EP1094197A1 - Tool assembly for setting and removing the tools in a tunnel boring machine - Google Patents

Abstract

The tool holder for a machine tool has a cylindrical casing with a cutting head supporting tools (7) and a transverse partition defining a cutting zone. The tool head has a pivoted arm (21) with three pivot axes (22a-c) and anchoring fasteners and dowels (31,32) in the cutting zone chamber. The other end of the casing has an adaptor plate (50) with holders (52) to grip a tool and cooperate with adjusters foe the vertical and angular position of the holders.

Description

The present invention relates to a set of tools for installing and removing working tools from a machine tunneling.

The tunneling machines called tunnel boring machine have a large mobile structure and called a shield having a substantially circular section whose diameter corresponds to the diameter of the tunnel which we dig.

Generally, the shield is formed by an envelope cylindrical in two parts, a first part called rear bumper and a second part called bumper front connected to said rear bumper by a system floating joints to allow angular movements low amplitudes.

The front bumper carries a cutting head which comes into contact with the working face to achieve the cutting of the formation crossed by the tunnel and which present in the general form of a circular tray of same diameter as the shield.

The cutting head is equipped with a set of tools of work and the felling of the land is obtained by the rotation of this cutting head at a determined speed which depends on the nature of the ground to be dug and simultaneously by pushing this cutting head against the forehead of size.

The front bumper also has a partition transverse and fixed, arranged behind the cutting head and determining with it a slaughter chamber inside from which the spoil or rubble is collected resulting from the felling of the ground under the advance of the TBM.

Work tools are trained for example by cutting tools consisting of shaped knurls of discs having a sharp circular edge.

The wheels are freely rotatable on an axis itself fixed in a tool housing having the shape of a generally rectangular wedge.

The housing is fixed, generally by welding, on the cutting head.

During the advancement of the inside TBM of the ground crossed, the working tools undergo a wear so it is necessary to replace them after a certain operating time or after a certain length of tunnel advance.

Replacement of work tools must be produced by the internal side of the cutting head opposite the face size, i.e. inside the room slaughter.

The work tool change operation consists in depositing from the housing the assembly constituted by the supports, axle, bearings, hub and disc and to assemble a new or renovated unit. Now, this set is heavy and weighs, depending on the type of work tool, a hundred or several hundred kilograms and the operations installation and removal takes place in the room slaughter, therefore in difficult conditions.

So far, change operations working tools are produced by means of a hoist installed in the slaughter room and comprising means attachment to the work tools to be replaced.

But when removing or installing a tool of work, the positioning of the attachment means by relation to the tool to be replaced or the positioning of a tool new compared to its support case is imprecise and requires numerous operator interventions to carry out the different disassembly or assembly phases.

The object of the invention is to avoid these drawbacks by proposing a set of installation tools and removal of working tools from a digging machine tunnel which simplifies disassembly operations and mounting these tools and doing the different phases with precision.

The invention therefore relates to a set of tools for installing and removing working tools from a machine tunnel excavation comprising a cylindrical casing on the front of which are arranged, on the one hand, a cutting head formed by a circular plate driven rotating and supporting work tools and, on the other part, a transverse and fixed partition, arranged behind the cutting head and determining with it a chamber felling, characterized in that it comprises an articulated arm comprising at least three vertical articulation axes and provided at one end with hooking means in the chamber slaughter and at the other end of support means of an adapter comprising gripping members of a working tool and cooperating with means for adjusting the vertical position of the grippers and the position angular of said gripping members around a horizontal axis of rotation.

• le bras articulé est formé par deux éléments rigides reliés l'un à l'autre par un axe d'articulation vertical, l'extrémité libre du premier élément étant reliée aux moyens d'accrochage par un axe d'articulation vertical et l'extrémité libre du second élément étant reliée aux moyens de support de l'adaptateur par un axe d'articulation vertical,
• le bras articulé est formé par trois éléments rigides reliés entre eux par un axe d'articulation vertical, l'extrémité libre du premier élément étant reliée aux moyens d'accrochage par un axe d'articulation vertical et l'extrémité libre du troisième élément étant reliée aux moyens de support de l'adaptateur par un axe d'articulation vertical,
• les moyens d'accrochage du bras articulé sont formés par des organes de vissage et des pions de centrage montés sur l'axe d'articulation du premier élément dudit bras articulé et destinés à coopérer avec des orifices correspondant ménagés dans une platine fixée sur la paroi de la chambre d'abattage,
• les moyens de support de l'adaptateur sont formés par une chape montée libre en rotation sur l'axe d'articulation vertical d'extrémité de cet adaptateur et par deux biellettes parallèles reliées à l'une de leurs extrémités à ladite chape par un axe horizontal et à l'autre de leurs extrémités audit adaptateur par un axe horizontal,
• l'adaptateur est formé par un tube vertical monté sur l'axe horizontal correspondant des biellettes et supportant les organes de préhension d'un outil de travail,
• les moyens de réglage de la position verticale des organes de préhension sont formés par une vis verticale montée sur la chape et dont l'extrémité libre filetée coopère avec un écrou portant un téton solidaire du tube de l'adaptateur,
• les moyens de réglage de la position angulaire des organes de préhension sont formés par une vis horizontale portée par la chape au-dessous de l'axe horizontal de liaison entre les deux biellettes et ladite chape, l'extrémité libre de ladite vis horizontale étant en appui sur le tube de l'adaptateur.

According to other characteristics of the invention:

• the articulated arm is formed by two rigid elements connected to each other by a vertical articulation axis, the free end of the first element being connected to the attachment means by a vertical articulation axis and the end free of the second element being connected to the support means of the adapter by a vertical articulation axis,
• the articulated arm is formed by three rigid elements connected together by a vertical articulation axis, the free end of the first element being connected to the hooking means by a vertical articulation axis and the free end of the third element being connected to the adapter support means by a vertical hinge pin,
• the attachment means of the articulated arm are formed by screwing members and centering pins mounted on the articulation axis of the first element of said articulated arm and intended to cooperate with corresponding orifices formed in a plate fixed to the wall from the slaughter room,
• the adapter support means are formed by a yoke mounted freely in rotation on the vertical articulation axis of the end of this adapter and by two parallel connecting rods connected at one of their ends to said yoke by an axis horizontal and at the other of their ends to said adapter by a horizontal axis,
• the adapter is formed by a vertical tube mounted on the corresponding horizontal axis of the rods and supporting the gripping members of a working tool,
• the means for adjusting the vertical position of the gripping members are formed by a vertical screw mounted on the yoke and the free threaded end of which cooperates with a nut carrying a stud secured to the tube of the adapter,
• the means for adjusting the angular position of the gripping members are formed by a horizontal screw carried by the yoke below the horizontal connecting axis between the two rods and said yoke, the free end of said horizontal screw being in press on the adapter tube.

• la Fig. 1, est une vue schématique en coupe axiale d'une machine de creusement d'un tunnel,
• la Fig. 2 est une vue de face en élévation de la tête de coupe de la machine de creusement,
• les Figs. 3 et 4 sont deux vues schématiques montrant deux exemples de positionnement d'un ensemble d'outillage de pose et de dépose d'un outil de travail dans la chambre d'abattage de la machine de creusement,
• la Fig. 5 est une vue schématique en coupe axiale d'un premier mode de réalisation d'un ensemble d'outillage, conforme à l'invention,
• la Fig. 6 est une vue de dessus de la Fig. 5,
• la Fig. 7 est une vue schématique en coupe longitudinale d'un second mode de réalisation d'un ensemble d'outillage, conforme à l'invention,
• la Fig. 8 est une vue de dessus de la Fig. 7,
• la Fig. 9 est une vue en coupe selon la ligne 9-9 de la Fig. 7,
• les Figs. 10 à 12 sont des vues schématiques en perspective montrant différents modes de réalisation de l'adaptateur de l'ensemble d'outillage, conforme à l'invention.

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear during the description which follows, given by way of example and made with reference to the appended drawings, in which:

• Fig. 1 is a schematic view in axial section of a tunneling machine,
• Fig. 2 is a front elevation view of the cutting head of the digging machine,
• Figs. 3 and 4 are two schematic views showing two examples of positioning a set of tools for laying and depositing a working tool in the felling chamber of the digging machine,
• Fig. 5 is a schematic view in axial section of a first embodiment of a set of tools, according to the invention,
• Fig. 6 is a top view of FIG. 5,
• Fig. 7 is a schematic view in longitudinal section of a second embodiment of a set of tools, in accordance with the invention,
• Fig. 8 is a top view of FIG. 7,
• Fig. 9 is a sectional view along line 9-9 of FIG. 7,
• Figs. 10 to 12 are schematic perspective views showing different embodiments of the adapter of the tool assembly, according to the invention.

In Fig. 1, there is shown schematically a digging machine 1, called a tunnel boring machine, which typically consists of an envelope generally cylindrical, in two independent parts, a first part 2 called rear bumper and a second part 3 called the front shield.

Front bumper 3 carries a designated cutting head as a whole by the reference 4, and which comes in contact with the face of size A to carry out the cutting of the formation crossed by the tunnel and which presents itself in the general form of a circular plate 5 (Fig. 2) of same diameter as the rear bumper 2 and the bumper before 3.

The cutting head 4 is rotated by at least one motor 6 at a determined speed which is depending on the nature of the ground to be dug.

The plate 5 of the cutting head 4 carries, on its front of work tools 7, such as crushing wheels and / or slaughter tools and the front bumper 3 also has a vertical partition 8 and fixed, arranged behind the cutting head 4 and sparing with this a slaughter chamber 9.

The rear shield 2 and the front shield 3 are connected to each other by a set of 10 joints floating which allows angular movements and of translation of this front shield 3 relative to said shield rear 2.

These floating joints are made up by hydraulic cylinders 11 called articulation cylinders which also pull the rear bumper 2 by the front shield 3.

The digging machine 1 also includes means 12 for axially moving the assembly formed by the rear shield 2, the front shield 3 and the head of section 4, a device 13 for installing segments 14 inside of the tunnel and a screw conveyor 15 intended for evacuation material torn off and mixed with an additional product in the slaughter room 9.

The means 12 for axially moving the shield rear 2 as well as front shield 3 and head cutting 4 are formed by a ring of cylinders 12a integral of the front shield 3 and which come to bear against the segment of segments 14 placed inside the tunnel so as to exert on the front shield 3, the necessary thrust excavation of the land crossed.

The angular variations of the cutting head 4 are obtained by thrust differences between the different verrines 12a.

During the advancement of the digging machine 1 inside the field, the working tools 7 undergo wear and tear so it is necessary to replace them after a certain operating time or after a certain length of advance of the tunnel.

The replacement of work tools 7 is carried out on the internal face of the cutting head 4, it is say inside the slaughter chamber 9 by means of a set of tools for installing and removing work tools 7 and which is designated by the general reference 20 on Figures 3 to 12.

As shown schematically on the Figs. 3 and 4, the tool assembly 20 is placed in the slaughter chamber 9 and it is suitable for installation and removal of working tools 7 located on the peripheral edges of the cutting head 4, as shown in FIG. 3, or on the central part of said cutting head 4, as shown in Fig. 4.

Depending on the location of the work tool to be replaced, the tool assembly 20 can be fixed on the transverse bulkhead 8 of the front bumper 3 or on the inner face of the cutting head 4.

The tool assembly 20 is suitable for the replacement of work tools 7 of different types and up to several hundred kilograms.

In general and as shown on Figs. 5 to 12, the tool assembly 20 includes an arm articulated 21 comprising at least three axes of articulation vertical, respectively 22a, 22b and 22c, and provided at one end hooking means 30 in the slaughter chamber 9 and at the other end of support means 40 of an adapter 50 comprising gripping members of a tool work 7.

According to a first embodiment shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the articulated arm 21 is formed by two rigid elements, respectively 23a and 23b, connected one to the other by a vertical hinge pin 22b. The end free of the first element 23a is connected to the hooking means 30 by a vertical hinge pin 22a and the end free of the second element 23b is connected to the means of support 40 of the adapter 50 by a vertical hinge pin 22c.

According to a second mode of articulation shown in Figs. 7 and 8, the articulated arm 21 is formed by three rigid elements, respectively 23a, 23b and 23c, connected between them by a vertical articulation axis, respectively 22b and 22d. The free end of the first element 23a is connected to the hooking means 30 by a hinge pin vertical 22a and the free end of the third element 23c is connected to the support means 40 of the adapter 50 by a vertical hinge pin 22c.

The use of the three-element articulated arm depends on the location of the work tool to be replaced and this type of articulated arm is used most often for installing and removing working tools located in the middle and peripheral parts of the head section 4.

As shown in Figs. 5 and 7, attachment means 30 of the articulated arm 20 in the chamber slaughter 9 are formed by screwing members 31 and by centering pins 32 mounted on the hinge pin 22a of the first element 23a and intended to cooperate with corresponding holes, respectively 33 and 34, formed in a plate 35 fixed to a wall of the chamber slaughter 9.

As shown in Figs. 5 to 9, the adapter 50 mounted at the free end of the articulated arm 20 to using the support means 40 is formed by a vertical tube 51 supporting members 52 for gripping a tool work 7.

The means 40 for supporting the tube 51 of the adapter 50 are formed by a yoke 41 comprising two branches horizontal, respectively 41a and 41b, each mounted free to rotate on one end of the hinge pin vertical 22c using a thrust ball bearing or a roller stop 42. The two horizontal branches 41a and 41b of the yoke 41 are connected together by a branch vertical 43.

As shown in Figs. 6 and 8, means 40 for supporting the tube 51 of the adapter 50 are also formed by two parallel rods 44 connected to one 44a from their ends to the upper branch 41a of the yoke 41 by means of a horizontal axis 45 and the other 44b from their ends to said tube 51 of the adapter 50 by a horizontal axis 46.

Thus, the tube 51 of the adapter 50 can move in a vertical plane around the horizontal axis 46.

The gripping members of the working tool 7 are formed by at least two screwing elements 52 supported by the vertical tube 51 and whose threaded free end 52a cooperates with a threaded orifice made in the tool 7, as shown for example on Figs. 5 and 8.

Depending on the type of work tool 7 to be replaced, the adapter 50 can have different configurations.

According to a first embodiment shown in Figs. 5 and 10, the vertical tube 51 extends below of the yoke 41 and the screwing elements 52 ensuring gripping the work tool 7 to be replaced are carried directly by said vertical tube 51.

According to a second embodiment shown in Fig. 11, the vertical tube 51 of the adapter 50 extends above the yoke 41 and the screwing elements 52 ensuring gripping work tool 7 are worn directly by said vertical tube 51 above this yoke 41.

According to a third embodiment shown in Fig. 12, the vertical tube 51 of the adapter 50 extends on either side of the yoke 41 and the elements of screw 52 are carried directly by said vertical tube 51 on each side of this yoke 41.

According to a fourth embodiment shown in Figs. 7 to 9, the vertical tube 51 supports a frame 55 whose vertical branches 55a carry the elements screw 52 for gripping the tool work 7 to be replaced.

The adapter 50 also includes screws 53 intended to rest on the casing of the working tool 7 to be replaced in order to exert an extraction effort from said work tool 7 relative to its housing when changing of said working tool.

The extraction screws 53 are mounted at each end of several horizontal uprights 54 carried by the vertical tube 51 of the adapter 50, as shown in Figs. 10 to 12, or on the corners of frame 55, as shown in Fig. 9.

The tool assembly 20 also includes means for adjusting the vertical position of the grip 52 and the angular position of said members grip 52 around the horizontal axis of rotation 46.

As shown in Figs. 5 and 7, means for adjusting the vertical position of the gripping 52 of the working tool 7 are formed by a vertical screw 60 mounted on the upper branch 41a of the yoke 41 and whose threaded free end 61a cooperates with a nut 62 carrying a stud 63 secured to the vertical tube 51 of adapter 50.

The support between the nut 62 and the stud 63 is a spherical support.

Furthermore, the nipple 63 has a slot vertical passage 63a for the rod of the screw 60 which allows to change the adapter 50 according to the tool installation to be replaced without removing the screw 60 and the nut 62. Indeed, to change the adapter 50, it suffices to disassemble the horizontal axis 46 and release the nut 63 from the screw rod 60 by an appropriate movement.

Means for adjusting the angular position gripping members 52 are formed, as shown in Figs. 5 and 7, by a horizontal screw 65 carried by the lower branch 41b of the yoke 41 that is to say below of the horizontal axis 45 of connection between the two rods 44 and said yoke 41.

The free end 65a of the horizontal screw 65 is supported on the tube 51 of the adapter 50 which allows when rotating said screw 65 to rotate the adapter 50 around the horizontal axis 46 and so ability to adjust position of grippers 52 by relative to the orifices made in the working tool 7 to replace.

The tool assembly 20 also includes means of blocking the various joints as well as hooking elements with a transport system for facilitate handling.

When removing a used work tool 7, the tool set 20 is introduced into the chamber slaughter 9 by passing it through a manhole and it is fixed on the internal face of the cutting head 4 or on the transverse wall 8 depending on the position of the tool work to be removed. The tool assembly 20 is positioned on the receiving plate 35 using the pins of centering 32 and it is fixed on said plate 35 by means screwing elements 31.

The gripping members 52 are brought gradually opposite the receiving openings in work tool 7 to be removed by rotating the different elements of the articulated arm 21 around the axes hinge 22a, 22b and 22c and by acting on the screws adjustment 60 and 65. The gripping members 52 are screwed in the receiving holes in the work tool 7 and this working tool 7 is extracted from its housing by acting on the screws 53 which exert an extraction force on the housing of the work tool to be removed.

The working tool 7 supported by the organs of grip 52 is released from its housing and the articulated arm 21 is moved to bring the working tool 7 into a suitable area of the slaughter chamber 9 where it can be taken back by conventional handling means.

For the installation of a new or renovated work tool, this working tool 7 is brought opposite the organs gripping 52 of the tool assembly 20 previously mounted in the slaughter chamber 9.

The working tool 7 is fixed on the organs of gripping 52 and the articulated arm 21 is moved to have the working tool 7 opposite its casing.

As soon as the working tool 7 is placed in the corresponding housing, the gripping members 52 are removed from said work tool and the tool assembly 20 is removed from the slaughter chamber 9.

The tool assembly according to the invention has the advantage of being compact and light and reduces significantly the efforts required of operators which increases the safety of these operators and increase the precision of docking movements thanks to to the different possibilities of adjusting the position of the gripping bodies for working tools and thanks to components of the articulated arm which can pivot the relative to each other at an angle of 260 °.

Claims (12)

Set of installation and removal tools working tools (7) of a digging machine (1) of tunnel with a cylindrical shell at the front of which are arranged, on the one hand, a cutting head (4) formed by a circular plate (5) driven in rotation and supporting said working tools (7) and, on the other hand, a transverse and fixed partition (8) disposed behind the cutting head (4) and determining therewith a chamber felling (9), characterized in that it comprises an articulated arm (21) comprising at least three axes of articulation vertical (22a, 22b, 22c) and provided at one end with means (30) for attachment in the slaughter chamber (9) and to the other end of means (40) for supporting an adapter (50) comprising gripping members (52) of a working tool (7) and cooperating with means (60, 62, 63; 65) of adjustment of the vertical position of the gripping members (52) and the angular position of said gripping members (52) around a horizontal axis of rotation. Tool assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that the articulated arm (21) is formed by two rigid elements (23a, 23b) connected to each other by a vertical hinge pin (22b), the free end of the first element (23a) being connected to the hooking means (30) by a vertical hinge pin (22a) and the end free of the second element (23b) being connected to the means (40) for supporting the adapter (50) by a hinge pin vertical (22c). Tool assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that the articulated arm (21) is formed by three rigid elements (23a, 23b, 23c) interconnected by a vertical hinge pin (22b, 22d), the free end the first element (23a) being connected to the hooking means (30) by a vertical hinge pin (22a) and the end free of the third element (23c) being connected to means (40) for supporting the adapter (50) by a hinge pin vertical (22c). Tool set according to any one claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the means (30) for hooking the articulated arm (21) are formed by screwing members (31) and centering pins (32) mounted on the articulation axis (22a) of the first element (23a) of said articulated arm (21) and intended to cooperate with orifices (33, 34) correspondent formed in a plate (35) fixed to a wall of the slaughter chamber (9). Tool set according to any one claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the means (40) for supporting the adapter (50) are formed by a yoke (41) mounted to rotate freely on the hinge pin vertical (22c) end of this adapter (50) and by two parallel rods (44) connected to one (44a) of their ends to said yoke (41) by a horizontal axis (45) and at the other (44b) from their ends to said adapter (50) by a horizontal axis (46). Tool set according to any one claims 1 to 3 and 5, characterized in that the adapter (50) is formed by a vertical tube (51) mounted on the horizontal axis (46) corresponding to the connecting rods (44) and supporting the gripping members (52) of the working tool (7). Tool assembly according to claim 6, characterized in that the gripping members are formed by at least two screwing elements (52) supported by the vertical tube (51) and whose free end (52a) is intended to cooperate with threaded orifices provided in the working tool (7). Tool assembly according to claim 6, characterized in that the adapter (50) has screws (53) intended to rest on the housing of the tool work (7) to exert an effort to extract said tool work (7) relative to its housing. Tool set according to any one claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the means for adjusting the vertical position of the gripping members (52) are formed by a vertical screw (60) mounted on the yoke (41) and whose free end (61a) threaded cooperates with a nut (62) carrying a stud (63) integral with the tube (51) of the adapter (50). Tool assembly according to claim 9, characterized in that the support between the nut (62) and the stud (63) is a spherical support. Tool assembly according to claim 9, characterized in that the stud (63) has a slot vertical (63a) passage of the rod of the vertical screw (60). Tool set according to any one claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the means for adjusting the angular position of the gripping members (52) are formed by a horizontal screw (65) carried by the yoke (41) below the horizontal axis (45) of connection between the two links (44) and said clevis (41) free end of said horizontal screw (65) being in support on the vertical tube (51) of the adapter (50).

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