EP0146918B1 - Tunnel boring system for driving tunnels by means of pipe pushing - Google Patents

Abstract

1. A tunnel boring system for driving tunnels by advancing a pipe, in particular for tunnel pipes of non-negotiable inside diameter, comprising a substantially cylindrical tunnel boring machine (80) which can te pressed into the ground in the direction of its longitudinal centre line (L) and which at a boring machine head end (81) has a mining means (82) corresponding to the pipe size of a tunnel pipe to be laid, and which at a boring machine tail end (84) can be brought into supporting relationship with an end of a tunnel pipe portion (83) of the tunnel pipe to be advanced, wherein earth which is loosened by the mining means, with the addition of water, is conveyed away through the interior of the boring machine and, in regard to the tunnel pipe portion fitted to the tail end thereof, also through the interior of said tunnel pipe portion, characterised in that the mining means (82) has a mining tool bell (6) which is mounted rotatably coaxially with respect to the boring machine longitudinal centre line (L) and whose bell opening edge region (85) lies at the boring machine head end (81), that the width of opening of the tool bell approximately corresponds to the respective tunnel cross-section to be bored, that provided at the bell opening edge region (85) is a cutting and grinding tool crown (2), that conveyor and crushing tools (1, 15) are provided starting from said cutting and grinding tool crown into a tool bell inner region (86) which decreases towards the drilling machine tail end (84), along at least the major part of a tool bell inner wall (87), that there is additionally provided a grinding tool (89) which extends out of a tool bell bottom portion (88) disposed in opposite relationship to the bell opening edge region in the direction of the longitudinal centre line and which extends into the tool bell inner region (86) and which is also mounted rotatably and longitudinally displaceably relative to the tool bell coaxially with respect to the boring machine longitudinal centre line and which in longitudinal section is of such an outside profile that formed between the reducing tool bell inner wall (87) and an outside peripheral surface (90) of the grinding tool (89) is an annular space (91) which reduces in the direction of the tool bell bottom portion (88), that there are provided conveyor nozzles (16) which open into said annular space (91) and which serve for the feed of pressurised water, and that the annular space communicates with the boring machine tail end (84) by way of discharge passages (17, 92) for transporting away the earth which is introduced into the tool bell inner region and which is possibly crushed in the annular space.

Description

The invention relates to a tunnel boring system for opening tunnels by means of pipe compression, in particular for tunnel pipes with an inside diameter that cannot be walked on, with an essentially cylindrical tunnel boring machine that can be pressed into the soil in the direction of its longitudinal central axis and that has one of the pipe sizes of a tunnel pipe to be installed at a drill head end has corresponding mining device and which can be brought into a support connection at a drill tail end with an end face of a tunnel pipe section of the tunnel pipe to be pre-pressed, soil loosened by the mining device with the addition of water through the interior of the drill and, when the tunnel pipe section is attached to its tail end, also through the latter Interior is conveyed through.

In such a known tunnel boring system, the excavation device at the head of the drilling machine has essentially plate-shaped or star-shaped rotary tools, cf. e.g. B. DE-A-1 458 675, which rotate concentrically to the tunnel axis on a central shaft rotatably mounted in a machine housing. Depending on the conditions of use, the rotary tools can be designed as scraping, cutting or scraping tools. Such tools, which are attached in the circumferential area of a star-like or disk-like support member that essentially covers the tunnel cross-section, scrape or scrape off the material to be removed, usually with constant supply of water, and the material falls through caliber openings (or through) provided in the tool-carrying disk specially dimensioned spoke sections with a star-shaped design) and is then together with the rinsing water z. B. discharged from the tunnel bore via centrifugal pumps and hose lines. The caliber openings mentioned are intended to prevent stones and debris of a grain size from entering the pipes and pumps discharging the overburden, which could damage the discharge devices. The material that cannot be removed through the caliber openings collects in the rotation area of the stripping tool and, if it accumulates accordingly, can completely put the removal tool out of operation. But even if, despite the accumulation of non-transportable material in the area of the excavation device, it is still possible to remove the working face, the material jam described generally leads to a considerable reduction in the rate of advance, even with a high pipe pre-pressure.

In addition, such a known tunnel boring system can only be used to mine soil with a very small proportion of small-grained stones, i. H. that the ground condition of the tunnel driving section must be largely homogeneous. If, for example, unexpectedly large pieces of rock or remains of foundations of buildings lie in the tunnel boring section, the tools used and usable in this known type of tunnel boring machine are not able to penetrate the obstacles. If this is the case, the driving is stopped by such obstacles, i. That is, the entire drilling machine must be excavated, since it can usually not be withdrawn due to the tunnel tubes already pressed.

Known drilling machines of this type, as mentioned, cannot be used to drive up soils with larger chunks of rock, but also not soils that are particularly loamy and clay-containing, since such a soil condition sticks the tool set to the mining tool and the conveyor system after a short period of use, so that satisfactory results cannot be expected in this regard either.

For drilling tunnels through soft soils and gravel with a small proportion of coarse-grained rock, tunnel boring machines working with screw conveyors are also used, cf. e.g. B. FR-A-1 538 551. A screw conveyor rotates in a drill housing or a trough, rubs the material to be mined out with mostly armored blades on the front worm gear and transports it to the rear end by means of the screw. This extraction by means of screw conveyors is only suitable for dry or moist material and is limited to relatively short tunnel bores, since the drilling length can essentially only correspond to the screw length.

Furthermore, a tunnel boring machine is known (FR-A-2 349 000), in which no rotating parts are provided in the mining area, but rather a large number of swiveling nozzles distributed over the circumferential edge of the tunnel cross section, to which water is supplied so that the nozzle jets can detach the soil. The detached material is removed together with the rinse water. Obviously, such a drilling system can only be used for soils of a very specific composition made of easily rinsable material, at least not for soils with an irregularly large rock.

The tunnel boring systems used so far in the introductory outline have more or less well-developed dismantling tools at the head of the drilling machine and can dig up the tunnel cross-section on site by scraping, cutting or digging out the soil. However, as soon as obstacles appear during tunneling, which are either are large that they can not get into the discharge device or consist of a material that they prevent the removal, the driving is usually finished because such obstacles can not be processed. In such a case, when driving tunnels with accessible inner diameters, the obstacle that cannot be processed by the machine would be crushed on site and the tunneling would then continue. This is obviously not possible with tunnel drilling systems of the type mentioned at the beginning for tunnel pipes of inside diameter which cannot be walked on.

The invention is therefore based on the object of providing a tunnel boring system, the tunnel boring machine of which is able to mine all types of soils and earth zone compositions and which also has a device for mining all of the large parts of the earth in the mining area ready for direct removal shred.

The solution to this problem according to the invention results from the features and measures described in the claims and in particular in claim 1. The removal tool bell according to the invention, the bell opening edge area of which lies at the head of the drilling machine, carries a cutting and grinding tool crown with a diameter approximately corresponding to the tunnel cross section to be drilled in each case. With this crown, the material to be mined is scraped, scraped out or cut depending on the nature of the soil. In addition, for the material removal and transport in the direction of the center of rotation of the tool bell into the inner area on the inner area of the tool bell, the cutting and grinding tool crown is immediately followed by conveying and comminuting tools, which at least over the largest part in the direction of the narrowing bell inner area extend the bell wall. The tool sections near the mine, which can be designed like a shovel, serve mainly to break down the material on the face and to transport it into the interior of the tool bell, while the tool sections further inside the bell serve primarily as crushing, grinding and comminuting tools. A grinding tool according to the invention protrudes from the tool bell bottom section into the inside of the tool bell, which, seen in longitudinal section, has such an external profile that, together with the tool bell inner wall that gradually tapered towards the tool bell bottom section, a tapered toward the Bottom section forms gradually reducing annulus. If the soil mined by the tools z. B. with rocks, enters this annular space, and if the rocks are larger than the clear width of the annular space between the bell inner wall and the grinding tool, there is an immediate crushing of the rock at least to the grain size limited by the annular space.

According to the invention, the tool bell and the grinding tool are rotatably mounted relative to one another, so that rock and debris components of the most varied types can be processed by appropriate operation of the comminution tools. Since, according to the invention, the grinding tool is also relatively longitudinally displaceable with respect to the tool bell, depending on the selected axial position, a change in the opening angle of the annular space between the tool bell and the grinding tool can be adjusted according to the most favorable conditions on site or changed during opening. So that the material mined and shredded in the manner according to the invention can be discharged quickly from the tunnel boring machine, conveying nozzles open into the annular space and are flushed with a pressurized water supply, which flush the material into discharge ducts so that it is guided through the interior of the machine, to the tail end and can be transported there.

Since in the tunnel boring system according to the invention immediate shredding and grinding of material components that are otherwise not suitable for transport takes place, all, even unexpected, obstacles can be passed with the tunnel boring machine according to the invention, because even blocks of rock with the cross section of the tunnel can be ground by the grinding tools. As a result, the tunnel boring machine according to the invention can be used universally, which is further substantiated by the following description.

According to an advantageous embodiment, the drilling machine of the tunnel boring system according to the invention is subdivided into a control section at the head end and a trailing section at the tail end, and the control section can be deflected universally by a few angular degrees relative to the trailing section with respect to the longitudinal central axis. Because of this subdivision, the control section can drive up tunnel curves in accordance with the respective deflection about the longitudinal central axis. In this advantageous exemplary embodiment, the tool bell of the dismantling device can be rotated on its tool bell bottom section with a coaxial to the control section longitudinal central axis within the control section mounted outer hollow shaft, and a rotary drive for the tool bell is provided on the outer hollow shaft. The grinding tool protruding into the interior of the tool bell has a grinding tool head on its section facing the bell opening edge region, which is attached to the end face of an inner hollow shaft that is relatively rotatable and axially displaceable concentrically in the outer hollow shaft. The grinding tool head can carry a concentric grinding tool on the outer circumference with respect to the longitudinal center axis of its inner hollow shaft carrying it or, according to a modified embodiment, can be provided with tools offset eccentrically to the longitudinal center axis, which in addition to the grinding effect also enable a breaking or pre-breaking effect within the tool bell. Since the inner hollow shaft is concentrically guided in the outer hollow shaft so as to be relatively rotatable and axially displaceable via corresponding bearing arrangements, this results in an extremely compact assembly of these two parts, which are particularly highly stressed under rough mining conditions. In order that the rotary and sliding drives for the inner hollow shaft can be designed for optimal stability and performance despite the narrow interior conditions of the tunnel boring machine for inaccessible tunnel tube diameters, the corresponding drives are located axially behind the rotary drives for the outer shaft on a protruding end of the outer hollow shaft Section of the inner hollow shaft. Advantageously, the delivery nozzles are arranged on the inner wall of the tool bell, and the discharge channels, which allow the dismantled and shredded material to emerge from the annular space of the tool bell, are provided as discharge openings which break through the wall of the inner hollow shaft and are transported away through the interior of the inner hollow shaft to its tail end Enable section. This section of the inner hollow shaft is connected, preferably via a rotary seal housing, to a flexible pipeline for the further transport and removal of the material through the interior of the tunnel pipe sections which may adjoin the machine.

So that despite the diameter-related, narrow design of the tunnel boring machine according to the invention, a bend approach according to tunnel boring practice is created, the outer hollow shaft, its rotary drives, the inner hollow shaft and their rotary and displacement drives are mounted in or on a supporting housing surrounding the outer hollow shaft. This support housing is attached only to the head-end control section and protrudes into the tail-end trailing section, the drives mentioned being so tightly packed on the support housing that there is a sufficiently large distance between the inner wall surface of the trailing section and the entire circumference of all functional elements arranged on the support housing, which at Corresponding pivoting of the head-end control section, via a plurality of control cylinders provided in accordance with the pivoting direction, the entire support housing with the components can pivot out within the trailing section, the largest pivoting movement obviously having to be possible at the tail-end section. These conditions are met by the tunnel boring machine according to the invention through an extremely compact design. An example is to explain this: According to the invention, the removal of the dismantled and comminuted material through the interior of the inner hollow shaft uses an otherwise unused but, for reasons of stability, cavity as a transport path, the hollow shaft also offering the advantage of absolute tightness, so that the Drive units experience no functional impairment due to the dismantled material. The space available through the inventive selection of the removal path through the interior of the inner hollow shaft in the interior of the trailing section can thus be used, for example, by accommodating powerful drive units, as happened in the invention.

In the tunnel boring machine according to the invention, the control section overlaps at least part of the outer shell of the tool bell, as a result of which an outer annular space, which is liquid-tight and pressure-resistant through sealing means, is formed between the control section and the outer wall of the tool bell. When using the tunnel boring machine according to the invention, water is pumped into the annular space, which is used for various pressure flushing and conveying processes. During the mining of clayey soil, the material may stick to the inner wall of the tool bell, which would impair the conveying effect of the tool-covered surfaces. In the tool bell according to the invention, a plurality of nozzles of relatively small diameter are provided in the bell wall adjacent to the bell opening edge region and distributed over the circumference and offset in the direction of the longitudinal center axis. These nozzles are connected to the water-fed outer annulus via rinsing channels and, with the appropriate water pressure, ensure that all surfaces on the tool inside the bell are rinsed off quickly and consistently. Some rows of nozzles directly adjacent to the bell opening edge area can additionally rinse out the overburdening process Support material to be cleared. At the end of the annulus chamber facing the tool bell bottom section, a plurality of rows of nozzles of relatively large cross-section are provided, which are also connected to the outer annulus via corresponding channels through the bell wall. A comparatively large amount of water emerges from these nozzles, which conveys the material transported and shredded into the inner annular space into the openings breaking through the inner hollow shaft. So that a substantially higher pressure is available at the flushing nozzles mentioned than at the nozzles used for discharge, the outer annular space can be divided, for example, by an annular segment into two annular space chambers, the channels of the flushing nozzles in one chamber and the channels of the ones in the other chamber open to promote nozzles.

Furthermore, it is advantageous in the case of the tunnel boring machine according to the invention with regard to universal application options if the tool bell is attached to the outer hollow shaft and the grinding tool head is attached to the inner hollow shaft via corresponding screw connections, so that these parts can be assembled and exchanged from the head end of the tunnel boring machine. This means that these tool elements can be fitted with a suitable tool set, depending on the expected operating conditions. If soils containing clay and clay are expected with few stones, it is advantageous to install tools with a high shovel effect, while tools with a predominantly stony soil are preferred, in which crushing and grinding properties are paramount.

The grinding tool head and the tool bell inner wall can have a similar wall profile or can carry different tools. For example, the inner wall of the tool bell and / or the outer circumferential profile of the grinding tool head can be provided with axially parallel ledge teeth. In order to achieve a high blade effect, right-hand or left-hand screw-like ledge teeth can also be used. To increase the crushing and crushing properties, tools can also be used which are provided with wart teeth on the respective peripheral surface. Hard metal inserts, for example hard metal pellets or hard metal round shank chisels, can also be inserted or pressed into the peripheral surface. If necessary, welded-on wear teeth or wear strips, studs and the like can also be used. Furthermore, the inner wall curvature of the tool bell and / or the curvature or inclination of the grinding tool head on its outer circumferential profile can be varied by suitable tool selection, depending on the anticipated conditions of use. The bell shape of the inner wall, in conjunction with the dome-like grinding tool head in its basic form, especially when the grinding tool is moved, enables a wide range of variations for the design of the inner annular space which is used for crushing or grinding.

Since the tunnel boring diameters which are drilled with the tunnel boring machine according to the invention are mainly in a diameter range of 35 cm to 80 cm, and the tunnel boring machine according to the invention removes the accumulating comparatively quickly, the tunnel is driven at an increased rate of advance, especially when the speed is easy to process Soil, extremely smoothly instead, especially since any obstacles are not pushed long in front of the machine, but are ground through. Under some operating conditions it can be helpful to give the tunnel boring machine additional centering in addition to its guidance over the control section and the trailing pipe. For this purpose, the grinding tool head can be pushed in the axial direction over the plane in which the cutting and grinding tool ring rotates into the face, so that the dome-shaped rounding of the grinding tool has a supporting centering effect. In such a position, the discharge openings connecting the interior of the inner hollow shaft with the inner annular space of the tool bell are also displaced into the head-end section of the tool bell, while the nozzles used for the removal remain in the vicinity of the tool bell bottom region. However, such a displacement of the discharge openings with respect to the discharge nozzles does not have any disadvantageous effect restricting the discharge quantity, since when the tool bell is pressed against the working face and the grinding tool is pushed forward in the inner annular space of the tool bell, a pressure is built up via the discharge nozzles, which pressure is generated only through the discharge openings into the interior of the inner hollow shaft can escape and thereby optimally flushes away the overburden with the water supplied.

It would also be possible to design the discharge openings in the wall of the inner hollow shaft as axially parallel elongated perforations, in such a way that in each displacement position of the inner hollow shaft at least some of the discharge openings are rinsed directly by the discharge nozzles.

The tunnel boring system according to the invention enables tunnel boring at an increased rate of advance over tunnel lengths which could not be opened with previous drilling machines. So that at the pipe pre-pressing at the tail end Pipes connecting the tunnel boring machine, usually made of concrete, can also be pushed over long lengths, intermediate pressure stations can be provided after a number of tunnel pipe sections, which, in cooperation with the main press station, press the respective tunnel pipe sections.

• Fig. 1 eine schematische Längsschnittdarstellung einer Tunnelbohrmaschine nach den Merkmalen der Erfindung,
• Fig. 2 eine vergrößerte Detailansicht des vorderen Abschnitts der in Fig. 1 gezeigten Tunnelbohrmaschine,
• Fig. 3 eine Schnittdarstellung einer Abbau-Werkzeugglocke der in Fig. 2 gezeigten Tunnelbohrmaschine,
• Fig. 4 eine Ansicht der in Fig. 3 dargestellten Abbau-Werkzeugglocke in Richtung des Teils X in Fig. 3,
• Fig. 5 eine Schnittansicht eines Mahlwerkzeugkopfs der in Fig. 2 gezeigten Tunnelbohrmaschine,
• Fig. 6 eine Ansicht des in Fig. 5 abgebildeten Mahlwerkzeugkopfs in Richtung des Pfeils Y,
• Fig. 7 perspektivische Ansichten verschiedener Außenumfangsprofile für den in Fig. 5 gezeigten Mahlwerkzeugkopf,
• Fig. 8 Querschnittdarstellungen von unterschiedlichen Umfangsprofilen von Mahlwerkzeugköpfen mit in die Umfangsfläche eingearbeiteten Hartmetalleinsätzen und aufgeschweißten Verschleißprofilen,
• Fig. 9 drei Abwicklungsbilder für Besatzanordnungen zur Gestaltung des Umfangs-Außenprofils des Mahlwerkzeugkopfes und/oder der Innenwand der Werkzeugglocke.

Further advantages of the invention are evident from the measures specified in the claims and are explained in more detail in the following description of specific embodiments of the invention with reference to drawings. Show it:

• 1 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view of a tunnel boring machine according to the features of the invention,
• 2 is an enlarged detail view of the front portion of the tunnel boring machine shown in FIG. 1,
• 3 shows a sectional illustration of a dismantling tool bell of the tunnel boring machine shown in FIG. 2,
• 4 is a view of the removal tool bell shown in FIG. 3 in the direction of part X in FIG. 3,
• 5 is a sectional view of a grinding tool head of the tunnel boring machine shown in FIG. 2,
• 6 is a view of the grinding tool head shown in FIG. 5 in the direction of arrow Y,
• 7 shows perspective views of different outer circumferential profiles for the grinding tool head shown in FIG. 5,
• 8 cross-sectional representations of different circumferential profiles of grinding tool heads with hard metal inserts incorporated into the circumferential surface and welded-on wear profiles,
• Fig. 9 three development images for trimming arrangements for designing the peripheral outer profile of the grinding tool head and / or the inner wall of the tool bell.

The tunnel boring machine 80 shown in FIG. 1 carries at its drilling machine head end 81 a mining tool bell 6 of the mining device 82, which penetrates into the soil to be extracted and bores a tunnel with the diameter of the pipe size to be laid. Since the excavation device 82 encompasses the entire tunnel cross section to be drilled, the soil bounded by tunnels through the outer peripheral edge of the excavation device is cut or cut by a cutting and grinding tool crown 2, which is located at a bell opening edge area 85 (FIG. 2) broken and then inserted into a tool bell inner region 86. The excavated soil is then transported essentially up to a tool bell bottom section 88 through the inner region 86 and with the addition of water through discharge openings 17, which are located in the vicinity of the tool bell bottom section 88 in a wall of an inner hollow shaft 25, into the interior 92 of this inner hollow shaft is introduced, transported through the interior to the drill tail end 84 and discharged from there via a flexible pipeline 56, optionally through tunnel pipe sections 83 attached to the tunnel boring machine. The tool bell 6 is mounted concentrically to the longitudinal axis L of the drilling machine on a flange section 21 of an outer hollow shaft 27. At the end of the outer hollow shaft 27 opposite the flange section 21, a rotary drive 37 is provided which drives the outer hollow shaft and thus the tool bell to the right or left.

The inner hollow shaft 25 is mounted and guided concentrically in the outer hollow shaft 27 and has a grinding tool 89 at its end facing the tool bell 6. As shown, radial bearings 23 and 41 serve to radially support the inner hollow shaft 25. As shown in FIG. 2, it can be seen that the radial bearing 23 is seated on a circumferential surface of the inner hollow shaft 25 sliding guide bushing 22, which allows a relative displacement of the inner hollow shaft 25 in the axial direction to the outer hollow shaft 27 and thus to the tool bell 6. A corresponding plain bearing bush is also located on the further radial bearing 41, which is only shown in FIG. 1 and is located behind the outer hollow shaft 27 in the direction of the tail end of the machine. 1 also shows a rotary drive 54 and a displacement drive 62. By means of the displacement drive 62, the inner hollow shaft 25 can be moved from the position shown in full lines in FIG. 1, in which the grinding tool 89 is in its position retracted into the tool bell 6, and a position indicated by dashed lines in FIGS. 1 and 2 are displaced, in which at least the front end of the grinding tool 89 projects beyond the plane occupied by the cutting and grinding tool crown 2. The rotary drive 54 permits a left or right rotation of the inner hollow shaft 25, regardless of the rotation and direction of rotation of the outer hollow shaft 27. It can also be seen from FIG. 1 that the tunnel boring machine 80 consists of two main parts, a head-end control section 93 and a tail-end trailing section 94. FIG. 2 shows how the two sections engage with one another with overlapping circumferential edges 29, 32 and an interposed sealing ring 30. This arrangement consisting of the peripheral edges and the sealing ring serves primarily as a sealing protection, so that no soil and the like can penetrate into the inner region of the trailing section 94. The actual coupling between the control section 93 and the trailing section 94 takes place solely via control cylinders 33, of which only two of a plurality of control cylinders provided over the inner circumference are shown in FIG. 1. By selected actuation of these control cylinders, the control section 93 at the head end can be pivoted by a few angular degrees with respect to the longitudinal central axis L, as a result of which tunnel curves can be developed.

In Fig. 1, a support housing 95 is shown, which encompasses a bearing 36 of the outer hollow shaft 27, a part of the rotary drive 37 for the outer hollow shaft and the radial bearing 41, which serve to support the inner hollow shaft 25, in the manner of a housing shell. The contour of this support housing 95 is shown in FIG. 1 with a dense parallel dashed line. The support housing 95 itself, which thus supports the outer hollow shaft 27, its rotary drive 37, the inner hollow shaft 25 and the rotary and displacement drives 54 and 62, is attached to the head-end control section 93, specifically via a support flange 64 (FIG. 2). Starting from this support flange and thus from the control section 93, the support housing protrudes into the interior of the trailing section 94, so that when the control section is pivoted by means of the control cylinder 33, the support housing 95 is pivoted along with all the components supported on it. In order to ensure a sufficient degree of freedom for the pivoting process, the functional elements arranged on the support housing 95 are grouped in an optimally compact manner. In this sense, the rotary drive 37 comprises tandem hydraulic motors 100 which, viewed in the axial direction, are arranged in a star shape around the outer hollow shaft 27 or the corresponding section of the support housing 95 and, via drive pinions 40, set a drive sprocket 39 placed on the outer hollow shaft in rotation. A corresponding arrangement of hydraulic motors 101 is provided for the rotary drive 54 of the inner hollow shaft 25. If necessary, a tandem motor arrangement can also be selected here. 1, act on the one hand on the support housing 95 and on the other hand on the housing of the rotary drive 54 and, when actuated, cause a relative displacement between the outer hollow shaft 27 and the inner hollow shaft 25, also called telescoping. It can be seen that the sliding bearing bushes 22 which guide the inner hollow shaft during the displacement are subject to high loads and, particularly when the hollow shaft is retracted, are highly susceptible to wear due to possible material effects on the hollow shaft surface. 2, sealing elements 19 are arranged which enclose the inner hollow shaft and keep the surface thereof as free as possible of impurities. In order to increase the sliding safety between the inner hollow shaft 25 and the sliding guide bushing, high-pressure grease channels can be provided in the bearing area, which allow an additional and controllable addition of lubricant as required.

3 and 4, the design of an embodiment of the removal tool bell 6 can be seen. The bell opening edge region 85 (FIG. 2), as mentioned, carries the cutting and grinding tool crown 2. This has an overcut relative to the outer diameter of the head-end control section 93, i. that is, the overall diameter of the tool bell on the cutting and grinding tool crown 2 is somewhat larger than that of the control section 93, so that the tunnel diameter cut or drilled from the ground allows the pressing of the tunnel boring machine and the pipes to be laid without problems. In the direction of the inner part 86 of the tool bell, a plurality of blade-like strip elements (see FIG. 4) adjoin the circumference of the inner wall of the tool bell. These strip elements can run helically to the right or left, or consist of strips parallel to the axis. The optimal tooling of the tool bell inner wall 87 depends on the respective application. In all circumstances, however, the blades have a double function, namely on their section facing the bell opening edge region 85 they serve primarily as removal and conveying tools, while the ledge sections facing the tool bell bottom section 88 also carry out any necessary size reduction in addition to the removal of the material accomplish. With the cutting and milling tool crown 2, it is possible, for example, to cut or drill through unexpectedly occurring boulders or foundations or parts of large chunks of rock, depending on the location, without removing a major obstacle and also without the need for one To avoid obstacles. The blades in the blade area 1 (FIG. 2), which optionally adjoin the cutting and grinding tool crown 2 directly after a short attachment of the cutting and grinding tool crown to a hard stone object, support the removal or already crushing of the obstacle in the course of further advance. In order to be able to drill through or cut such hard and resistant rock formations, it is advantageous if the cutting and grinding tool crown, as well as the shovel tools, are of armored design.

The grinding tool head 11 of the grinding tool 89 shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 is, as a comparison with FIG. 4 shows, with a corresponding one Outer jacket profile, which is formed from strips 12, occupied. Here too, the strips or strip teeth are arranged helically to the longitudinal center axis and, like the strips of the tool bell in the front area of the grinding tool 89 according to FIG. 2, serve primarily to promote the overburden and in the area facing the tool bell bottom section 88 for grinding or crushing for removal otherwise too large soil components. Because of the bell shape of the tool bell inner wall 87 and the dome-shaped design of the grinding tool 89, an annular space 91 is formed between these two tool parts arranged coaxially to one another, which decreases in size in the direction of the tool bell bottom section 88. Depending on the external profile of the grinding tool 89 and also the curvature of the inner wall 87 of the tool bell, the size and shape of this annular space 91 can be changed. It is essential that the annular space 91 has a size that is set to the subsequent discharge channels, so that no blocking of the discharge paths by excessively large rocks is possible. It is also important that the mutual assignment of the tool profiles on the inner wall of the bell and on the outer casing of the grinding tool 89 is selected so that the rock to be ground is also gripped on all sides and broken or ground accordingly.

7 and 8 show several design options for the tool set, the shown setting option of the grinding tool head also being provided for the tool bell 6, which is not shown separately. In FIG. 7, a grinding tool head has pyramid warts 74, a further prism warts 75 and a third pressed-in hard metal pellets 76. FIG. 8 shows again a tool head with pressed-in hard metal strip pieces 77, with welded-on wear teeth or strips 78 and with inserted hard metal -Rundular chisels 79 can be equipped. Various developments are shown in FIG. 9; 71 shows a development of a tooth or wart stock in an axially parallel design, 72 shows a corresponding development of a tooth or wart stock with right or left screw pitch and 73 shows the development of a tooth or wart stock in a staggered arrangement.

2, the grinding tool head 11 is shown as a rotationally symmetrical part. Either the entire part or its tool set could also be arranged eccentrically to the longitudinal center line L, so that, in addition to the grinding function of the toothing or the wart set, a breaking or pre-breaking effect between the tool bell and grinding tool can also be achieved. In order to be able to easily convert the tunnel boring machine 80 to the ground condition expected in the respective tunnel boring, the tool bell 6 can be unscrewed from the end of the drilling machine 81 by screws 14 from its bearing flange on the outer hollow shaft 27. A corresponding screw connection 13 is used to replace the grinding tool head 11.

The entry and removal of the optionally comminuted soil via the discharge openings 17 is conditioned or supported by a flushing water supply. According to FIG. 2, a plurality of rows, in the example shown four rows lying in parallel, conveyor channels 99 are provided in the wall of the tool bell in the vicinity of the bottom section 88, which are distributed in the circumferential direction over the tool bell 6. These conveying channels 99 end on their side facing the annular space 91 in conveying nozzles 16 and on their corresponding other end in an annular chamber 70 in which rinsing water is stored at a relatively low pressure. This flushing water flows through the conveying channels 99 and the conveying nozzles 16, which have a corresponding opening width in order to obtain a large water throughput and flush the conveyed material located in the annular space 91 into the interior 92 of the inner hollow shaft 25, from where it flows through the flexible pipeline provided on the tail end 56 is transported away. In the exemplary embodiment shown, four discharge openings 17 are provided, distributed uniformly over the circumference of the inner hollow shaft, which run obliquely towards the interior 92 in the direction of the tail end of the tunnel boring machine, in order to permit the most favorable flow possible. The annulus chamber 70 is a section of an outer annulus 9, which is accommodated within the control section 93, namely between the tool bell outer wall 96 and a control section casing 10 concentrically enclosing this outer wall. Between the control section casing 10 and the outer wall of the removable tool bell 6 Sealing means 4, 5, 18 are provided, which close off the annular space 9 in a liquid-tight and pressure-tight manner. The annular space 9 is divided by an annular segment 69 into the aforementioned annular space 70 for the rinsing water and a second annular space 98. Corresponding sealing elements of the ring segment 69 ensure a pressure-tight closure of the annular chamber 98 within the annular space 9. This annular chamber 98 is also connected to a water supply, but the water in this chamber is at a significantly higher pressure than in the adjacent chamber 70. The annular chamber 98 is located via nozzle channels 8, which pass through the tool bell wall, in connection with pressure nozzles 97 on the tool bell inner wall 87, which Discharge water under high pressure from said annular chamber 98 primarily in the mining area, especially in the blade area 1. Due to the pressure conditions described and the choice of narrow cross-sections for the nozzles 97, sharp water jets emerge from them, which serve to keep the tooling and the entire interior of the tool bell free of adhering soil, so that the tool function is not impaired and furthermore as far as possible rinse the working face in order to support the removal of the material to be removed. These nozzles also exert a certain cooling effect when grinding and crushing the material on the tools and on the cutting and grinding tool crown 2 and support the grinding of rock. 2 shows a number of rows of pressure nozzles 97, and a row of nozzles facing the head end is fed via a pressurized water channel 3. If the conditions of use make it necessary that only very specific selected pressure nozzles can function, if necessary before the assembly of the suitable tool bell 6, the pressure water nozzle channels which are not required are blocked off by means of nozzle sealing plugs 68.

Since the grinding tool 89 can be displaced on the inner hollow shaft with respect to its direction of rotation, its speed of rotation and its axial position relative to the tool bell 6 and its speed of rotation and direction of rotation, practically all conceivable operating conditions can be mastered with the tunnel boring machine 80 in the manner described. Overall, the tunnel boring machine opens up the possibility of adequately responding to any obstacles that arise during tunneling via the remote-controlled operation of the drives and thereby controlling the tunnel boring machine in such a way that the stress limits of the tools are not exceeded.

Claims (22)

1. A tunnel boring system for driving tunnels by advancing a pipe, in particular for tunnel pipes of non-negotiable inside diameter, comprising a substantially cylindrical tunnel boring machine (80) which can te pressed into the ground in the direction of its longitudinal centre line (L) and which at a boring machine head end (81) has a mining means (82) corresponding to the pipe size of a tunnel pipe to be laid, and which at a boring machine tail end (84) can be brought into supporting relationship with an end of a tunnel pipe portion (83) of the tunnel pipe to be advanced, wherein earth which is loosened by the mining means, with the addition of water, is conveyed away through the interior of the boring machine and, in regard to the tunnel pipe portion fitted to the tail end thereof, also through the interior of said tunnel pipe portion, characterised in that the mining means (82) has a mining tool bell (6) which is mounted rotatably coaxially with respect to the boring machine longitudinal centre line (L) and whose bell opening edge region (85) lies at the boring machine head end (81), that the width of opening of the tool bell approximately corresponds to the respective tunnel cross-section to be bored, that provided at the bell opening edge region (85) is a cutting and grinding tool crown (2), that conveyor and crushing tools (1, 15) are provided starting from said cutting and grinding tool crown into a tool bell inner region (86) which decreases towards the drilling machine tail end (84), along at least the major part of a tool bell inner wall (87), that there is additionally provided a grinding tool (89) which extends out of a tool bell bottom portion (88) disposed in opposite relationship to the bell opening edge region in the direction of the longitudinal centre line and which extends into the tool bell inner region (86) and which is also mounted rotatably and longitudinally displaceably relative to the tool bell coaxially with respect to the boring machine longitudinal centre line and which in longitudinal section is of such an outside profile that formed between the reducing tool bell inner wall (87) and an outside peripheral surface (90) of the grinding tool (89) is an annular space (91) which reduces in the direction of the tool bell bottom portion (88), that there are provided conveyor nozzles (16) which open into said annular space (91) and which serve for the feed of pressurised water, and that the annular space communicates with the boring machine tail end (84) by way of discharge passages (17, 92) for transporting away the earth which is introduced into the tool bell inner region and which is possibly crushed in the annular space.

2. A tunnel boring system according to claim 1 characterised in that the tunnel boring machine (80) is subdivided into a head-end control portion (93) and a tail-end tracking portion (94) and the control portion can be universally deflected through a few degrees of angle relative to the tracking portion with respect to the longitudinal centre line (L), that the tool bell (6) of the mining means (82) is mounted at its tool bell bottom portion (88) on an outside hollow shaft (27) which is rotatably mounted in and on the control portion (93) coaxially with respect to the longitudinal centre line, that a rotary drive (37) for the tool bell (6) is provided on the outside hollow shaft, that the grinding tool (89) which extends into the tool bell inner region (86) is provided at its portion towards the bell opening edge region (85) with a grinding tool head (11) which is mounted to the end of an inside hollow shaft (25) which is concentrically relatively rotatable and axially displaceable in the outside hollow shaft, that the inside hollow shaft extends beyond the end of the outside hollow shaft, in the direction of the tail-end tracking portion (94), that rotary and displacement drives (54, 62) are provided on said projecting portion of the inside hollow shaft (25), that the conveyor nozzles (16) are arranged at the tool bell inside wall (87) and that the discharge passages include discharge openings (17) which pass through the wall of the inside hollow shaft (25), the interior (92) of the inside hollow shaft (25) and a flexible conduit (56) connected to the tail-end portion of the inside hollow shaft.

3. A tunnel boring system according to claim 2 characterised in that the outside hollow shaft (27), the rotary drive (37) thereof, also the inside hollow shaft (25) and the rotary and displacement drives (54, 62) thereof are mounted in and on respectively a carrier housing (95) surrounding the outside hollow shaft, that said carrier housing is fixed to the head-end control portion (93) and extends into the tail-end tracking portion (94) in such a way that it can te freely deflected upon deflection of the control portion together with the components carried thereby in the interior of the tracking portion and that provided in the connecting region between the control portion ard the tracking portion in the interior thereof are a plurality of mutually independently actuable control cylinders (33).

4. A tunnel boring system according to claim 2 or claim 3 characterised in that the control portion (93) has a control portion casing (10) which encloses concentrically and in spaced relationship at least a part of a tool bell outside wall (96), that formed between said casing and the tool bell outside wall is an outer annular space (9) which is pressure-resistant and fluid- tight by way of sealing means (4, 5, 18), and that said annular space communicates by way of a plurality of passages (8, 99) passing through the tool bell wall, with nozzles (16, 97) which are arranged at the tool bell inside wall (87) and which are at least partially directed into the inner annular space (91).

5. A tunnel boring system according to claim 4 characterised in that the outer annular space (9) is divided by a ring segment (69) into two annular space chambers (70, 98) in such a way that the one annular space chamber (70) is towards the tool bell bottom portion (88) and communicates by way of a plurality of conveyor nozzles (16) of relatively large cross-secton, distributed along the tool bell inside wall (87), with the inner annular space (91), and that the second annular space chamber (98) is towards the bell opening edge region (85), and that issuing therefrom are a plurality of pressure nozzles (97) of relatively small cross-section which are distributed along the periphery and in the direction of the longitudinal centre line (L) at different spacings along the tool bell inside wall and which are directed into the region which is adjacent the mining operation and which is enclosed by the tool bell.

6. A tunnel boring system according to claim 5 characterised in that the annular space chamber (70) which is towards the tool bell bottom portion (88) is connected to a low pressure water feed and the annular space chamber (98) which is towards the bell opening edge region (85) is connected to a high pressure water feed.

7. A tunnel boring system according to claim 5 or claim 6 characterised in that the pressure and/or conveyor nozzles (97,16) have adjustable nozzle heads for adjusting their jet direction.

8. A tunnel boring system according to one of claims 5 to 7 characterised in that the pressure and/or the conveyor nozzles (97, 16) can be individually closed by means of plugs (68).

9. A tunnel boring system according to one of claims 5 to 7 characterised in that the pressure nozzles (97) are fed by manifold passages (3) and that the nozzles can be closed by means of plugs (68) in a group-wise or jet segment-wise manner.

10. A tunnel boring system according to one of claims 2 to 9 characterised in that the tool bell (6) is mounted on the outside hollow shaft (27) and the grinding tool head (11) is mounted on the inside hollow shaft (25), by way of corresponding screw means (13, 14), and can be mounted and thus replaced from the head end (81) of the tunnel boring machine, that the outside peripheral surface (90) of the grinding tool head (11) is of a dome-like configuration in longitudinal section, that the grinding tool (89), in its position of being completely withdrawn in the direction of the tool bell bottom portion (88), projects into the tool bell inner region (86) with its head at a spacing of about two thirds of the length of the tool bell inner region (86) and in its forwardly disposed position projects at least beyond the plane in which the cutting and grinding tool crown (2) lies.

11. A tunnel boring system according to claim 10 characterised in that the grinding tool head (11) has an outside peripheral profile which is eccentric with respect to the longitudinal centre line (L) of the inside hollow shaft (25).

12. A tunnel boring system according to claim 10 or claim 11 characterised in that the tool bell inside wall (87) has the same wall profile as the respective outside peripheral profile of the grinding tool head (11).

13. A tunnel boring system according to claim 10 or claim 11 characterised in that the tool bell inside wall (87) has a wall profile differing from the outside peripheral profile of the grinding tool head (11).

14. A tunnel boring system according to claim 12 or claim 13 characterised in that the tool bell inside wall (87) and/or the outside peripheral profile of the grinding tool head (11) is provided with an axis-parallel bar-like tooth arrangement.

15. A tunnel boring system according to claim 12 or claim 13 characterised in that the tool bell inside wall (87) and/or the outside peripheral profile of the grinding tool head (11) is provided with a right-hand or left-hand screw-type bar-like tooth arrangement.

16. A tunnel boring system according to claim 12 or claim 13 characterised in that the tool bell inside wall (87) and/or the outside peripheral profile of the grinding tool head is provided with a stud-like tooth arrangement (71-75) on the respective peripheral surface.

17. A tunnel boring system according to claim 12 or claim 13 characterised in that hard-metal inserts (76, 77, 79) are provided at the tool bell inside wall (87) and/or the outside peripheral profile of the grinding tool head (11).

18. A tunnel boring system according to claims 2 and 10 characterised in that the discharge openings (17) which pass through the inside hollow shaft (25), when the inside hollow shaft is in the position of being completely withdrawn in the direction of the tool bell bottom portion (88), are disposed with the edges of their openings that are towards the annular space (91), beside the tool bell bottom portion and in opposite relationship to the conveyor nozzles (16), that the discharge openings (17) are distributed at uniform angular spacings on the periphery of the inside hollow shaft, and are inclined towards the interior (92) of the inside hollow shaft and in the direction of the boring machine tail end (84).

19. A tunnel boring system according to claim 3 characterised in that the rotary drive (37) for the tool bell (6), on the outside hollow shaft (27), includes a toothed ring (39) mounted at the drive end of the outside hollow shaft, and drive motors (100) which are reversible in their direction of rotation and which are distributed in a star configuration around the periphery of the toothed ring and which are closely packed beside the toothed ring, and that the drive motors engage the toothed ring by way of pinions (40).

20. A tunnel boring system according to claim 19 characterised in that the drive motors (100) are provided in coupled relationship in the axial direction on both sides of the toothed ring (39) for a steplessly reversible tandem mode of operation.

21. A tunnel boring system according to claim 3 characterised in that the rotary drive (54) for the grinding tool (89) comprises a further toothed ring (47) which is carried on the inside hollow shaft (25) at the drive end thereof, and steplessly controllable drive motors (101) which are reversible in their direction of rotation and which are distributed in a star configuration around the periphery of said toothed ring and which are closely packed beside the toothed ring and which engage into the toothed ring by way of pinions (48), and that the displacement drive (62) comprises stroke movement cylinders (104) which are operative between the inside hollow shaft and the carrier housing and in that way displace the inside hollow shaft along a torque- resisting stroke-movement bar (61).

22. A tunnel boring system according to claim 2 characterised in that a rotary sealing housing (102) is provided between the drive end of the inside hollow shaft (25) and the flexible conduit (56) connected to said end.

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