EP0873464A1 - Improvements relating to tunnel-boring machines - Google Patents

Improvements relating to tunnel-boring machines

Info

Publication number
EP0873464A1
EP0873464A1 EP97900327A EP97900327A EP0873464A1 EP 0873464 A1 EP0873464 A1 EP 0873464A1 EP 97900327 A EP97900327 A EP 97900327A EP 97900327 A EP97900327 A EP 97900327A EP 0873464 A1 EP0873464 A1 EP 0873464A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
cutter
disc
cutter head
assembly according
tunnel
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP97900327A
Other languages
German (de)
French (fr)
Inventor
Charles William Egerton
Alan Rooke
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Andaray Engineering Ltd
Euro Iseki Ltd
Original Assignee
Andaray Engineering Ltd
Euro Iseki Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Andaray Engineering Ltd, Euro Iseki Ltd filed Critical Andaray Engineering Ltd
Publication of EP0873464A1 publication Critical patent/EP0873464A1/en
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F16—ENGINEERING ELEMENTS AND UNITS; GENERAL MEASURES FOR PRODUCING AND MAINTAINING EFFECTIVE FUNCTIONING OF MACHINES OR INSTALLATIONS; THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL
    • F16C—SHAFTS; FLEXIBLE SHAFTS; ELEMENTS OR CRANKSHAFT MECHANISMS; ROTARY BODIES OTHER THAN GEARING ELEMENTS; BEARINGS
    • F16C19/00—Bearings with rolling contact, for exclusively rotary movement
    • F16C19/22—Bearings with rolling contact, for exclusively rotary movement with bearing rollers essentially of the same size in one or more circular rows, e.g. needle bearings
    • F16C19/34—Bearings with rolling contact, for exclusively rotary movement with bearing rollers essentially of the same size in one or more circular rows, e.g. needle bearings for both radial and axial load
    • F16C19/38—Bearings with rolling contact, for exclusively rotary movement with bearing rollers essentially of the same size in one or more circular rows, e.g. needle bearings for both radial and axial load with two or more rows of rollers
    • F16C19/383—Bearings with rolling contact, for exclusively rotary movement with bearing rollers essentially of the same size in one or more circular rows, e.g. needle bearings for both radial and axial load with two or more rows of rollers with tapered rollers, i.e. rollers having essentially the shape of a truncated cone
    • F16C19/385—Bearings with rolling contact, for exclusively rotary movement with bearing rollers essentially of the same size in one or more circular rows, e.g. needle bearings for both radial and axial load with two or more rows of rollers with tapered rollers, i.e. rollers having essentially the shape of a truncated cone with two rows, i.e. double-row tapered roller bearings
    • F16C19/386—Bearings with rolling contact, for exclusively rotary movement with bearing rollers essentially of the same size in one or more circular rows, e.g. needle bearings for both radial and axial load with two or more rows of rollers with tapered rollers, i.e. rollers having essentially the shape of a truncated cone with two rows, i.e. double-row tapered roller bearings in O-arrangement
    • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
    • E21—EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; MINING
    • E21B—EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; OBTAINING OIL, GAS, WATER, SOLUBLE OR MELTABLE MATERIALS OR A SLURRY OF MINERALS FROM WELLS
    • E21B10/00—Drill bits
    • E21B10/08—Roller bits
    • E21B10/22—Roller bits characterised by bearing, lubrication or sealing details
    • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
    • E21—EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; MINING
    • E21D—SHAFTS; TUNNELS; GALLERIES; LARGE UNDERGROUND CHAMBERS
    • E21D9/00—Tunnels or galleries, with or without linings; Methods or apparatus for making thereof; Layout of tunnels or galleries
    • E21D9/10—Making by using boring or cutting machines
    • E21D9/1006—Making by using boring or cutting machines with rotary cutting tools
    • E21D9/104—Cutting tool fixtures
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F16—ENGINEERING ELEMENTS AND UNITS; GENERAL MEASURES FOR PRODUCING AND MAINTAINING EFFECTIVE FUNCTIONING OF MACHINES OR INSTALLATIONS; THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL
    • F16C—SHAFTS; FLEXIBLE SHAFTS; ELEMENTS OR CRANKSHAFT MECHANISMS; ROTARY BODIES OTHER THAN GEARING ELEMENTS; BEARINGS
    • F16C33/00—Parts of bearings; Special methods for making bearings or parts thereof
    • F16C33/30—Parts of ball or roller bearings
    • F16C33/58—Raceways; Race rings
    • F16C33/581—Raceways; Race rings integral with other parts, e.g. with housings or machine elements such as shafts or gear wheels
    • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F16—ENGINEERING ELEMENTS AND UNITS; GENERAL MEASURES FOR PRODUCING AND MAINTAINING EFFECTIVE FUNCTIONING OF MACHINES OR INSTALLATIONS; THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL
    • F16C—SHAFTS; FLEXIBLE SHAFTS; ELEMENTS OR CRANKSHAFT MECHANISMS; ROTARY BODIES OTHER THAN GEARING ELEMENTS; BEARINGS
    • F16C2352/00—Apparatus for drilling

Definitions

  • the present invention is concerned with machines by means of which tunnels are excavated by boring through rock or other ground by means of rotary cutter heads.
  • the invention relates in particular to the cutter discs mounted within such cutter heads.
  • the cutter discs in tunnel-boring machines of the foregoing type are mounted so as to be free to rotate about an axis generally transverse to the direction of movement of the machine.
  • the discs are pressed hard into the excavation face and function initially by crushing the material of that face and then shearing away the resulting chips or flakes of material, or in a generally similar manner in the case of a "soft" or composite excavation face.
  • the cutter discs To enable the cutter discs to rotate freely, they are conventionally mounted by means of bearings upon a fixed shaft.
  • the desired diameter of the required tunnel becomes less, for example if it is desired to excavate a sewerage tunnel of, say, less than 800 mm diameter, so the cutter discs themselves must necessarily be smaller and the bearings then become a more significant feature of the overall cost of the discs.
  • a further associated problem is that, when the size of each cutter disc is reduced, it is undesirable to reduce the size of the bearings too far as they would then be unable adequately to survive the very heavy loads which are applied to the discs.
  • the bearing for each cutter disc comprises an inner race mounted upon the shaft or spigot upon which the disc is supported, and an outer race or cup secured within the cutter disc.
  • the cutter head assembly comprises a generally flat rotary cutter head and one or more cutter discs mounted via rotary bearings upon respective cantilevered shafts, each said bearing comprising an inner race supported upon said shaft and an outer raceway formed integral with the cutter disc. Because the bearing is formed integral with the cutter disc rather than as a separate entity installed in the disc, the body of the disc may be formed with a greater thickness than would be the case with a conventional cutter disc bearing and the inherent strength of the disc is thereby improved. Thus, as contrasted with conventional cutter discs, the cutter disc assembly according to the present invention makes possible cutter discs of greater strength and thus longer life, for a given external disc diameter.
  • the outer raceway may be formed by grinding, on the metal of the inner surface of the cutter disc body .
  • the cantilevered shafts upon which the cutter discs are supported are mounted at an angle to the plane of the face of the cutter head.
  • a suitable such angle lies within the range from 5 to 25 degrees, more preferably within the range from 8 to 15 degrees, for example at 10 degrees.
  • the cutter disc in this form of the invention is rotationally symmetrical but it is preferred that the axis of the cutting edge of the disc be inclined forwardly by the same angle as the inclination of the shaft, in order to present the tip of the disc squarely to the excavation face when the machine is in operation. By inclining both the shaft and the cutting edge in this way, it becomes possible to transfer the load to the shaft more effectively, via the bearings.
  • the illustrated cutter head assemblies each comprise a generally flat cutter head plate 10 having a flat face 11 which, in operation of the tunnel boring machine, is directed towards the rock or other face being excavated.
  • Mounted within the cutter head plate 10 are a number of cantilevered shafts 12 (only one of which is illustrated in each case), each inclined relative to the cutter head face 11 by an angle 13, which in the illustrated embodiments is 10 degrees.
  • the inner race 14 of bearings 15 is located upon the shaft 12 and retained in place by a cap 16.
  • the cutter disc itself 17 is ground on its inner face to form a raceway 18 upon which the bearings 15 engage. The cutter disc is thus able to rotate freely upon the bearings 15 about the cantilevered shaft 12 as its axis.
  • the radially outer edge 19 of the cutter disc 17 is inclined to the right as illustrated by 10 degrees, to compensate for the inclination of the shaft 12 and thereby enable the cutting edge 19 to approach the excavation face squarely.
  • cutter head assembly allow the construction of cutter discs of a robust design, even in the case of discs of relatively small diameter.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mining & Mineral Resources (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Geology (AREA)
  • Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
  • General Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
  • Geochemistry & Mineralogy (AREA)
  • Environmental & Geological Engineering (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Fluid Mechanics (AREA)
  • Excavating Of Shafts Or Tunnels (AREA)
  • Earth Drilling (AREA)

Abstract

A cutter head assembly for a tunnel-boring machine includes a generally flat rotary cutter head (10) and one or more cutter discs (17) mounted via rotary bearings (15) upon respective cantilevered shafts (12). Each bearing (15) has an inner race (14) supported upon the shaft (12) and an outer raceway (18) formed integral with the cutter disc (17).

Description

Improvements Relating to Tunnel-Boring Machines
The present invention is concerned with machines by means of which tunnels are excavated by boring through rock or other ground by means of rotary cutter heads. The invention relates in particular to the cutter discs mounted within such cutter heads.
The cutter discs in tunnel-boring machines of the foregoing type are mounted so as to be free to rotate about an axis generally transverse to the direction of movement of the machine. The discs are pressed hard into the excavation face and function initially by crushing the material of that face and then shearing away the resulting chips or flakes of material, or in a generally similar manner in the case of a "soft" or composite excavation face.
To enable the cutter discs to rotate freely, they are conventionally mounted by means of bearings upon a fixed shaft. However, as the desired diameter of the required tunnel becomes less, for example if it is desired to excavate a sewerage tunnel of, say, less than 800 mm diameter, so the cutter discs themselves must necessarily be smaller and the bearings then become a more significant feature of the overall cost of the discs. A further associated problem is that, when the size of each cutter disc is reduced, it is undesirable to reduce the size of the bearings too far as they would then be unable adequately to survive the very heavy loads which are applied to the discs. On the other hand, if bearings of proportionately larger dimensions are retained when designing smaller cutter discs, then the walls of the discs must be made correspondingly more thin in order to accommodate the bearings. As a result, the discs themselves are less able to survive the required working loads. It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved cutter head assembly, which makes possible the design of cutter heads of smaller working diameter while retaining at least to some extent the integrity of a cutter head of larger design. In a conventional cutter head of this general type, the bearing for each cutter disc comprises an inner race mounted upon the shaft or spigot upon which the disc is supported, and an outer race or cup secured within the cutter disc.
The cutter head assembly according to the present invention comprises a generally flat rotary cutter head and one or more cutter discs mounted via rotary bearings upon respective cantilevered shafts, each said bearing comprising an inner race supported upon said shaft and an outer raceway formed integral with the cutter disc. Because the bearing is formed integral with the cutter disc rather than as a separate entity installed in the disc, the body of the disc may be formed with a greater thickness than would be the case with a conventional cutter disc bearing and the inherent strength of the disc is thereby improved. Thus, as contrasted with conventional cutter discs, the cutter disc assembly according to the present invention makes possible cutter discs of greater strength and thus longer life, for a given external disc diameter.
The outer raceway may be formed by grinding, on the metal of the inner surface of the cutter disc body .
In one particularly preferred form of the present invention, the cantilevered shafts upon which the cutter discs are supported are mounted at an angle to the plane of the face of the cutter head. A suitable such angle lies within the range from 5 to 25 degrees, more preferably within the range from 8 to 15 degrees, for example at 10 degrees. The cutter disc in this form of the invention is rotationally symmetrical but it is preferred that the axis of the cutting edge of the disc be inclined forwardly by the same angle as the inclination of the shaft, in order to present the tip of the disc squarely to the excavation face when the machine is in operation. By inclining both the shaft and the cutting edge in this way, it becomes possible to transfer the load to the shaft more effectively, via the bearings.
The invention will now be further described with reference to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example only, two alternative preferred embodiments of the cutter head assembly according to the present invention, shown in cross- section. The illustrated cutter head assemblies each comprise a generally flat cutter head plate 10 having a flat face 11 which, in operation of the tunnel boring machine, is directed towards the rock or other face being excavated. Mounted within the cutter head plate 10 are a number of cantilevered shafts 12 (only one of which is illustrated in each case), each inclined relative to the cutter head face 11 by an angle 13, which in the illustrated embodiments is 10 degrees. The inner race 14 of bearings 15 is located upon the shaft 12 and retained in place by a cap 16. The cutter disc itself 17 is ground on its inner face to form a raceway 18 upon which the bearings 15 engage. The cutter disc is thus able to rotate freely upon the bearings 15 about the cantilevered shaft 12 as its axis.
The radially outer edge 19 of the cutter disc 17 is inclined to the right as illustrated by 10 degrees, to compensate for the inclination of the shaft 12 and thereby enable the cutting edge 19 to approach the excavation face squarely.
The bearings are sealed by seals 20 and by an outer cap 21, to prevent debris from the cutting operation entering the bearings. As will be apparent, the illustrated forms of cutter head assembly allow the construction of cutter discs of a robust design, even in the case of discs of relatively small diameter.

Claims

1. A cutter head assembly for a tunnel-boring machine, characterised in that it comprises a generally flat rotary cutter head (10) and one or more cutter discs (17) mounted via rotary bearings (15) upon respective cantilevered shafts (12), each said bearing comprising an inner race (14) supported upon said shaft and an outer raceway (18) formed integral with the cutter disc.
2. A cutter head assembly according to Claim 1, characterised in that the outer raceway (18) is formed by grinding, on the metal of the inner surface of the cutter body (17).
3. A cutter disc assembly according to either of the preceding claims, characterised in that said cantilevered shafts (12) are mounted at an angle (13) to the plane of the face (11) of the cutter head (10).
4. A cutter disc assembly according to Claim 3, characterised in that said angle (13) lies within the range from 5 to 25 degrees.
5. A cutter disc assembly according to Claim 4, characterised in that said angle (13) lies within the range from 8 to 15 degrees.
6. A cutter disc assembly according to any of Claims 3 to 5, characterised in that the axis of the cutting edge (19) of the disc(s) (17) is inclined forwardly by the same angle (13) as the inclination of the shaft (12).
EP97900327A 1996-01-13 1997-01-13 Improvements relating to tunnel-boring machines Withdrawn EP0873464A1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB9600695A GB2309043B (en) 1996-01-13 1996-01-13 Improvements relating to tunnel-boring machines
GB9600695 1996-01-13
PCT/GB1997/000078 WO1997025514A1 (en) 1996-01-13 1997-01-13 Improvements relating to tunnel-boring machines

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0873464A1 true EP0873464A1 (en) 1998-10-28

Family

ID=10786995

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP97900327A Withdrawn EP0873464A1 (en) 1996-01-13 1997-01-13 Improvements relating to tunnel-boring machines

Country Status (4)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0873464A1 (en)
AU (1) AU1391297A (en)
GB (1) GB2309043B (en)
WO (1) WO1997025514A1 (en)

Families Citing this family (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CA2362280A1 (en) * 1999-02-25 2000-08-31 Nikolaus Kleuters Advancing device for boring sections of roadway, tunnels or the like
AT413047B (en) * 2002-01-23 2005-10-15 Voest Alpine Bergtechnik CARRIER FOR A FLYING CUTTING DISTANCE STORAGE
US6857488B2 (en) * 2003-01-31 2005-02-22 Robert X. Pastor Boring head cutter

Family Cites Families (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE2327464A1 (en) * 1973-05-30 1974-12-19 Gewerk Eisenhuette Westfalia ROLLING CHISEL FOR A ROCK DRILLING MACHINE
US4784438A (en) * 1986-02-20 1988-11-15 Fikse Tyman H Tunneling machine rotatable member
JPS63125799A (en) * 1986-11-13 1988-05-28 川崎重工業株式会社 Shield type tunnel excavator
JPH0748798Y2 (en) * 1989-09-25 1995-11-08 株式会社小松製作所 Disk cutter mounting device for tunnel machine
US5626201A (en) * 1993-09-20 1997-05-06 Excavation Engineering Associates, Inc. Disc cutter and method of replacing disc cutters

Non-Patent Citations (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
See references of WO9725514A1 *

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
GB2309043A (en) 1997-07-16
GB9600695D0 (en) 1996-03-13
WO1997025514A1 (en) 1997-07-17
AU1391297A (en) 1997-08-01
GB2309043B (en) 1999-06-23

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