FR2784908A1 - Cleaning head for clearing conduits and pipes, comprises jet for removing obstructions ahead, jets to provide forward movement of head, a video camera, and a jet to clean camera port - Google Patents

Abstract

The head (1) receives high pressure water (8) which is fed to nozzles (9) producing forward movement. A camera (3) takes pictures through a port (4) using light emitting diodes (5) and transmits signals along the water supply pipe sheath. The head position is determined from an electromagnetic emitter (10). If the water pressure is increased a valve (7) opens to supply a jet to clean the camera port (61) and a jet to remove obstructions ahead.

Description

VIDEO CONTROL AND CURAGE DEVICE
JET PIPING
The present invention relates to a video control device and cleaning of pipes by jet.

 The technical sector of the invention is the field of cleaning pipes or tubes or systems of pipes or tubes by cleaning devices internally displaced therefrom and using fluid under pressure self propellant.

 The main application of the invention is the cleaning at high pressure of said pipes with a control of the cleaning thus carried out without having to reassemble the tool.

Different devices have been developed to meet this application, such as in particular that described in patent application FR2 609 417 filed on 8/01/87, and since abandoned by the
Company VAIRE and titled "Remote cleaning head" this document teaches a cleaning head comprising "in a box, an interior compartment to house behind a porthole a tube for shooting an exploration video camera and a secondary communicating compartment with a source of pressurized fluid and associated with a distribution chamber opening onto a ring of propulsion and cleaning jets ".

 It is indeed known to clean pipes by such a cleaning head also called "grenade head" in the shape of a shell and fixed by any device for connection to a high pressure fluid supply pipe, in particular of the water, which is sent to nozzles oriented towards the rear of said cleaning head so as to ensure both its propulsion by reaction effect and at the same time the removal of dirt which would have deposited on the periphery of the tube in returning these towards the rear of the cleaning head.

When you want to check if the cleaning has been done correctly, you must:
or take the entire cleaning device out of the pipe and then send a camera to it,
-or thanks to the device described in the patent application cited above, simply retracting the tool, the latter also making it possible, theoretically, to be able to control what is happening in front of the head during the cleaning operation proper.

 However, due to the cleaning operation, which raises a lot of waste in the pipe and which is deposited on the window, it turns out that the camera thus installed cannot send correct images, which limits its interest Furthermore, other devices have been developed and have been the subject of some patent application filings but teach fairly complex devices whose references in this description need not be cited, the application for French patent cited above can be considered to be the closest prior art.

 The problem posed is in fact to be able to provide high pressure cleaning and cleaning of the interior of a pipe over several tens or even hundreds of meters with a cleaning head capable of controlling, with good visibility and without having to leave. the entire device of the pipe, the walls thereof and this by using a cleaning head having dimensions close to those standard to be adapted to known surface equipment and without requiring a complicated mechanical mechanism or device.

 A solution to the problem posed is a cleaning head from the inside of a pipe, supplied by a cable or flexible fluid under pressure ensuring its traction and cleaning, and comprising nozzles distributed around its periphery and oriented towards the rear. from the distal end of the head, as well as a camera, the protective porthole of which is disposed towards the front of said distal end; according to the invention, said cleaning head comprises a nozzle oriented towards said porthole and supplied with the same fluid under pressure.

 Another objective of the present invention is also to be able to advance said cleaning head even in the event of a plug blocking the pipe, and which will have been detected by said camera without having to reassemble the entire cleaning head: this objective is reached by a nozzle directed towards the front of said distal end and supplied with the same fluid under pressure.

 In a preferred embodiment, said porthole cleaning nozzles and the projection of liquid, essentially water, towards the front, are supplied through a valve which opens only at a given pressure of the fluid d 'supply, which allows to control, through the sending of this pressure by the connecting cable with the surface, the times when it is desired to supply said sprinklers.

 The result is a new pipe cleaning head responding to the problem posed and making it possible to achieve various specific objectives such as those mentioned below and others which will be explained in the description below and which show various advantages of the present invention which prove its novelty and interest.

 The description and the figures below represent in fact an exemplary embodiment of the invention but are in no way limiting: other embodiments are possible within the scope and scope of this invention, in in particular by changing the different methods of assembling the various parts of said cleaning head.

 Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a cleaning head according to the invention.

 Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of a connector of the power cable of the cleaning head according to the invention.

 The pipe cleaning head 1 is, in a known manner, supplied by a cable 2 with pressurized fluid 8 ensuring its traction and cleaning by means of removable nozzles 9 and fixed in housings 91 provided in the rear part 26 of head I; these nozzles are distributed over the periphery thereof and oriented towards the rear of the distal end of the head, such that forming an angle of 30 to 45 or even up to 90 relative to the axis of the pipe to clean. Said cleaning head also comprises a camera 3, the protective window 4 of which is disposed towards the front of said distal end, the latter being defined relative to the rear part 25 of the cleaning head, on which the connector of the cable 2.

 According to the invention, the cleaning head 1 comprises a nozzle 6, placed on the side and oriented towards said window 4, it is preferably supplied on demand by the same pressurized fluid 8 thanks to a supply duct 8, which bypasses the location of the camera 3. This nozzle 6 is mounted on a small head 6 which can be removable and the end of which can project beyond the front face of the distal end of the cleaning head so that said nozzle 61 oriented slightly backwards is directed towards the surface of said window 4.

 Another nozzle 62 directed towards the front of said distal end, and also supplied with the same pressurized fluid 8 can be mounted on the same nozzle head 6. This is preferably supplied through a valve 7 of the spring type which is mounted in the supply duct 8, preferably at the interface between two parts 23, 26 constituting said cleaning head, and which only opens at a given pressure P of the fluid 8 greater than that of the normal supply: said pressure can be for example 100 bars for a normal supply pressure for cleaning and propelling through the nozzles 9 of 80 bars; this pressure can however be higher such as up to 700 bars.

 The camera 3 is mounted in a shock absorbing sheath 22 which sheath is placed in a socket 24 in the form of a socket 23 produced in a part constituting the middle part of said head 1: its mounting and sealing are ensured by the assembly of two parts 27, 23 constituting the cleaning head 1.

 To provide lighting to said camera 3, various lamps of the "LED" type can be placed peripherally to said camera in housings produced inside the part 27 constituting the distal end of the head, said "LEDs" are of preferably infrared or halogen type.

 In order to be able to identify said cleaning head inside the pipe from the outside thereof, an electromagnetic transmitter 10, capable of allowing said identification from the outside, is mounted in a housing produced in one of the rooms. constituting said cleaning head such as the rear part 26 ensuring the connection with the cable 2 this electromagnetic probe or transmitter 10 is protected in a resin 11 filling the housing in which said probe is placed without hampering the emission of electromagnetic waves.

 Said cleaning head I is composed of three main parts, one 27 corresponding to its distal end and carrying the porthole 4 and the nozzle 6 1 oriented towards said porthole, another 26 corresponding to its rear part receiving the connector 14 of the cable 2 and which comprises a connection base 25 as well as all the fluid supply conduits 8 to all of the nozzles 9,6 and the third 23 which is an intermediate part between the two preceding parts and carrying the camera 3.

 In order not to have several cables which could become entangled and complicate the implementation of the cleaning head, the camera 3 is supplied, controlled and transmits its information by the same cable or flexible 2 for supplying pressurized fluid 8 for this said cable or flexible comprises in its outer frame surrounding the central conduit through which the fluid under pressure 8, different metal braids including at least one 16 allows the transmission of an electrical signal and a power supply at 12 volts by example; another metal braid 18, corresponding to the mass of the power supply and of the entire information transfer circuit, is maintained at 0 volts. Different other textile type braids 17 are arranged between the different other metal braids to ensure on the one hand their insulation and on the other hand the tensile strength which must be maintained at the rear of the head 1 which is pulled forward by the propulsion of its nozzles 9.

 The connection between said cable or hose 2 and the cleaning head 1 is produced by a connector 14 whose mechanical fixing is not shown here and can be of any known type. The rear part 26 of this cleaning head comprises a base 25 capable of receiving the connector 14 of the cable or flexible 2: this base 25 itself itself comprises, on the one hand, an orifice 13 into which a male end piece 14, of the connector 14 and through which said fluid 8 is supplied, and on the other hand at least one electrical contact 12; in fact one can thus have as many contacts as possible, each corresponding to a metallic braid necessary for the transmission of the power supply and the signal; these electrical contacts are disposed peripherally around the orifice 13 and at different diameters if there are several.

 To ensure electrical continuity between said electrical contacts 12 and said braids 16, the connector 14 of the cable or hose 2 comprises at least one track 15 of peripheral electrical contact around the male end piece 14, and on which said electrical contact rests 12 which thus maintains the electrical continuity whatever the possibility of reciprocal rotation between the cable or hose 2 and the head 1; different electrical connection pieces 19 ensure continuity between the track 15 and the braid 16. Electrical connections, not shown in FIG. 1, are arranged in the cleaning head 1 itself between the different components from the electrical contacts 12 to to usable organs, such as the camera and the "LEDs": these links pass through passages 28 provided for this in the various parts made of solid and machined materials, constituting this head.

 The cable or flexible 2 is held on said connector 14 by fitting onto a male plug 142 comprising asperities and opposite to that ensuring the connection with the cleaning head 1 the cable or flexible 2 is held on this sleeve 14, by any device for crimping 20. Different insulating parts 21 are interposed between the different metal parts of the connector 14 to preserve good electrical transmission through the different components described above.

 In another embodiment, the transmission of the signal of the video information collected by the camera 3 is carried out by a radio wave transmitter on board the cleaning head 1. a receiving antenna is installed at one end of the pipe, for example in the upstream manhole through which the head I is introduced, or in the downstream manhole; this antenna is connected to the command and control unit. Such a device is possible when the duct is not filled with liquid, which is often the case, the water projections by the nozzles 9 not hampering the transmission in such a configuration of transmission by radio means, the energy electrical power is supplied by a battery on board the head 1, all of the components, transmitter and receiver, are marinized and the connector 14 and the hose or cable 2 are simplified because they may not include the electrical connections described above to ensure said transmission.

Claims (10)

 l. Cleaning head (1) through the interior of a pipe, supplied by a cable or flexible (2) with pressurized fluid (8) ensuring its traction and cleaning, and comprising nozzles (9) distributed over its periphery and oriented towards the rear of the distal end of the head, as well as a camera (3) whose porthole (4) of protection is disposed towards the front of said distal end characterized in that said cleaning head comprises a nozzle (61) oriented towards said window and supplied by the same pressurized fluid (8).  2. Cleaning head according to claim I, characterized in that it comprises a nozzle (62) directed towards the front of said distal end and supplied by the same pressurized fluid (8).  3. cleaning head according to any one of claims 1 or 2 characterized in that said nozzle (6, and / or 62) is supplied through a valve (7) which opens only at a given pressure ( P) of the fluid (8).  4. cleaning head according to any one of claims 1 to 3 characterized in that the camera (3) is mounted in a shock absorbing sheath (22), which sheath is placed in a housing (24) in the form of a socket (23) produced in a part constituting said head (1).  5. cleaning head according to any one of claims 1 to 4 characterized in that it comprises an electromagnetic transmitter (10) adapted to allow its location from outside the pipe.  6. cleaning head according to any one of claims 1 to 5 characterized in that the camera (3) is supplied, controlled and transmits its information by the same cable or flexible (2) supply of pressurized fluid (8 ).  7. cleaning head according to claim 6 characterized in that it comprises a base (25) capable of receiving the connector (14) of the cable or flexible (2), and which comprises on the one hand an orifice (13) in which fits a male end (14i) of the connector (14) through which said fluid (8) is supplied, and on the other hand at least one electrical contact (12) disposed peripherally relative to the orifice (13).  8. cleaning head according to claim 7 characterized in that the connector (14) of the cable or flexible (2) comprises at least one track (15) of electrical contact covering the entire periphery around the male end piece (141) and on which rests said electrical contact (12) which ensures electrical continuity regardless of the possibility of reciprocal rotation between the cable or hose (2) and the head (1).  9. cleaning head (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 5 characterized in that it comprises a transmitter of radio waves capable of transmitting the video information from the camera (3)  10. cleaning head according to any one of claims 1 to 9 characterized in that it is composed of three main parts, 1'une corresponding to its distal end and carrying the window (4) and the nozzle (61) oriented towards said porthole, another (26) corresponding to its rear part receiving the connector (14) of the cable or flexible (2) and which comprises a base (25) for connection as well as the fluid supply conduits (8) to the set of nozzles (9,6), and the third (23) which is an intermediate piece between the two previous pieces and carrying the camera (3).