FR2538445A1 - EXCAVATOR AND THRUSTER FOR POSITIONING UNDERGROUND PIPELINES - Google Patents

Abstract

At the front in the direction of travel, the machine comprises a discoid rotating cutting head 3 which carries, on its front face, cutting plates 3b and, on its rear face, rotor teeth 4a. The hollow body 1 of the machine ends with a front plate 1a which carries stator teeth 4b. The stones torn off by the plates 3b pass through holes 3c of the cutting head 3 and are crushed by the crusher 4 formed by the teeth of rotor 4a and stator 4b before being introduced into the body 1, through holes 1e , with mud and sand excavated. (CF DRAWING IN BOPI)

Description

ENGINE EXCAVATOR AND PROPELLER TO ASK

UNDERGROUND PIPELINES

  The invention relates to an excavator and propellant for laying underground pipes and, more particularly, to such a machine which is provided with a device capable of grinding relatively large stones forming part of a pudding structure floor and soil and sand, so that the earth, sand and excavated stones can be

  transported and evacuated in full.

  The usual excavating and propelling equipment, allowing the laying of underground pipes, are arranged to excavate the earth and the sand they find in front of them using a pilot excavator device which is connected to the front end. sections of pipelines to be laid underground, and to advance the entire excavator and propeller using a pipe transport machine, placed behind in a launching well As and To progress, the soil and sand excavated are converted into mud by the water which is pumped back by a feed pump, via a water pipe installed in the buried pipe, into the device pilot excavator and this mud is then evacuated, using a sand pump or the like, by another pipe which is also installed in the buried pipe The dimensions of the stones mixed with the mud which can be evacuated e at this time are limited to a range of one-third to one-half the diameter of the mud and

  the evacuation pipe connected to the sand pump.

  Therefore, the diameter of the discharge pipe must be taken into account in determining the dimensions of the orifice which is provided in the cutting head of the pilot excavator, for the entry of excavated soil and sand. excavators and thrusters of this known type are therefore disadvantageous since they can not be used in floors with a pudding structure whose stones have dimensions greater than those of the orifice

entrance to the land and sand.

  The object of the invention is to eliminate the aforesaid drawback and its first objective is to provide an excavator and propellant, for laying underground pipes, which is provided with a device capable of directly grinding relatively large stones, in a soil. with a pudding structure, regardless of the diameter of the drainage pipe of the earth and the sand

excavated.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide an excavator and propellant, for laying underground pipes, which is provided with a water ejector to prevent dust, produced during the grinding of the stones of the pudding structure, s accumulate

inside the stone crusher.

  To achieve the first of these objectives, it is provided, according to the invention, an excavator and propellant, for laying underground pipes, which has: a discoidal rotary cutting head having a plurality of cutting inserts and several inlet ports for the earth and sand excavated and arranged so as to be mounted on the front end of a self-arranged pilot excavator body so as to move in the basement at the front of an underground pipe to be laid ; a plurality of bar-shaped rotor teeth carried by the rear face of the cutting head and made in one piece with this head, so as to extend radially or approximately radially, at regular intervals one the other; an annular front plate provided with a plurality of through-holes for excavated soil and sand, said holes communicating with the inside of the pilot excavator body and being located in the vicinity and in front of the cutting head; and a plurality of bar-shaped stator teeth carried by the front face of the faceplate and integrally formed therewith so as to extend radially or substantially radially at regular intervals on the other hand, said rotor teeth and stator teeth constituting in combination a grinder for

  the stones of a floor with a pudding structure.

  In addition, to achieve the second of the aforementioned objectives, the aforesaid apparatus further comprises a water ejector capable of ejecting water on the front face of the front plate to prevent dust produced during the grinding of stones s' accumulate in the various spaces between stator teeth adjacent to each other and thus plug the holes of passage of the earth and the

sand excavated.

  According to an advantageous embodiment, the water ejector comprises several nozzles each of which extends from the rear face of the front plate to the front face thereof and is located between neighboring stator teeth; a water inlet passage placed inside the underground pipe to be laid and the pilot excavator body; and conduits for connecting the nozzles to the water inlet passage. Alternatively, the water ejector comprises nozzle means arranged to eject water radially or approximately radially along the teeth of the nozzle. stator and between them; a water inlet passage placed inside the underground pipe to be laid and the pilot excavator body; and ducts for

  connect the nozzle means to the water inlet passage.

  The features, purposes and advantages of the invention will become more apparent to men of

  profession with reference to the following description of the modes of

  realization of the invention which are illustrated, as

  for example, by the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 partially shows, in schematic longitudinal section, an excavator and propellant for laying underground pipes, in accordance with a

  first embodiment of the invention.

  FIG. 2 shows on the front, on a larger scale, a cutting head intended to be mounted at the front end

  of the excavating machine and thruster of Figure 1.

  FIG. 3 shows partially, in schematic axial section on a larger scale, a water ejector intended to be mounted on the machine's pudding mill.

  excavator and thruster of Figure 1.

  FIG. 4 shows, from the front with partial section, the front plate of the pilot excavator body which comprises

the water ejector of Figure 3.

  FIG. 5 partially shows, in schematic axial section, a water ejector according to a variant of FIG.

figure 3.

  FIG. 6 shows, from the front with partial section, the front plate of the pilot excavator body which comprises

the water ejector of Figure 5.

  The present invention will now be described

  in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  In Figure 1 which schematically illustrates a particular embodiment of the excavator and propellant for laying underground pipes, 1 has designated a pilot excavator body which is part of the excavator and propellant and which is intended to be propelled, while excavating the ground, at the front of the pipe (not shown) to be laid in trench A cutting head 3, mounted on the front end of the body 1, is projecting with respect to this hollow body 1 and is intended to be driven in rotation by a motor 2 In the body 1, there is formed a water inlet passage ld, for converting into mud excavated earth and sand, and a passage of evacuation lg for transporting the soil and the sand excavated in the mud state to the rear, and for evacuating them, using a sand pump or the like,

  to a suitable place on the surface of the ground.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the cutting head 3 has several inlet openings 3c, in the form of annular sectors, for excavated soil and sand. In addition, the cutting head 3 carries a plurality of cutting inserts 3 b, in the form of bars, which are fixed rigidly to the frontal surface of this head 3,

  parallel to each other, between the inlet ports 3 c.

  In addition, the cutting head 3 has, on its rear surface, a plurality of radial or approximately radial fins 4a made in one piece with this head 3 and arranged at regular intervals. The cutting head 3 is arranged in such a way to be easily attached and detached for replacement when

is used.

  Opposite and in the vicinity of the cutting head 3, the body 1 has a front plate 1a (FIG. 3), of annular shape, which is provided at its central portion with a relatively large hole 4c for passing through, with a notable radial clearance, the rotary shaft 3 has the cutting head 3 The front plate is traversed, from front to back, by a large number of holes (Figure 4) of small diameter, to let into the body 1 the earth and the sand excavated in the state of sludge On its anterior surface, this front plate the annular la has a plurality of teeth 4b, rod-shaped, made in one piece with this plate la and arranged to regular intervals on its circumference, these teeth 4b extending or diverging radially and tangentially from the inner contour of the front plate 3 Thus, the teeth 4a, which are arranged to rotate with the cutting head 3, and the teeth 4b, which are static, form in combination one

pudding mill 4.

  Figures 3 and 4 show a part of the excavator and propellant, for laying underground pipes, which is provided with a water ejector, according to a particular embodiment of the invention, for washing off the dust of stone produced during the grinding of a floor pudding structure and thus prevent this stone dust to accumulate between static teeth 4b neighbors and plug the holes for the passage of the earth and sand In this mode of the water ejector, there are provided several nozzles 5 which pass through the front plate 1a narrowing back and forth These nozzles 5 are distributed in the spaces between adjacent static teeth 4b, at intervals one on the other, so as to diverge radially along these static teeth 4b In addition, there are provided ducts 1c which connect these nozzles 5 to the aforesaid passage

water inlet ld.

  FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate in part an excavator and propellant, for laying underground pipes, which is equipped with a water ejector according to a variant. According to this variant, a tubular annular member 1b is mounted on the circumferential surface of the annular front plate 1a of the pilot excavating body 1 and it partly surrounds, with a significant radial clearance, the rotary shaft 3a of the cutting head 3 An annular water passage 1f formed in the tubular member 1b , in addition, several holes 5a are radially drilled in the spaces between adjacent static teeth 4b, along the circumference of the tubular member. These holes 5a are connected to the annular water passage 1f and are provided with nozzles 5 screwed thereto for ejecting water radially along the static teeth 4b (as shown by arrows in FIG. 6). We will now describe the operation of the excavator and propellant, to lay underground pipes, which is built according to

  the invention as described above.

  The soil and the sand, which are excavated by the cutting head 3 driven by the motor 2, are wholly directed towards the pudding mill 4, through the inlet ports 3c The granular earth and the sand penetrate directly into the the pilot excavating body 1, passing through the holes drilled in the front plate 1a, and the water introduced by the inlet passage ld therein transforms into a relatively fluid sludge which is discharged through the passage On the other hand, the pudding stones, which are large enough to not be able to pass through the holes 1c, are brought into the spaces defined by the adjacent rotor teeth 4a and stator 4b, these spaces narrowing in a progressive manner. radially inwards, so that these large stones are crushed by the same effect as that obtained in the ordinary disk mills Thus ground, these stones can then pass through the holes for the passage of the earth and sand and the free part of the hole 4c reserved for the passage of the tree 3a and thus penetrate into

the pilot excavator 1.

  In addition, water is continuously ejected through the nozzles 5 so as to prevent the dust, produced during the grinding of the pudding stones, from accumulating between the stator teeth 4b and to plug the holes on the

  intended for the passage of earth and sand.

  Although, in the embodiments shown, the stator teeth 4b have the form of

253 & 445

  tangential projections (or approximately tangential) which surround the hole 4c reserved for the passage of the shaft 3a, they can be oriented tangentially It is only necessary to arrange the stator teeth 4b so that they delimit, two by two, intervals narrowing along the circumference of the hole 4 c

  reserved for the passage of the tree 3 a.

  Of course, the invention is not limited to the embodiments shown but encompasses the modifications and variants that are within the reach of men

business.

2538 '445

Claims (1)

1 excavating machine and propellant, for laying underground pipes, characterized in that it has: a discoidal rotary cutting head (3) having a plurality of cutting inserts (3b) and several inlet ports (3 c) for the earth and sand excavated and arranged so as to be mounted on the front end of a pilot excavator body (1) arranged itself to move in the basement at the front of an underground pipe to to pose; a plurality of bar-shaped rotor teeth (4a) carried by the rear face of the cutting head (3) and made in one piece with said head (3) so as to extend radially or roughly radially, at regular intervals from each other; an annular front plate (1a) provided with a plurality of through holes (1c) for excavated earth and sand, these holes (1c) communicating with the inside of the pilot excavating body (1) and being located in the vicinity and in front of the cutting head (3); and a plurality of bar-shaped stator teeth (4b) carried by the front face of the front plate (1a) and integral with said plate (1a) so as to extend radially, or approximately radially, at regular intervals from one another, said stator teeth (4 a) and rotor teeth (4 b) constituting in combination a grinder (4) for the stones of a structural ground pudding. 2 Machine according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises a water ejector capable of ejecting water on the front face of the front plate (la) to prevent dust produced during the grinding of stone s' accumulate in the various spaces between stator teeth (4b) adjacent to each other and thereby plug the passage holes (1) of the excavated soil and sand. 3 Machine according to claim 2, characterized in that the water ejector comprises: several nozzles (5) each of which extends from the rear face of the front plate (1a) to the front face thereof and is located between stator teeth (4b) adjacent; a water inlet passage (ld) placed inside the underground pipe to be laid and the pilot excavator body (1); and conduits (lc) for connecting the nozzles (5) to the water inlet passage (ld) (Figures 3 and 4). Apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that the water ejector comprises: nozzle means (5,5 a) arranged to eject water radially or approximately radially along the stator teeth ( 4 (b) and between them; a water inlet passage (ld) placed inside the underground pipe to be laid and the pilot excavator body (1); and conduits (1c) for connecting the nozzle means (5,5a) to the water inlet passage (1d) (Figures 5 and 6). Machine according to any one of the claims   1 to 4, characterized in that the bar-shaped stator teeth (4b) diverge radially and tangentially from the inner contour of the faceplate   annular (la), at regular intervals.