JP2023089879A - In-pipe moving body - Google Patents

Abstract

To increase propulsive force by a telescopic actuator that expands and contracts in a front-rear direction with a change in an internal air pressure with a simple structure.SOLUTION: An in-pipe moving body 11 has a structure capable of being self-propelled within a gas pipe P by being pneumatically driven, and includes a propulsion module 14 that operates so as to be capable of generating propulsive force for moving within the gas pipe P. The propulsion module 14 includes a telescopic actuator 17 that is telescopically deformable in a front-rear direction. The telescopic actuator 17 comprises an elastic tube 21 arranged along a front-rear direction and elastically deformable by adjusting an internal air pressure, and a reverse-wound meshing spring 24 that biases the elastic tube 21 in a contraction direction. The reverse-wound meshing spring 24 is arranged to allow deformation of the elastic tube 21 only in the front-rear direction, and is configured to be capable of restricting a rotational motion of the elastic tube 21 during the deformation.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

Applied for application of Article 30, Paragraph 2 of the Patent Act September 8, 1991 to September 11, 1991 The 39th Annual Meeting of the Robotics Society of Japan November 2, 1991 Science and Engineering, Waseda University In Takanishi Atsuo laboratory homepage http://www. takanishi. mech. Waseda. ac. jp/top/research/auto/2021_auto/01-04_WATER_j. html

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an in-tube moving body having a structure capable of moving in an inchworm-like manner inside a tubular body by being pneumatically driven.

In recent years, in Japan, the importance of countermeasures against the aging of social infrastructure has increased, and as well as preventing accidents through early detection and early response to abnormalities, some kind of countermeasures are taken before the stage requiring large-scale repairs. Inspection for preventive maintenance is required. However, most of the lifelines are buried under the road, and it is not realistic to occupy the road and excavate only for the purpose of inspecting the inside of the pipe. In the gas infrastructure, the gas pipes buried underground during the high economic growth period have deteriorated and become aging pipes, and the development of inspection technology is particularly required. For the inspection of gas infrastructure, there is a demand for an inspection device that can detect the state of the inside of a gas pipe without stopping the supply of gas or excavating roads. has already been proposed (see Patent Document 1).

This in-pipe moving body is inserted into the gas pipe from the open part of the outdoor gas pipe, and has a structure capable of self-propelled in the gas pipe like an inchworm by pneumatic drive. and a propulsion module that generates propulsion to move through the gas pipe. This propulsion module is composed of a tube-shaped telescoping actuator provided so as to be able to expand and contract in the front-rear direction according to changes in internal air pressure, and a pair of balloons provided on both front and rear sides of the telescoping actuator. The in-pipe moving body moves in the gas pipe while pulling the air-supply tube because air is supplied to and discharged from the telescopic actuator and the balloon from the pump on the ground side through the air-supply tube.

JP 2019-48488 A

The in-pipe moving body of Patent Document 1 is inserted from the outside to inspect the inside of a main pipe buried in the ground such as under a road. self-propelled in the pipe. Here, there are many bends, branches, and places with steps inside the gas pipe. Tension is small. However, when the intrapipe moving body penetrates deep into the main branch pipe, the tension of the air supply tube increases due to friction with the pipe wall in many curved portions and long straight pipes. Therefore, in the telescopic actuator of Patent Document 1, there is a possibility that the propulsive force for moving the in-tube moving body while pulling the air supply tube may be insufficient.

The present invention has been devised by paying attention to such problems, and its object is to be able to increase the propulsive force of a telescopic actuator that expands and contracts in the front-rear direction by changing the internal air pressure with a simple structure. An object of the present invention is to provide an in-pipe moving body.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a propulsion module that operates so as to generate a propulsive force for moving within a tube, mainly in an in-pipe moving body having a structure capable of self-propelled in a tubular body by pneumatic driving. wherein the propulsion module comprises a telescoping actuator provided to be telescopically deformable in the longitudinal direction, the telescopic actuator being arranged along the longitudinal direction and being elastically deformable by adjusting internal air pressure; a biasing member that biases the elastic tube in the contraction direction, the biasing member being arranged to allow deformation of the elastic tube only in the front-rear direction, and rotation of the elastic tube during the deformation; A configuration is adopted in which movement is configured to be regulated.

In the scope of claims and this specification, unless otherwise specified, the term "front", which is a term indicating a position or direction, means " means "front" and "rear" means "back" in the same direction of travel.

According to the present invention, when the telescopic actuator is contracted, when pulling the air supply tube or the like following the intra-tube moving body, the biasing force of the biasing member provided in the telescopic actuator is utilized. You can get stronger propulsion. Therefore, compared to the in-pipe moving body having the conventional structure of the present inventors, the in-pipe moving body can be moved while pulling the air supply tube in a state where the tension is increased by a simple structure that only provides an urging member. can be performed more smoothly. In addition, the biasing member restricts the radial deformation of the elastic tube due to changes in the air pressure inside the elastic tube, and restricts the rotational movement of the elastic tube when it is elastically deformed. can be improved more efficiently.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a pipe inspection device including an in-pipe moving body according to the present embodiment; FIG. (A) is a schematic diagram of an in-pipe moving body including a schematic cross-sectional view of a propulsion module, (B) is a schematic cross-sectional view of a rear balloon in the direction along line AA in (A), and (C ) is a schematic cross-sectional view of the front balloon in the direction along line BB in (A). (A) is a schematic front view of a pair of tight coil springs with different winding directions before meshing, and (B) is a schematic perspective view of a reverse winding mesh spring after meshing the tight coil springs of (A). It is a diagram. (A) to (F) are conceptual diagrams for explaining each operation phase of the in-pipe moving body.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration diagram of a pipe inspection robot including an in-pipe moving body according to the present embodiment. In this figure, the pipe inspection robot 10 has an in-pipe moving body 11 which is driven by pneumatic pressure and is self-propelled inside the gas pipe P as a tubular body, and is arranged on the ground side outside the gas pipe P. and a power supply unit 12 for supplying and discharging compressed air as a power source to the in-pipe moving body 11 . The pipe inspection robot 10 of this embodiment collects information on the inside of the gas pipe P while the in-pipe moving body 11 self-runs inside the gas pipe P buried underground, and detects the occurrence of an abnormality in the gas pipe P. It is used to monitor the situation from the ground side.

The in-tube moving body 11 has a structure that allows it to move like an inchworm in the gas pipe P while appropriately contacting a part of it with the inner wall of the gas pipe P by adjusting the supply and discharge of air by the power supply unit 12 . ing. The in-pipe moving body 11 includes a propulsion module 14 that operates to generate a propulsive force for moving within the gas pipe P, and a bending module 15 that is connected to the front end side of the propulsion module 14 so as to be bendable.

The propulsion module 14 is composed of a telescopic actuator 17 which is provided so as to be telescopic in the front-rear direction, and a front balloon 18 and a rear balloon 19 which are connected to the front and rear of the telescopic actuator 17, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 2(A), the telescopic actuator 17 is arranged along the front-rear direction, and closes the elastic tube 21 that can be elastically deformed by adjusting the internal air pressure, and the front and rear open portions of the elastic tube 21. A plug 22 that is removably attached, a cover 23 that covers the outer peripheral surface of the elastic tube 21, and an urging member that is formed by meshing coil springs that are wound around the outer peripheral surface of the cover 23 and have different winding directions. A reverse-wound mesh spring 24 is provided.

The elastic tube 21 is made of an elastic material such as rubber, and has a closed space S in which air can be supplied and discharged by the operation of the power supply unit 12 . Therefore, the elastic tube 21 can expand and contract by pressurizing or depressurizing the air in the closed space S at a predetermined timing by the operation of the power supply unit 12 .

The cover 23 is arranged between the outer peripheral surface of the elastic tube 21 and the reverse-wound meshing spring 24, and can be expanded and contracted by deformation of the elastic tube 21 while preventing the elastic tube 21 from being caught in the gap of the reverse-wound meshing spring 24. It is made of material (nylon, etc.). Thereby, interference of the reverse-wound mesh spring 24 when the elastic tube 21 expands and contracts can be prevented.

As shown in FIG. 3, the reverse-wound meshing spring 24 is a pair of right-handed and left-handed contact coil springs 24A and 24B (see FIG. 3A) whose winding directions are opposite to each other. alternately mesh with each other. After meshing, the reverse-wound mesh spring 24 (see FIG. 1B) has a total length slightly longer than the sum of the contact coil springs 24A and 24B in a non-biased state. In a biased state in which the springs 24A and 24B are stretched, they are fixed to the outer peripheral sides of the elastic tube 21 and the cover 23 so as not to move relative to each other.

According to the above configuration, when the elastic tube 21 expands due to the supply of compressed air, the elastic deformation in the radial direction of the elastic tube 21 is restricted by the reverse-wound mesh spring 24 wound around the outer peripheral side of the elastic tube 21, and the elastic deformation in the axial direction is restricted. The elastic actuator 17 as a whole expands in the front-rear direction (axial direction) from a predetermined reference length. When the elastic tube 21 is contracted by discharging the compressed air from the expanded state, the expansion/contraction actuator 17 is contracted and deformed in the axial direction as a whole by the elastic return of the elastic tube 21 and the restoring force of the reverse-wound mesh spring 24 . and returns to the state of the reference length. When the pressure in the closed space S inside the elastic tube 21 is maintained by the power supply unit 12, the length of the expansion/contraction actuator 17 at that time is maintained.

In addition, by using the reverse-wound meshing spring 24 instead of a simple coil spring as the urging member, the rotational movement around the axis of the telescopic actuator 17 during extension and retraction is regulated. That is, if a coil spring with only one winding direction is used, the expansion of the elastic tube 21 inside the coil spring causes an external force to act in the direction of expanding the diameter of the coil spring. As a result, the telescopic actuator 17 rotates, and the in-tube moving body 11 tends to be twisted as a whole, making it impossible to move smoothly. In this respect, by using the reverse-wound mesh spring 24 formed by meshing the tight coil springs 24A and 24B with different winding directions, the rotation of the tight coil springs 24A and 24B when the elastic tube 21 expands is offset. and torsion of the in-pipe moving body 11 during movement is regulated.

The front balloon 18 and the rear balloon 19 are, as shown in FIG. and a casing tube 28 arranged in the center of the inner space of the elastic tube 26 and capable of restricting the bending radius and preventing bending due to external force. These balloons 18 and 19 are pressurized or decompressed in the closed space S inside the elastic tube 26 outside the casing tube 28 at a predetermined timing by the power supply unit 12, so that the elastic tube 26 is It is capable of global expansion and contraction both radially and axially. As will be described later, air is supplied to and discharged from the front balloon 18 and the rear balloon 19 at mutually independent timings.

A connection shaft 29 penetrates from the front portion of the closed space S of the expansion/contraction actuator 17 having the above configuration to the vicinity of the center of the inside of the front balloon 18, and the connection shaft 29 is connected to the bending module 15 in front of the front balloon 18. there is

The propulsion module 14 having the above configuration sequentially repeats the six operation phases of the in-tube moving body 11 shown in FIG. , the in-pipe moving body 11 can be advanced toward the inside of the gas pipe P.

First, in the first phase of FIG. 4(A), the rear balloon 19 on the left side of the figure is pressurized and inflated, and is pressed against the inner wall of the gas pipe P to be locked to the inner wall. It has become. On the other hand, the front balloon 18 on the right side of the figure is depressurized and is in the most contracted state, and is in an unlocked state where it does not contact the inner wall of the gas pipe P. As shown in FIG. Further, the expansion/contraction actuator 17 is depressurized and is in the shortest reference length state.

From this state, in the second phase shown in FIG. 4B, the telescopic actuator 17 having the reference length is pressurized and extended in the axial direction. At this time, the inner pressure of the rear balloon 19 is maintained and the locked state is maintained, while the front balloon 18 is maintained in the unlocked state. to extend.

Next, in the third phase shown in FIG. 4(C), the front balloon 18 is pressurized and changes to the locked state with respect to the inner wall. At this time, the telescopic actuator 17 and the rear balloon 19 are maintained in the same state as in the second phase.

Further, in the fourth phase shown in FIG. 4(D), the rear balloon 19 is decompressed and contracted, and becomes the unlocked state in which the locking to the inner wall is released. At this time, the telescopic actuator 17 and the front balloon 18 are maintained in the same state as in the third phase.

Then, in the fifth phase of FIG. 4(E), the expansion/contraction actuator 17 is decompressed and contracted, and the elasticity and the restoring force of the reverse-wound mesh spring 24 (see FIG. 1, etc.) restore the original reference length. return to At this time, since the front balloon 18 is maintained in the locked state and the rear balloon 19 is maintained in the unlocked state, the telescopic actuator 17 contracts forward.

From this state, in the sixth phase of FIG. 2F, the pressure of the front balloon 18 is again reduced to the unlocked state as indicated by the solid line in the same drawing. While being maintained, it returns to the first phase in which the balloon 19 is pressurized, and the above phases are repeated. Such a sixth phase operation is applied when the in-pipe moving body 11 moves in the horizontally extending gas pipe P (horizontal pipe). On the other hand, the operation of the sixth phase when the in-pipe moving body 11 moves in the gas pipe P (vertical pipe) extending in the vertical direction is performed in order to prevent the in-pipe moving body 11 from falling in the gas pipe due to gravity. It is set differently than when moving in a horizontal tube. That is, when moving in the vertical tube, the front balloon 18 and the rear balloon 19 are pressurized, and the front balloon 18 and the rear balloon 19 are in the locked state as indicated by broken lines in the figure. Then, while the state of the expansion/contraction actuator 17 is maintained, the first phase in which the front balloon 18 is decompressed returns, and the above-described phases are repeated.

If the above-described operation phases are performed in reverse order, the in-pipe moving body 11 moves in the gas pipe P in the opposite direction to that described above, and the in-pipe moving body 11 can be retracted.

The bending module 15 (see FIG. 1) is powered by air supply and exhaust from the power supply unit 12 (see FIG. 1), and has an underactuated mechanism that enables bending in all directions with respect to the propulsion module 14. there is Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2(A), the bending module 15 has a rocket-shaped front end portion 15A with a narrow front end, and three pneumatic pressure units that bend the front end portion 15A with respect to the propulsion module 14. The branching direction is selected by bending the tip portion 15A by driving the pneumatic cylinder 15B. Although not shown, a camera capable of photographing the space inside the gas pipe in front of the in-pipe moving body 11 is arranged at the tip portion 15A, and the image data acquired by the camera is transmitted to the outside. It has become.

As shown in FIG. 1 , the power supply unit 12 includes a pump unit 31 for supplying and discharging air, and a control unit 32 for controlling the supply and discharge of air by the pump unit 31 .

Although the detailed structure of the pump unit 31 is omitted from illustration, the pump unit 31 includes a pump and a control valve that enable air to be supplied to and discharged from the propulsion module 14 and the bending module 15 through an air supply tube 34 connected to the in-tube moving body 11 . etc.

As shown in FIG. 2, the air-supplying tube 34 is provided independently in each closed space S (see FIG. 2) of the expansion/contraction actuator 17, the front balloon 18 and the rear balloon 19, and in each pneumatic cylinder 15B. It is constructed such that air can be supplied and exhausted as a result, and is towed along with the movement of the in-pipe moving body 11 .
In the figure, for the sake of convenience, three air supply tubes 34A (partially omitted) are connected to the respective pneumatic cylinders 15B, and two air supply tubes 34A are connected to the closed space S of the front balloon 18. (partially not shown) is an air supply tube 34B, one connected to the closed space S of the telescopic actuator 17 is an air supply tube 34C, and one connected to the closed space S of the rear balloon 19 is an air supply tube 34D. and
Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2B, inside the rear balloon 19, the air supply tubes 34A to 34C pass through the inner space of the casing tube 28, while the air supply tubes 34A to 34C extend outside the casing tube 28. 34D open ends are placed. 2(C), inside the front balloon 18, the connection shaft 29 and the air supply tube 34A pass through the inner space of the casing tube 28, while the air supply tube 34A is fed to the outside of the casing tube 28. The open end of pneumatic tube 34B is positioned.

The control unit 32 is composed of a computer including an arithmetic processing unit such as a CPU and a storage device such as a memory and a hard disk. The operation of the in-tube moving body 11 is controlled while making adjustments.

According to the above embodiment, since the reverse-wound meshing spring 24 is used for the telescopic actuator 17 that expands and contracts by adjusting the internal air pressure, it is possible to contract more than a coil spring with the same wire diameter, inner diameter, total length, and material. It is possible to exhibit a strong restoring force at times, and to suppress the rotational movement of the expansion/contraction actuator 17 when the spring is deformed in the radial direction.

The urging member applied to the telescopic actuator 17 is arranged so as to permit deformation of the elastic tube 21 only in the front-rear direction, and is configured to be capable of restricting rotational movement when the elastic tube 21 is deformed. If so, it is not limited to the aspect of the embodiment.

In the above-described embodiment, the in-pipe moving body 11 is moved within the gas pipe P for inspection of the inside of the gas pipe P. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and includes other pipes and tunnels. It can also be applied to a system or the like for remotely confirming the condition of the inner space of another tubular body.

In addition, the configuration of each part of the device in the present invention is not limited to the illustrated configuration example, and various modifications are possible as long as substantially the same action is exhibited.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 11 moving body in pipe 14 propulsion module 17 telescopic actuator 21 elastic tube 23 cover 24 reverse-wound mesh spring (biasing member)
24A close contact coil spring 24B close contact coil spring P gas pipe (tubular body)

Claims (4)

In an in-tube moving body having a structure capable of self-propelled in a tube of a tubular body by pneumatic driving,
a propulsion module operable to generate propulsion for movement within the tube;
The propulsion module includes a telescopic actuator provided to be telescopically deformable in the front-rear direction,
The telescopic actuator is arranged along the front-rear direction and includes an elastic tube that can be elastically deformed by adjusting the internal air pressure, and a biasing member that biases the elastic tube in the contraction direction,
The in-tube moving body, wherein the biasing member is arranged so as to allow deformation of the elastic tube only in the front-rear direction, and is configured to be capable of restricting rotational movement of the elastic tube during the deformation. The biasing member is formed by alternately meshing a pair of close coiled springs having opposite winding directions one by one. 2. The in-pipe moving body according to claim 1, wherein the moving body in pipe is fixed to the outer peripheral side so as not to move relative to each other. In an in-tube moving body having a structure capable of self-propelled in a tube of a tubular body by pneumatic driving,
a propulsion module operable to generate propulsion for movement within the tube;
The propulsion module includes a telescopic actuator provided to be telescopically deformable in the front-rear direction,
The telescopic actuator is arranged along the front-rear direction, and includes an elastic tube that can be elastically deformed by adjusting internal air pressure. An in-pipe moving body characterized by comprising biasing members that are alternately meshed with each other. The telescopic actuator further comprises a cover disposed between the outer peripheral surface of the elastic tube and the biasing member to prevent the elastic tube from being caught in the biasing member during deformation. 4. The in-pipe moving body according to claim 2 or 3.

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