EP0061003B1 - Pipe-cleaning device with a container for cleaning "snakes" of different sizes - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention concerns a pipe cleaning machine for rotating cleaning spirals of different diameters. To adapt the container for the cleaning spiral and the machine to cleaning spirals of different diameters with a minimum of accessories, the container for the cleaning spirals is made in a known manner in the form of a guide hose, but the inside diameter of the guide hose and of its coupling to the machine is equal to or greater than the inside diameter of the hollow shaft parts of the machine which receive the cleaning spirals and a collet for adapting the machine and the guide hose to different cleaning spiral diameters is removably mounted in the coupling.

Description

The invention relates to a pipe cleaning machine for driving cleaning spirals of different diameters, with a housing, a motor-driven hollow shaft with an inner diameter for the passage of the cleaning spiral, with a rotary clutch for taking the cleaning spiral, consisting of a set of clutch shoes that can be driven by the hollow shaft and can be moved into the projection of the inner diameter against the cleaning spiral, with a container serving to hold the end of the cleaning spiral which is not in use, which can be aligned with the housing via a connecting coupling with the rotating coupling, and with one into the rotating coupling from the outside insertable rotatable collet that bridges diameter differences by means of jaws or fingers.

Such pipe cleaning machines are used to clean all possible sewage pipes and channels, which are often of considerable length and are provided with a large number of elbows, elbows, etc. It happens that the place of access to the pipeline is a considerable distance from the blockage point. The cleaning spirals, which are not "real" spirals in the mathematical sense, but in principle coil springs, are therefore manufactured in finite partial lengths and can be extended using special couplings. The pipe cleaning machines for driving these cleaning spirals are usually designed in the form of suitcases or small trolleys, from which the end of the cleaning spiral which is not in use emerges at the rear. In the past, this end was rotated freely on the floor, often moving in a circle and starting to hit. It must be taken into account here that the speeds are up to 600 rpm, in order to be able to use chain spinners and milling cutters, for example. By rolling and beating the free end of the cleaning spiral, accidents have occurred, so that there are now safety regulations that require the cleaning spiral to be accommodated in a container.

From US-A-2 940 099 it is known to use so-called adapter magazines as containers, which are designed as rotatable drums and are aligned with the rotary coupling on the machine housing. The cleaning spiral is pushed (or pulled out) into the drum during operation and winds up helically in the drum, with the appropriate length even in several layers. This winding process does not always run smoothly even if the cleaning spiral has its original geometrically exact shape. Occasionally there are larger or smaller loops or crooked turns in the drum, which results in considerable imbalance. Since the drum necessarily rotates at the spiral speed, the entire device begins to shake.

In addition, a considerable moment of inertia is formed when the drum is completely or partially filled, so that the drum must be braked during normal batch operation of the machine. Otherwise, even after disengagement, the spiral would initially continue to rotate at the drum speed until the energy of the rotating mass has been used up. If the blockage is persistent, this can destroy the spiral or the cleaning tool attached to the spiral. As a rule, the known drums are therefore equipped with a brake, usually a conical brake, which is actuated via a mechanism present in the machine housing, usually the clutch lever actuated in the opposite direction.

The most common nominal diameters of the cleaning spirals today are 8, 10, 16 and 22 mm. Different spiral diameters are required to meet the different cleaning requirements, which are mainly determined by the dimensioning and the course of the pipeline. Because of the large volume of cleaning spirals of large diameter wound in drums, it is not possible for practical reasons to provide, for example, a single drum for all four nominal diameters, the volume of which would then of course have to correspond to the cleaning spiral with the greatest length and the largest diameter. As a rule, the procedure is to use drums of different diameters.

Cleaning spirals with the above-mentioned nominal diameters between 8 and 22 mm cannot generally be driven by the same rotary clutch without special measures, since the known geometry of the clutch shoes does not bridge such a field. Mari can easily drive 16 mm and 22 mm spirals with the same rotary coupling. Likewise, it is again possible to drive 8 mm and 10 mm spirals with a differently dimensioned rotary coupling.

The decisive value of a pipe cleaning machine is the inner diameter of the hollow shaft, which must be slightly larger than the outer diameter (nominal diameter) of the largest cleaning spiral used. In order to be able to use a machine for 16 mm spirals for 8 mm and 10 mm spirals, it is known to add two drums to such a machine, which are equipped with so-called collets. The collets are triple-slotted tubes that are firmly connected to the drum and its brake cone. The outer diameter corresponds to the 16 mm spiral, while the inner diameter corresponds on the one hand to the 8 mm spiral and on the other hand to the 10 mm spiral. In any case, two collets and two drums are required, which also have the above-mentioned shortcomings. For the 16 mm spiral, a so-called guide hose is added to the known machine. This solution requires extensive accessories, which must be carried along with the machine at all times.

It is also known to firmly connect a collet that can be used simultaneously for 8 mm and 10 mm spirals to the extent that the collet is rotatable relative to the guide hose, but cannot be removed easily. In addition, the guide hose only allows the inclusion of spirals with a maximum nominal diameter of 10 mm, so that for larger spiral diameters, an additional guide hose - without a collet - must be available. The two guide hoses together have a space requirement that considerably exceeds that of the machine.

The invention is therefore based on the object of specifying a pipe cleaning machine of the type described at the outset which manages with a minimum of accessories with regard to the containers for accommodating the cleaning spirals and with regard to the means for adapting to different spiral diameters.

In the pipe cleaning machine described at the outset, the object is achieved in that the container for the cleaning spiral is designed in a known manner as a guide hose, that the inside diameter of the guide hose and the connecting coupling are equal to or larger than the inside diameter of the hollow shaft and that the collet for the adaptation of the rotary coupling and the guide hose with connection coupling to different spiral diameters is detachably mounted in the connection coupling.

In the above context, releasable is to be understood to mean any type of mounting or fastening which prevents unintentional displacement of the collet within the hollow shaft or the rotary coupling, but which allows the collet to be replaced without special tools or even exclusively by using force. This can happen, for example, in that the collet is held in the connection coupling in a form-fitting manner by means of a screw that can be tightened against the collet bearing. In this case, a screwdriver is sufficient to remove the collet with its bearing from the connection coupling. However, it is also easily possible to insert the collet chuck into the connection coupling by means of a snap-in connection. Such locking connections are known as ball locks. Here, a steel ball, which can be displaced to a limited extent under the action of a spring, is pressed into a corresponding recess in the collet bearing. This effectively prevents undesired entrainment of the collet bearing; however, the collet can be removed from the connection coupling together with the bearing by a pulling force.

It has already been stated above that the inside diameter of the hollow shaft is the decisive size for the respective pipe cleaning machine. The measure of making both the inside diameter of the guide hose and that of the connecting coupling equal or larger than the inside diameter of the hollow shaft means that the guide hose can be used for all cleaning spirals for which the machine (without the use of the collet) is also designed is. It is therefore sufficient to add a single guide hose for each machine type. The easy release of the collet from the connection coupling means that the guide hose can be used both with and without a collet.

According to one embodiment, it is particularly advantageous if both the rotary coupling and the collet are designed to be compressible in the unloaded state to at least two different nominal diameters of cleaning spirals due to the distances between the coupling jaws and the jaws.

These measures ensure, for example, that the same guide hose - without collet - can be used for both 22 mm and 16 mm spirals, and that in turn the same guide hose - with collet - for both 10 mm and can also be used for 8 mm spirals. A single pipe cleaning machine in connection with a single guide hose can consequently be used with a corresponding dimensioning of the hollow shaft for a total of four different spiral diameters, without the need for additional accessories.

An embodiment of the subject matter of the invention is explained in more detail below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5.

• Figur 1 einen teilweisen Vertikalschnitt durch eine vollständige Rohrreinigungsmaschine,
• Figur 2 einen Längsschnitt durch die Spannzange mit Spannzangenlager,
• Figur 3 eine Draufsicht auf die Stirnseite des geschlitzten Endes der Spannzange nach Figur 2,
• Figur 4 teilweise im Schnitt, teilweise in der Seitenansicht das mit dem Führungsschlauch verbundene Teil der Anschlusskupplung und
• Figur 5 eine Draufsicht auf das hintere Ende der Maschine mit dem gehäuseseitigen Teil der Anschlusskupplung sowie - teilweise geschnitten - auf das mit dem Führungsschlauch verbundene Teil der Anschlusskupplung.

Show it:

• FIG. 1 shows a partial vertical section through a complete pipe cleaning machine,
• FIG. 2 shows a longitudinal section through the collet with collet bearings,
• FIG. 3 shows a plan view of the end face of the slotted end of the collet according to FIG. 2,
• Figure 4 partly in section, partly in side view, the part of the connection coupling connected to the guide hose and
• Figure 5 is a plan view of the rear end of the machine with the housing-side part of the connection coupling and - partially cut - on the part of the connection coupling connected to the guide hose.

In Figure 1, a housing 1 is shown, which encloses all functional parts of the pipe cleaning machine and has approximately the shape of a suitcase in outline. A carrying handle 2 is provided for transport purposes; for parking two pairs of rubber feet 3 and 4 are used, of which the right pair 3 is fastened to a bracket 5 with elongated holes, not shown, in order, for example, to be able to compensate for the inclination of the machine on an inclined installation surface.

With the housing 1 in one piece there are two bearing blocks 6 and 7, in which two hollow shafts 8 and 9 are mounted. Both hollow shafts consist of a hollow cylindrical part and a respective hollow cone 10 or 11, the hollow cones with their largest cross-sectional areas facing each other. Hollow shafts and hollow cones have identical axes of rotation. The hollow shaft 8 carries a toothed belt pulley 12, which has a toothed belt 13 is connected to a toothed belt pulley 14 which is seated on a drive shaft 15 of an electric motor 16 which can be switched with respect to its direction of rotation. The hollow cone 10 has an unspecified shoulder with which the hollow shaft 8 is supported on the bearing block 6 via a thrust bearing 17.

The hollow shaft 9 is only indirectly supported in the bearing block 7, specifically via a sliding sleeve 18 with a collar 19 which is guided in the bearing block 7 so as to be longitudinally displaceable but not rotatable. The longitudinal displacement takes place by means of an actuating lever 20 which is arranged on the side of the housing 1 and is fastened to a lever shaft 21. The lever shaft is connected to the collar 19 of the sliding sleeve 18 via two link plates 22 and 23 shown in dashed lines and corresponding link pins. By pressing the actuating lever 20 downward, it is possible in this way to move the sliding sleeve 18 to the right. The hollow cone 11 likewise has a shoulder (not designated in more detail) with which the hollow shaft 9 is supported on the collar 19 via a thrust bearing 24. Although, with the exception of the thrust bearings 17 and 24, all other bearings are drawn as plain bearings, it goes without saying that the bearings in question can be designed as roller bearings and are preferably designed as needle bearings.

Between the hollow cones 10 and 11 there are, partially protruding into them, three coupling jaws 25 distributed over the circumference, which together with the hollow cones 10 and 11 form a rotary coupling 26. The coupling jaws 25 have conical surfaces at their two ends, which are essentially complementary to the conical surfaces of the hollow cones 10 and 11. The coupling jaws 25 were produced in such a way that an initially closed rotary body, which corresponds to the hatched representation, was broken down into three sectors of equal size by axially parallel radial cuts. The cutting width was selected so that the coupling jaws can later be moved radially inwards to such an extent that all cleaning spirals and collets for which the machine in question is designed can be grasped. The coupling jaws 25 are held at a distance in the unloaded state by means of tangential compression springs 27 which are held in corresponding blind bores in the coupling jaws.

When the machine is in operation and the lever 20 is not actuated at first, the clutch shoes 25 are carried along by the driven hollow shaft 8 and in turn also drive the hollow shaft 9, so that slippage between the hollow cones and the clutch shoes does not occur. By moving the lever 20 downward, the hollow cone 11 is displaced to the right, as a result of which the clutch shoes 25 deflect radially inward due to the cone surfaces. As soon as they strike a corresponding rotating body, be it a cleaning spiral or a collet, these parts are taken along with a correspondingly increased pressure on the lever 20.

The front end of the housing is designated 28. The part of a cleaning spiral 29 that is used for the cleaning process emerges from this end. The front end 28 faces the opening through which the cleaning spiral 29 is inserted into the pipeline to be cleaned. At the rear end 30, the housing has a connection coupling 31, parts of which belong to the housing 1, parts to a guide hose 32, which is a type of container for the end of the cleaning spiral 29 that is not in use. The part of the connecting coupling 31 belonging to the guide hose is referred to as a plug body 33, although it is understood that the connection can be made not only by a plugging process, but also by a screwing process or a combined type of connection, such as a bayonet connection. Details of the connection coupling 31 are explained in more detail below with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. It should only be mentioned here that there is a cylindrical cavity 34 in the plug body 33, the axis of which coincides with the common axis A-A of the entire system. In the cavity 34 there is a collet chuck 35 in which a collet 36 is rotatably mounted. The collet is fixed axially in the bearing by means of circlips (unspecified). In the collet bearing 35, an annular groove 37 is inserted into which a screw 38 engages radially, which has its counter thread in the plug body 33. In this way, the collet bearing 35 and thus the collet 36 is reliably fixed in the plug body 33. In particular, collet 36 is coaxially aligned with respect to the common axis A-A of the system. While details of the collet are explained in more detail with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, FIG. 1 shows the relative position of the collet with respect to the rotary coupling 26.

If, in the arrangement shown in FIG. 1, the rotary clutch 26 is actuated in the sense described above, the clutch jaws 25 first come into contact with the collet and take it along - initially by grinding - in the circumferential direction. The collet begins to rotate in the collet bearing 35. The part of the cleaning spiral 29 located within the collet has been omitted for the sake of clarity. When the rotary coupling 26 is actuated further, the collet 36 is then radially compressed and in this case lies against the cleaning spiral 29, causing it to rotate. It can be seen that after the collet has been removed, simply loosening the screw 38 instead of the small cleaning spiral 29 shown, it is also possible to introduce such a spiral into the system which extends as far as the cylindrical surfaces of the hollow shafts. It has already been stated above that the defining characteristic is the inside diameter of the hollow shaft or of the hollow shafts 8 and 9, which is indicated by “D” in FIG. 1. After the collet 36 has been removed, any cleaning spiral can be inserted into the system, the outside diameter of which is sufficiently smaller than dimension “D”. It goes without saying that the inner diameter of the guide tube 32 corresponds to the conditions according to the invention, and that also a bore 39 in the plug body 33, which delimits a shoulder for the stop of the guide tube 32, meets the conditions according to the invention.

To fix the plug body 33 relative to the housing 1, an index pin 40 is also arranged on the plug body 33, which engages in a corresponding housing bore (FIGS. 4 and 5). While the plug body 33 can be secured against rotation, in particular by the means according to FIG. 5, it is conceivable to provide the plug body according to FIG. 1 with a hollow cylindrical extension, which is only shown in broken lines and engages in a corresponding cavity in the housing 1.

It can be seen from FIGS. 2 and 3 that the collet 36 is formed from a tube (seamlessly drawn precision steel tube) whose end remote from the collet bearing 35 is slit in the axial direction over a considerable length, namely three slots 41 distributed equidistantly on the circumference arranged. As a result, three clamping jaws or fingers 42 are formed, which can be moved radially inward under the action of the rotary clutch 26. The deformation that occurs here is only elastic due to the sufficient spring properties of the material. According to FIG. 1, the end 43 of the slots 41 lies at a point which is noticeably outside the coupling jaws 25, so that the rotary coupling cannot be blocked. The width of the slots 41 is chosen so that a sufficiently large inward movement of the clamping jaws or fingers 42 is possible, in particular to be able to drive cleaning spirals 29 with different nominal diameters.

It can also be seen from FIGS. 4 and 5 that the plug-in body 33 consists of a closed part 33a and a longitudinally divided part 33b. The longitudinally divided part 33b forms a type of clamp for clamping the guide tube 32. On the closed part 33a there is a bracket 44 in the direction of the housing 1 (FIG. 1) which projects radially and axially with respect to the plug body. The index pin 40 is mounted in the axial extension 44a, specifically in a housing 45, which also encloses a compression spring (not shown). The index pin 40 can be lifted upwards by a knurled disk 46. After lifting the index pin 40, it is possible to connect the plug body 33 to the housing 1 or to separate it again.

It can also be seen from FIG. 5 that at the rear end of the housing 1, specifically above the axis A-A, there is a housing recess 47 which corresponds to the dimensions and position of the axial extension 44a. In the middle of the recess 47, a bore 48 is made, which serves to engage the index pin 40. At rounded diametrically opposite points of the rear opening of the housing 1, through which the cleaning spirals and / or the collets are inserted, two rounded pins 49 are arranged, which serve to guide and hold the plug body 33. For this purpose, there are two essentially complementary bores 50 in the plug body 33, with which the plug body 33 can be pushed onto the pins 49.

Claims (4)

1. Pipe cleaning machine for driving cleaning snakes (29) of different diameters, having a motor driven hollow shaft (8) having an internal diameter adapted to receive the cleaning snake (29), with a rotary coupling (26) to connect to the cleaning snake, comprising a set of coupling jaws (25) drivable from the hollow shaft (8) and movable to within the projected internal diameter into contact with the cleaning snake, having a cover (32) enclosing the inoperative end of the cleaning snake (29) which is releasably insertable into the housing (1) by means of a connector (31) with the rotary coupling (26) and with a rotary pincer grip (36) insertable into the rotary coupling from outside and bridging diameter differences by means of chuck jaws or fingers, characterised in that the cover for the cleaning snake (29) is formed in known manner as a tubular conduit (32), that the internal diameter of the tubular conduit and of the connector (31) are equal to or greater than the internal diameter of the hollow shaft (8, 9) and that the pincer grip (36) for adapting the rotary coupling (26) and the tubular conduit (32) with the connector (31) to different diameters of snake is releasably held in the connector.

2. Pipe cleaning machine according to claim 1, characterised in that the rotary coupling (26) and also the pincer grip (36) are formed so as to be capable of being pressed together by the spacing of the coupling jaws (25) or the chuck jaws (fingers 42) in a stressed condition to at least two different nominal diameters of cleaning snake (29).

3. Pipe cleaning machine according to claim 1, characterised in that the pincer grip (36) is held fixedly in the coupling (31) by means of a screw (38) tightenable against a pincer grip bearing (35).

4. Pipe cleaning machine according to claim 1, characterised in that the pincer grip bearing (35) is insertable into the coupling (31) by means of a notched connector.

Images