CN110966482A

CN110966482A - Pipeline robot

Info

Publication number: CN110966482A
Application number: CN201911240181.4A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 徐耀辉; 何凯; 洪梓村; 赵文亮
Original assignee: Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology of CAS
Current assignee: Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology of CAS
Priority date: 2019-12-06
Filing date: 2019-12-06
Publication date: 2020-04-07
Also published as: WO2021109852A1

Abstract

The invention is suitable for the technical field of pipeline operation, and provides a pipeline robot, which comprises: the driving module comprises a driving wheel assembly and a first driving assembly; the driving wheel assembly comprises a plurality of driving wheel supports and at least one driving wheel rotatably mounted on each driving wheel support, the first driving assembly is used for driving each driving wheel support to rotate, and an included angle is formed between the central axis of each driving wheel and the central axis of rotation of each driving wheel support and is not 90 degrees; the at least one operation module is connected with the driving module through a universal joint; the pipeline robot can be smaller in size and can be applied to operation in a pipeline with a smaller inner diameter; the universal joint has small volume and good flexibility, and the pipeline robot can flexibly turn in the pipeline and is not easy to be blocked; connect at least one operation module through the universal joint, can arrange more operation modules, enrich its functionality, improve its practicality.

Description

Pipeline robot

Technical Field

The invention belongs to the technical field of pipeline operation, and particularly relates to a pipeline robot.

Background

At present, in the pipeline operation of nuclear industry, petrochemical industry and the like, the pipeline detection, cleaning and other work are mainly completed manually. With the increasing development of the industry, the specification and the number of pipelines are increased, the operation workload is large, the manual operation efficiency is low, and the defect parts are easy to be missed based on the judgment of naked eyes, so that the detection and cleaning operation is not thorough. Moreover, if the diameter of the pipeline is too small, workers cannot enter the interior of the pipeline to perform operation. Therefore, manual work is gradually unable to meet the work requirements of pipeline inspection and the like with multiple specifications and quantities.

Adopt pipeline robot to replace the manual work to carry out the operation, not only can improve pipeline operating efficiency, also had very big improvement on many specifications pipe diameter adaptability and pipeline area coverage moreover. At present, most pipeline robots mainly move by driving a walking mechanism such as a crawler belt or a connecting rod type peristaltic component and the like through a motor, and realize support by symmetrically distributing a connecting rod, a hinge and other mechanisms by taking a support axis as a center.

However, the supporting mechanism of the mainstream crawler type running mechanism, the connecting rod and the hinge connection mainly has the following defects: (1) the crawler type travelling mechanism mainly comprises a motor, a belt wheel, a crawler, a tensioning device, a connecting bracket and other parts, and is difficult to adapt to a pipeline with a small pipe diameter; (2) the connecting rod mechanism has poor flexibility and is easy to block, the angle adjusting range of the connecting rod type supporting mechanism is limited, and the connecting rod type supporting mechanism consists of rigid parts, if the connecting rod mechanism meets the conditions of bulges, obstacles, pipe diameter change and the like in a pipeline, the blocking phenomenon is easy to occur, so that the pipeline robot is damaged; (3) the crawler-type pipeline robot is not beneficial to arranging the operation modules due to the limitation of length, and is not suitable for being designed for too long due to the bending requirement, and the crawler-type pipeline robot occupies a space especially, so that the arrangement of the multifunctional operation modules is difficult to realize, and the practicability is weakened.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention aims to provide a pipeline robot, and aims to solve the technical problems of large volume, poor flexibility and low practicability of the conventional pipeline robot.

The present invention is achieved as described above, and a pipe robot includes:

the driving module comprises a driving wheel assembly and a first driving assembly; the driving wheel assembly comprises a plurality of driving wheel supports and at least one driving wheel rotatably mounted on each driving wheel support, the first driving assembly is used for driving each driving wheel support to rotate, an included angle is formed between the central axis of the driving wheel and the central axis of rotation of the driving wheel supports, and the included angle is not 90 degrees; and

the driving module is connected with each operation module through a universal joint; the operation module is used for executing operation in the pipeline.

In one embodiment, the driving wheel assembly further includes a front section housing, a first cam, a plurality of connecting members and a spring member, the first cam is disposed inside the front section housing and is perpendicular to a central axis of rotation of the driving wheel support, one end of the connecting member slidably extends into the front section housing and is slidably connected to an outer circumferential surface of the first cam, the spring member is connected between the other end of the connecting member and the driving wheel support, and the driving wheel support slides along an axial direction of the spring member.

In one embodiment, the driving module further includes a rear housing, the first driving assembly is at least partially disposed in the rear housing, and an output end of the first driving assembly is connected to each of the driving wheel holders through a universal joint.

In one embodiment, the pipeline robot further comprises a plurality of support wheel assemblies; each supporting wheel assembly comprises a plurality of supporting wheel brackets and at least one supporting wheel rotatably mounted on each supporting wheel bracket, each supporting wheel bracket is mounted on the driving module and each operating module, and the central axis of each supporting wheel is perpendicular to the central axis of rotation of the driving wheel bracket.

In one embodiment, the support wheel assembly further comprises a plurality of adjustment assemblies, the adjustment assemblies are connected to the support wheel brackets, and the adjustment assemblies are used for adjusting the distance from the support wheels to the rotation central axis of the driving wheel brackets.

In one embodiment, the operation module comprises a grinding module, and the grinding module comprises a second driving assembly and a grinding assembly, and the second driving assembly is used for driving the grinding assembly to rotate.

In one embodiment, the grinding assembly includes at least one grinding head and at least one link connected to the grinding head, and the grinding module further includes a third drive assembly and a first housing, the third drive assembly being disposed within the first housing, a portion of the link slidably extending into the first housing, the third drive assembly being connected to the link and configured to drive the grinding head to move in a direction away from the central axis of rotation of the capstan support.

In one embodiment, the grinding module further comprises at least two air bags, the air bags are respectively positioned on one side of the second driving assembly far away from the grinding assembly and one side of the grinding assembly far away from the second driving assembly, and the air bag positioned on one side of the grinding assembly is connected with the grinding assembly through a bearing; the air bag is used for being connected with an external inflation and deflation assembly.

In one embodiment, the operation module includes a detection module, the detection module includes a third driving assembly, a turntable, and at least one detection element, the third driving assembly is connected to the turntable and is used for driving the turntable to rotate around the central axis of rotation of the driving wheel support, and the at least one detection element is disposed on the turntable.

In one embodiment, the pipeline robot further comprises a circuit board loading module, the circuit board loading module comprises a loading shell and a control circuit board arranged in the loading shell, the loading shell is connected with at least one operation module through a universal joint, and the control circuit board is connected with the first driving assembly and the operation module.

The pipeline robot provided by the invention has the beneficial effects that:

the driving module in the pipeline robot comprises a driving wheel component and a first driving component, wherein an included angle which is not a right angle is formed between a driving wheel in the driving wheel component and the rotating central axis of a driving wheel support; the driving module is connected with the operation module through a universal joint, the size of the universal joint is small, the flexibility is good, the pipeline robot can flexibly turn in a pipeline, and the phenomenon of blocking is not easy to occur; can connect at least one operation module through the universal joint, this pipeline robot can arrange more operation modules, richens this pipeline robot's functionality, improves its practicality.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings needed to be used in the embodiments will be briefly described below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious for those skilled in the art that other drawings can be obtained according to these drawings without creative efforts.

FIG. 1 is a front view of a pipeline robot provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a right side view of a pipeline robot provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a left side view of a pipeline robot provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of a driving module of a pipeline robot according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which a front casing and a rear casing are partially cut away, and a driving wheel is removed;

FIG. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a detection module of a pipeline robot provided by an embodiment of the invention, wherein a detection shell is partially cut away;

fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a working module of the pipeline robot provided by the embodiment of the invention, wherein a grinding shell is partially cut away;

fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a circuit board module of a pipeline robot provided by an embodiment of the invention, and a loading housing of the pipeline robot is partially cut away.

The designations in the figures mean:

100-a pipeline robot;

1-drive module, 11-front section housing, 12-rear section housing, 13-drive wheel assembly, 131-drive wheel bracket, 132-drive wheel, 133-first cam, 134-connecting piece, 135-spring piece, 14-first drive assembly, 15-first adjusting assembly, 151-driven gear, 152-drive gear, 153-hand wheel, 154-locking piece, 16-first image sensing assembly, 161-first camera, 162-first bearing, 163-connecting rope, 164-collar;

9-an operation module;

2-detection module, 21-fourth drive assembly, 22-turntable, 23-detection element, 24-auxiliary part, 25-detection shell, 26-flange plate, 27-third bearing;

3-sanding module, 31-first housing, 32-second drive assembly, 33-sanding assembly, 331-sanding head, 332-link, 34-second housing, 35-third drive assembly, 351-third motor, 352-second cam, 36-second image sensing assembly, 37-suction nozzle, 38-cleaning nozzle, 391-air bag, 392-air bag mounting member, 393-transition plate, 391-transition shaft, 395-second bearing;

4-circuit board loading module, 41-loading shell, 42-control circuit board;

5-a universal joint;

6-supporting wheel assembly, 61-supporting wheel bracket, 62-supporting wheel, 63-supporting plate, 64-second adjusting assembly, 65-guiding rod;

7-connecting the flange.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more apparent, the present invention is described in further detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the invention and are not intended to limit the invention.

It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being "secured to" or "disposed on" another element, it can be directly or indirectly secured to the other element. When an element is referred to as being "connected to" another element, it can be directly or indirectly connected to the other element. The terms "upper", "lower", "left", "right", and the like, indicate orientations or positional relationships based on the orientations or positional relationships shown in the drawings, and are only for convenience of description, but do not indicate or imply that the referred devices or elements must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and thus, should not be construed as limiting the patent. The terms "first", "second" and "first" are used merely for descriptive purposes and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features. The meaning of "plurality" is two or more unless specifically limited otherwise.

In order to explain the technical solution of the present invention, the following detailed description is made with reference to the specific drawings and examples.

Referring to fig. 1, a pipeline robot 100 for working in a pipeline according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a driving module 1 and at least one working module 9. Specifically, please refer to fig. 2 to 4 in combination, the driving module 1 includes a driving wheel assembly 13 and a first driving assembly 14, wherein the driving wheel assembly 13 includes a plurality of driving wheel supports 131 and at least one driving wheel 132 rotatably mounted on each driving wheel support 131, the plurality of driving wheel supports 131 are oriented differently and supported on the inner wall of the pipeline from different directions, the first driving assembly 14 is configured to drive each driving wheel support 131 to rotate reversely around the same straight line, and an included angle is formed between the central axis of the driving wheel 132 and the central axis of rotation of the driving wheel supports 131, and the included angle is not 90 °; the driving module 1 is connected with each operation module 9 through universal joints 5, and the operation modules 9 are used for executing operation in the pipeline.

Specifically, when the pipeline robot 100 is used, the pipeline robot enters the pipeline, the driving wheel 132 of the driving wheel assembly 13 abuts against the inner wall of the pipeline, the driving wheel supports 131 can be uniformly distributed and have the same height, so that the rotational central axis of each capstan holder 131 coincides with the central axis of the duct, and based on this, since the central axis of the capstan 132 forms an angle other than 90 degrees with the rotational central axis of the capstan holder 131, when the driving wheel support 131 rotates, a friction force is generated at a position where the driving wheel 132 and the inner wall of the pipe contact each other, the friction force has components in both the radial and axial directions of the pipe, the component of the friction force in the radial direction enabling the driver 132 to press against the inner wall of the pipe, the component of the friction in the axial direction enables the driving wheel 132 to advance along the central axis of the pipe, so that the driving module 1 can drive the operation modules 9 to advance spirally in the pipe.

The driving module 1 of the pipeline robot 100 provided by the embodiment of the invention comprises the driving wheel assembly 13 and the first driving assembly 14, an included angle which is not a right angle is formed between the driving wheel 132 in the driving wheel assembly 13 and the central axis of the pipeline, the pipeline robot 100 can be driven to integrally advance in the rotating process of the driving wheel bracket 131 and the driving wheel 132 by the driving of the first driving assembly 14, large-volume driving structures such as a crawler belt and the like are not needed, the volume of the pipeline robot 100 can be smaller, and the pipeline robot can be suitable for operation in the pipeline with smaller inner diameter; the driving module 1 is connected with the operation module 9 through the universal joint 5, the universal joint 5 is small in size and good in flexibility, and the pipeline robot 100 can flexibly turn in a pipeline and is not easy to block; at least one operation module 9 can be connected by the universal joint 5, and more operation modules 9 can be arranged on the pipeline robot 100, so that the functionality of the pipeline robot 100 can be enriched, and the practicability of the pipeline robot is improved.

The number of capstan supports 131 is preferably such that there is sufficient support within the conduit. For example, in the present embodiment, the number of the capstan holders 131 is three, and three capstan holders 131 are arranged in the circumferential direction of the pipe at intervals of 120 ° in order around their rotational center axes. In other embodiments, the number of the driving wheel holders 131 may be other values, and is not particularly limited.

The number of the driving wheels 132 mounted on each driving wheel support 131 is two, as shown in fig. 2 to 4, the two driving wheels 132 mounted on each driving wheel support 131 are coaxially and alternately connected, and one end of the driving wheel support 131 away from their rotational center axes is connected between the corresponding two driving wheels 132. In other alternative embodiments, the number of the driving wheels 132 mounted on each driving wheel support 131 may be other values, and is not particularly limited.

Referring to fig. 4, in an embodiment, the driving wheel assembly 13 further includes a front section housing 11, a first cam 133, a plurality of connecting members 134 and a plurality of spring members 135, the first cam 133 is disposed inside the front section housing 11 and is perpendicular to the central rotation axis of each driving wheel bracket 131, a plurality of protrusions (not shown) are disposed on the outer circumferential surface of the first cam 133, one end of each connecting member 134 slidably extends into the front section housing 11 and is slidably connected to the outer circumferential surface of the first cam 133, the other end of each connecting member 134 is disposed outside the front section housing 11, because the outer circumferential surface of the first cam 133 is not uniform, during the rotation of the first cam 133, each connecting member 134 is driven by the first cam 133 to extend and retract along the direction intersecting the central rotation axis of the front section housing 11, specifically, the direction perpendicular to the central rotation axis of the front section housing 11, i.e., in the radial direction of the pipe, each spring member 135 is connected between the other end of the connecting member 134 and each driver holder 131, and the driver holder 131 slides in the axial direction of the spring member 135 and the connecting member 134.

The first driving assembly 14 can be connected to the front section housing 11 and drive the front section housing 11 to rotate, so as to drive each driving wheel bracket 131 to rotate.

When the first cam 133 is rotated and the length of each link 134 located outside the front section housing 11 is increased, the driver bracket 131 and the spring member 135 are moved outwardly relative to the front section housing 11. In this way, the driving wheel assembly 13 can abut against the inner wall of the larger inner diameter pipe, and the spring member 135 can be compressed, so that a sufficient pressing force is maintained between the driving wheel 132 and the inner wall of the pipe. This has the advantage that, firstly, the pipe robot 100 can be adapted to pipes of different internal diameters; second, the pipe robot 100 can be suitably used for moving in the vertical direction, and therefore, the pipe robot 100 can be suitably used for in-pipe work inclined at 0 to 90 ° with respect to the horizontal plane; thirdly, the pipeline robot 100 can also be applied to a pipeline with a changed inner diameter, and in the advancing process of the pipeline robot 100, the length of the spring member 135 can be extended or compressed in real time according to the change of the inner diameter, so that the pipeline robot 100 has wider applicability and stronger practicability.

The connecting member 134 may be hollow, and an end of the driving wheel bracket 131 away from the driving wheel 132 may be inserted into the connecting member 134 after passing through the spring member 135, and an end of the driving wheel bracket 131 away from the driving wheel 132 may slide in the connecting member 134. In this way, the sliding guide function of the driver carrier 131 can be achieved by itself, and the spring element 135 is not twisted during the forward movement.

Alternatively, the first cam 133 and the driving wheel bracket 131 may be magnetically attracted to each other. In other embodiments, any means that can allow the first cam 133 to rotate and make the outer circumferential surface of the first cam 133 and the driver holder 131 slide in the radial direction all the time may be applied thereto, and this is not particularly limited.

The height of the lobes of first cam 133 and the length of spring member 135 that can be compressed determine the range of variations in the inner diameter of the pipe that drive wheel assembly 13 can accommodate. For example, the height of the convex portion of the first cam 133 is 5mm, the length of the spring member 135 that can be compressed is 6mm, and the inner diameter of the pipe that the pipe robot 100 can accommodate may be 10mm at the maximum (the spring member 135 needs to be compressed by a certain length during operation), and specifically, if the pipe robot 100 can accommodate an inner diameter of 90mm to 100mm, this is only an example. In other embodiments, the pipeline robot 100 can be adapted to other internal diameter ranges of pipelines, depending on the particular sizing of the pipeline robot 100.

With continued reference to fig. 4, in one embodiment, the driving module 1 further includes a first adjusting component 15 for driving the first cam 133 to rotate so as to adjust the position of the convex portion of the first cam 133. Specifically, the first adjusting assembly 15 includes a driven gear 151, a driving gear 152 and a hand wheel 153, the driven gear 151 is located in the front section housing 11 and coaxially connected with the first cam 133, the driving gear 152 is located in the front section housing 11 and engaged with the driven gear 151, and the hand wheel 153 is located outside the front section housing 11 and coaxially connected with the driving gear 152. Thus, the operator rotates the hand wheel 153 outside the front housing 11, the hand wheel 153 drives the driving gear 152 to rotate, the driving gear 152 further drives the driven gear 151 to rotate, and finally, the driven gear 151 drives the first cam 133 to rotate. This has the advantages that the operator can operate the first cam 133 from the outside of the front housing 11, which is more beneficial to implementing multiple adjustments and operations, and the first cam 133, the driven gear 151 and the driving gear 152 are located inside the front housing 11 to be protected, so that the first cam is not easily damaged during the operation process.

Further, with continued reference to fig. 4, in one embodiment, the first adjustment assembly 15 further comprises a locking member 154 for locking the hand wheel 153 to maintain the first cam 133 at a desired position, so that each driving wheel bracket 131 is maintained at a desired length, and each driving wheel 132 is kept pressed against the inner wall of the pipeline during the whole operation of the pipeline robot 100.

Specifically, the locking member 154 may include a locking pin (not shown), and the hand wheel 153 is provided with a plurality of locking holes (not shown) arranged around the center thereof, and the locking pin passes through one of the locking holes and then is connected to the surface of the front section housing 11. The surface of the front housing 11 may be provided with a limiting hole (not shown) corresponding to the locking pin. The number of the locking holes is not limited, and it is preferable that the inner diameter of the pipe to be worked can be changed. For example, the number of locking holes may be 12, enabling the pipe robot 100 to be adapted to pipes of at least 12 different inner diameters. In other alternative embodiments, the number of locking holes may be other values.

The front housing 11 may be cylindrical in shape, which rotates about its central axis. The plurality of driving wheel holders 131 are uniformly distributed on the outer circumferential surface of the front section housing 11. The driving gear 152 and the driven gear 151 may be located on one side of the interior of the front section shell 11 close to the first driving assembly 14, and the hand wheel 153 is disposed on the outer side of the end cover of the front section shell 11 close to the first driving assembly 14.

The first driving assembly 14 may include a first motor (not shown), and the driving module 1 further includes a rear housing 12, and the first motor is at least partially disposed in the rear housing 12, for example, the output shaft of the first motor may pass through the rear housing 12 and then be connected to the front housing 11, as shown in fig. 4. Optionally, the output shaft of the first motor is connected to the front section housing 11 through a universal joint 5, and the output shaft of the first motor drives the universal joint 5 and the front section housing 11 to rotate simultaneously. This has the advantage of providing a degree of freedom of movement between the front housing 11 and the rear housing 12, and the relative bending between the front housing 11 and the rear housing 12, combined with the compressibility of the spring member 135, allows the pipeline robot 100 to negotiate turns in the pipeline. As such, the applicability and practicality of the pipeline robot 100 are further enhanced.

The rear housing 12 may be cylindrical and may be coaxial or bent with respect to the front housing 11.

Referring to fig. 2 and 4, in one embodiment, the driving module 1 further includes a first image sensing component 16 for acquiring the space condition in front of the pipeline robot 100 during operation. The first image sensing assembly 16 may include a first camera 161.

In order to maintain the first image sensing assembly 16 in a stable posture and imaging effect, the first image sensing assembly 16 does not rotate with the front section housing 11. Therefore, the first image sensing element 16 can be disposed on the rear housing 12, which is advantageous in that the first image sensing element 16 can be disposed more easily.

In an alternative embodiment, the first image sensing assembly 16 is connected to the front housing 11 and does not rotate with the front housing 11, which is implemented by: as shown in fig. 4, the first image sensing assembly 16 further includes a first bearing 162, a collar 164 and a connecting rope 163, the first bearing 162 is mounted on a side of the interior of the front housing 11 away from the rear housing 12, an outer ring of the first bearing 162 is connected to an inner wall of the front housing 11, the first camera 161 is mounted on an inner ring of the first bearing 162 through the collar 164 and located on a side away from the first cam 133, the first camera 161 is exposed from a hole (not shown) on an end cap of the front housing 11 away from the rear housing 12, in order to obtain the corresponding image information to the space of the one side of keeping away from back end housing 12 of anterior segment casing 11 in the pipeline, the one end of connecting rope 163 is connected to back end housing 12 after passing through the central axis of anterior segment casing 11, the central axis of universal joint 5 between anterior segment casing 11 and back end housing 12, specifically can be on the central point of the one side end cover of keeping away from anterior segment casing 11 of back end housing 12. In this way, when the front housing 11 is driven by the first driving assembly 14 to rotate by the connecting rope 163, the inner ring and the outer ring of the first bearing 162 rotate relatively, so that the first image sensing assembly 16 does not need to rotate, and the length of the connecting rope 163 is not affected no matter whether the front housing 11 and the rear housing 12 bend relatively or not. In actual use, the driving module 1 is located at the upstream of each operation module 9, so that the first image sensing assembly 16 can directly image the space in front of the pipeline robot 100, and information can be acquired more comprehensively and directly. The connecting rope 163 may be a steel wire rope or other rope having sufficient tensile strength.

Referring to fig. 1 and 6, in one embodiment, the pipeline robot 100 includes a plurality of operation modules 9, wherein one of the operation modules 9 is a grinding module 3 for performing grinding operation in a pipeline. The polishing module 3 includes a first housing 31, a second driving assembly 32 and a polishing assembly 33, the polishing assembly 33 is disposed outside the first housing 31, the second driving assembly 32 is used for driving the first housing 31 to rotate, and further, the polishing assembly 33 can rotate along with the rotation of the first housing 31. In the rotation process, the inner wall of the pipeline is circumferentially polished by the polishing assembly 33, and along with the advance of the pipeline robot 100 in the pipeline, the inner wall of different positions of the pipeline can be polished by the polishing assembly 33.

The sanding module 3 may further include a second housing 34, as shown in fig. 6, and the second driving assembly 32 is at least partially disposed in the second housing 34, and for example, an output end thereof may partially penetrate the second housing 34 and then be connected to the first housing 31. Specifically, the second driving assembly 32 may include a second motor (not shown), and an output shaft portion of the second motor is extended out of the second housing 34 and then connected to the first housing 31.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 6, in one embodiment, the grinding assembly 33 includes at least one grinding head 331 and a linkage 332 connected to the grinding head 331. The polishing module 3 further comprises a third driving assembly 35, the third driving assembly 35 is disposed in the first housing 31, a portion of the connecting rod 332 slidably extends into the first housing 31, the third driving assembly 35 is connected to the connecting rod 332 and is configured to drive the connecting rod 332 to move, and further drive the polishing head 331 to move toward a direction away from the central axis of rotation of the front housing 11, that is, the third driving assembly 35 is configured to drive the polishing head 331 to extend and retract outwardly, so as to extend and contact the inner wall of the pipeline when polishing is needed, and retract when polishing is not needed, or retract a portion of the polishing head to polish a large protrusion of the inner wall when the protrusion is encountered. So, this subassembly 33 of polishing also can adjust with the adaptation according to the internal diameter of pipeline and the particular case of inner wall, guarantees the effect of polishing of pipeline inner wall.

Referring to fig. 6, the third driving assembly 35 may include a third motor 351 and a second cam 352, the third motor 351 and the second cam 352 are both located in the first housing 31, and the center of the second cam 352 is connected to the output shaft of the third motor 351, so that the third motor 351 can drive the second cam 352 to rotate. The link 332 is connected to the second cam 352, and the link 332 is moved in a direction away from the rotational center axis of the front-stage housing 11 by the outer peripheral surface of the second cam 352. The connecting rod 332 may be disposed perpendicular to the rotational center axis of the front-stage housing 11, that is, disposed along the radial direction of the duct. The sanding head 331 is driven in a radial direction along the pipe until a position is reached where sanding is required.

Alternatively, the connecting rod 332 and the second cam 352 may abut with each other in a magnetically attractive manner, or in any other manner that does not affect the rotation of the second cam 352 and allows the outer peripheral surfaces of the connecting rod 332 and the second cam 352 to be connected in a sliding manner all the time in the radial direction.

Referring to fig. 6, in an embodiment, the polishing module 3 further includes a second image sensing component 36, which is disposed on the outer surface of the first housing 31 and corresponds to the polishing head 331 of the polishing component 33, and is configured to obtain the conditions of the inner wall of the pipeline in real time, including the conditions of the inner wall before polishing and the conditions of the inner wall after polishing, so that an operator can know the defect problem of the inner wall of the pipeline in real time and perform a corresponding polishing operation, for example, perform an important polishing on a position with a serious defect, so as to completely remove the defect of the inner wall. In this embodiment, the second image sensing assembly 36 may be disposed on a portion of the link 332 located outside the first housing 31 to move in synchronization with the sanding head 331.

As shown in FIG. 6, in one embodiment, the sanding module 3 further includes at least one suction nozzle 37, the suction nozzle 37 being disposed on an outer surface of the first housing 31, or on an outer surface of the second housing 34, or both the first housing 31 and the second housing 34. The suction nozzle 37 is used for connecting with an external suction pipeline so as to suck air from the pipeline during and/or after grinding and suck out powdery objects such as metal chips generated by grinding.

In particular, in this embodiment, the number of suction nozzles 37 can be multiple, such as three. The three air suction nozzles 37 are uniformly distributed on the outer peripheral surface of the second casing 34 along the circumferential direction of the pipeline, so that the advantage that the plurality of air suction nozzles 37 can simultaneously suck air from different positions in the pipeline is achieved, and the air suction effect is ensured. In other alternative embodiments, at least one suction nozzle 37 may be provided on the outer peripheral surface of the first housing 31, as the area of the outer peripheral surface of the first housing 31 allows.

In one embodiment, the sanding module 3 further comprises at least two air bags 391, the air bags 391 are respectively located on both sides of the first housing 31 and the second housing 34, and the air bags 391 are used for connecting with an external inflation and deflation assembly. When the inner wall of the pipeline needs to be polished, the two air bags 391 are inflated, and the two air bags 391 and the inner wall of the pipeline can form a generally closed space, so that powder objects generated by polishing are concentrated in the closed space, and the work of the suction nozzle 37 is facilitated; when the two air bags 391 are not inflated, the pipeline robot 100 may continue to move forward.

As shown in fig. 6, the sanding module 3 may include a plurality of bladder mounts 392, with bladders 391 mounted on the bladder mounts 392, respectively. Alternatively, the airbag mounting 392 on the first housing 31 side is connected to the first housing 31 by a universal joint 5, and the airbag mounting 392 on the second housing 34 side is connected to the second housing 34 by a universal joint 5. So, also have certain activity degree of freedom between each part in this module 3 of polishing respectively, further guarantee this pipeline robot 100 can be in the nimble removal of pipeline, avoid the dead phenomenon of card.

Wherein, a second bearing 395 is further connected between the airbag mounting part 392 at one side of the first shell 31 and the first shell 31, so that the airbag mounting part 392 at one side of the first shell 31 and the airbag 391 thereof do not rotate along with the rotation of the first shell 31, thereby ensuring that the airbag 391 is not damaged and has good sealing performance.

Further, the second bearing 395 and the airbag mounting 392 or the first housing 31 on the side are further connected by a universal joint 5, that is, as shown in fig. 6, the airbag mounting 392 and the second bearing 395 are connected by a universal joint 5, and the second bearing 395 and the first housing 31 are also connected by a universal joint 5, which further increases the flexibility of the sanding module 3.

As shown in fig. 6, the sanding module 3 further includes a transition plate 393 and a transition shaft 394, the transition plate 393 being connected to a side of the second bearing 395 remote from the first housing 31, the transition shaft 394 being connected to a side of the second bearing 395 near the first housing 31. The transition plate 393 and the transition shaft 394 may be coupled to the outer race and the inner race of the second bearing 395, respectively, such that the axial ends of the second bearing 395 may be coupled to the universal joint 5, respectively.

With continued reference to fig. 6, in one embodiment, the polishing module 3 further includes at least one cleaning nozzle 38, and the cleaning nozzle 38 is disposed on the outer surface of the first casing 31, or the outer surface of the second casing 34, or a plurality of cleaning nozzles 38 are disposed on the outer surfaces of both the first casing 31 and the second casing 34. The purge nozzle 38 is adapted to be connected to an external purge line. The cleaning nozzle 38 can clean the inner wall of the pipe to remove powder such as swarf generated by grinding. For example, the cleaning nozzle 38 can further clean the powder objects which are attached to the inner wall of the pipeline and cannot be completely sucked out by the suction nozzle 37, thereby ensuring the cleanness of the interior of the pipeline.

In the present embodiment, the number of the cleaning nozzles 38 may be plural, such as three. Optionally, a plurality of cleaning nozzles 38 are uniformly distributed on the outer surface of the first housing 31 along the circumferential direction of the pipeline, so that the cleaning nozzles 38 can also rotate along with the rotation of the first housing 31, and further 360 ° cleaning can be performed on the interior of the pipeline, and the cleaning effect is further ensured.

Referring to fig. 1 and 5, in an embodiment, one of the operation modules 9 is a detection module 2, the detection module 2 includes a fourth driving assembly 21, a rotating disc 22, and at least one detection element 23, the fourth driving assembly 21 is configured to drive the rotating disc 22 to rotate, a center of the rotating disc 22 is located on a central axis of rotation of the front housing 11, the at least one detection element 23 is disposed on the rotating disc 22 and faces an inner wall of the pipeline, and optionally, the detection element 23 is not located on the center of the rotating disc 22. When the fourth driving assembly 21 drives the rotary disc 22 to rotate, the detecting element 23 rotates around the rotation central axis of the front section housing 11, so that the inner wall of the pipeline can be detected.

The particular type of sensing element 23 is selected based on the pipe to be probed and the purpose of the probe. For example, the detection element 23 may be an eddy current sensor capable of detecting the thickness of the pipe, inner wall defects, and the like; as another example, the inspection may be an infrared sensor for detecting defects in the inner wall of the pipe. In other alternative embodiments, the number of the detecting elements 23 may be plural, and the types of the plural detecting elements 23 may be different, which is not particularly limited.

Depending on the specific structure of the detecting element 23, the detecting element 23 can be mounted on the turntable 22 in different ways, as shown in fig. 5, and in an alternative embodiment, the detecting module 2 can include an auxiliary member 24 to mount the detecting element 23 on the turntable 22.

With continued reference to fig. 4, in one embodiment, the detection module 2 may further include a detection housing 25. The fourth driving assembly 21 is at least partially disposed in the detection housing 25, and for example, a portion thereof may be connected to the turntable 22 after passing through the detection housing 25. Specifically, the fourth driving assembly 21 may include a fourth motor (not shown), and an output shaft of the fourth motor passes through the detection housing 25 and is connected to the turntable 22.

In addition, as shown in fig. 4, the detection module 2 further includes a flange 26 and a third bearing 27, the third bearing 27 is connected between the flange 26 and the turntable 22, and a side of the flange 26 away from the third bearing 27 can be further connected to the driving module 1 or other operation modules 9, etc. through the universal joint 5. This has the advantage that the driving of the turntable 22 by the fourth drive assembly 21 does not affect the drive module 1 or the further work modules 9.

In this embodiment, the detection module 2 and the polishing module 3 are sequentially connected to the driving module 1, that is, as shown in fig. 1, the driving module 1 is connected to the detection module 2 through a universal joint 5, and the detection module 2 is connected to the polishing module 3 through the universal joint 5. So, this pipeline robot 100 can detect the pipeline inside through detection module 2 earlier when the operation, then polishes the pipeline inner wall through polishing module 3. In other embodiments, only the detection module 2 or the grinding module 3 may be connected to the drive module 1, depending on the specific job requirements.

As shown in fig. 1 and 7, in one embodiment, the pipeline robot 100 further includes a circuit board loading module 4, the circuit board loading module 4 includes a loading housing 41 and a control circuit board 42 disposed in the loading housing 41, the loading housing 41 is connected to the operation module 9 through a universal joint 5, and the control circuit board 42 is communicatively connected to the driving module 1 and the operation module 9.

Specifically, the control circuit board 42 is communicatively connected to the first driving assembly 14, the first image sensing assembly 16, the detecting element 23, the fourth driving assembly 21, the second driving assembly 32, the third driving assembly 35, and the second image sensing assembly 36, so as to perform signal transmission with the first driving assembly 14, the first image sensing assembly 16, the detecting element 23, the fourth driving assembly 21, the second driving assembly 32, the third driving assembly 35, and the second image sensing assembly 36. Specifically, for example, the first driving assembly 14, the fourth driving assembly 21, the second driving assembly 32, and the third driving assembly 35 are controlled, and signals fed back by the first image sensing assembly 16, the second image sensing assembly 36, and the detection element 23 are received.

In addition, the control circuit board 42 can be connected to the air bag 391, the cleaning nozzle 38 and the suction nozzle 37 to control the opening and closing of the air bag 391, the cleaning nozzle 38 and the suction nozzle 37. Specifically, the control circuit board 42 may be connected to switches (not shown) such as solenoid valves, which are respectively connected between the air bag 391 and the external inflation/deflation assembly, between the cleaning nozzle 38 and the external cleaning pipe, and between the suction nozzle 37 and the external suction pipe.

This has the advantage that signal transmission is realized through the control circuit board 42, thereby avoiding the problems of signal loss or distortion caused by the overlong conventional lead when the pipeline robot 100 advances in the pipeline, and ensuring the effectiveness of control.

Further, the control circuit board 42 may be connected with an external terminal to perform information interaction with the control circuit board 42 through the external terminal. For example, an operator inputs an operation signal to the control circuit board 42 through an external terminal, and the operator can also acquire information fed back by the first image sensing assembly 16, the second image sensing assembly 36, and the detection element 23, and the like, in real time through the external terminal.

Referring to fig. 1 to 3 in conjunction with fig. 4 to 7, in one embodiment, the pipeline robot 100 further includes a plurality of supporting wheel assemblies 6 respectively disposed on the driving module 1, the polishing module 3, the detecting module 2 and the circuit board loading module 4 for assisting in supporting the driving module 1, the polishing module 3, the detecting module 2 and the circuit board loading module 4, so that, for example, the front casing 11, the rear casing 12, the detecting casing 25, the turntable 22, the first casing 31, the second casing 34 and the loading casing 41 can be located at the center of the pipeline without being damaged by contacting with the pipe wall.

Specifically, the supporting wheel assembly 6 includes a plurality of supporting wheel brackets 61 and at least one supporting wheel 62 rotatably mounted on each supporting wheel bracket 61, each supporting wheel bracket 61 is respectively mounted on the driving module 1, the polishing module 3, the detecting module 2 and the circuit board module, and a central axis of each supporting wheel 62 may be perpendicular to a central axis of rotation of the front section housing 11, that is, each supporting wheel 62 rolls on the inner wall of the duct along a straight line parallel to the central axis thereof.

In one embodiment, the number of the supporting wheel brackets 61 in each supporting wheel assembly 6 is preferably three to enable stable support, and three supporting wheel brackets 61 are sequentially arranged at intervals of 120 ° in the circumferential direction of the pipe. The number of the support wheels 62 connected to each support wheel bracket 61 may be plural, such as two, and the two support wheels 62 are coaxially connected. In other alternative embodiments, other numbers of support wheel brackets 61 and support wheels 62 are permitted.

Referring to fig. 4, the supporting wheel assembly 6 disposed on the driving module 1 is taken as an example for detailed description.

As shown in fig. 4, the supporting wheel assembly 6 may include a supporting plate 63, and a plurality of supporting wheel brackets 61 are respectively disposed on the supporting plate 63, and the supporting plate 63 is disposed on the driving module 1, and may be connected to a side of the rear housing 12 close to the detecting module 2. This has the advantage that the support wheel bracket 61 does not have to occupy the surface area of the rear housing 12 or the front housing 11, and this makes the manufacture and assembly of the pipeline robot 100 simpler and more convenient.

The support wheel brackets 61 may be disposed along a radial direction of the pipe.

As shown in fig. 4, the supporting wheel assembly 6 further includes a plurality of second adjusting assemblies 64, the second adjusting assemblies 64 are connected to the supporting wheel bracket 61, and the second adjusting assemblies 64 are used for driving the supporting wheel bracket 61 to move along the radial direction of the pipe so as to adjust the radius of the outer circle formed by the plurality of supporting wheels 62, that is, the plurality of supporting wheels 62 can be adjusted according to the inner diameter of the pipe, so that in pipes with different inner diameters, the supporting wheels 62 can also be tightly abutted against the inner wall of the pipe, thereby ensuring the stability of the advance of the pipe robot 100 in the pipe.

Specifically, the second adjusting assembly 64 may include a cylinder (not shown), and output ends of the plurality of cylinders are disposed along a radial direction of the pipe, so that the radial movement of the supporting wheel bracket 61 is achieved by extension and contraction of the output ends of the cylinders.

The second adjusting assembly 64 can be connected to the control circuit board 42, and the second adjusting assembly 64 can perform the telescopic action according to the signal of the control circuit board 42.

Further, with continued reference to fig. 4, the support wheel assembly 6 further includes a plurality of guide rods 65 disposed parallel to the radial direction of the pipe for guiding the sliding of the support wheel bracket 61, so that the support wheel bracket 61 does not shift during the sliding process. Specifically, a guide rod 65 may be provided on the second adjustment assembly 64. Alternatively, one guide rod 65 may be provided for each support wheel bracket 61, and two guide rods 65 may be provided, the two guide rods 65 being respectively provided at opposite sides of one second adjustment assembly 64. Of course, the number of the second adjusting member 64 may be more as the space outside allows, and is not particularly limited.

The pipe robot 100 may further include a plurality of connection flanges 7. Referring to fig. 4, the side of the support plate 63 remote from the rear housing 12 can be connected to the universal joint 5 via a connecting flange 7, so that the support plate 63 is now connected to the universal joint 5.

Correspondingly, in the detection module 2, the support plate 63 can be connected to the side of the detection housing 25 remote from the drive module 1, the side of the support plate 63 remote from the detection housing 25 also being connected to the universal joint 5 via a connecting flange 7, see fig. 5.

Correspondingly, referring to fig. 6, in the sanding module 3, a support plate 63 may be connected to a side of the second housing 34 remote from the first housing 31 so as not to interfere with the rotation of the first housing 31. The side of the support plate 63 remote from the first housing 31 can also be connected to the universal joint 5 via a connecting flange 7.

Correspondingly, in the circuit board loading module 4, a support plate 63 may be attached at a side of the loading housing 41 remote from the sanding module 3, see fig. 7.

The operation of the pipe robot 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention is as follows.

According to the size of the inner diameter of the pipeline to be operated, the first cam 133 is rotated to a proper position by rotating the hand wheel 153, so that when the driving wheel 132 abuts against the inner wall of the pipeline, the spring part 135 can generate proper pressure;

the driving wheel assembly 13 of the driving module 1 is arranged in the starting end of the pipeline, the control circuit board 42 controls the first driving assembly 14 to start, and the driving wheel assembly 13 rotates together with the front section shell 11 and advances spirally in the pipeline; the detection module 2, the polishing module 3, the circuit board loading module 4 and the support wheel 62 modules are sequentially arranged in the pipeline, and the control circuit board 42 controls the second adjusting assembly 64 to enable the support wheels 62 to be abutted against the inner wall of the pipeline; the pipeline robot 100 continues to advance;

the first camera 161 of the first image sensing assembly 16 acquires an image in front of the pipeline robot 100 in real time and transmits the image to the control circuit board 42 and an external terminal;

the detection element 23 detects the inner wall of the pipeline in real time in the advancing process and feeds back the detection result to the control circuit board 42 and the external terminal; when a defect is detected and it is necessary to polish the defect, the control circuit board 42 controls the first driving assembly 14 to stop rotating, the pipeline robot 100 stops advancing, and the polishing head 331 reaches the position of the defect;

the control circuit board 42 controls the second driving assembly 32 to be started to extend the polishing head 331 until the defect position is contacted, and simultaneously the control circuit board 42 controls the air bag 391 to be inflated to seal two ends of the polishing assembly 33; the control circuit board 42 controls the third driving assembly 35 to start, and the polishing head 331 and the first shell 31 rotate to perform rotary polishing on the defect position in the rotating process; the second image sensing assembly may monitor whether the defect location has been completely polished and feed back image information to the control circuit board 42 and external terminals; the control circuit board 42 controls the air suction nozzle 37 to work so as to suck the powder object out;

after polishing, the control circuit board 42 controls the cleaning nozzle 38 to start, and the cleaning nozzle 38 can rotate together with the first shell 31 and perform rotary cleaning on the inner wall of the pipeline;

after the cleaning is finished, the control circuit board 42 controls the air bag 391 to deflate; the pipeline robot 100 continues to advance;

if the inner diameter of the pipe is found to be changed by the first image sensing assembly 16 during the advancing process, the second adjusting assemblies 64 are controlled by the control circuit board 42 accordingly, so that the supporting wheels 62 can abut against the changed inner wall of the pipe.

The above description is only for the purpose of illustrating the preferred embodiments of the present invention and is not to be construed as limiting the invention, and any modifications, equivalents and improvements made within the spirit and principle of the present invention are intended to be included within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A pipeline robot, comprising:

2. The pipeline robot of claim 1, wherein the driving wheel assembly further comprises a front section housing, a first cam disposed inside the front section housing and perpendicular to the central axis of rotation of the driving wheel support, one end of the connecting member slidably extending inside the front section housing and slidably engaging with the outer circumferential surface of the first cam, and a spring member connected between the other end of the connecting member and the driving wheel support, the driving wheel support sliding along the axial direction of the spring member.

3. The pipeline robot of claim 1, wherein the driving module further comprises a rear housing, the first driving assembly is at least partially disposed in the rear housing, and an output end of the first driving assembly is connected to each of the driving wheel holders via a universal joint.

4. The pipeline robot of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of support wheel assemblies; each supporting wheel assembly comprises a plurality of supporting wheel brackets and at least one supporting wheel rotatably mounted on each supporting wheel bracket, each supporting wheel bracket is mounted on the driving module and each operating module, and the central axis of each supporting wheel is perpendicular to the central axis of rotation of the driving wheel bracket.

5. The pipeline robot of claim 4, wherein the support wheel assembly further comprises a plurality of adjustment assemblies, the adjustment assemblies being connected to the support wheel support, the adjustment assemblies being used to adjust the distance of the support wheels from the central axis of rotation of the primary wheel support.

6. The pipeline robot of claim 1, wherein the operation module comprises a grinding module, the grinding module comprises a second driving component and a grinding component, and the second driving component is used for driving the grinding component to rotate.

7. The pipeline robot of claim 6, wherein the grinding assembly comprises at least one grinding head and at least one linkage coupled to the grinding head, the grinding module further comprising a third drive assembly and a first housing, the third drive assembly being disposed within the first housing, a portion of the linkage slidably extending into the first housing, the third drive assembly being coupled to the linkage and configured to drive the grinding head to move in a direction away from the central axis of rotation of the capstan support.

8. The pipeline robot of claim 6, wherein the polishing module further comprises at least two air bags, a plurality of the air bags are respectively located on a side of the second driving assembly away from the polishing assembly and a side of the polishing assembly away from the second driving assembly, and the air bag located on the side of the polishing assembly is connected with the polishing assembly through a bearing; the air bag is used for being connected with an external inflation and deflation assembly.

9. The pipeline robot as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the operation module includes a detection module, the detection module includes a third driving assembly, a turntable, and at least one detection element, the third driving assembly is connected to the turntable and is configured to drive the turntable to rotate around the central axis of rotation of the driving wheel support, and the at least one detection element is provided on the turntable.

10. The pipeline robot according to any one of claims 1 to 8, further comprising a circuit board loading module including a loading housing and a control circuit board provided in the loading housing, the loading housing being connected to at least one of the working modules through a universal joint, the control circuit board being connected to the first driving assembly and the working module.