. By bending the first and second annular members integrally by a predetermined angle to set the bending direction of the rotary shaft to a target direction. The first and second hollow harmonic gear transmissions are drive-controlled so that the drilling direction of the drill can be adjusted.

[0007]

The first and second hollow harmonic gear transmissions relatively rotate the first and second annular members by a predetermined angle, respectively. These annular members rotate relative to each other with their inclined end faces overlapping each other. For example, the second annular member located on the side of the excavator drill is rotated by a certain angle. As a result, the direction of the central axis of the hollow portion formed in the second annular member is inclined by a certain angle with respect to the rotation axis of the rotary shaft. Since the rotary shaft penetrates through this hollow part, if the inner peripheral surface is set to just contact the outer peripheral surface of the rotary shaft,
As the hollow portion is inclined, this portion of the rotary shaft is also forced to bend in the same direction. Then, the first and second annular members are integrally rotated by a predetermined angle. As a result, the tip end side of the rotary shaft that is inclined by a certain angle is directed to the target azimuth in the inclined state. In this way, the direction on the tip side of the rotary shaft, that is, the excavation direction by the excavator drill is controlled.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An example in which the present invention is applied to an oil well excavator will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the overall construction of the oil well excavator of this example. In this figure, 1 is an oil well excavator,
2 is the rotating shaft. A drill collar 3 is coaxially connected to the tip portion of the rotary shaft 2, and a drill bit 4 is supported on the tip of the drill collar 3. The upper end side of the rotary shaft 2 is connected to a drive mechanism (not shown) for rotationally driving the rotary shaft 2. Further, the excavation direction control device 5 is attached to the portion adjacent to the drill collar 3 so as to surround the outer circumference of the rotary shaft 2.

As shown in FIG. 2, the excavation direction control device 5 includes a cylindrical housing 6 coaxially arranged on the outer side of the rotary shaft 2 and first and second coaxial housings coaxially incorporated on the inner side thereof. It is basically composed of hollow type harmonic gear reducers 7 and 8 and first and second annular members 11 and 12. The cylindrical housing 6 has rotation preventing protrusions (not shown) formed on the outer peripheral surface thereof, and these protrusions pierce the inner peripheral wall of the excavation hole during excavation,
It doesn't rotate.

The first hollow harmonic gear reducer 7 is arranged above the other reducer 8. This hollow type harmonic gear reducer 7 includes first and second rigid annular internal gear members 71 and 72, a flexible annular elastic external gear member 73 arranged inside thereof, and a flexible annular elastic external gear member 73 inside thereof. The wave generator 74 has an elliptical shape. The wave generator 74 is composed of an elliptical rigid plate 741 and a ball bearing 742 inserted between the outer periphery of the rigid plate 741 and the external gear member 73. , A hollow portion 741a is formed,
The rotary shaft 3 penetrates here in a rotatable state. The first rigid annular internal gear member 71 of the first hollow harmonic gear reducer 7 having this configuration is fixed to the flange 61 formed on the inner circumference of the cylindrical housing 6. On the other hand, the second rigid annular internal gear member 72 is connected to the first annular member 11 via the first connecting member 13,
These three members are designed to rotate integrally. The connecting member 13 is rotatably supported by the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical housing 6 via a bearing mechanism 14 so as to prevent eccentricity due to rotation. Here, in the present example, the wave generator 74 is connected to the rotary shaft 2 side via the electromagnetic clutch mechanism 15.

Next, the second hollow harmonic gear reducer 8 arranged on the lower side has the same structure as the side of the first reducer 7 described above. That is, the first and second rigid annular internal gear members 81 and 82 and the flexible annular elastic external gear member 83.
And an elliptical wave generator 84. Then, the second rigid annular internal gear member 72 is connected to the second annular member 12 side via the second connecting member 16 so that these three members rotate integrally. The wave generator 84 is connected to the rotary shaft 2 side via the electromagnetic clutch 17. Here, the first rigid annular internal gear member 81 is fixedly supported inside the first connecting member 13. In addition, the second connecting member 16 is provided with a bearing mechanism 18 in order to prevent runout due to rotation.
It is rotatably supported with respect to the inner side of the first connecting member 13 via.

Next, the above-mentioned first and second annular members 1
The structures 1 and 12 will be described. These have a shape obtained by cutting an integral cylindrical member into two in the shape of a lotus. That is, in the first annular member 11, the upper end surface 111 is a surface orthogonal to the central axis 11a, but the lower end surface 112 is an inclined surface inclined by a certain angle Θ with respect to the orthogonal surface of the central axis 11a. Has been done. And the hollow part 1 passing through the center
The inner diameter of 13 is set to be slightly larger than the outer diameter of the rotary shaft 2, and the rotary shaft 2 rotatably penetrates there.

On the other hand, in the second annular member 12, the upper end surface 121 side is an inclined surface inclined by a constant angle Θ with respect to the plane orthogonal to the central axis 12a, and the lower end surface 122 is the center. The surface is orthogonal to the axis 12a. The inner diameter of the hollow portion 123 passing through the center is equal to that of the rotary shaft 2.
The outer diameter of the rotary shaft 2 is set to be slightly larger than the outer diameter of the rotary shaft 2. Further, the drill collar 3 is connected to the lower end surface 122. The outer peripheral surface of the second annular member 12 is the bearing mechanism 1.
It is rotatably supported by the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical housing 6 via 24.

Here, a bearing 19 is arranged between the inclined surfaces 112 and 121 of the first and second annular members 11 and 12, so that these annular members can rotate relative to each other. Further, in the present example, the first annular member 11 is formed with a notch portion (not shown) through which the second connecting member 16 can pass and which can rotate over a predetermined angular range. Furthermore, the connecting portion between the first connecting member 13 and the first annular member 11, and the second connecting member
The connecting portions of the connecting member 16 and the second annular member 12 each have a connecting structure capable of slightly relative movement in the axial direction. Furthermore, the first and second annular members 11, 12 are always pressed against each other by a mechanism (not shown) so as to be held in a state of being overlapped with each other at all times.

FIG. 3 shows an outline of a control system in the excavation direction control device 5 of this example. In the figure, reference numeral 200 is a host computer that drives and controls the entire oil well excavator 1, and 201 is a controller of the excavation direction control device. From the host computer 200, a command signal 200S indicating an azimuth and an angle defining the excavation direction is supplied to the controller 201. The controller 201 has a target rotational position calculation unit 202 that calculates the target rotational positions of the first and second annular members 11, 12 based on the received command signal 200S. In addition, each annular member 11,
The detection signals 21S of the detectors 21 and 22 attached to the 12
It has an actual rotational position calculation unit 203 for calculating the actual rotational position of each annular member 11, 12 based on 22S. Further, it has a drive signal generation unit 204 that generates a drive control signal 204S for controlling the drive of each speed reducer 7, 8 so that the actual rotational position of each annular member 11, 12 becomes a target rotational position. ing. The drive signal 204S generated from the drive signal generator 204 is sent to the drive control units 23 and 24 of the harmonic gear reducer, respectively. When this drive signal 204S is received, each drive control unit 23, 2
4 controls the electromagnetic clutches 15 and 17 to drive the speed reducers 7 and 8 to rotate the rigid internal gear members 72 and 82, which are the decelerated rotation output elements, to the target rotational position, Fix it there. Such drive control is achieved by executing a control program previously stored in the host computer.

The excavation direction control operation by the excavation direction control device 5 of the present embodiment thus constructed will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the central axis line 1 of the first and second annular members 11, 12
The state where 1a and 12a are aligned with the rotation axis 2a of the rotary shaft 2 is the initial state. In this state, the hollow portions 113 and 123 of the respective annular members are aligned with the rotation axis 2a, so that the rotary shaft 2 passing therethrough is in a straight state. From this state, the first and second annular members 11, 12 are relatively rotated by 180 degrees. For example, the upper annular member 11 is fixed, and only the lower second annular member 1 is rotated by 180 degrees.

In FIG. 4, the state after being rotated 180 degrees is exaggeratedly shown. As shown in this figure, the thin-walled side of the second annular member 12 faces the similarly thin-walled side of the first annular member 11, and the central axis of the hollow portion 123 of the second annular member 12 is 12a is set in a state of being inclined by 2θ with respect to the rotation center line 2a of the rotating shaft. Therefore, the rotary shaft 2 penetrating the inside of the hollow portion 123 inclined in this way is
Is forced to be bent by the inner peripheral surface of, and the lower part is inclined by 2θ with respect to the upper part. In this way, the angle of the excavation direction is set. That is,
The excavation angle with respect to the initial rotation axis 2a (for example, the vertical direction) is set.

Next, by rotating the first and second speed reducers 7 and 8 integrally, the first and second annular members 11 and 12 are integrated while maintaining the state shown in FIG. Rotate by a predetermined angle. As a result, the part of the inclined rotating shaft on the distal end side rotates while maintaining the set inclination angle, and is set to the target orientation. After the excavation direction is set in this way, the rotary shaft 2 is rotated and the excavation operation by the drill bit supported at the tip thereof is started.

In this example, a pair of speed reducers 7,
The rotating force of 8 is obtained from the rotating shaft 2 side. Alternatively, one or a plurality of hollow servomotors may be incorporated inside the cylindrical housing 6 to drive the speed reducer.

In addition, although the present invention is applied to an oil well excavator in this example, the present invention is applied to a so-called well excavator for excavating water, hot springs, natural gas, geothermal wells, and a propulsion method. It is needless to say that it can be similarly applied as an excavation direction control device for another excavator such as a tunnel excavator.

[0022]

As described above, the excavation direction control device for an excavator according to the present invention comprises a pair of hollow harmonic gear transmissions,
It has a pair of annular members that can be rotated relative to each other, and adopts a configuration in which the mutual facing surfaces of these annular members are inclined surfaces that are inclined at a certain angle with respect to the rotation axis. The relative rotation of the annular members allows the rotating shaft arranged in a state of penetrating these hollow portions to be bent at an arbitrary angle, and by rotating the pair of annular members integrally, The rotating shaft bent at the angle can be set in any direction. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to control the excavation direction to any direction at any angle. Further, since the harmonic gear transmission having high accuracy and high responsiveness is used, it is possible to realize the control of the excavation direction with excellent controllability. Moreover,
Since a hollow type gearbox is used as the harmonic gear transmission, there is also an advantage that the excavation direction control device can be configured compactly on the outer periphery of the rotary shaft and the installation space is small.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an overall configuration of an oil well excavator to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of an excavation direction control device incorporated in the excavator of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram showing a control system of the excavation direction control device of FIG.

4 is an explanatory diagram showing an excavation direction control operation of the excavation direction control device of FIG. 2. FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ... Excavator 2 ... Rotary shaft 2a ... Rotation axis (vertical line) 3 ... Drill collar 4 ... Drill bit 5 ... Drilling direction control device 6 ... Cylindrical housing 7・ ・ ・ First hollow harmonic gear reducer 8 ・ ・ ・ Second hollow harmonic gear reducer 11 ・ ・ ・ First annular member 11a ・ ・ ・ Center axis 112 ・ ・ ・ Lower inclined end surface 113 ・..Hollow part 12 ... second annular member 12a ... center axis 121 ... upper inclined end surface 123 ... hollow part 13 ... first connecting member 15 ... electromagnetic clutch 16 ...・ Second connection member 17 ... Electromagnetic clutch

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Akio Ikeda 4-53-3 Kitahama, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka Sumitomo Metal Industries, Ltd.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A first and a second hollow harmonic gear transmissions arranged coaxially, and a first hollow harmonic gear transmission arranged coaxially with the first hollow harmonic gear transmission and rotated by the transmission. And a second annular member coaxially arranged with the second hollow harmonic gear transmission and rotated by the transmission, the first and second annular members being relative to each other. The annular end surfaces are superposed on each other in a rotatable state, and the superposed end surfaces are set as inclined surfaces inclined by a certain angle with respect to the central axis direction. The rotary shaft of the excavator drill is arranged so as to penetrate the hollow portion of the second annular member, and the first and second annular members are relatively rotated to bend the rotary shaft in a predetermined direction. Features of excavator digging Cutting direction control device. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first and second
Drive control means of the hollow type harmonic gear transmission, the drive control means relatively rotates the first and second annular members by a predetermined angle to rotate the rotary shaft with respect to its rotation axis. Bend only the target angle, and then,
By rotating the first and second annular members integrally by a predetermined angle and setting the bending direction of the rotating shaft to a target direction, the excavating direction of the excavator drill can be adjusted. An excavation direction control device for an excavator, which drives and controls the first and second hollow harmonic gear transmissions.