GB1562054A

GB1562054A - Tunnelling apparatus

Info

Publication number: GB1562054A
Application number: GB8322/78A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Gewerkschaft Eisenhutte Westfalia GmbH
Current assignee: Gewerkschaft Eisenhutte Westfalia GmbH
Priority date: 1977-03-05
Filing date: 1978-03-02
Publication date: 1980-03-05
Also published as: NL7800877A; FR2382579B1; DE2709739C2; JPS6228275B2; JPS53110233A; DE2709739A1; FR2382579A1; BE864331A

Description

(54) TUNNELLING APPARATUS (71) We, GEWERKSCHAFT EISENHUT1E WESTFALIA, a body corporate organized and existing under the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany of 4670 Linen, Federal Republic of Germany, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: The present invention relates in general to tunnelling apparatus.

Apparatus for use in driving tunnels often employs a drive shield which is advanced from time to time towards a working face.

Where the tunnel is being driven in loose soil or water-bearing substances the working face may be supported from collapse by means of liquid introduced into a working chamber open to the working face. It is generally desirable to maintain the liquid under pressure to provide adequate support for the face. German patent specification 2227083 describes a tunnelling apparatus where the drive shield has two sealed chambers therein.

One of these chambers forms the aforementioned working chamber containing liquid while the other chamber contains compressed air and is open to the floor region of the working chamber to hold the liquid therein under pressure. The overall shield construction is quite complex, access is difficult and extensive sealing facilities are also necessary.

The material removed from the working face must be transferred away from the working chamber and an air lock system is necessary for this puspose.

A general object of the present invention is to provide an improved tunnelling apparatus.

In its broadest aspect the invention provides tunnel driving apparatus employing a drive shield having a chamber filled with liquid, during use, adjacent a working face wherein the liquid in the chamber is maintained under pressure by gas-pressure applying means separate from or independent of the shield.

The invention also provides tunnel driving apparatus comprising a drive shield, a working chamber within the shield open towards a working face, during use, and defined by a bulkhead and a liquid feed conduit for supplying liquid to the chamber, the liquid feed conduit being connected to at least one vessel or reservoir separate from or independent of the shield and containing liquid maintained under gas pressure.

Apparatus made in accordance with the invention can be notably simple since only one chamber sealed for example with a bulkhead is necessary in the shield. In contrast to the aforementioned known apparatus the gas maintaining the liquid under pressure is not dependent on the shield itself but is for example maintained in a separate vessel or reservoir either in the shield or outside the shield.

The vessel or reservoir can be considerably remote from the shield in which case the feed conduit is of commensurate length, or mounted on a trolley or the like immediately behind the shield.

It is generally useful to make the liquid feed conduit flexible and to have the liquid introduced at the lower floor region of the working chamber.

Where the shield necessitates a considerable quantity of liquid the capacity of the pressure-applying means can be increased by employing a bank of vessels preferably selectively connectable to the feed conduit.

The pressure of the gas acting on the liquid can be made adjustable.

Liquid can be removed from the working chamber, for example, by means of a return conduit connected to a suction pump. This enables material removed from the working face e.g. by a cutting machine in the working chamber to be transferred as a sludge with the removed liquid. Liquid can be supplied to replenish the liquid thus removed or withdrawn.

Where the gas pressure applying means is a vessel or reservoir as mentioned, replenishing liquid can be supplied by any suitable means directly to the vessel or reservoir.

Thus, the vessel or reservoir does not primarily store the liquid but rather serves to store the gas which subjects the supply liquid to pressure.

It is relatively easy to seal the vessel or reservoir even at comparatively high gas pressures and the problems hitherto encountered with sealing are avoided.

The invention may be understood more readily and various other features of the invention may become more apparent from consideration of the following description.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawing which is a schematic sectional side view of apparatus made in accordance with the invention.

As shown in the drawing, tunnel driving apparatus made in accordance with the invention employs a drive shield 10 having a cutting edge at the front end engaging on a working face 11.

A bulkhead 15 is arranged in the shield 10 to rearwardly define a working chamber 16 in the shield open to the face 11. A machine 17 driving a cutting head 12 is disposed at the fron region of the chamber 16 and material is detached from the face 11 by the machine 17 when desired. Hydraulic rams 18 supported on a suitable abutment in the shield chamber 16 serve to thrust the machine 17 forwardly towards the face 11. The entire shield 10 can also be shifted in the direction of advance- ment (arrow V) by means of further hydraulic rams 13 which can be supported by any suitable means, for example, by the forward end of a lining for the tunnel. The tunnel lining can be of a series of tubular elements 14 as shown.

During operation, the chamber 16 is filled with liquid which serves primarily to support the face 11 and prevent premature collapse thereof. The liquid agent used to fill the chamber 16 may be a water/bentonite mixture. The liquid is fed to the chamber 16 with the aid of a feed conduit 23 which is preferably flexible. The conduit 23 passes through the bulkhead 15. The conduit 23 charges the liquid into a lower region of the chamber 16.

A complementary return conduit 19 also preferably flexible, sucks liquid out of the chamber 16 and may be connected to a suction pump (not shown).

The liquid in the chamber 16 is subjected to pressure by means of compressed gas contained in a vessel, tank or reservoir 20. More particularly. a quantity of compressed gas is maintained in a head space 22 above the liquid 21 in the reservoir 20. The liquid 21 is connected via a manifold or the like to the feed conduit 23. Where the drive shield 10 is of large diameter supplementary reservoirs 20' each containing compressed gas and liquid can be provided and each reservoir is connected preferably in a selective manner, via the manifold to the liquid feed conduit 23. The liquid in the reservoir 20 or reservoirs 20,20' can be replenished by any suitable means (not shown) to make up the liquid withdrawn through the conduit 19.

Soil or like material removed from the face 11 when the machine 17 operates is removed with the liquid as a sludge by the conduit 19 and the liquid removed is replaced through the conduit 23. The soil or sludge material can be filtered out of the removed liquid if desired.

The gas pressure in the reservoir 20 or reservoirs 20,20' forces liquid into the chamber 16 and maintains the liquid in the chamber 16 under pressure and ensures that fluctuations in the pressure of the liquid in the chamber 16 are minimized. If desired the gas pressure can be made adjustable.

The reservoir 20 or reservoirs 20,20' together with ancilliary equipment can be carried on a mobile trolley which can follow up the shield 10 on the driving direction V. In this case the trolley can also support equipment used in installing or fabricating the lining for the tunnel. Alternatively, the reservoir 20, or reservoirs 20, 20' and acillary equipment can be remote from the shield 10 and the conduits 19, 23 accordingly prolonged.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. Tunnel driving apparatus employing a drive shield having a chamber filled with liquid during use adjacent a working face wherein the liquid in the chamber is maintained under pressure by gas-pressre - applying means separate from or independent of the shield.

2. Tunnel driving apparatus comprising a drive shield a working chamber within the shield open towards a working face, during use, and defined by a bulkhead and a liquid feed condiut for supplying liquid to the chamber, the liquid feed conduit being connected to at least one vessel or reservoir separate from or independent of the shield and containing liquid maintained under gas pressure.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the chamber is connected through a liquid feed conduit to liquid contained in at least one reservoir and a quantity of gas under pressure is arranged in a head space in said one reservoir above the liquid therein.

4. Apparatus according to claim 2 or 3, wherein said at least one reservoir is remote from the drive shield.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. the removed liquid. Liquid can be supplied to replenish the liquid thus removed or withdrawn. Where the gas pressure applying means is a vessel or reservoir as mentioned, replenishing liquid can be supplied by any suitable means directly to the vessel or reservoir. Thus, the vessel or reservoir does not primarily store the liquid but rather serves to store the gas which subjects the supply liquid to pressure. It is relatively easy to seal the vessel or reservoir even at comparatively high gas pressures and the problems hitherto encountered with sealing are avoided. The invention may be understood more readily and various other features of the invention may become more apparent from consideration of the following description. An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawing which is a schematic sectional side view of apparatus made in accordance with the invention. As shown in the drawing, tunnel driving apparatus made in accordance with the invention employs a drive shield 10 having a cutting edge at the front end engaging on a working face 11. A bulkhead 15 is arranged in the shield 10 to rearwardly define a working chamber 16 in the shield open to the face 11. A machine 17 driving a cutting head 12 is disposed at the fron region of the chamber 16 and material is detached from the face 11 by the machine 17 when desired. Hydraulic rams 18 supported on a suitable abutment in the shield chamber 16 serve to thrust the machine 17 forwardly towards the face 11. The entire shield 10 can also be shifted in the direction of advance- ment (arrow V) by means of further hydraulic rams 13 which can be supported by any suitable means, for example, by the forward end of a lining for the tunnel. The tunnel lining can be of a series of tubular elements 14 as shown. During operation, the chamber 16 is filled with liquid which serves primarily to support the face 11 and prevent premature collapse thereof. The liquid agent used to fill the chamber 16 may be a water/bentonite mixture. The liquid is fed to the chamber 16 with the aid of a feed conduit 23 which is preferably flexible. The conduit 23 passes through the bulkhead 15. The conduit 23 charges the liquid into a lower region of the chamber 16. A complementary return conduit 19 also preferably flexible, sucks liquid out of the chamber 16 and may be connected to a suction pump (not shown). The liquid in the chamber 16 is subjected to pressure by means of compressed gas contained in a vessel, tank or reservoir 20. More particularly. a quantity of compressed gas is maintained in a head space 22 above the liquid 21 in the reservoir 20. The liquid 21 is connected via a manifold or the like to the feed conduit 23. Where the drive shield 10 is of large diameter supplementary reservoirs 20' each containing compressed gas and liquid can be provided and each reservoir is connected preferably in a selective manner, via the manifold to the liquid feed conduit 23. The liquid in the reservoir 20 or reservoirs 20,20' can be replenished by any suitable means (not shown) to make up the liquid withdrawn through the conduit 19. Soil or like material removed from the face 11 when the machine 17 operates is removed with the liquid as a sludge by the conduit 19 and the liquid removed is replaced through the conduit 23. The soil or sludge material can be filtered out of the removed liquid if desired. The gas pressure in the reservoir 20 or reservoirs 20,20' forces liquid into the chamber 16 and maintains the liquid in the chamber 16 under pressure and ensures that fluctuations in the pressure of the liquid in the chamber 16 are minimized. If desired the gas pressure can be made adjustable. The reservoir 20 or reservoirs 20,20' together with ancilliary equipment can be carried on a mobile trolley which can follow up the shield 10 on the driving direction V. In this case the trolley can also support equipment used in installing or fabricating the lining for the tunnel. Alternatively, the reservoir 20, or reservoirs 20, 20' and acillary equipment can be remote from the shield 10 and the conduits 19, 23 accordingly prolonged. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. Tunnel driving apparatus employing a drive shield having a chamber filled with liquid during use adjacent a working face wherein the liquid in the chamber is maintained under pressure by gas-pressre - applying means separate from or independent of the shield.

5. Apparatus according to claim 2 or 3,

wherein said at least one reservoir is carried by a mobile trolley.

6. Apparatus according to claims 2, 3 4 or 5 wherein said feed conduit is flexible.

7. Apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 6, wherein a plurality of reservoirs containing liquid under gas pressure are connected to, or selectively connectable with, the feed conduit.

8. Apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 7 wherein the feed conduit supplies liquid to the chamber at a lower region thereof.

9. Apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 8 and further comprising a return conduit for withdrawing liquid from the chamber.

10. Apparatus according to claim 9, wherein a machine is provided in the chamber for detatching material from the working face and wherein the detached material is removed as a sludge through the return conduit.

11. Apparatus according to claim 9 or 10, and comprising means for supplying liquid to the or each reservoir to replenish the liquid removed.

12. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein there is also provided means for withdrawing liquid and face material from the chamber and means for replenishing the liquid thus withdrawn.

13. Apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 12 and further comprising means for advancing the drive shield.

14. Apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 13, wherein the pressure of the gas is adjustable.

15. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims wherein said liquid is a water/bentonite mixture.

16. Tunnel driving apparatus substantially as described with reference to, and as illustrated in, the accompanying drawing.

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