JP2000292363A - In-tank inspection device of marine vessel - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To execute an in-tank inspection work easily and excellently by remote control. SOLUTION: In this device 1, a pair to disjunctive-direction thrusters 10 (10R, 10L) are installed respectively roughly on the central parts in the cross direction a little to the sides on both right and left sides with the driving-force direction as Z-axis direction, and parallel-direction thrusters 20 (20R, 20L) are installed on both right and left sides of a rear end part with the driving-force direction as Y-axis direction. And, clawlers 30 (30R, 30L) are installed on bottom parts corresponding to the disjunctive-direction thrusters 10 (10R, 10L) with the driving direction as the cross direction, and an adhesive seal 40 is arranged along the periphery so as to enclose the clawlers 30 (30R, 30L).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for inspecting the inside of a ship for inspecting the interior of a cargo tank such as a tanker or a ballast tank.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Ships such as tankers are regularly inspected and maintained at predetermined intervals after they enter service. Recently, hull structural inspections have been strengthened internationally from the viewpoint of preventing global environmental pollution due to marine accidents. is there.

[0003] Inspection of the outside of the hull is carried out by visual inspection during docking and underwater visual inspection by a diver.
Inspection of cargo tanks and ballast tanks inside the hull should be performed by pouring water into the tanks and visually inspecting by an inspector boarding a rubber boat, or by laying an inspection scaffold with water drained and inspecting visually. Has been done.

[0004]

The above-described conventional inspection of the inside of the tank is a heavy labor in a tank with a bad environment and requires a long time. In addition, a visual inspection with a scaffold installed requires work at a high place. There was a problem that it was dangerous.

[0005] For this reason, it has recently been proposed to fill the tank with water and observe the internal structure of the tank via an imaging means using a remote control robot underwater.

However, the conventional underwater remote control robot, which floats with neutral buoyancy, moves itself due to the reaction force of the work, so that it is difficult to remove scale and sludge accumulated at the inspection location, so that sufficient inspection cannot be performed. There was a problem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to provide an in-tank inspection apparatus for a ship that can easily and satisfactorily perform inspection work in a tank by remote control. .

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vessel inspection apparatus for a ship, comprising a moving mechanism and a driving means for moving the moving mechanism along a plane contacted by the moving mechanism. A driving mechanism, a posture changing means for changing a posture in water, an underwater propulsion means including a disengagement direction propulsion means for generating a thrust by forming a water flow in a direction intersecting a plane to be moved by the movement driving mechanism, A sealing member disposed so as to surround a suction / drainage area by the moving / propelling means on the plane to be moved by the moving drive mechanism, a lighting unit, an imaging unit, and cleaning of a wall surface. Means,
Is provided, the posture is changed by the posture changing means in the tank filled with water, the water is moved by the underwater propulsion means, and the water is drained from the area surrounded by the seal member by the separation / contact direction propulsion means. The moving drive mechanism adsorbs on the inner wall surface of the tank, moves on the inner wall surface of the tank by the moving drive mechanism, cleans the inner wall surface of the tank by the cleaning means, and illuminates the illuminated portion by the illuminating means. It is characterized in that the inspection is carried out visually with the image passed through.

A pair of disengagement propulsion means are provided at symmetrical positions with respect to the center line in the front-rear direction of the apparatus. A pair of parallel propulsion means disposed at symmetrical positions sandwiching the center line in the front-rear direction of the device as a direction parallel to the plane to be moved by the mechanism; and When the pair is propelled in the same direction, it functions as the underwater propulsion means, and when the pair is propelled in the opposite direction, it functions as the attitude changing means. Wherein the weight member is provided so as to be capable of being displaced and driven in a plane that includes a center line in the front-rear direction of the apparatus and that is orthogonal to a plane to be moved by the movement drive mechanism. To.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a top view of an in-tank inspection apparatus which is an example of the configuration of a vessel in-tank inspection apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG.
3 is a side view, FIG. 3 is a bottom view, FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view, FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 2, and FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG.

The in-tank inspection apparatus 1 shown in the drawing has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and as shown in FIG.
R, 10L) in the thickness direction of the in-tank inspection apparatus 1 (hereinafter Z)
And a parallel thruster 20 (20R, 20R) as parallel propulsion means.
L) are provided on both the left and right sides of the rear end with the direction of the propulsion force as the front-rear direction (hereinafter referred to as the Y-axis direction) of the in-tank inspection device 1, and on the bottom surface, as shown in FIG. A crawler 30 (30R, 30L) as a moving drive mechanism is provided on a bottom surface portion corresponding to the separation / contact direction thruster 10 (10R, 10L) with the drive direction as the front-rear direction, and a close contact as a sealing member so as to include them. Seal 40
Are arranged along the outer periphery.

The overall weight and volume are set so as to have a neutral buoyancy in water (sea water), and a variable gravity center mechanism 50 as attitude changing means is provided inside.

A light 61 as an illuminating means, a CCD camera 62 as an imaging means, and a brush mechanism 70 as a cleaning means are provided on the front end face on the lower side in the figure. A water pressure sensor 64 and C
A rear camera unit 90 including a CD camera 91 and a lamp 92 is provided. In the drawing, reference numeral 100 denotes a handle for carrying.

All the drives of the in-tank inspection device 1 are
The camera is controlled by a control device (not shown) connected through a cable 101 extending from the rear end. By operating the control device while observing the image from the monitor on the monitor, the underwater movement by the approaching and detaching thrusters 10 (10R, 10L) and the parallel direction thrusters 20 (20R, 20L) and the posture change by adding the gravity center variable mechanism 50 to this. In addition, suction on the wall surface, movement along the wall surface by the crawler 30, cleaning of the wall surface by the brush mechanism 60, and inspection by the wall surface inspection device 70 are performed.

Hereinafter, the configuration of each unit will be described in detail.

The detaching / contacting thruster 10 has a drive mechanism housing space 2A for housing the crawler 30 formed in the apparatus housing 2.
A propeller 12 that is rotationally driven by a drive motor 11 is disposed inside a detachment / contact direction thruster arrangement hole 2B penetrating in the Z-axis direction continuously with the Z-axis direction. As described above, the left and right thrusters 10 are provided as a pair on the left and right, and the drive motors 11 of the left and right disengagement thrusters 10R and 10L can be independently driven in forward and reverse directions.

The detaching and approaching thruster 1 thus constructed
0 (10R, 10L), the propeller 12 is rotationally driven by the drive motor 11, sucks water from the upper surface side opening of the separation / contact direction thruster arrangement hole 2B, and discharges water from the lower surface side opening of the driving mechanism housing space 2A. Alternatively, it acts so as to suck in from the opening on the bottom side of the drive mechanism housing space 2A and discharge it from the opening on the upper surface of the thruster arrangement hole 2B in the separation / contact direction.

Thus, the left and right disengagement direction thrusters 10
By driving R and 10L in the same direction, as shown in FIG. 9A, the in-tank inspection device 1 is driven to move in water in the direction opposite to the water discharge direction (ie, the Z-axis direction). The drawing illustrates only one direction, and the propeller 12 can be driven to move in the reverse direction by rotating the propeller 12 in the reverse direction.

The right and left thrusters 10R, 1
By driving 0L in opposite directions, the in-tank inspection apparatus 1 is rotationally driven about the center axis (Y-axis) in the front-rear direction, as shown in FIG.
The figure illustrates only one direction, and the propeller 1
2 is rotated in the reverse direction by rotating in the reverse direction.

That is, the separation / contact direction thruster 10 (10R, 10R,
10L) functions as both a movement driving unit that moves and drives the in-tank inspection device 1 in the Z-axis direction and a posture changing unit around the Y-axis.

Further, when the close contact seal 40 provided on the bottom surface is kept in contact with a flat surface such as a wall surface and the driving in the direction approaching the flat surface is continued, the flat surface, the close contact seal 40 and the device housing 2 are continued.
The water in the space surrounded by the bottom surface 2C is discharged, and the crawler 30 is pressed against a flat surface as shown in FIG. Is available.

Parallel thruster 20 (20R, 20L)
Is formed at a center in the thickness direction (Z-axis direction) of the corners of the rear surface 2D and the side surface 2E of the device housing 2 at a predetermined angle and a chamfered accommodating portion 2F with a predetermined width in the thickness direction. A propeller 21 that is driven to rotate by a drive motor 22 is disposed with its rotation axis direction being the front-back direction (Y-axis direction). The parallel direction thrusters 20 are provided in a pair on the left and right as described above, and the left and right parallel direction thrusters 20R, 20R,
The 20L drive motor 22 is independently drivable in forward and reverse directions.

The parallel-direction thruster 2 constructed as described above
In the case of 0 (20R, 20L), the propeller 21 is rotationally driven by the drive motor 22, and the side water is sucked in along the gradient of the storage portion and discharged from the rear end side, or is sucked in from the rear end side to the side. Acts to exhale.

Thus, the left and right parallel thrusters 20
By driving the R and 20L in the same direction, the in-tank inspection device 1 is moved and driven in the Y-axis direction in water as shown in FIG. Note that the drawing illustrates only one direction, and the propeller 21 can be driven to move in the reverse direction by rotating the propeller 21 in the reverse direction.

The left and right parallel thrusters 20R, 20R
By driving 0L in directions opposite to each other, as shown in FIG. 11B, it is driven to rotate around the Z axis. Note that the drawing illustrates only one direction, and the propeller 21 can be rotated in the reverse direction by rotating in the reverse direction.

That is, the parallel thrusters 20 (20R, 20R,
20L) functions as both a movement driving unit for driving and moving the in-tank inspection device 1 in the Y-axis direction and a posture changing unit around the Z-axis.

The crawlers 30 (30R, 30L) are provided at the front and rear of a drive mechanism accommodating space 2A having a rectangular parallelepiped shape extending in the front-rear direction and provided on both left and right sides of a bottom surface 2C of the device housing 2. A crawler belt 33 is looped between (the driving wheel 31 and the driven wheel 32).

The crawler belt 33 is set so that the outer surface of the outer orbit is protruded from the bottom surface 2C of the apparatus housing 2 by a predetermined amount as shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 6, the axles of the wheels 31, 32 penetrate through the side wall of the drive mechanism accommodating space 2A through the bearing provided with a watertight seal to reach the inside of the device housing 2, and the drive wheels are driven. Reference numeral 31 is linked to a drive gear motor 34 via a gear set 31A, and the driven wheel 32 is connected to an encoder 35.

Thus, the crawler belt 33 is driven to rotate by the rotation of the drive wheels 31 by the drive gear motor 34.

The encoder 35 detects the rotation of the driven wheel 32 (that is, the rotation of the crawler belt 33), and this detection information is transmitted to the control device. The control device can detect the amount of movement of the in-tank inspection device 1 by the crawler 30 based on the information from the encoder 35.

The drive gear motors 34 of the left and right crawlers 30R and 30L can be independently driven in the forward and reverse directions, whereby the crawler belts 33 of the left and right crawlers 30R and 30L can be independently driven to rotate. It has become.

The close contact seal 40 is formed of a flexible material, and is disposed on the bottom surface 2C of the apparatus housing 2 along the outer periphery thereof as described above. The height is set to be larger than the projecting amount of the crawler 30 by a predetermined amount.

As shown in a partial sectional plan view of FIG. 7 and a view of the same in the direction of arrow C in FIG. A weight 54 as a weight member having a predetermined weight is attached to the tip of an arm 53 that is supported so as to be capable of swinging by a gear motor 55. That is, the gear motor 55 is provided on the support fitting 51 so that its rotation shaft 55A is orthogonal to the swing shaft 52, and a bevel gear 56 fixed to the rotation shaft 55A and a bevel gear 57 fixed to the swing shaft 52. And the gear shaft 55 is rotated by the gear motor 55 so that the arm 5
3 can be driven to swing.

As shown in the figure, the swing shaft 52 is set in the X-axis direction, and the arm 53 can be swung from the state parallel to the Y axis to the direction parallel to the Z axis in both front and rear directions. When the arm 53 is parallel to the Y-axis, the weight 54 is located on the distal side from the center of the apparatus, and the center of gravity of the entire apparatus is on the distal side from the geometric center. As shown in (A), the tip is turned downward, and the swing of the arm 53 causes the weight 5
When 4 moves, the center of gravity is displaced in that direction, and the posture in the free state changes around the X axis. For example, by swinging the arm 53 upward and moving the weight 54 upward, a posture in which the bottom surface faces upward as shown in FIG.

That is, the attitude change around the Y axis and the Z axis is caused by the approaching thruster 10 and the parallel thruster 2 as described above.
The change in posture around the X-axis is possible by the variable center-of-gravity mechanism 50.

As described above, the light 61, the CCD camera 62, the brush mechanism 70, and the wall surface inspection device 80 are provided at the tip of the in-tank inspection device 1.

The light 61 and the CCD camera 62 are formed in a hemispherical windshield made of a transparent material disposed on a slope 2G having a predetermined slope toward the bottom formed at the center in the width direction of the stepped portion which is recessed toward the bottom of the front end of the apparatus. Inside 63, it is arranged via a not-shown front-rear and left-right swinging mechanism, and projects light and images in a predetermined range diagonally below (bottom side). The image captured by the CCD camera 62 is transmitted to a control device.

The brush mechanism 70 has a rotation axis in the X-axis direction by a support base 72 movably provided on a bottom side of the front end surface along a guide bar 71 extending in the left-right direction (X-axis direction). A brush rotation drive motor 73 is supported, and the rotation brushes
4 are provided. The position of the rotating brush 74 in the Y-axis direction is set so that the outer peripheral surface thereof interferes with a plane including the lower surface of the crawler 30 (a plane with which the crawler 30 contacts) by a predetermined amount.

The support base 72 is mounted on a drive belt 77 wound around pulleys (a drive pulley 75 and a driven pulley 76) whose rotation axes are arranged on the left and right sides of the front end face on the bottom side, respectively, with the rotation axis thereof being the Y-axis direction. Fixed.

The shafts of the pulleys 75 and 76 are rotatably supported by bearings having a watertight seal as shown in FIG. 5, and the drive pulley 75 is linked with a moving drive gear motor 79 via a gear set 78, The moving drive gear motor 7
9 is driven to rotate.

In the brush mechanism 70 configured as described above, the rotating brush 7 is driven by the brush rotating drive motor 73.
4 rotates, and the driving belt 77 rotates by the rotation driving of the driving pulley 75 by the moving driving gear motor 79, so that the support base 72 (that is, the rotating brush 74) moves right and left (in the X-axis direction).
Go to The movement of the support base 72 in the X-axis direction is controlled by a mechanism (not shown), and reciprocates at a predetermined stroke. Thus, the rotating brush 74 is rotationally driven by the brush rotating driving motor 73 and is moved and driven in the X-axis direction by the moving driving gear motor 79, so that the rotating brush 7 moves on the plane with which the crawler 30 is in contact.
4. The brush can be cleaned by brushing.

It should be noted that, instead of the brush mechanism 70, it is also possible to provide an inspection device for performing a thickness inspection and flaw detection by ultrasonic waves.

As shown in FIG. 6, a water pressure sensor 64, a CCD camera 91 and a lamp 92 are provided on the rear surface 2D of the device housing 2.
A rear camera unit 90 is provided, and detection information from the water pressure sensor 64 is transmitted to the control device and used as water depth information of the in-tank inspection device 1, and an image from the rear camera unit 90 is transmitted to the control device. And is used as information at the time of the moving operation of the in-tank inspection apparatus 1.

The in-tank inspection apparatus 1 configured as described above floats under neutral buoyancy in the water (seawater), and is driven in the Z-axis direction by driving the thruster 10 (10R, 10L). , And rotates about the Y axis, and can be moved in the Y axis direction and rotates about the Z axis by driving the parallel thrusters 20 (20R, 20L).
The posture can be changed around the X axis by driving the center of gravity variable mechanism 50. Further, by driving the separation / contact direction thruster 10, the suction can be performed on the flat surface regardless of its direction and inclination, and in that state, the crawler 30 can be driven on the suction flat surface by driving. The left and right crawlers 30R and 30L can be driven independently, thereby enabling steering in the traveling direction. Then, the suction plane is set to the rotating brush 7 of the brush mechanism 70.
The inspection can be performed by cleaning at 4 and visually observing the relevant portion via an image from the CCD camera 62.

That is, it is possible to freely move in the three-dimensional direction by freely changing the posture in the tank filled with seawater, and to move by adsorbing to any part of the tank inner wall surface 3 as shown in FIG. Then, the portion can be cleaned by the rotating brush 74, and the relevant portion can be inspected by visual observation via the CCD camera 62.

The operation and control of the in-tank inspection device 1 are performed by a control device installed in the upper deck or in the living quarter, by the cable 10.
1 can be performed.

The position of the inspection device 1 in the tank is recognized by the
The images from the D camera 62 and the rear camera unit 90 and the depth direction (the Y-axis direction when the device is in a vertical state) are roughly recognized based on the water pressure information from the water pressure sensor 64, and are moved by the crawler 30 after being attracted to the wall surface. Sometimes, it can be detected based on information from the encoder 35. Note that a collimating camera may be separately arranged in water, and the collimating camera may collimate the in-tank inspection device 1 to detect the position.

[0050]

As described above, according to the in-tank inspection apparatus for a ship according to the present invention, the moving mechanism includes the moving mechanism and the driving means, and the moving mechanism can move and drive along the plane on which the moving mechanism abuts. Underwater propulsion means including a drive mechanism, attitude changing means for changing the attitude in water, disengagement direction propulsion means for generating a thrust by forming a water flow in a direction intersecting the plane to be moved by the movement drive mechanism, and movement drive A sealing member disposed so as to surround a suction / drainage area by the separation / contact direction propulsion means on the moving target plane side by the mechanism, an illumination unit, an imaging unit, a wall cleaning unit, Is driven by changing the attitude in the water-filled tank by the attitude changing means, moving by the underwater propulsion means, and draining from the area surrounded by the seal member by the disengagement direction propulsion means. Adsorbed to the opposite tank inner wall surface of the structure, moved on the tank inner wall surface by the moving drive mechanism, cleaned the tank inner wall surface by the cleaning means, and visually inspected the illuminated part by the illumination means with the image through the imaging means. By changing the attitude of the tank in the seawater, the attitude can be changed freely by the attitude change means, the water can be freely moved by the underwater propulsion means and adsorbed to any part of the tank inner wall surface, and the movement drive mechanism , And can be inspected by visual observation via the imaging unit by cleaning with the cleaning unit.

That is, by adsorbing on the inner wall surface of the tank, the scale and sludge accumulated at the inspection location can be removed and inspected without being moved by the reaction force of the work. It can be performed easily and well by remote control. In addition, since the inspection can be performed while the tank is filled with water, the ballast tank can be inspected during the ballast voyage, and the operation efficiency of the ship can be improved.

Further, a pair of disengagement direction propulsion means disposed at symmetrical positions with respect to the front-rear direction center line of the apparatus, and a propulsion direction orthogonal to the direction of the propulsion force by the disengagement direction propulsion means; A pair of parallel propulsion means disposed at symmetrical positions with respect to the longitudinal center line of the device as a direction parallel to the plane to be moved by the mechanism; By propelling each other in the same direction, they function as underwater propulsion means,
It functions as a posture changing means by causing the pair to protrude in opposite directions to each other, and further, as the posture changing means, a weight member having a predetermined weight includes a center line in the front-rear direction of the device and a plane to be moved by a movement driving mechanism. By being provided so as to be able to be displaced and driven in a plane orthogonal to each other, the disengagement direction propulsion means and the parallel direction propulsion means have both functions of underwater propulsion means and attitude change means, whereby the attitude change is possible. The direction which cannot be performed can be performed by moving the center of gravity by the weight. In other words, the propulsion means and the attitude changing means can be used in a rational manner so as to be able to move rationally in all three directions and change the attitude around all axes.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a top view of an in-tank inspection apparatus which is one configuration example of a vessel in-tank inspection apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view thereof.

FIG. 3 is a bottom view thereof.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view thereof.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a partial cross-sectional plan view of a variable center of gravity mechanism.

8 is a view as viewed in the direction of the arrow C in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9A is an explanatory diagram of movement driving by a separation / contact direction thruster, and FIG. 9B is an explanatory diagram of posture change.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a state of adsorption to a wall surface.

11A is an explanatory diagram of movement driving by a parallel direction thruster, and FIG. 11B is an explanatory diagram of posture change.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of a posture change by the variable center of gravity mechanism.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing an operation state of the in-tank inspection device.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 In-tank inspection apparatus 3 Tank inner wall surface 10 (10R, 10L) Disengagement direction thruster (separation direction propulsion means, underwater propulsion means, attitude changing means) 20 (20R, 20L) Parallel direction thruster (parallel direction propulsion means, underwater Propulsion means, posture changing means) 30 (30R, 30L) Crawler (moving drive mechanism) 40 Close seal (seal member) 50 Center of gravity variable mechanism (posture changing means) 54 Weight (weight member) 61 Lamp (lighting means) 62 CCD camera (Imaging means) 70 Brush mechanism (Cleaning means)

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Yuichi Miura 3-1-1-15 Toyosu, Koto-ku, Tokyo Ishikawajima Harima Heavy Industries, Ltd. Tojin Technical Center (72) Inventor Toshitaka Ohno Toyosu 3-chome, Koto-ku, Tokyo No. 1-15 Ishikawajima Harima Heavy Industries, Ltd. Toji Technical Center F term (reference) 2G051 AA83 AB01 AB15 AC16 CA04 CB01 DA17 GC04 GC13 3E070 AA09 AB01 CC05 RA07 VA30

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A movement drive mechanism comprising a movement mechanism and a drive means for driving the movement mechanism along a plane contacted by the movement mechanism, an attitude changing means for changing an attitude in water, and the movement drive mechanism. Underwater propulsion means including disengagement direction propulsion means for generating a thrust by forming a water flow in a direction intersecting with the movement target plane, and surrounding the suction / drainage area by the disengagement direction propulsion means on the movement target plane side by the movement drive mechanism. A lighting device, an imaging device, and a wall cleaning device are provided on a device main body configured to include: a sealing member provided in And moved by the underwater propulsion means, and drained from the area surrounded by the seal member by the disengagement direction propulsion means to the opposite tank inner wall surface of the movement drive mechanism. And moving the tank on the inner wall surface of the tank by the moving drive mechanism, cleaning the inner wall surface of the tank by the cleaning unit, and visually inspecting the illuminated portion by the illuminating unit with an image via the imaging unit. An inspection apparatus in a tank of a ship, characterized in that: A pair of propulsion means disposed in a symmetrical position with respect to a center line in the front-rear direction of the apparatus; A pair of parallel propulsion means disposed at symmetrical positions sandwiching the longitudinal center line of the device as a direction parallel to the plane to be moved by the mechanism; and By acting the pairs in the same direction, they function as the underwater propulsion means, and by causing the pairs to act in the opposite directions, they function as the attitude changing means. Wherein the weight member is provided so as to be capable of being displaced and driven in a plane including a center line in the front-rear direction of the apparatus and orthogonal to a plane to be moved by the movement drive mechanism. Claim 1
Inspection device in a tank of a ship according to the item.