JP2871238B2 - Traveling car - 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 vehicle in which various measuring and inspection devices and the like are mounted in a gas pipe, a water pipe, and other pipes, and which travels while being pulled.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a means for inspecting a pipe for damage or the like, it is known to use a traveling vehicle driven by a motor in the pipe.

[0003] This traveling vehicle is equipped with a drive motor, and the vehicle travels by directly transmitting the rotation of the drive motor to the drive wheels while decelerating the rotation with a worm gear (Japanese Patent Application No. 62-1926).
45), and a clutch mechanism is incorporated between the worm gear and the drive wheels to turn power transmission ON and OFF.
Some systems are configured to be able to do so.

[0004]

However, in the above method, the former method of directly transmitting power using the worm gear causes a failure in the electric system, the drive motor or the power transmission mechanism, and it is necessary to collect the traveling vehicle. Occurs,
As can be understood from the characteristics of the worm gear, the drive wheels cannot be rotated in the reverse direction, so that it may take time to recover or may not be recoverable. On the other hand, the latter system incorporating the clutch does not have the above-mentioned problem, but instead, this type of traveling vehicle adopts low speed rotation and large torque, so the clutch mechanism becomes large, and it is not suitable for small diameter pipes. There is a problem that it cannot be applied.

An object of the present invention is to provide an in-pipe traveling vehicle which can be easily recovered even if a drive mechanism breaks down, and which can be reduced in size and can be applied to small-diameter pipes.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention proposes the following tube running vehicle.

[0007] A drive frame is mounted in the traveling vehicle body so as to be vertically movable by remote control, and a driving wheel rotated by a driving motor is mounted on the driving frame, and a pipe wall is formed when the driving wheel is raised to the traveling vehicle side. In-pipe traveling vehicle with a free-rotating auxiliary wheel attached to it.

The means for raising and lowering the drive frame is not particularly limited. However, in order to make the whole compact and lighter, it is practical to use a lifting device which lowers the frame by air pressure and raises it by a spring force.

Next, since the auxiliary wheels are means for facilitating movement in the pipeline when the vehicle body is collected,
Free rotation is a condition. However, as means for facilitating the movement, a sled that is slidable may be used instead of the auxiliary wheel.

[0010]

When the vehicle is traveling in the pipeline, the drive frame is lowered, and the drive wheels are in contact with the pipe wall. On the other hand, when it is impossible to reverse or free-rotate the drive wheels due to a failure of the drive system or the like, the drive frame is raised to retract the drive wheels, and an auxiliary wheel (sledding) is applied to the tube wall instead of the drive wheels. Contact In this state, if the pull-back wire or the power supply cable is pulled, the traveling vehicle can be easily collected from the pipe.

[0011]

1 and 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a traveling vehicle body, 2 denotes a space in which an inverted U-shaped driving device is formed in a longitudinal direction of the body of the vehicle body 1, and 3 denotes a vertically movable space within the space 2. The drive frame 3 is provided with a drive motor 4, a drive shaft 5, a worm gear 6, a worm wheel 7, a drive chain wheel 8, a drive chain 9, and a driven chain wheel 10. It has been incorporated. 11
Are drive wheels driven by the drive motor 4 and are attached to the lower end of the drive frame 3.

Numeral 12 designates a lifting device for the drive frame 3 incorporated between the vehicle body 1 and the drive frame 3. The lifting device 12 comprises a bellows type air cylinder 13 and a spring 14.
When air pressure is applied to the air cylinder 13, the drive frame 3 is lowered (expanded) over the spring 14, and when the air pressure is released, the spring 14 is released.
Are contracted and the drive frame 3 is raised.

Reference numeral 15 denotes an auxiliary wheel attached to a lower portion (bottom portion) of the vehicle body 1, and the drive frame 3 (drive wheel 11) is
Is set apart from the tube wall when it protrudes from the tube wall (two-dot chain line in FIG. 2), and comes into contact with the tube wall when retracted. 16 is a guide wheel attached to the upper part (ceiling) of the vehicle body 1, and 17 is a pipe.

In the above embodiment, when traveling inside the pipe 17, the lifting device 12 is supplied with air pressure from outside the pipe 17. For this reason, the drive frame 3 protrudes below the vehicle body 1 and the drive wheel 11 and the guide wheel 16 abut on the tube wall, so that the drive motor 4 drives the drive wheel 11 to rotate and run on its own. .

On the other hand, when the electric system, the drive transmission mechanism such as the drive motor 4 or the worm gear 6 breaks down and self-propelling becomes difficult, the air pressure in the air cylinder 13 in the elevating device 12 is released. . When the air pressure is released,
The drive frame 3 is raised by the force of the spring 14 (shrinks), the drive wheel 11 is retracted into the vehicle body 1, and the auxiliary wheel 15 abuts on the tube wall instead. When the traveling vehicle is pulled from the entrance side in this state, the traveling vehicle runs backward in the pipe 17 with the auxiliary wheels 15 (or sleds) and can be easily collected.

[0016]

Effect of the Invention a. When the electric system, drive system, etc. of the traveling vehicle breaks down and is collected, the drive wheels can be retracted and run backward with the auxiliary wheels, so that the inspection equipment including the traveling vehicle can be easily and reliably collected. it can.

B. Since a clutch mechanism for freeing the drive wheels is not incorporated, the size of the vehicle body can be reduced as much as possible, so that the effect is large when applied to a traveling vehicle for a small-diameter pipe.

C. When the drive wheels are retracted, the air pressure is released instead of the electric control. Therefore, there is no trouble in the electric system, and the operation can be reliably performed and the operation is simple.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional side view of a traveling vehicle according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA ′.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Body 3 Drive frame 4 Drive motor 11 Drive wheel 12 Lifting device 13 Air cylinder 14 Spring 15 Auxiliary wheel

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] A drive frame is mounted in a traveling vehicle body so as to be vertically movable by remote control, and a driving wheel rotated by a driving motor is attached to the driving frame, and when the driving wheel rises toward the traveling vehicle body. In-pipe traveling vehicle with a free-rotating auxiliary wheel attached to the pipe wall. 2. The tube running vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising a drive frame lifting / lowering device that lowers the drive frame by air pressure and raises the drive frame by utilizing the elasticity of a spring. 3. The in-pipe traveling vehicle according to claim 1, wherein a traveling sled is attached to the traveling vehicle body instead of the auxiliary wheels.