GB2405882A - Underwater trench backfilling and evacuation apparatus - Google Patents

Underwater trench backfilling and evacuation apparatus Download PDF

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Publication number
GB2405882A
GB2405882A GB0311267A GB0311267A GB2405882A GB 2405882 A GB2405882 A GB 2405882A GB 0311267 A GB0311267 A GB 0311267A GB 0311267 A GB0311267 A GB 0311267A GB 2405882 A GB2405882 A GB 2405882A
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GB
United Kingdom
Prior art keywords
helical
conveyors
seabed
backfilling
excavation apparatus
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.)
Granted
Application number
GB0311267A
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GB0311267D0 (en
GB2405882B (en
Inventor
Nicholas Victor Sills
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Individual
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Individual
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Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Individual filed Critical Individual
Priority to GB0311267A priority Critical patent/GB2405882B/en
Publication of GB0311267D0 publication Critical patent/GB0311267D0/en
Publication of GB2405882A publication Critical patent/GB2405882A/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of GB2405882B publication Critical patent/GB2405882B/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Fee Related legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
    • E02—HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING; FOUNDATIONS; SOIL SHIFTING
    • E02F—DREDGING; SOIL-SHIFTING
    • E02F5/00—Dredgers or soil-shifting machines for special purposes
    • E02F5/006—Dredgers or soil-shifting machines for special purposes adapted for working ground under water not otherwise provided for
    • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
    • E02—HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING; FOUNDATIONS; SOIL SHIFTING
    • E02F—DREDGING; SOIL-SHIFTING
    • E02F5/00—Dredgers or soil-shifting machines for special purposes
    • E02F5/22—Dredgers or soil-shifting machines for special purposes for making embankments; for back-filling
    • E02F5/223—Dredgers or soil-shifting machines for special purposes for making embankments; for back-filling for back-filling
    • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
    • E02—HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING; FOUNDATIONS; SOIL SHIFTING
    • E02F—DREDGING; SOIL-SHIFTING
    • E02F5/00—Dredgers or soil-shifting machines for special purposes
    • E02F5/22—Dredgers or soil-shifting machines for special purposes for making embankments; for back-filling
    • E02F5/223—Dredgers or soil-shifting machines for special purposes for making embankments; for back-filling for back-filling
    • E02F5/226—Dredgers or soil-shifting machines for special purposes for making embankments; for back-filling for back-filling with means for processing the soil, e.g. screening belts, separators; Padding machines

Abstract

An underwater trench backfilling and excavation apparatus that has one or more pairs of helical conveyors powered by reversible motors 14 and mounted for rotation and articulation 16 within a hinged 21 frame 15 and casings 13 that enclose the upper parts of the helical conveyors and prevent loss of material from the conveyors. Each conveyor of a pair is of the opposite hand and mounted opposite its partner in the same longitudinal axis as in the manner of a mirror image. There is a central space between each of the two conveyors forming a pair. Each pair of helical conveyors is mounted parallel to and behind the other in the frame. When the apparatus is sitting on a seabed and the conveyors are rotated they cause soil to be excavated from the seabed and moved along the helical conveyors towards the central space to fill a void or trench.

Description

UNDERWATER TRENCH BACKFILLIING
AND EXCAVATION APPARATUS
This invention relates to an underwater trench backfilling and excavation apparatus that can be deployed and operated remotely from a surface support ship or vessel to excavate and gather materials from the seabed and place the excavated or gathered materials into a depression or trench.
Pipelines and cables laid on the seabed are often lowered below the surface of the seabed in a process called trenching to stop them from being moved by strong currents and to help prevent them from being damaged by ships anchors, chains and mooring wires, fish trawling apparatus and by objects dropped into the water. Pipelines are also trenched to provide for thermal insulation. It is a common requirement for the pipeline or cable once it is in place in the trench to be covered with soil in a process called backfilling. The apparatus used to excavate the trench does not usually include a backfilling apparatus to fill in the trench and reliance is made on natural processes such as the collapse of the trench walls, the settlement of materials from the water or the movement of soil across the seabed by currents to achieve this requirement. In certain circumstances and soil conditions natural backfilling does not occur and it may be necessary to actively backfill the trench.
Present methods of active backfilling include dredging materials from the seabed or transporting them from the shore and dumping them into the trench. Another method of backfilling is to use an apparatus called a backfill plough which comprises of a set of angled blades that are towed or moved by wheels or tracks along the trench and scrape seabed material into the trench. A further method is to wash loose seabed material into the trench with a flow of water generated by a t propeller or water jets. None of these methods or apparatus give precise control over the backf ll process and they are limited in the type of soil they can utilise for backfilling.
This invention provides an underwater trench backfilling and excavation apparatus that can operate in a wide range of soil types and precisely place gathered soil into a trench or depression. The invention comprises of pairs of helical conveyors that when rotated cause soil to be excavated from the seabed and moved along the axis of the helical conveyors and into a trench or depression if present.
The helical conveyors operate in a horizontal plane and are enclosed by casings on their upper sides to retain excavated soil within the helical conveyor and ensure soil is transported along the axis of each helical conveyor when it is rotating as in the manner of water along an Archimedean screw. Each helical conveyor comprises a reversible motor means to rotate the helical conveyor, a pivot means to allow the helical conveyor to align with the angle of the seabed and a casing means to prevent the escape of excavated soil from the helical conveyor when the soil is travelling along the helical conveyor. Each member of a pair of helical conveyors is aligned axially and end on to each other in the manner of a mirror image and with a central space between them so that they do not touch. When a pair of helical conveyors are rotated in one direction the excavated soil is moved along each helical conveyor towards the central space between them and when the helical conveyors are rotated in the opposite direction the excavated soil is moved away from the central space between them. Each pair of helical conveyors is mounted one behind the other in a hinged frame which is provided with ski means to prevent the invention sinking into the seabed.
When the helical conveyors are rotated in one direction the invention moves forward and soil is excavated from the seabed and moved towards the central space between the helical conveyors to perform backfilling. When the helical conveyors are rotated in the opposite direction the invention moves backward and soil is excavated from the seabed and moved away from the central space between the helical conveyors for excavation.
In an alternative form of the invention the ski means fitted to the frame to prevent the invention sinking into the seabed are replaced with driven or freely rotating wheels or tracks.
In a second alternative form of the invention a variable buoyancy means is mounted to the frame to vary the weight of the invention on the seabed.
In a third alternative form of the invention the helical blades of one or more of the helical conveyor pairs are mounted in the opposite hand so that when they are rotated in the opposite direction to the other helical conveyor pairs the movement of soil along the conveyor is in the same direction.
The following is a description of some of the specific embodiments of the invention, reference being made to the accompanying drawings in which: FIGURE 1 is a general arrangement of an underwater trench backfilling and excavation apparatus with 3 pairs of helical conveyors with the upper casings removed on one side to more clearly show the arrangement of the helical wound blades and cylinders of the helical conveyors.
FIGURE 2 is a longitudinal section through an underwater trench backfilling and excavation apparatus on the seabed with 3 pairs of helical conveyors showing the increase in diameter of each successive pair of helical conveyors from front to back and the direction of rotation of the helical conveyors.
FIGURE 3 is a front elevation view of an underwater trench backfilling and excavation apparatus with 3 pairs of helical conveyors with arrows indicating the pivotal movement of the hinged frame and helical conveyor assemblies.
FIGURE 4 is a plan view of an underwater trench backfilling and excavation apparatus with all the upper casings removed to show the arrangement of the helical wound blades and cylinders within the hinged frame.
FIGURE 5 is a front elevation view of an underwater trench backfilling and excavation apparatus with 3 pairs of helical conveyors resting on an uneven seabed with arrows indicating a point of rotation of the hinged frame.
FIGURE 6 is a front elevation view of an underwater trench backfilling and excavation apparatus with 3 pairs of helical conveyors resting on an uneven seabed with arrows indicating the up and down pivotal movement of the helical conveyors.
FIGURE 7 is a front elevation view of an underwater trench backs fling and excavation apparatus with 1 pair of helical conveyors on the seabed with arrows indicating the movement of soil along the helical conveyors and into a trench during backfilling and showing the soil retained on the helical conveyor by the upper casings. s
Figure 1 illustrates an underwater trench backfilling and excavation apparatus with 3 pairs of helical conveyors with one half of the helical conveyor pairs upper casings 13 removed to show the arrangement of the helical conveyors. Each helical conveyor comprises of a cylinder l 1 having a helical blade 12 wound around the cylinder surface as more clearly shown in figure 4 and an upper casing 13 enclosing the helical blade as more clearly shown in figure 2. Each helical conveyor is mounted for rotation on motor shaft 17 at one end and shaft 18 at the other and a reversible motor means 14 is mounted for rotation of the helical conveyor shaft 17.
Each helical conveyor is mounted for articulation in frame 15 at one end by motor pivot mounting 16 which is attached to ski 20 and at the other end by shaft 18 in slotted mounting 19 which is attached to frame 15. Slotted mounting 19 is mounted to frame 15 as indicated in figure 3 and allows upward and downward movement of the helical conveyor shaft 18 about motor pivot mounting 16 as indicated by arrows 22 of figure 3 and figure 6.
The left and right helical conveyors making up each helical conveyor pair are identical except that the helical blade 12 of the left cylinder 1 l is of the opposite hand to the helical blade 12 of the right hand cylinder 11 in the manner of a mirror image as shown in figure 4.
Frame 15 is hinged at 21 as shown in figure 1 and allows the frame to articulate as indicated by arrows 25 of figure 3 and as further shown in an articulated position in figure 5.
With reference to f gures 2, 5, 6 and 7 a sequence of events will now be described that will make the use of the apparatus for backfilling a trench apparent when placed over a trench on the seabed and energised.
Figure 2 illustrates an underwater trench backfilling and excavation apparatus with 3 pairs of helical conveyors sitting on the seabed. When power is supplied to the motor means 14 of the left and right helical conveyors the helical conveyors are rotated as shown by the arrows 26 in f gure 2 and causes soil to be scraped from the seabed and moved towards the centre of the apparatus and into a trench if present as more clearly shown by arrows 26 and 28 in figure 7.
Soil is retained on the helical conveyors and guided towards the central space between the helical conveyors by casings 13 as indicated at 27 of figure 7. As the apparatus moves forward each successive pair of helical conveyors cuts deeper into the seabed than the preceding one as shown in figure 2 in which the area of seabed at 23 is before being acted on by the invention and the area of seabed at 24 is after being acted on by the invention. The rotary motion of the helical conveyors against the seabed simultaneously causes the apparatus to move across the seabed. A synchronous rotation of the speed of the motor means 14 of the left and right helical conveyors causes the apparatus to move forward or backward. An asynchronous rotation of the speed of the motor means] 4 of the left or right helical conveyors causes the apparatus to move in an arc to the left or right. If the apparatus is caused to move forward along the central axis of a trench or depression soil will be moved in to it and backfilling will occur. The apparatus is prevented from sinking into the seabed 29 by ski means 20.

Claims (9)

1. An underwater trench backfilling and excavation apparatus comprising one or more pairs of helical conveyors mounted for rotation in a frame, casing means to partly enclose the helical conveyors, pivot means to allow the helical conveyors and casing means to align with the angle of the seabed, reversible motor means to cause the helical conveyors to rotate and cause soil to be excavated from the seabed and moved along the helical conveyors towards a central space between the helical conveyor pairs and into a trench if present when the apparatus is moving forward.
2. An underwater trench backfilling and excavation apparatus as claimed in claim I wherein the two helical blade means wound around the surface of the helical conveyor cylinder means, forming each pair of helical conveyors, are of the opposite hand to each other.
3. An underwater trench backfilling and excavation apparatus as claimed in claim 1 and 2 wherein the helical conveyors are partly enclosed by casing means.
4. An underwater trench backfilling and excavation apparatus as claimed in claim I to 3 wherein the helical conveyors and casing means pivot to align with the angle of the seabed.
5. An underwater trench backfilling and excavation apparatus as claimed in claim 1 to 4 wherein each helical conveyor of a pair is mounted for rotation and driven by independent and reversible motor means.
6. An underwater trench backfilling and excavation apparatus as claimed in claim 1 to 5 wherein the helical conveyors mounted for rotation are mounted within a hinged frame means that can pivot about its front and back axis according to the shape of the seabed.
7. An underwater trench backfilling and excavation apparatus as claimed in claim 1 to 6 wherein a buoyancy tank means is mounted to the frame to the vary the weight of the apparatus on the seabed.
8. An underwater trench backfilling and excavation apparatus as claimed in claim I and 7 wherein the opposite hand configuration of each of the two helical blades of a conveyor pair act to cancel out the axial forces generated by them when rotating in the same direction and speed when in contact with the seabed.
9. An underwater trench backfilling and excavation apparatus as claimed in claim 1 to 8 wherein each succeeding pair of helical conveyors is larger in diameter from front to back.
GB0311267A 2003-05-16 2003-05-16 Underwater trench backfilling and excavation apparatus Expired - Fee Related GB2405882B (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB0311267A GB2405882B (en) 2003-05-16 2003-05-16 Underwater trench backfilling and excavation apparatus

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB0311267A GB2405882B (en) 2003-05-16 2003-05-16 Underwater trench backfilling and excavation apparatus

Publications (3)

Publication Number Publication Date
GB0311267D0 GB0311267D0 (en) 2003-06-18
GB2405882A true GB2405882A (en) 2005-03-16
GB2405882B GB2405882B (en) 2006-04-12

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Cited By (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
ES2301396A1 (en) * 2006-11-08 2008-06-16 Jesus Sanchez Gonzalez Submarine leveling unit has front body with hydraulic or mechanical medium to push gravel and rear body of flat base is provided, which conforms leveling
WO2009112596A1 (en) * 2008-03-14 2009-09-17 Sanchez Gonzales Jesus Underwater leveller
CN110130431A (en) * 2019-05-13 2019-08-16 李联辉 A kind of muddy ground region water-feeding & drainaging pipeline buries device
WO2022053565A1 (en) 2020-09-10 2022-03-17 Mastenbroek Ltd A backfill device for a trencher and a method of backfilling a trench

Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3807067A (en) * 1972-12-18 1974-04-30 K Cloud Automatic trench filler and tamper
US4283867A (en) * 1979-12-05 1981-08-18 Roscoe Brown Corporation Backfilling apparatus with adjustable filling augers
US5353529A (en) * 1991-12-23 1994-10-11 Mccullough Charles E Apparatus for backfilling
US5479728A (en) * 1994-03-08 1996-01-02 The Charles Machine Works, Inc. Apparatus for backfilling and tamping a trench
US6434861B1 (en) * 1999-11-03 2002-08-20 Mccullough Charles E. Apparatus for backfilling

Patent Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3807067A (en) * 1972-12-18 1974-04-30 K Cloud Automatic trench filler and tamper
US4283867A (en) * 1979-12-05 1981-08-18 Roscoe Brown Corporation Backfilling apparatus with adjustable filling augers
US5353529A (en) * 1991-12-23 1994-10-11 Mccullough Charles E Apparatus for backfilling
US5479728A (en) * 1994-03-08 1996-01-02 The Charles Machine Works, Inc. Apparatus for backfilling and tamping a trench
US6434861B1 (en) * 1999-11-03 2002-08-20 Mccullough Charles E. Apparatus for backfilling

Cited By (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
ES2301396A1 (en) * 2006-11-08 2008-06-16 Jesus Sanchez Gonzalez Submarine leveling unit has front body with hydraulic or mechanical medium to push gravel and rear body of flat base is provided, which conforms leveling
WO2009112596A1 (en) * 2008-03-14 2009-09-17 Sanchez Gonzales Jesus Underwater leveller
EP2267228A1 (en) * 2008-03-14 2010-12-29 Jesús Sanchez Gonzales Underwater leveller
EP2267228A4 (en) * 2008-03-14 2012-06-20 Gonzalez Jesus Sanchez Underwater leveller
CN110130431A (en) * 2019-05-13 2019-08-16 李联辉 A kind of muddy ground region water-feeding & drainaging pipeline buries device
WO2022053565A1 (en) 2020-09-10 2022-03-17 Mastenbroek Ltd A backfill device for a trencher and a method of backfilling a trench
GB2599079A (en) * 2020-09-10 2022-03-30 Mastenbroek Ltd A backfill device for a trencher and a method of backfilling a trench
GB2599079B (en) * 2020-09-10 2024-01-10 Mastenbroek Ltd A backfill device for a trencher and a method of backfilling a trench

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
GB0311267D0 (en) 2003-06-18
GB2405882B (en) 2006-04-12

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710B Request of alter time limits

Free format text: EXTENSION APPLICATION: APPLICATION FOR EXTENSION OF THE PERIOD(S) PRESCRIBED BY RULE(S) 25(2) FILEDON 20040714.

9110 Period prescribed has been extended under rule 110(6)/1990

Free format text: EXTENSION ALLOWED: PERIOD(S) PRESCRIBED BY RULE(S) 25(2) EXTENDED UNDER RULE 110(6) IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE DECISION OF THE COMPTROLLER DATED 20041115.

732E Amendments to the register in respect of changes of name or changes affecting rights (sect. 32/1977)
732E Amendments to the register in respect of changes of name or changes affecting rights (sect. 32/1977)

Free format text: REGISTERED BETWEEN 20140925 AND 20141001

PCNP Patent ceased through non-payment of renewal fee

Effective date: 20150516