JP3373124B2 - In-pipe inspection equipment - 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 inspection device, and in particular, to inspect an inner surface of an existing water supply pipe by a television camera or the like to provide an old pipe for renewal or maintenance of the pipe. In-pipe inspection device capable of performing

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A waterway constructed by a cast iron pipe is usually buried in the ground. Therefore,
When inspecting the inside of this waterway, excavation work from the ground must be performed and the inside of the pipe must be cut off. For this reason, there is a problem that the cost is high, the nighttime work is mainly performed, and the residents in the area who are going to carry out the inspection are troubled.

For this reason, conventionally, there have been made attempts to inspect the inside of such a waterway without cutting and without cutting water. As a device for this purpose, conventionally, a push rod type television camera and a push type tube endoscopic device have been developed.

Of these, the push rod type television camera is one in which a television camera for observing the inside of the pipe is installed on the tip side of the push rod which can be inserted into the pipe from a branch portion of a pipe such as a fire hydrant or an air valve. is there.

The push-in type tube endoscope is one in which a television camera is similarly connected to the tip of a cable that can be pushed into the tube from the same branch portion in the tube line as described above.

[0006]

However, in the conventional push rod type television camera, since the television camera installed at the tip end side of the push rod is limited to the internal view, the range of the internal view is the insertion portion of the push rod. There is a problem that it is limited to a range of about 2 to 3 meters around the branch portion such as a fire hydrant and an air valve. There is also a problem that there is a limit in the direction of the endoscopy and only the endoscopy can be performed only from the side.

In the conventional push-in-type tube endoscope, since the television camera needs to be pushed into the tube by the cable, the cable must have rigidity enough to withstand the pushing force. In addition, the cable is inevitably wound around. For this reason, there is a limit to the length of pushing into the pipe due to the influence of the rigidity and curling of this cable, and in practice there is a problem that it can only be pushed about 10 to 20 meters along the pipe axial direction. . Also, because the cable pushes the bottom of the tube by pushing it in,
There is also a problem that red rust or the like adhering to the pipe wall is stirred in the water in the pipe, and the red water flows out to the supply destination of the clean water. Further, since only the TV camera is connected to the tip of the cable, there is a problem in that it is not possible to freely look inside the tube where one wishes to observe.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve such a problem so that an arbitrary range over a long distance can be viewed from an arbitrary direction in the pipe without disturbing the inner surface of the pipe. .

[0009]

To achieve this object, the present invention utilizes a propellant capable of propelling water in a pipe and a branch portion in a pipe line to insert the propellant into the pipe and to the outside of the pipe. A propulsion unit having a recoverable insertion / recovery device, a cable inserted into the pipe from the ground through the insertion / recovery device and connected to the propulsion body, and a ground controller connected to the cable on the ground; The body has a camera capable of observing the inside of the pipe, a water flow generation means, and a movable nozzle capable of ejecting the water flow generated by the water flow generation means from the propelling body as a jet water flow, The nozzle is made of a magnetic material, and its direction is controlled by the action of a solenoid provided on the propulsion body, so that the direction of the jet water flow can be changed to control the propulsion direction of the propulsion body. Is configured so that, the ground controller, by controlling the propellant and the camera,
The camera is configured to be able to receive and process video data in the tube.

With such a structure, the propelling body can propel itself in the water in the pipe, so that it is not necessary to apply a pushing force into the pipe to the cable connected to the propelling body. Does not require great rigidity, so the cable can easily be fed over a long distance into the tube. Therefore, the camera provided on the propulsion body can see an arbitrary range over a long distance in the tube. Further, if the propelling direction of the propelling body is adjusted by the movable nozzle, the direction of the propelling body, that is, the camera can be arbitrarily adjusted, and thus the inner surface of the tube can be seen from any direction. The cable is not pushed, but rather pulled by the propellant,
It does not cover the bottom of the tube, which prevents stirring of deposits on the inner surface of the tube. According to the present invention, the propulsion body preferably has a casing configured to be movable along the water flow in the pipe, the camera is built in the casing, and the water flow generating means is preferably provided in the casing. is there. According to the invention, the water flow generating means includes a rotary drive source provided in the casing, an impeller for generating a water flow to the outside of the casing by being driven by the rotary drive source, the rotary drive source and the impeller. And a magnet coupling provided between the rotor and the magnet coupling. The magnet coupling has a casing inner rotor and a casing outer rotor that are rotated together, and the inside and outside of the casing are water-blocked between these rotors. It is preferable that it is configured as described above. Further, according to the present invention, it is preferable that the water flow generating means has an impeller for generating a water flow to the outside of the casing and a stator having a fixed blade structure for canceling a counter torque generated by the rotation of the impeller. . Further, according to the present invention, the water flow generating means is provided with a plurality of suction passages for guiding the water flow to the impeller and a plurality of them along the circumferential direction of the casing in order to communicate the suction passages with the water outside the casing. It is preferable to have a suction port.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a horizontal pipe line buried in the ground, and a large number of cast iron pipes 2 are joined to each other and, for example, tap water is passed therethrough. It is in a state. Manholes 3 are excavated from the ground surface above the pipeline 1 at appropriate intervals. 4 is its lid. A branch pipe 5 that branches upward in a direction perpendicular to the pipe line 1 is guided toward the manhole 3, and a height adjusting short pipe 6 and a sub valve 7 are provided at the upper end of the branch pipe 5. The fire hydrant 8 and an air valve (not shown) are attached. When the inside of the pipe is inspected by the device of the present invention, the auxiliary valve 7 is closed, the fire hydrant and the air valve are removed, and the insertion recovery device 9 is attached to the auxiliary valve 7 as shown in the figure.

A cable drum 10 is provided on the ground and has a cable 11 wound around it. This cable 11
Is unwound from the drum 10 and then inserted into the conduit 1 through the insertion / recovery device 9 arranged in the vertical direction.
An in-pipe underwater diagnostic robot 12 as a propellant is connected to the tip of the cable 11. The robot 12 has a cylindrical casing 13.

The insertion / recovery device 9 includes an emergency shutoff valve 15 attached to the auxiliary valve 7 and a tubular portion connected to the emergency shutoff valve 15.
16, a water stop portion 17 attached to the upper end of the tubular portion 16 on the ground, and a cable gripping / sending portion 18 connected to the water stop portion 17. Further, the insertion / recovery device 9 has a guide tube 19 inside. The guide tube 19 can be sent out downward from the insertion / recovery device 9 through the tube portion 16 and the emergency cutoff valve 15, and the lower portion of the guide tube 19 is sent out to cause the auxiliary valve 7 and the short pipe 6 to be discharged. It is configured so as to be able to project into the inside of the pipeline 1 through the branch pipe 5 and the branch pipe 5. cable
The reference numeral 11 denotes an opening 20 formed so as to pass through the inside of the guide cylinder 19 and face the direction of the pipeline 1 at the lower part of the guide cylinder 19.
From the inside to the inside of the pipeline 1.

The cable 11 is electrically connected to a lead-out line 21 from the cable drum 10, and the lead-out line 21 is led to a ground controller 22. The ground controller 22 includes a manual operation unit 23 and a monitor receiver 24.
And are electrically connected.

FIG. 2 shows a sectional structure of the robot 12. The casing 13 of the robot 12 is formed to have a size capable of passing through the guide tube 19 and the opening 20 of the guide tube 19, and
It is configured with a water pressure resistant structure that can withstand the pressure of water in the pipeline 1. An opening 26 is formed at the tip of the casing 13, and the opening 26 is closed by a glass window 27. This glass window
A cylindrical space 28 is formed inside 27, and this space
At the center of 28, a television camera 29 capable of photographing the outer area through the glass window 27 is provided. TV camera
Around the periphery of 29, a plurality of halogen lamps 30 for illuminating the area to be photographed by the television camera 29 are provided along the circumferential direction. 31 is a substrate, and this substrate 31
An electronic circuit for the television camera 29 and the halogen lamp 30 is mounted on the. By these, the robot 12
A camera unit 32 is formed in the first half of the.

In the latter half of the robot 12, a propulsion force generator is provided.
34 are provided. That is, a motor 35 is provided inside the casing 13, and a magnet coupling 36 is connected to the motor 35. The magnet coupling 36 has an in-casing rotor 37 that is directly rotated by the motor 36 and an outer casing rotor 38 that is rotated by the in-casing rotor 37 by the action of magnetic force. Casing between
The inside and outside of 13 are completely blocked.

A shaft 39 is connected to the outer rotor 38 of the casing, and an impeller 40 is provided at the tip of the shaft 39. A suction passage 41 is formed around the shaft 39, and the casing 13 is provided with a plurality of suction ports 42 in the circumferential direction communicating with the suction passage 41. Impeller 40
A discharge channel 43 is formed in the rear of the
A stator 49 having a fixed blade structure for canceling a counter torque generated by the rotation of the impeller 40 is provided on the 43. A movable nozzle 44 as a discharge port is provided at the tip of the discharge channel 43.
Is provided.

Therefore, the rotation of the impeller 40 sucks the water 45 from the suction port 42, and the water 45 is jetted from the movable nozzle 44 as a jet flow 46, so that a forward propulsive force is applied to the robot 12. become. Movable nozzle 44
Is made of a magnetic material, the direction of which is controlled by the action of the solenoid 47 provided in the casing 13, thereby changing the direction of the jet jet flow 46, and the robot
It is configured to control 12 propulsion directions.

The robot 12 includes a camera section 32 and a thrust generating section 34.
It is configured to have a space 48 around the motor 35 and the inner rotor 37, and is in a neutral buoyancy state in which the overall specific gravity is substantially 1.

As shown in FIG. 2, the cable 11 is a robot.
Although it is connected to the rear end of 12, the cable 11
The cross-sectional structure of is shown. As shown in the figure, the cable 11 has a structure in which a buoyant body 51 having a specific gravity of less than 1 covers the periphery of the main body 50, and the periphery of the buoyant body 51 is further covered with a sheath 52. Main unit 50 has a positive power line
53, a minus power supply line 54, a plus video signal line 55, a minus video signal line 56, a control signal line 57, and a tensile strength string 58.
And are provided. This tensile strength string 58 is used by the robot 12
Is provided to receive the tension acting on the cable 11 when it is pulled back to the side of the insertion / recovery device 9, and is composed of a tensile strength body such as Kevlar fiber. The cable 11 also has the buoyancy body 51, and is configured to be in a neutral buoyancy state in which the overall specific gravity is substantially 1 like the robot 12.

With such a structure, when inspecting the inside of the pipe, the sub valve 7 of the corresponding manhole 3 is closed, and the fire hydrant attached to the sub valve 7 is removed,
Instead, the insertion / recovery device 9 is attached. The guide cylinder 19 is inserted into the insertion / recovery device 9 in advance, and the robot 12 is inserted inside the guide cylinder 19. A cable 11 extended from the drum 10 is connected to the robot 12.

When the auxiliary valve 7 is opened in this state, the inside of the insertion / recovery device 9 is communicated with the inside of the pipe line 1, and the pressurized water in the pipe line 1 is introduced into the inside of the insertion / recovery device 9. It Therefore, while maintaining the water-stopped state by the water-stop portion 17, the lower portion of the guide tube 19 is lowered toward the inside of the conduit 1 by operating the cable gripping / delivering portion 18 or the like, as shown in FIG. At this time, the robot 12 is lowered together with being accommodated inside the opening 20 of the guide cylinder 19 as shown in the figure.

When the guide cylinder 19 is lowered to a predetermined position as shown in FIG. 5, the operation unit 23 and the controller 22 on the ground are provided.
By rotating the impeller 40 of the robot 12 by a remote control from the
Generates propulsive force in the axial direction of the pipe. In this case, the pipeline 1
If the robot 12 is propelled in the direction of the water flow 60 inside, smooth propulsion becomes possible. It is also possible to move the robot 12 only by the action of the water flow 60. Further, the cable 11 is fed out into the conduit 1 by the cable gripping / sending unit 18 in response to the propulsion of the robot 12.

At this time, the cable 11 need only be extended into the conduit 1 following the propulsion of the robot 12, and there is no need to push out the robot 12 by the cable 11, so the cable 11 is flexible. But it doesn't matter. Further, since the robot 12 and the cable 11 are both in a neutral buoyancy state, they do not sink or float in water. Therefore, the robot 12 can be propelled without the cable 11 rubbing the pipe wall, and thus it is possible to prevent the adhered matter on the inner surface of the pipe from being stirred. The tension acting on the cable 11 due to the propulsion of the robot 12 is received by the tensile strength cord body 58, so that the tension is prevented from adversely affecting the conducting wire and the like.

At the place where the inspection is performed, the camera section 32 of the robot 12 is controlled by controlling the direction of the movable nozzle 44.
Aim at the part to be inspected on the inner wall of the. Then, the target portion is illuminated by the halogen lamp 30, and the condition of the target portion is photographed by the television camera 29. By controlling the direction of the movable nozzle 44, it is possible to freely observe the part of the tube to be observed. Image signal is cable 11
To the ground controller 22 and monitored by the receiver 24. At this time, for example, if a rotary encoder or the like is installed in the cable gripping / sending unit 18, the position of the inspection target portion along the tube axis direction can be detected.

On the ground, the inside of the conduit 1 is inspected by visually observing the image of the receiver 24. Also,
By performing image processing from the obtained data, concrete numerical analysis processing such as effective water flow cross-sectional area is performed. Further, a database is constructed based on the image data and the numerical data, and the pipeline state is determined and the pipeline is updated using the database. If an ultrasonic sensor or the like is installed in the robot 12 and the inner circumference of the pipe is measured, the effective water passage area can be derived.

Therefore, the inside of the water supply pipe 1 can be inspected over a long distance in the state of non-open cutting and uninterrupted water, and this inspection can be performed at low cost and in a short time. Specifically, for example, the presence / absence of rust bumps, their shape,
It is possible to determine the effective water flow cross-sectional area by inspecting the size, etc., and it is possible to inspect the presence / absence of the deposit, its content, the amount, etc., and inspect the corrosion state of the inner surface of the pipeline 1 and the lining coating state. It is possible to inspect whether there is a source of turbid water of red water, to inspect the amount of withdrawal of the joint between the pipes 2, that is, the interval with the body, to inspect the location of water leakage, Can be tested for linearity.
If the robot 12 is equipped with an appropriate sensor, it is possible to conduct a hydraulic / water quality inspection such as the flow rate of water in the pipe line 1, the residual chlorine concentration, and the water temperature. The controller 22 can display such an inspection result on the receiver 24 and save the data.

When the inspection is completed, the robot 12 is recovered. At this time, the robot 12 is pulled by pulling the cable 11 at the cable gripping / sending unit 18.
Is drawn toward the insertion / recovery device 9. At this time, the tensile strength string 58 in the cable 11 receives the tension for pulling, so that the tension is prevented from adversely affecting the conducting wire and the like in the cable 11. Even during this recovery,
Since the robot 12 and the cable 11 are both in a neutral buoyancy state, it is possible to prevent the pipe wall from being rubbed in the same manner.

By this pulling, the robot 12 is opened.
Since it enters the inside of the guide cylinder 19 through 20 and thereafter, the guide cylinder 19 is pulled up to the outside of the conduit 1 to collect the robot 12 on the ground. The robot 12 has a cylindrical casing 13
Since each part is housed inside and there are no protrusions,
It is possible to easily take in and out the guide tube 19 without getting caught in each part.

[0030]

As described above, according to the present invention, the camera is installed on the propulsion unit capable of propelling the water in the pipe, and the cable from the ground is connected to the propulsion unit. Being propulsive, the cable connected to this propulsion body does not need to be subjected to a pushing force into the pipe, which means that the cable does not need to be very stiff and therefore it can be easily guided over long distances in the pipe. The camera provided on the propulsion body can see an arbitrary range over a long distance in the tube. Further, by adjusting the propulsion direction of the propulsion body by the movable nozzle, the direction of the propulsion body, that is, the camera can be arbitrarily adjusted, and thus the inner surface of the tube can be viewed from any direction. Since the cable is not applied with a pushing force, but rather is pulled by the propelling body, it does not hit the bottom of the tube, and it is possible to reliably prevent the deposit on the inner surface of the tube from being agitated by this cable.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the overall configuration of an in-pipe inspection device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a cross-sectional structure of the robot shown in FIG.

3 is a diagram showing a cross-sectional structure of the cable in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining an operating state of the insertion / recovery device in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an operation state of the insertion / recovery device different from that in FIG. 4;

[Explanation of symbols]

1 pipeline 9 Insertion recovery device 11 cable 12 robots 22 Ground controller 29 TV camera

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Kunikazu Takeuchi 1-1-1, Hama, Amagasaki-shi, Hyogo Prefecture Kubota Institute of Technology Development (72) Inventor Akio Kamada 1-1-1 Hama, Amagasaki-shi Shares (56) Reference JP 62-37598 (JP, A) JP 5-288686 (JP, A) JP 5-346027 (JP, A) JP 6- 94885 (JP, A) JP 7-69284 (JP, A) JP 6-185497 (JP, A) JP 8-214475 (JP, A) JP 4-372494 (JP, A) Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. 4-203010 (JP, A) Actually open 6-78197 (JP, U) Actually open 63-133256 (JP, U) Actually open 3-1897 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G01N 21/84-21/958 B63C 11/00-11/52 B63H 11/0 0-11/16

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. A propellant capable of propelling water in a pipe, an insertion / recovery device capable of inserting the propellant into and out of the pipe by utilizing a branch portion in a conduit, and the insertion / recovery device from the ground. A cable that is inserted into the pipe through the pipe and is connected to the propulsion body, and a ground controller that is connected to the cable on the ground, the propulsion body is a camera that can observe the inside of the pipe, and a water flow generation. Means and a movable nozzle capable of ejecting the water flow generated by the water flow generation means as a jet water flow from the propelling body, wherein the movable nozzle is made of a magnetic material, and the propelling body is formed. The direction of the jet water flow is changed by controlling the direction of the solenoid provided in the structure, so that the propulsion direction of the propulsion body can be controlled. An in-pipe inspection apparatus characterized in that it is configured to receive and process video data in the pipe by the camera by controlling the propelling body and the camera. 2. The propulsion body has a casing configured to be movable according to the water flow in the pipe, the camera is built in the casing, and the water flow generating means is provided in the casing. The in-pipe inspection device according to claim 1. 3. The water flow generating means comprises a rotary drive source provided in the casing, and an impeller for generating a water flow to the outside of the casing by being driven by the rotary drive source.
A magnet coupling provided between the rotary drive source and an impeller, the magnet coupling having a casing inner rotor and a casing outer rotor that are rotated together, and between the rotors. The in-pipe inspection device according to claim 2, wherein the inside and outside of the casing are configured to be water-blocked. 4. The water flow generating means has an impeller for generating a water flow to the outside of the casing, and a stator having a fixed blade structure for canceling the anti-torque generated by the rotation of the impeller. Item 2. The in-pipe inspection device according to item 2. 5. A plurality of water flow generating means are provided along the circumferential direction of the casing in order to communicate the suction flow path for guiding the water flow to the impeller and the water outside the casing with the suction flow path. The in-pipe inspection device according to claim 3 or 4, further comprising a suction port.