JP2762402B2 - Traveling device in pipeline - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an in-pipe traveling apparatus using a high-pressure fluid as a driving force.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a pipeline inspection robot which travels in a pipeline in the front-rear direction and inspects the pipeline, there is, for example, a robot using a traveling device in a pipeline using a high-pressure fluid as a driving force. . FIG. 4 schematically shows a typical example of this type of device. The in-line traveling device includes a pair of locking portions 10.
a, 10b are connected by telescopic drive means such as a cylinder,
The locking portions 10a and 10b are alternately locked to the pipe wall, and are repeatedly moved in and out of the pipe by performing a so-called measuring operation of moving forward and backward by expanding and contracting repeatedly. This device includes a pair of locking portions 10a and 10b which repeatedly press and separate an elastic bag body 12 that expands and contracts by supply and discharge of a fluid (for example, compressed air) with respect to a tube wall H, and an elastic bag body 1.
2 expands and contracts with the one locking portion 10a side fixed to the tube wall H as a starting point, and the elastic bag body 12 contracts to move the other locking portion 10b side movable with respect to the tube wall H. A telescopic drive unit 20 for moving in the pipeline direction D, and the locking units 10a, 1
And a control valve unit 30 for supplying / discharging the fluid to / from the elastic bag body 12b, and a telescopic drive unit in which front and rear locking units 10a and 10b are disposed therebetween. In addition to supporting the control valve portion 20, the rear locking portion 10b supports the control valve portion 30 disposed at the rearmost portion. A supply cable 31 such as a fluid is connected to the control valve section 30.

As shown in FIG. 4, the locking portions 10a and 10b are supported by a U-shaped frame 11 whose lower portion is slidably supported by the tube wall H and an upper portion in the frame 11. The locking portions 10a, 1
0b, the respective elastic bag bodies 12 are expanded by the supply of the fluid, and the lower side of the tube wall H is pressed by the frame body 11 and the upper side thereof is pressed by the elastic bag body 12, so that the tube wall H
And the fluid is discharged from the elastic bag body 12, and the elastic bag body 12 is contracted by the elastic force and separated from the tube wall H.
Can be moved in the pipeline direction (the direction of arrow D) as a support portion.

The control valve section 30 is constituted by a mechanically or electrically operated valve mechanism for controlling the fluid supplied through the supply cable 31, and as shown in FIG. The elastic bag 1 of the locking portions 10a, 10b is connected via a communication pipe 32 provided between the locking portions 10a, 10b.
The supply of the fluid to 2 and the discharge of the fluid from the elastic bag 12 are alternately and repeatedly performed at the pair of locking portions 10a and 10b. The specific operation of the control valve unit 30 will be described with reference to FIG. 5. If the elastic bag body 12 of the locking unit 10a is inflated, for example,
As shown in (A), the fluid from the supply cable 31 is transferred to the elastic bag 12 of the locking portion 10a through the communication pipe 32.
In addition, when the elastic bag body 12 of the locking portion 10a is contracted, the supply of the fluid from the supply cable 31 to the communication pipe 32 is stopped as shown in FIG. The fluid in the elastic bag 12 of the locking portion 10a is discharged to the outside via the communication pipe 32.

The telescopic drive unit 20 is constituted by a telescopic body or a cylinder and a piston which can move in the direction of the pipeline (the direction of arrow D in FIG. 6). The one end side provided in the road direction D is extended and retracted with respect to the other end side.

Next, the operation of the in-pipe traveling device will be described with reference to FIG. 6. As shown in FIG. 6 (A), the front locking portion 10a is controlled via the control valve portion 30. The fluid is discharged from the elastic bag body 12 to contract the elastic bag body 12 and, via the control valve part 30, the rear locking part 10b
The elastic bag 12 is supplied with a fluid, the elastic bag 12 is inflated, and the rear locking portion 10b is pressed and fixed to the tube wall H. Next, as shown in FIG. 6B, the telescopic drive unit 20 is stretched in the pipeline direction D, and the rear locking unit 10b is extended.
, The front locking portion 10a is moved in the forward direction of the pipeline.

Thereafter, a fluid is supplied to the elastic bag body 12 of the front locking section 10a via the control valve section 30, and the elastic bag body 12 is inflated so that the locking section 10a is connected to the tube wall H. Pressed and fixed, and the rear locking portion 10 via the control valve portion 30
The fluid is discharged from the elastic bag body 12b, and the elastic bag body 12 is contracted and separated from the tube wall H. Next, as shown in FIG. 6C, the telescopic drive unit 20 is contracted in the pipe direction D, and the front locking unit 10a is used as a starting point.
If the rear locking portion 10b, the control valve portion 30, and the like are moved forward, this in-pipe traveling device has moved forward by a predetermined amount.

[0008]

However, in the above-described in-pipe traveling apparatus, the control valve section 30 moves the locking section 10a,
10b, particularly the distance to the front locking portion 10a is large, so that the connecting pipe 32 becomes longer.
However, there is a problem that the flow resistance of the fluid passing through No. 2 increases. For this reason, it takes time for the expansion and contraction of the elastic bags 12 of the locking portions 10a and 10b, and there is a disadvantage that the traveling speed of the in-line traveling device cannot be increased.

Although it is conceivable to reduce the flow resistance of the fluid by increasing the diameter of the connecting pipe 32 or the like, the size of the in-pipe traveling device that moves in a narrow pipe is limited by itself. Therefore, the diameter of the communication pipe 32 or the like cannot be increased.

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-pipe traveling apparatus using a measuring traveling method that can increase the traveling speed even when a fluid is used. Things.

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to achieve the above object, and an elastic bag which expands and contracts by supplying and discharging a fluid is pressed and separated from a pipe wall. And a pair of locking portions that are repeated, and attached so as to connect the two locking portions, the elastic bag body expands and expands and contracts with one of the locking portions fixed to the tube wall as a starting point, and the elastic bag body is A telescopic drive unit that contracts and moves the other locking part side that is movable with respect to the pipe wall in the pipe direction; and supplies and discharges fluid to and from the elastic bag body of the locking part. Control valve attached to the locking portion, and the control valve and the elastic expansion
A communication pipe which communicates with a body and serves as a flow path of the fluid, in a pipeline traveling device movable in the pipeline, at least near the locking portion far from the control valve portion. , That
Flow from the elastic bag at the locking portion through the connecting pipe.
As the moving body is discharged, the elastic bag is opened around its periphery.
And communicates with the discharge space is characterized in that a rapid discharge valve for rapidly discharging the fluid.

[0012]

When a fluid is supplied from the control valve to the elastic bag of the locking portion, the elastic bag expands, the locking portion is fixed to the pipe wall, and the elastic bag of the locking portion is moved from the valve to the valve portion. When the fluid is discharged to the side, the elastic bag contracts, and the locking portion can move freely away from the tube wall. Therefore, the in-pipe traveling device is capable of measuring and traveling by expanding and contracting the elastic bags of the pair of locking portions by the expansion and contraction of the telescopic driving portion sandwiched between the locking portions. On the other hand, a pair of the conduit traveling device across the telescopic drive unit because it has a control valve unit to one side of the engaging portion, of the fluid to the far engaging portion from the control valve unit Supply and discharge paths are longer . However, control
When contracting the locking part far from the valve,
The fluid is discharged via the
Is opened and the elastic bag at the locking part is opened around
The fluid is discharged by communicating with the space. Therefore,
Fluid discharge from the stop is via a long connecting pipe.
The elastic bag shrinks rapidly,
Since it is separated from the wall, it is possible to run the scale.

[0013]

1 and 2 show an embodiment of the present invention.
This will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 shows a pipeline inspection robot in which a pipeline inspection device is assembled to the in-line travel device of the present invention. The in-pipe traveling device 2 includes a pair of locking portions 10a, 10
b, a telescopic drive portion 20 supported between the locking portions 10a and 10b, a rearmost control valve portion 30 supported on one side of the rear locking portion 10b, and the like. Since its basic configuration is the same as that of the in-pipe traveling device described in the section of the related art, the same portions are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof will be omitted.

The telescopic drive unit 20 is of a type in which a piston advances and retracts in a cylinder 21 and one end of a piston rod 22 protruding from the cylinder 21 is connected to a front locking unit 10a. The rear end of the cylinder 21 is connected to the rear locking portion 10b. A communication pipe 32 between the front locking portion 10 a and the control valve portion 30 is wound in a coil shape around the piston rod 22 of the telescopic drive unit 20 to cope with the relative movement between the piston rod 22 and the cylinder 21. It is stretchable as possible. The pipeline inspection device 1 is supported by the frame 11 of the front locking portion 10a.

Now, the in-pipe traveling apparatus 2 according to the present invention.
Is characterized in the operation of supplying and discharging the fluid to and from the front locking portion 10a. Therefore, the structure of the front locking portion 10a including the control valve portion 30 and the communication pipe 32 will be described below with reference to FIG. This will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

Each of the locking portions 10a and 10b has a U-shaped frame 11, an elastic bag 12, and the like. The elastic bag 12 has a base portion provided with a passage 13a for blowing or discharging a fluid therein. Mounted around 13,
A support pipe 14 provided with a fluid passage 14a is attached to one side of the base 13 so as to communicate with a passage 13a in the base 13. One end of the support tube 14 is loosely inserted into the hole 15 provided in the side plate 11b of the front portion 11a of the frame 11 and extends into the front portion 11a of the frame 11, and the end portion of the support tube 14 A discharge valve 40 is attached.
A return spring 16 is provided at one end of the support tube 14.
The return spring 16 is attached so that the support pipe 14 is always drawn toward the pipe center.
a. The elastic bag 12 of the elastic bag 10b is in the middle of inflation.
2 when the lower side surface abuts on the lower portion of the locking portion 10a,
The expansion force pushes up the support tube 14 against the elastic force of the return spring 16 to increase the contact pressure between the upper surface of the elastic bag body 12 and the tube wall H. At the time of contraction, the lower surface of the elastic bag body 12 is separated from the lower part of the engaging portion 10a with which the contact is made, so that the return spring 16 pulls the support pipe 14 which is allowed to descend in the pipe center direction, The upper side surface of the elastic bag body 12 acts to separate from the tube wall H at an early stage. Although not shown, the other side of the base 13 is provided with a return spring similarly on the side plate of the rear portion 11c of the frame 11.

The quick discharge valve 40 has a supply / discharge hole 41 formed toward the support pipe 14 side, and a discharge hole 42 formed upward and different from the supply / discharge hole 41 by 90 degrees. The supply hole 43 is formed, and the end of the discharge hole 42 is formed in the front portion 11 a of the frame 11 .
That is, it is open to an open space around the elastic bag body 12, and a communication pipe 32 is connected to an end of the supply hole 43. The quick discharge valve 40 is provided with the supply / discharge hole 4
1. At a portion where the discharge hole 42 and the supply hole 43 meet, a valve body 45 that can move up and down is provided between a lower end of the inner pipe 44 forming the discharge hole 42 and an upper end of the supply hole 43. Have
One of the discharge hole 42 and the supply hole 43 can be closed by the valve body 45.

The operation of the front locking portion 10a will be described below in relation to the quick discharge valve 40. First, the front locking portion 10
a of the elastic bag body 12a, and the front locking portion 10a
Is fixed to the tube wall H by pressing. When the fluid is supplied into the communication pipe 32 through the control valve section 30 and the fluid is introduced into the supply hole 43 of the quick discharge valve 40, the fluid passes through the valve body 45 of the quick discharge valve 40 to the inner pipe 44. At the lower end side, closes the discharge hole 42, and
1 to the fluid passage 14a of the support tube 14. Then, the elastic bag 1 passes through the passage 13 a of the base 13.
The fluid which has moved into the interior 2 inflates the elastic bag 12 against its elastic force and fixes the front locking portion 10a to the tube wall H. 10
After abutment on the lower portion of a, the support tube 14 is pushed up against the elastic force of the return spring 16 as the inflation proceeds, and moves toward the tube wall H on the upper surface of the elastic bag body 12. Is increased, and the locking portion 10a is more firmly fixed.

Next, the elastic bag 12 of the front locking portion 10a
Is contracted to release the locking of the locking portion 10a against the tube wall H. If the supply of the fluid to the communication pipe 32 is stopped via the control valve unit 30 and the fluid in the communication pipe 32 is discharged outward, the valve closing the discharge hole 42 of the quick discharge valve 40 is closed. The body 45 drops to a position that closes the supply hole 43 when the supply of the fluid is shut off, and opens the valve. For this reason, the fluid in the elastic bag 12 is moved by the elastic shrinkage action of the elastic bag 12 to the base 1.
3. The supply / discharge hole 41 of the quick discharge valve 40 through the support pipe 14
Then, the valve body 45 is discharged to the front part 11 a of the frame 11 while pressing the valve body 45 toward the upper end of the supply hole 43.
Therefore, since the elastic bag body 12 contracts and separates from the tube wall H, the movement of the front locking portion 10a with respect to the tube wall H is free. At this time, the force pushing up the support tube 14 is removed along with the contraction of the elastic bag body 12, and the support tube 14 is pulled back toward the center of the pipe by the elastic force of the return spring 16. The body 12 will move away from the tube wall H sooner.

As is clear from the above description, the quick discharge valve 40 is provided at the front locking portion 10a where the communication pipe 32 to the control valve portion 30 is long, and the fluid from the front locking portion 10a is provided. Is discharged directly to the outside through the rapid discharge valve 40, the discharge speed of the fluid from the front locking portion 10a is increased, and the front locking portion 10a is short. It is possible to move freely with respect to the tube wall H in time. Accordingly, the traveling speed of the in-pipe traveling device 2 including the front locking portion 10a is correspondingly increased.

In the above description, the front locking portion 10a
Although the quick discharge valve 40 is provided only in the case, a similar quick discharge valve 40 may be provided in the short rear locking portion 10 b of the communication pipe 32. The quick discharge valve 40 is connected to the elastic bag 12
Although the supply hole 43 on the side of the communication pipe 32 is closed when the fluid is discharged from the container, it goes without saying that there is no change in the effect of the present invention even if the supply hole 43 is not closed. Therefore,
In place of the mechanically operated quick discharge valve 40, a valve or the like that is simply electrically opened and closed may be attached to the support tube 14.

[0022]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, a quick discharge valve is provided at least at the locking portion far from the control valve portion , and the quick discharge valve is connected to the communication pipe.
Operates with the discharge of the fluid and the elasticity at the locking part
The bag is communicated with the surrounding open space to discharge the fluid.
So that fluid from the locking part
Eliminates the need to discharge via long connecting pipes
Therefore it becomes possible to freely move is made quickly for the tube wall of the discharge That engagement portion of the fluid from the engaging portion, the running speed of the conduit running device according Shakuto running method using the fluid Can be faster . Also, the control device and the
Control valve or pump for rapid discharge
No drive mechanism such as
And can be used in narrow pipelines and workspaces.
A traveling device suitable for a narrow pipe can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an embodiment of an in-pipe traveling apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a detailed configuration of a locking portion.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an operation of a locking portion.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing a general configuration of the in-pipe traveling device.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating supply and discharge of a fluid to and from a locking portion in a conventional in-pipe traveling device.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a traveling principle of the in-pipe traveling device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10a Front locking part 10b Rear locking part 12 Elastic bag 20 Telescopic drive part 30 Control valve part 40 Quick discharge valve H Pipe wall

Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Shigeyoshi Yoshida 1-3-1 Uchisaiwaicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Tokyo Electric Power Company (72) Inventor Katsuhiko Ito 1-5-1 Kiba, Koto-ku, Tokyo Fujikura Electric Wire Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Nobuo Kobayashi 1-5-1, Kiba, Koto-ku, Tokyo Inside Fujikura Electric Wire Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Hidetoshi Katahira 1-5-1, Kiba, Koto-ku, Tokyo Fujikura Electric Wire Co., Ltd. (56) Reference Reference JP-A-2-256558 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B61B 13/10

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] An elastic bag that expands and contracts by supply and discharge of a fluid is attached to a pair of locking portions that repeatedly presses and separates from a tube wall and connects the locking portions. The elastic bag body expands and contracts with the one locking portion fixed to the tube wall as a starting point, and the elastic bag body contracts and the other locking portion side movable with respect to the tube wall is directed in the pipeline direction. And a control valve attached to one of the locking portions for supplying and discharging the fluid to and from the elastic bag of the locking portion.
Section, the control valve section and the elastic expansion body in communication with the elastic expansion body
A communication pipe provided with a communication pipe serving as a flow path of a fluid , wherein the in-pipe traveling device is movable in the pipe, and at least near the locking section far from the control valve section;
Discharging the fluid from the bladder via the connecting conduit
With this, the elastic bag is communicated with the surrounding open space.
Conduit running device, characterized in that a rapid discharge valve for rapidly discharging the fluid.