JP6386802B2 - Submarine ground excavator and submarine ground excavation system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a submarine ground excavation apparatus and a submarine ground excavation system that excavate a submarine ground using a excavation mechanism while moving on the submarine ground, and more particularly, to reduce the weight of the submarine ground excavation system. The present invention relates to a submarine ground excavation apparatus that can move efficiently without excessively roughening the surface, and a submarine ground excavation system using the same.

  An area where rare earth and rare metals are distributed has been confirmed on the seabed at a depth of about 6000 m. The area where rare earths and the like are distributed is wide, and mud soil with a high content of rare earths and the like is expected to be thin and layered. This layer of mud with a high content of rare earth or the like is in a state covered with topsoil that hardly contains rare earth or the like. In order to use mineral resources such as rare earth contained in the mud, it has been studied to remove or collect the top soil with a submerged ground excavator and collect the mud.

  A backhoe equipped with a traveling mechanism having a crawler, an excavating mechanism composed of a shovel, and a posture control mechanism has been proposed as a submarine ground excavating apparatus that performs excavation work at the bottom of the sea (see, for example, Patent Document 1). The backhoe described in Patent Document 1 can perform excavation work without being affected by the inclination of the water bottom by the attitude control mechanism.

  However, when working on the bottom ground, this backhoe may disturb the bottom ground and make it impossible to run. If sufficient reaction force cannot be obtained from the bottom sediment, the backhoe sinks into the bottom ground when it receives thrust from crawler rotation or reaction force during excavation.

JP 2012-062684 A

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to use a submarine ground excavation apparatus that can move efficiently without excessively roughing the ground surface even if it is a soft submarine ground. It is to provide an underwater ground excavation system.

  In order to achieve the above object, an underwater ground excavation apparatus according to the present invention comprises an airframe comprising an excavation mechanism for excavating the underwater ground and a traveling mechanism having a crawler on which the excavation mechanism is mounted and traveling on the underwater ground. In the submarine ground excavation apparatus provided, the airframe is provided with a traveling auxiliary body having a spud that expands and contracts in the vertical direction and a slide mechanism that slides the spud in a horizontal direction, and the tip of the spud is used as a submarine ground. The spud is slid in the horizontal direction with respect to the airframe by the slide mechanism in the embedded state, and the airframe is moved in a direction opposite to the sliding direction.

  A submarine ground excavation system according to the present invention includes a plurality of the above-mentioned submarine ground excavation devices, a pressure hose connected at one end to the excavation mechanism, a pressure pump for a base connected to the other end of the pressure hose, and the base It is characterized by comprising a base on which a pressure pump is installed, and a muddy line that conveys the object to be conveyed sent from the base pressure pump via another pressure hose to the surface of the water.

  According to the present invention, since the traveling mechanism has the crawler, the submarine ground excavator can travel on the submarine ground flexibly. Further, when the spud is embedded in the water bottom ground, the spud generates a sufficient reaction force against the water bottom ground as compared with the crawler on the water bottom ground, so that the body posture can be maintained. In this state, the airframe can be moved by sliding the spud by the slide mechanism. That is, in the case of soft underwater ground, the body can be moved by the traveling auxiliary body, so that the ground surface is not destroyed and excessively roughened. Therefore, the surroundings of the aircraft are not polluted by floating mud and the movement of the aircraft is not hindered. In this way, the aircraft can be moved efficiently according to the properties of the water bottom ground.

  It is also possible to have a configuration in which protrusions are formed in a spiral shape on the outer peripheral surface of at least the tip of the spud and the spud is rotated about the spud axis. According to this structure, the front-end | tip part of a spud can be more reliably embed | buried underwater bottom ground. Furthermore, when pulling out the spud from the water bottom ground, the crawler does not generate a reaction force accompanying the pulling out, so that the disturbance of the water bottom ground can be reduced.

  The main body is installed on the upper part of the traveling mechanism, the attitude control mechanism that is installed between the upper turning and the traveling mechanism to maintain the main body in a horizontal state, and the distance to the water bottom ground that is installed on the main body It is also possible to adopt a configuration provided with a distance sensor for measuring.

  According to this configuration, it is possible to accurately measure the distance to the horizontal ground while maintaining the horizontal state of the main body, so that the bottom ground excavation while distinguishing between the bottom ground excavated by the excavation mechanism and the bottom ground that has not yet been excavated. The device can perform excavation work. When excavating mud containing rare earth or rare metal in a flat and layered manner, it is possible to efficiently perform a wide range of excavation work by aligning the height of the water bottom ground during excavation.

  In the submarine ground excavation system of the present invention, each of the plurality of submarine ground excavation devices can perform excavation work in a wide range around the base, which is advantageous for efficient excavation of the submarine ground.

  This submarine ground excavation system includes a relay vehicle disposed between a base and a pumping line, and the relay vehicle winds and feeds the pressure feed hose, and the relay pressure feed connected to the pressure hose. A configuration having a pump is also possible. Since the mud soil excavated by the submarine ground excavator can be pumped from the base to the pumping line using the relay pumping pump installed in the relay vehicle, the base can be used for a wide range of excavation work at a position farther from the pumping mud line. It can be carried out.

It is explanatory drawing which illustrates the underwater ground excavation apparatus of this invention by a side view. It is explanatory drawing which illustrates the underwater ground excavation apparatus of FIG. 1 by a front view. It is explanatory drawing which illustrates a driving | running | working auxiliary body. It is explanatory drawing which shows the state at the time of driving | running | working by a driving assistance body. It is explanatory drawing which shows the modification of a driving assistance body. It is explanatory drawing which illustrates an excavation mechanism by a bottom view. It is explanatory drawing which illustrates the operation state of a posture control mechanism by a side view. It is explanatory drawing which illustrates the operation state of a posture control mechanism by a front view. It is explanatory drawing which illustrates the underwater ground excavation system of this invention by a side view. It is explanatory drawing which illustrates the state of the excavation operation | work by the underwater ground excavation system of FIG.

  Hereinafter, a submarine ground excavation apparatus and a submarine ground excavation system of the present invention will be described based on the embodiments shown in the drawings.

  As illustrated in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, a submarine ground excavation apparatus 1 according to the present invention has a excavation mechanism 3 that excavates the submarine ground 2 and a crawler 4 that travels on the submarine ground 2 with the excavation mechanism 3 mounted thereon. An airframe 6 constituted by a mechanism 5 is provided. In the drawing, the longitudinal direction of the machine body 6 traveling by the crawler 4 is indicated by x, the horizontal direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction x of the machine body 6 is indicated by y, and the vertical direction is indicated by z.

  Between the two crawlers 4 arranged in parallel in the front-rear direction x, it is desirable to install an auxiliary crawler 4a installed at a position protruding in the front-rear direction x from the crawler 4. The auxiliary crawlers 4a are respectively installed in front and rear of the airframe 6, and support the airframe 6 by contacting the underwater ground 2 when the airframe 6 tilts in the front-rear direction x and tends to roll forward or backward. It has a function of suppressing the airframe 6 from rotating forward or backward.

  A main body 8 is installed above the traveling mechanism 5 via an attitude control mechanism 7. In this embodiment, the attitude control mechanism 7 is composed of a plurality of cylinders 7a that expand and contract in the vertical direction, and each cylinder 7a expands and contracts to maintain the main body 8 in a horizontal state regardless of the inclination of the water bottom ground 2. Can do.

  Each excavation mechanism 3 disposed opposite to the front and rear of the main body 8 has an arm 9 installed in a tiltable and rotatable state on the main body 8 and a tiltable state on the tip of the arm 9. And a head 10 for excavating the submarine ground 2. In this embodiment, the excavation mechanisms 3 are disposed in front of and behind the body 6, but the number of excavation mechanisms 3 installed in the body 6 may be one, or three or more. Moreover, when providing the some excavation mechanism 3, each can be arrange | positioned in arbitrary positions, for example, it can also arrange | position in the position orthogonal to 90 degrees with respect to the center of the main body 8 by planar view.

  One end of a pressure feeding hose 11 connected to the body 6 is connected to the head 10. Mud or the like obtained by excavating the bottom ground 2 with the head 10 is sent to the pressure hose 11 together with water as a slurry. The slurry sent to the pressure feeding hose 11 is sent to, for example, a transport ship that waits on the water via a water diverter that separates the water from the slurry and discards it in the water.

  In the traveling mechanism 5 of the airframe 6, a spud 12 that can extend and contract in the vertical direction and embed a tip portion in the water bottom ground 2, and a slide mechanism 13 that slides the spud 12 in the longitudinal direction x of the airframe 6. Is provided. As illustrated in FIG. 3, in this embodiment, the spud 12 is configured by a cylinder mechanism that includes a casing 15 and a rod 16 that expands and contracts (moves in a direction of extending and contracting) from the casing 15 to the water bottom ground 2. The A spiral projection 17 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the tip of the rod 16, and the rod 16 is installed in a state in which it can rotate with respect to the casing 15 around the cylinder axis (spud axis) of the casing 15. The The spud 12 can be constituted by a ball screw that is rotated by a rotational drive source such as a motor. The distal end portion of the rod 16 is formed so as to become narrower toward the distal end, and has a shape that can be easily embedded in the water bottom ground 2.

The slide mechanism 13 installed on both side surfaces of the traveling mechanism 5 has the casing 15 of the spud 12 fixed thereto, and moves the spud 12 together with the casing 15 in the front-rear direction x of the machine body 6. In this embodiment, the casing 15 is fixed to the slide mechanism 13 in a state in which the expansion / contraction movement direction of the rod 16 is orthogonal to the slide direction by the slide mechanism 13. The slide mechanism 13 only needs to have a configuration for moving the spud 12 in the front-rear direction x of the airframe 6. For example, the slide mechanism 13 moves along the hydraulic cylinder, rack and pinion, or rail that moves the rod back and forth in the front-rear direction x. Various mechanisms can be employed.

  In this embodiment, a distance sensor 19 for measuring the distances L1 and L2 to the upper surface of the water bottom ground 2 is installed in the main body 8. The distance sensor 19 is attached to the tip of a horizontal member 18 that protrudes from the left and right side surfaces of the body 6 in the left-right direction y. The horizontal member 18 has a length that reaches a range outside the excavation width in which the submarine ground excavator 1 excavates. As the distance sensor 19, for example, an ultrasonic distance sensor or a laser distance sensor can be used.

  Next, the excavation work of the water bottom ground 2 using the water bottom ground excavation apparatus 1 will be described. First, the submarine ground excavating apparatus 1 is lowered to the bottom of the water from a ship or the like, and then the submarine ground excavating apparatus 1 is moved to the planned excavation area. At this time, when the water bottom ground 2 is relatively hard and can be traveled by the crawler 4, the water bottom ground excavation apparatus 1 is traveled using the crawler 4. On the other hand, when the underwater ground 2 is a soft ground formed by accumulation of mud or the like, the underwater ground excavating apparatus 1 is moved using the traveling auxiliary body 14.

Control of the movement of the submarine ground excavator 1 is performed by remote control operated by an operator with a joystick or the like while checking a monitor or the like on a ship or a floating offshore facility called FPSO or FSO. An offshore operator operates the submarine ground excavation apparatus 1 by relying on cameras, sensors, and the like installed in the submarine ground excavation apparatus 1. The control of the submarine ground excavator 1 may be configured to automatically move, excavate, and the like by automatic control in addition to this remote operation. Further, as illustrated in FIG. 1, a camera-equipped ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) 19 a may be installed in order to acquire information necessary for the operation of the submarine ground excavator 1. This ROV with a camera is connected to the main body 8, for example, via a cable. An offshore operator can check the state of the bottom bottom ground 2 and the state of the bottom bottom ground excavator 1 while moving the ROV with a camera underwater by remote control.

  When the submarine ground excavator 1 is moved using the traveling auxiliary body 14, the slide mechanism 13 is first operated to move the spud 12 forward of the body 6 as illustrated in FIG. Thereafter, the rod 16 of the spud 12 is rotated and moved toward the underwater ground 2 while rotating, and the tip portion is embedded in the underwater ground 2. In this embodiment, since the rod 16 having the spiral protrusion 17 formed at the tip end is embedded in the water bottom ground 2 while rotating, the tip end of the rod 16 can be securely embedded in the bottom bottom ground 2. Further, the rod 16 having the tip embedded in the water bottom ground 2 is difficult to be removed from the water bottom ground 2 due to the spiral protrusion 17. In FIGS. 4 (a) and 4 (b), a part of the submarine ground excavator 1 is omitted for illustration.

  After the rod 16 is embedded in the water bottom ground 2, the spud 12 is moved rearward of the machine body 6 by the slide mechanism 13 as illustrated in FIG. 4B. At this time, the tip of the spud 12 is in a state of being restrained and fixed to the water bottom ground 2, so that the body 6 moves forward with respect to the water bottom ground 2. That is, when the spud 12 obtains a reaction force in the horizontal direction from the water bottom ground 2, the airframe 6 can be advanced in the direction opposite to the direction in which the spud 12 is slid.

Further, even when the underwater ground 2 is further soft and the peripheral surface of the spud 12 cannot obtain a sufficient reaction force, the weight of the underwater ground excavating device 1 is concentrated on the front end of the spud 12, and Since the vertical load between the ground and the bottom ground 2 is increased and a large frictional force can be obtained, the body 6 can be advanced.

  It is desirable to change the length of the rod 16 to be embedded in the underwater ground 2 according to the hardness of the underwater ground 2. When the spud 12 is moved by the slide mechanism 13 and the bottom bottom ground 2 is so soft that the bottom bottom ground 2 easily collapses, it is necessary to embed the rod 16 deeply in the bottom bottom ground 2. When the spud 12 is moved by the slide mechanism 13, the rod 16 can be embedded in the submarine ground 2 more shallowly within the range of the embedding length in which the tip of the rod 16 is stably restrained by the submarine ground 2. desirable. The shorter the rod 16 is embedded, the faster the rod 16 can be inserted into and removed from the underwater ground 2, so that the airframe 6 using the travel auxiliary body 14 can be moved smoothly.

  The crawler 4 may be stopped when the submarine ground excavator 1 moves forward using the traveling auxiliary body 14, and the crawler 4 may be operated when a propulsive force is obtained by the crawler 4. That is, the traveling auxiliary body 14 can be used alone, or can be used simultaneously with the crawler 4.

  When the crawler 4 is stopped and the airframe 6 is moved only by the traveling auxiliary body 14, not only the tip of the rod 16 is embedded in the underwater ground 2 but also the rod 16 is embedded deeply, It is desirable to reduce the contact pressure of the crawler 4 against the water bottom ground 2 by concentrating the load 6 on the tip of the rod 16.

  As a result, when the vehicle body 6 is moved by the traveling auxiliary body 14, the frictional force between the crawler 4 and the water bottom ground 2 that moves while being dragged on the water bottom ground 2 is reduced, and the body 6 is moved. This is because resistance can be suppressed. Further, since the frictional force between the crawler 4 and the water bottom ground 2 is reduced, it is advantageous for the crawler 4 to avoid the problem of picking up the accumulated mud and contaminating the surroundings.

  The spud 12 moved to the rear of the machine body 6 by the slide mechanism 13 is extracted from the water bottom ground 2 while rotating the rod 16 in the reverse direction and contractingly moving it. The spud 12 is again moved to the front of the body 6 by the slide mechanism 13 and then embedded in the water bottom ground 2. By repeating the above, the submarine ground excavator 1 can move on the submarine ground 2. If the moving direction of the spud 12 by the slide mechanism 13 is reversed, the submarine ground excavating apparatus 1 can be moved backward.

  The structure in which the tip of the spud 12 is embedded in the water bottom ground 2 provides a large frictional force between the water bottom ground 2 and the spud 12, so that the soft water bottom ground 2 is difficult to move on the crawler 4. In addition, the submarine ground excavator 1 can be moved efficiently.

  Moreover, since the traveling auxiliary body 14 contacts with the underwater ground 2 only when the spud 12 is embedded, the surface of the underwater ground 2 is excessively roughened, and the surrounding mud soil is soared that the surroundings become contaminated. Can be suppressed. Since the operator remotely operates the submarine ground excavation apparatus 1, the surroundings can be satisfactorily confirmed by a camera installed in the submarine ground excavation apparatus 1. Therefore, the submarine ground excavation apparatus 1 can be moved efficiently, which is a great merit for improving work efficiency. Moreover, since surrounding pollution can be suppressed, it is advantageous in suppressing malfunction of various sensors etc. which are installed in the submarine ground excavation apparatus 1.

In this embodiment, it is the structure which installs the driving | running | working auxiliary body 14 in the left-right side surface of the body 6, respectively, However, The underwater ground excavation apparatus 1 of this invention is not restricted to this structure. In addition to the left and right side surfaces of the airframe 6, the traveling auxiliary body 14 configured so that the rod 16 moves in the left-right direction y can be installed on the front and rear side surfaces of the airframe 6. With this configuration, the airframe 6 can be moved in the left-right direction y using the travel auxiliary body 14.

  As illustrated in FIG. 5, the spud 12 may be configured to include an elevating mechanism 20 installed on the slide mechanism 13 and a rod 16 that is moved closer to and away from the water bottom ground 2 by the elevating mechanism 20. The configuration of the spud 12 is not limited to this, and any configuration may be used as long as the rod 16 can be embedded in the water bottom ground 2.

  In the traveling auxiliary body 14 of FIG. 5, a tilting mechanism 21 that changes the expansion / contraction direction of the spud 12 with respect to the water bottom ground 2 is installed between the spud 12 and the slide mechanism 13. For example, when the vehicle body 6 is moved forward, the tip of the spud 12 is tilted rearward by the tilting mechanism 21, and then the rod 16 is extended toward the water bottom ground 2 and embedded. With this configuration, a force component when moving the spud 12 rearward by the slide mechanism 13 is generated between the tip of the spud 12 and the water bottom ground 2, so that the frictional force between the spud 12 and the water bottom ground 2 is obtained. It is advantageous to increase the distance and move the body 6.

  The traveling auxiliary body 14 has a tapered shape in which the spiral protrusion 17 is not formed at the tip of the rod 16 and becomes narrower toward the tip. With this configuration, a mechanism for rotating the rod 16 becomes unnecessary, so that the structure of the spud 12 can be simplified.

  The underwater ground excavating apparatus 1 that has moved to a predetermined position using the traveling mechanism 5 and the traveling auxiliary body 14 starts excavation of the underwater ground 2 by the excavating mechanism 3. The excavation mechanism 3 performs excavation while operating the arm 9 by grounding the head 10 to the water bottom ground 2 by tilting the arm 9.

  As illustrated in FIG. 6, the head 10 includes a housing 23 in which an opening 22 is formed on the side facing the water bottom ground 2, and an excavation roller 24 that excavates the water bottom ground 2 while rotating inside the housing 23. With. The excavation roller 24 includes a columnar rotary body 25 and a plurality of excavation projections 26 that protrude from the outer peripheral surface of the rotary body 25.

  The head 10 of this embodiment has two housings 23 on which excavation rollers 24 are respectively installed. The two casings 23 are connected by a connecting member 27 in a state where one end side is closer than the other end side after being arranged in parallel.

  The bottom ground 2 excavated by the excavating mechanism 3 is sucked as slurry together with water from, for example, a suction port 28 formed in the connecting member 27, and is pumped upward via a pressure hose 11 disposed inside the arm 9. Let The slurry sent by the pressure feeding hose 11 is collected, for example, on a transport ship waiting on the water. This slurry may be sucked and collected by operation of a pump or the like installed in a transport ship or the like, or may be pumped and recovered to a transport ship or the like by operation of a pump installed in the submarine ground excavation apparatus 1.

  The structure of the head 10 is not limited to the above, and any structure can be used as long as it can excavate the submarine ground 2 and collect mud soil and the like obtained by the excavation as a slurry together with water. A head or the like used for a conventional dredging operation can also be used.

  Mineral resources such as rare earths vary depending on the sea area, but since the depth is often thin and widely distributed in the range of about 2 m to 3 m from the surface of the submarine ground 2, when excavating with the excavating mechanism 3, the first It is desirable to excavate the same place step by step in a thin layer, such as excavation of a layer and excavation of a second layer. Therefore, the submarine ground excavation apparatus 1 moves the head 10 in a fan shape by turning the arm 9 while moving the airframe 6 with the traveling auxiliary body 14 or the like, and has a depth of about 0.5 m to 1.0 m, for example. Excavate underwater ground 2 thinly and widely.

  As the airframe 6 moves, the submarine ground 2 is first excavated by the excavation mechanism 3 installed in front of the airframe 6. Immediately thereafter, the bottom ground 2 in the same place is excavated again by the excavating mechanism 3 installed behind the fuselage 6. That is, the water bottom ground 2 is excavated at a depth of 1.0 m to 2.0 m by one pass of the water bottom ground excavation apparatus 1.

  At this time, as illustrated in FIG. 2, it is desirable to measure the distances L <b> 1 and L <b> 2 to the bottom ground 2 of the adjacent lane with respect to the lane where the body 6 travels and excavates by the distance sensor 19. Thereby, it is possible to detect a region where excavation has already been performed and a region where excavation has not been performed. It is also possible to detect how many layers have been excavated, such as a lane in which excavation has been completed up to the first layer and a lane in which excavation has been completed up to the second layer. Since excavation is performed while measuring the distance to the water bottom ground 2, the water bottom ground excavation apparatus 1 is advantageous for efficient and thin excavation.

  As illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8, when the submarine ground excavating apparatus 1 includes the attitude control mechanism 7, the lane where the airframe 6 travels and performs excavation is inclined in the front-rear direction x. Even if it exists, since the main body 8 in which the excavation mechanism 3 is installed can be maintained in a horizontal state by extending or contracting the plurality of cylinders 7a, the excavation by the excavation mechanism 3 can be efficiently performed regardless of the inclination of the submarine ground 2. It can be carried out.

  Further, even when the lane is inclined in the left-right direction y, the main body 8 on which the distance sensor 19 is installed can be maintained in a horizontal state. Therefore, the distance L1 from the horizontal member 18 protruding from the main body 8 to the water bottom ground 2 , The accuracy of measuring L2 can be improved. In FIG. 7, a part of the configuration of the excavation mechanism 3 and the like is omitted for explanation.

  The number and arrangement of the cylinders 7a constituting the posture control mechanism 7 are not limited to the above, and any structure may be used as long as the main body 8 can be maintained horizontally independently of the inclination of the water bottom ground 2. Further, the posture control mechanism 7 is not limited to the mechanism configured by the cylinder 7a, and may be any configuration that can maintain the main body 8 horizontally.

  A bottom ground excavation system 29 of the present invention illustrated in FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 includes a base 30 that is submerged in the bottom of the water together with a plurality of bottom ground excavation apparatuses 1, and is pumped toward the bottom bottom ground excavation apparatus 1. A base reel 31 that winds and feeds the hose 11, a base pressure pump 32 connected to the other end of the pressure hose 11 wound around the base reel 31, and the base pressure pump 32. A pumping line 33 connected to the pressure hose 11 is provided. A water diversion device for separating water from the slurry and discarding it in water can be installed between the base reel 31 and the base pressure pump 32. This mud line 33 is extended toward the surface of the water, and conveys the slurry containing rare earth or the like to a transport ship or the like waiting on the surface of the water. The base reel 31 and the base pumping pump 32 are installed on the base 30 by the number corresponding to the plurality of submarine ground excavating apparatuses 1. The slurry pumped from the plurality of submarine ground excavators 1 is transported from the single mud line 33 to the water via the junction 33a. When the distance between the base 30 and the mud line 33 is long, the relay vehicle 34 can be connected to the pressure feeding hose 11 in the meantime.

The relay vehicle 34 travels on the water bottom ground 2, the relay reel 35 that winds and feeds the pressure feed hose 11, the relay pressure feed pump 36 that is connected to the pressure feed hose 11 wound around the relay reel 35, and the water bottom ground 2. Crawler 37. The slurry containing rare earth or the like excavated and collected by the submarine ground excavator 1 is pumped from the submarine ground excavator 1 to the base 30 by the operation of the base pumping pump 32, and this relay is used when the relay vehicle 34 is installed. The relay pumping pump 36 installed in the vehicle 34 is pumped from the base 30 to the pumping mud line 33 by operation. By installing this relay vehicle 34, the slurry can be conveyed for a long distance, so that the base 30 can be installed at a position away from the mud line 33 and excavation work by the submarine ground excavation apparatus 1 can be performed. For this reason, when the mud line 33 is connected to an offshore facility that is difficult to move, such as FPSO, the bottom 30 Excavation can be performed, and the efficiency of excavation work can be improved.

  The running of the relay vehicle 34, the operation of the relay pumping pump 36, and the like are controlled remotely by an operator. In addition to this remote operation, it may be configured to automatically control movement and operation of the relay pumping pump 36 by automatic control. Moreover, in order to confirm the state of the underwater ground 2 and the state of the relay vehicle 34, it is good also as a structure which installs ROV19a with a camera illustrated in FIG.

  When excavation is performed by installing the base 30 in the vicinity of the mud line 33, the base pumping pump 32 and the junction 33a are directly connected by the pumping hose 11 without installing the relay vehicle 34. You can also. In addition, when the offshore equipment to which the mud line 33 is connected is easy to move, the excavation work is performed while moving the base 30 together with the offshore equipment to which the mud line 33 is connected without installing the relay vehicle 34. It can also be.

  Further, by connecting a plurality of relay vehicles 34 in series to one base 30, it is possible to perform excavation work by installing the base 30 even at a position away from the mud line 33. Become. It is desirable to install the traveling auxiliary body 14 in this relay vehicle 34 as well as the submarine ground excavating device 1.

  The pumping line 33 is composed of a hose, a pipe, and the like, and has a structure called an air lifter that supplies bubbles to the slurry that is a transported object in the pumping mud line 33 and transports the slurry onto the water by this buoyancy. Yes. The slurry in the mud line 33 may be sucked and pumped by a pump installed in a ship on the water, etc. However, as the distance from the ship etc. to the base 30 becomes longer, the pumped mud is more energy efficient. Adopting an air lifter is desirable because it is difficult to reduce.

  In this embodiment, the base 30 includes at least three transponders 38 installed at positions distant from each other. According to this configuration, the submarine ground excavation apparatus 1 that performs excavation work away from the base 30 can acquire its own position (coordinates) with respect to the base 30 by measuring the distance to each transponder 38. . If each transponder 38 is installed in the base 30 in advance, the operation of disposing the transponder 38 at the bottom of the water becomes unnecessary, which is advantageous in improving the work efficiency of the excavation work of the underwater ground 2.

  In the case where the water depth is relatively shallow and the transponders 38 can be easily installed at a plurality of points on the water bottom ground 2, it is desirable to install the plurality of transponders 38 in a wide range apart from each other. As the distance between the transponders 38 increases, the accuracy in acquiring the coordinates of the submarine ground excavator 1 can be improved.

  As illustrated in FIG. 10, when the submarine ground 2 is excavated using the submarine ground excavation system 29, the submarine ground 2 is divided into cells 39 for each predetermined region, and one unit in one cell 39. Thin layer excavation is carried out while reciprocating the submarine ground excavation apparatus 1. The cell 39 is set to a square of 200 m square, for example. In this embodiment, two bases 30 are submerged in the bottom of the water for one pumping mud line 33, and excavation work is performed by a plurality of submarine ground excavators 1 mounted on the base 30. The connection of the pressure hose 11 with the base 30 located far from the pumping mud line 33 is performed via a relay vehicle 34. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 10, a plurality of cells 39 are set on a concentric circle centering on the pumping mud line 33, and excavation is sequentially performed by the submarine ground excavation apparatus 1. For the sake of explanation, FIG. 10 shows a concentric circular arc r having different radii around the lifting line 33.

  In addition, the submarine ground excavation apparatus 1 of this embodiment can detect its own position (coordinates) with respect to the base 30 by transmitting and receiving signals to and from the transponder 38 installed in the base 30, so that a preset cell 39 It is possible to efficiently perform excavation work within. It is good also as a structure which detects the own coordinate using the signal from the transponder 38 of the other base 30 to which the submerged ground excavation apparatus 1 is not connected to its own pumping hose 11. Thereby, the precision at the time of acquiring the coordinate of the underwater ground excavation apparatus 1 can further be improved. In FIG. 10, the outer periphery of the cell 39 that has not been excavated is indicated by a broken line for the sake of explanation.

  Since resources such as rare earths are shallow and widely distributed, the number of layers to be drilled is determined while analyzing the specific gravity of the mud collected by waterborne ships. At this time, since the submarine ground excavation apparatus 1 measures the distance to the submarine ground 2 by the distance sensor 19, the distribution status of resources can be estimated from the data of this distance and the coordinates of the submarine ground excavation apparatus 1.

  The base 30 that has completed the peripheral excavation work is lifted by a work boat or the like and moved to another location. For the movement of the base 30, a method of moving the base 30 after being pulled up on the water may be adopted, or a method of moving the vicinity of the water bottom while being suspended from a work ship or the like by a wire or the like may be adopted. By sequentially arranging the base 30 concentrically around the pumping mud line 33, the base 30, the relay vehicle 34, and the mud muting line 33 are aligned in a straight line. Operation control of the relay vehicle 34 etc. becomes easy.

  When excavation work is performed in the cell 39 located away from the pumping mud line 33, a relay vehicle 34 is connected between the base 30 and the pumping mud line 33, and the relay pumping pump 36 of the relay vehicle 34 is used. The slurry is transported over a long distance.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Submarine ground excavator 2 Submarine ground 3 Excavation mechanism 4 Crawler 5 Traveling mechanism 6 Airframe 7 Attitude control mechanism 8 Main body 11 Pumping hose 12 Spad 13 Slide mechanism 14 Traveling auxiliary body 17 Spiral protrusion 19 Distance sensor 21 Tilt mechanism 29 Underwater ground Excavation system 30 Base 31 Base reel 32 Base pump 33 Pumping mud 34 Relay vehicle 35 Relay reel 36 Relay pump

Claims (5)

In a submarine ground excavation apparatus comprising a body composed of a excavation mechanism for excavating the submarine ground and a traveling mechanism having a crawler on which the excavation mechanism is mounted and traveling on the submarine ground,
The airframe is provided with a traveling auxiliary body having a spud that expands and contracts in the vertical direction and a slide mechanism that slides the spud in the horizontal direction, and the spud is embedded in the water bottom ground. The submarine ground excavation apparatus is configured to move the airframe in a direction opposite to the sliding direction by sliding the airframe horizontally with respect to the airframe by the slide mechanism.   The submarine ground excavation device according to claim 1, wherein a spiral protrusion is formed on an outer peripheral surface of at least a tip portion of the spud, and the spud is rotated about a spud axis.   A main body installed above the traveling mechanism; an attitude control mechanism installed between the main body and the traveling mechanism to maintain the main body in a horizontal state; and The submarine ground excavation apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a distance sensor that measures a distance to the ground.   A plurality of submarine ground excavation devices according to any one of claims 1 to 3, a pumping hose having one end connected to the drilling mechanism, a pumping pump for a base connected to the other end of the pumping hose, and the base A submarine ground excavation system comprising: a base on which a pressure pump is installed; and a muddy line that conveys an object to be conveyed sent from the base pressure pump via another pressure hose to the surface of the water.   A relay vehicle disposed between the base and the pumping mud line, the relay vehicle having a relay reel that winds and feeds the pumping hose, and a relay pumping pump connected to the pumping hose The submarine ground excavation system according to claim 4.

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