JPH01179119A - Tube cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To efficiently and surely eliminate a sticking foreign matter on the inner wall of a tube, while observing it by providing a brush part so as to be freely rotatable on the tip part of a sheath, and driving to rotate the brush part by a prescribed driving means. CONSTITUTION:On the inside of the tip of a sheath 3 to which an endoscope 16 is attached, a rotary ring 8 having bearing outer ring parts 9, 10 so as to be opposed to bearing inner ring parts 5, 6 is provided so as to be freely rotatable through plural steel balls 11a.... To the outside periphery of this rotary ring 8, a brush 15 is attached, and on the inside, a blade body 13 is provided. At the time of cleaning, the brush 15 is rotated by blowing compressed air to the blade body 13 from a nozzle 7 which is attached to the inner ring part 6, cleaning of the inner wall surface of a tube body is executed, and also, the inside surface of the tube is observed by an endoscope 16. Therefore, while observing the inside surface, a sticking matter on the inner wall can be eliminated efficiently and surely.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention is used to clean the inner walls of pipes, etc. in areas that are inaccessible to humans or cannot be accessed by hands in industrial or industrial settings. Regarding a pipe cleaning device.

[Prior Art] For example, parts to be observed using an industrial endoscope, such as the inner wall surfaces of industrially installed pipes such as jet engine oil supply pipes or gas passages, heat exchangers or boiler pipes, are always kept clean. Not necessarily.

For example, foreign substances such as rust, dirt, scale, and the like may be attached. When there are defects such as scratches or cracks on the inner wall of the pipe, such foreign substances often get caught in these defects, become stagnant, and become attached.

In such cases, ordinary industrial endoscopes are used to observe foreign matter covering the tube wall surface, and cannot confirm the true tube wall surface or defective areas such as flaws and cracks.

In order to solve these problems, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 57-125
There is an industrial endoscope disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 917. This endoscope has a brush implanted in the peripheral wall at the tip of the insertion section, and the endoscope inserted into the tube is moved in the axial and circumferential directions together with the operating section to bring the brush into contact with foreign objects. By removing foreign matter attached to the scraping tube inner wall, defective areas such as scratches and cracks on the tube inner wall can be confirmed.

However, in the industrial endoscope configured as described above, when using the brush at the tip, the main body of the endoscope must be moved, and the observation window provided at the tip of the insertion portion, etc. Since the observation optical system is also moved at the same time, visibility is reduced and reliable observation or confirmation of foreign objects is not possible during cleaning with the brush, resulting in low work efficiency.

In addition, during cleaning work while moving the endoscope body,
When attempting to rotate the brush in the circumferential direction of the insertion portion, there is a problem in that the insertion portion is twisted in the circumferential direction along the axial direction, making the cleaning operation uncertain.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] As mentioned above, in order to clean foreign matter attached to the inner wall of the tube, a brush is provided at the tip of the insertion section of an industrial endoscope, and the main body of the endoscope is moved. Move the brush above by
Some are configured to remove foreign objects. However, when such an endoscope uses the brush mentioned above, the observation optical system moves along with the endoscope body, making it impossible to perform reliable observation. This rotational force may not be transmitted reliably to the tip of the blade, making it impossible to carry out efficient cleaning work.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a pipe cleaning device that can perform highly efficient and reliable cleaning.

[Means and effects for solving the problem of gaps] The present invention provides a rotatable brush section at the tip of the sheath, and provides a driving means for rotationally driving the brush section by feeding compressed air. It is a pipe cleaning device that can perform highly efficient cleaning.

[Example] The first example of this invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.
This will be explained with reference to the figures.

A foreign substance 2 is attached to the inner wall of a tubular body 1 shown in the figure, and a sheath 3 of this intraductal cleaning device is inserted inside this tubular body 1. A cylindrical fixing ring 4 is provided on the outer peripheral surface near the tip of the sheath 3, and a bearing inner ring portion 5.
6 are provided respectively. These bearing inner ring parts 5.6
An air nozzle 7, which will be described later, is provided in a bearing inner ring portion 6 provided on the proximal end side of the sheath 3.

A cylindrical rotating ring 8 that is formed concentrically with the fixed ring 4 is provided on the outer periphery of the fixed ring 4, and near both ends of the rotating ring 8, the fixed ring 4 is connected to the fixed ring 4. A bearing outer ring 9.10 is provided which corresponds to the provided bearing inner ring 5.6. These bearing inner ring parts 5
．． A plurality of steel balls 1 are provided between the bearing outer ring portion 9 and the bearing outer ring portion 9.10.
1a... are provided.

A volume portion 11 is formed between the fixed ring 4 and the rotating ring 8 configured in this manner by the bearing inner ring and outer ring portion 5,6,9,10.

The air nozzle 7 is formed at the tip of an air tube 12 that is provided to pass through the bearing inner ring portion 6 in the axial direction of the sheath 3, and is opened into the volume portion 11.

A plurality of blades 13 extending in the radial direction of the sheath 3 are arranged at predetermined intervals in the circumferential direction on the inner peripheral surface of the rotating ring 8. It is curved at a predetermined curvature so that it can receive air ejected from the air nozzle 7 and rotate in a constant circumferential direction.

Further, the bearing outer ring portion 9 and the blade portion 13 of the rotating ring 8...
A plurality of exhaust ports 14 are bored through the holes in the radial direction. The driving means 8a is configured in this manner.

A brush 15 is provided on the outer periphery of the rotating ring 8 over substantially the entire circumference, and the air ejected from the air nozzle 7 is blown onto the blades 13, thereby causing the rotation. The ring 8 is rotated in the circumferential direction, and the brush 1
5 is brought into contact with the inner wall surface of the tube body 1 while rotating. At this time, the air ejected from the air nozzle 7 is exhausted from the exhaust port 14.

For example, an endoscope 16 is inserted into the sheath 3 configured in this manner from the proximal end side, and by protruding the distal end/portion of the endoscope 16 from the distal end, the brush 15 brushes the tube body 1. Since the inner wall surface is not cleaned, the inner wall surface of the tube body 1 can be observed using the endoscope 16. Thereby, the inner wall surface of the tube body 1 can be effectively cleaned, and the endoscope 1 can be cleaned effectively.
6 can be accurately performed while cleaning.

A second embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. Foreign matter 2 is attached to the inner wall of the tube body 1 shown in the figure. The insertion portion 18 of the endoscope 17, which serves as a sheath in this embodiment, is inserted into such a tube body 1 for observation and cleaning. The endoscope 17 has its insertion section 1
A cylindrical fixing ring 4 is fitted onto the outer circumferential surface near the tip of the fixing ring 8, and bearing inner ring portions 5.6 projecting in the radial direction are provided at both ends of the fixing ring 4.

A rotary ring 8 formed in a cylindrical shape is provided on the outer circumference of the fixed ring 4, and portions 11a of the rotary ring 8 corresponding to the bearing inner ring portion 5.6 are provided. There is.

A volume portion 11 is formed by the fixed ring 4, the rotating ring 8, and the bearing inner and outer ring portions 5,6,9,10 provided thereon.

Further, an insertion portion 18 is provided in the bearing inner ring portion 6 of the fixed ring 4.
An air tube 12 is provided in a penetrating state parallel to the axial direction of the air tube 12, and its tip portion is opened into the volume portion 11 to form an air nozzle 7. This air tube 1
2 extends along the insertion portion 18, extends toward the operating section of the endoscope (not shown), and is connected to the compressor via an opening/closing control means (not shown).

A plurality of blade bodies 13 are disposed at predetermined intervals along the circumferential direction on the inner wall circumferential surface of the rotating ring 8 corresponding to the volume portion 11. These blade bodies 13・
... are each curved in a certain direction with a predetermined curvature, and the rotating ring 8 is rotated in a certain direction by being blown with air from the air nozzle 7.

Further, the bearing outer ring portion 9 of the rotating ring 8 and the blade body 13 are also connected to each other.
A plurality of exhaust ports 14 passing through in the radial direction are provided at predetermined distance intervals in the circumferential direction between the air nozzles 7 and the blade bodies 13.
After colliding with ..., the volume part 1 passes through the exhaust port 14.
It is designed to be exhausted to the outside of 1. In this way, the driving means 8a is configured. Furthermore, the rotating ring 8
A brush 15 of uniform length is provided on the outer circumferential surface of the brush 15 over substantially the entire surface.

Endoscope 17 as an intraductal cleaning device formed in this way
is inserted into the inside of the tube 1 to observe and clean the inner wall of the tube 1. At this time, the air ejected from the air nozzle 7 is blown onto the blades 13, and the rotary ring 8 is rotated. Due to this rotation, the brush is also rotated, and foreign matter 2 attached to the inner wall surface of the tube body 1 is removed.

Further, an illumination window 19 and an observation window 20 are provided on the distal end surface of the insertion section 18 of the endoscope 17, so that the inner wall surface of the tube body l can be observed. By rotating the brush 15 while moving forward and backward,
Clean efficiently and while doing this cleaning work,
The endoscope 17 has less vibration and can perform accurate observation.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. For example, although the brush 15 is linear in the above embodiment, the brush 15 is not limited to this, and may be a spatula-shaped object having a predetermined area. Further, the curved structure of the blade portions 13 is not limited to the above-mentioned structure, and may be any shape as long as the rotary ring 8 is rotated by air blowing, for example, it may be inclined with respect to the air nozzle 7. They may also be in the form of opposed flat plates. Furthermore, although the air tube 12 is provided outside the sheath 3 and the endoscope 17 as a sheath, it may also be provided so as to be inserted inside.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, the brush portion is rotatably provided at the distal end of the sheath, and the driving means for rotationally driving the brush portion is provided. A pipe cleaning device capable of efficiently removing attached foreign matter can be provided.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figures 1 and 2 show a first embodiment of the present invention, with Figure 1 being a side sectional view showing a state in which the sheath is inserted into the tube body, and Figure 2 being the line ■-■ in Figure 1. FIG. 3 is a side sectional view showing a state in which the insertion portion of the endoscope as a sheath is inserted into the tube body. 3... Sheath, 15... Brush, 8a... Drive means. Applicant's agent Patent attorney Atsushi Tsuboi Figure 1 Figure 2

Claims (1)

[Claims] A pipe cleaning device comprising: a brush section rotatably provided at a sheath tip; and a drive means for rotationally driving the brush section by feeding compressed air.