JPH03131813A - In-tube inspection device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable one person to easily insert and extract an insertion part and make an observation in a tube in a short time by supporting a rotary body equipped with a conic winding barrel part wound with the insertion part rotatably on the axis and providing the output end of an observation optical system on the axis of rotation. CONSTITUTION:The rotary body 16 equipped with the conic winding barrel part 18 wound with the insertion part 1 spirally is supported rotatably on the axis of the winding barrel part 18 and the output end of the observation optical system 25 is provided on the axis of rotation. Thus, the rotary body 16 wound with the long insertion part 1 is supported rotatably on a main body 10, so when the insertion part 1 is rotated on the axis after being unwound from the rotary body 16, the rotary body 16 freely rotates according to the motion of the insertion part and the wound insertion part 1 becomes neither out of control nor irregular. Consequently, the long insertion part need not be extended linearly and the operation for the extension is unnecessary to perform the inserting and extracting operation smoothly even if a wide space is not available at the periphery of a conduit to be inspected.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a pipe inspection device inserted into various pipes such as water pipes, gas pipes, and the like.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, for example, [Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 189086/1986] discloses a device that is inserted into a small diameter pipe such as a drain pipe and cleans the pipe while directly viewing the inside of the pipe. There is.

This conventional device is equipped with a long wire body consisting of a flexible cable-like transmission section equipped with an image guide and a light guide, and covered with a tightly wound coil spring. An eyepiece section connected to the image guide is provided.

When inserting this device into a pipe that has many bends, such as a drainage pipe, the wire should be rotated appropriately around the axis to prevent the tip of the wire from getting caught in the bends of the pipe. The wire is pushed into the tube while being moved, and when the wire is pulled out of the tube, it is rotated as appropriate in the direction around the axis in the same way as when it was inserted.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] By the way, since the overall length of the wire assembly is quite long, at the time when the wire assembly begins to be inserted into the pipe, most of the wire assembly remains outside the tube. There is a possibility that the remaining portions of the wire may become entangled. One possible way to prevent the wire from getting tangled is to wrap the remaining part of the wire into a coil, for example, but if you wind the wire in this way,
The following problems occur.

In other words, since the wire is pushed into and pulled out of the tube while being rotated around the axis as described above, when the wire is rotated, the coiled portion of the wire is twisted. There are problems such as the wound wire unit comes loose and becomes a resistance during rotation operation.

Therefore, when inserting the wire piece into a tube, it is necessary to extend the remaining portion of the wire piece as straight as possible.

However, if the remaining portion of the wire is extended in a straight line, its total length becomes extremely long, and a large space is required around the tube insertion port. Therefore, depending on the location, it may be impossible to extend the wire in a straight line, which may impede insertion and withdrawal operations of the wire.

Moreover, since the wire is usually transported wrapped around a drum or the like, it is necessary to unroll the wire in a straight line before inserting it into the pipe, which poses the problem of requiring more time and effort. .

In addition, the eyepiece for observing the inside of the tube is located on the opposite side from the insertion tip of the integrated wire, that is, at the end of the remaining part.
If the wire is extended in a straight line as described above, the eyepiece moves away from the insertion port of the tube, making it impossible to observe the inside of the tube and insert the wire by one person.

The present invention was made based on these circumstances, and
Inserting and withdrawing the insertion tube does not require a large space, and the entire device is compact, making it easier to use. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a pipe inspection device that can be easily and quickly inspected.

[Means for Solving the Problems] Therefore, the pipe inspection device according to the present invention is a long flexible insertion device that incorporates an observation optical system having an objective lens and an image transmitting body, and an illumination optical system having a light guide. a rotating body connected to a proximal end of the insertion part and having a conical winding trunk around which the insertion part is spirally wound; and a rotating body that rotates the rotating body in a direction around the axis of the winding trunk. The main body is freely supported, and the output end of the observation optical system is provided on the rotation axis of the main body.

[Function] According to this configuration, the rotating body around which the elongated insertion section is wound is rotatably supported by the main body, so after the insertion section is pulled out from the rotating body, the insertion section can be rotated in the axial direction. When rotated, the rotating body rotates freely in accordance with the movement of the insertion portion, and the wound insertion portion does not move loosely or come apart as in the conventional case.

Therefore, there is no need to deploy the long insertion section in a straight line, and the work for this deployment is not required, and even if a large space is not available around the duct to be inspected,
Insertion and withdrawal of the insertion tube can be performed effortlessly.

Further, since the insertion portion is housed in the main body in a spirally wound state, the insertion portion does not become bulky, and the entire device can be made compact accordingly. Furthermore, the main body that accommodates the insertion part does not have to move away from the insertion part of the tube, and since this main body is provided with the output end of the observation optical system, the examiner can observe the state inside the tube through this output end. The insertion and withdrawal operations of the insertion section can be performed by one person while observing.

[Embodiment] A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below based on FIGS. 1 to 3.

A flexible insertion portion indicated by the reference numeral l in the figure is inserted into a conduit 2, such as a water pipe or a gas pipe, which has a small diameter, tends to bend, and has many bends 2a. As shown in FIG. 2, this insertion section 1 is equipped with a flexible protective tube 3 made of a tightly wound coil spring, and this protective tube 3 covers the outer peripheral surface of an elastic tube 4 made of synthetic resin. .

An image guide 5 serving as an image transmission body and a light guide 6 constituting an illumination optical system are inserted into the elastic tube 4 along the axial direction. And elastic tube 4
An exit aperture 8 is provided on the front end surface of the image guide 5 to emit illumination light from an objective lens 7 and a light guide 6 connected to the image guide 5.The objective lens 7 and the image guide 5 constitute an observation optical system. .

By the way, the main body IO of the inspection device is provided at the proximal end of the insertion portion l. As shown in FIG. 1, this main body IO includes a main body case 11 having a hollow cylindrical shape. One end of the main body case 11 along the axial direction forms a conical part 12 that becomes smaller in diameter as it progresses in the axial direction, and the tapered tip of this conical part 12 has the insertion part 1
An insertion port 13 into which the device is removably inserted is coaxially formed.

An opening on the side opposite to the insertion port 13 of the main body case 11 is closed by an end plate 14, and a rotating body 16 is housed in a space 15 surrounded by the end plate 14 and the main case 11. . The rotating body 16 has a hollow cylindrical shape with an opening on the end plate 14 side, and the outer peripheral end on the end plate 14 side is a bearing 17.
It is rotatably supported on the inner surface of the main body case 11 via. Therefore, the rotating body 16 is aligned with the axis X of the main body case 11.
, -X, and the U-rolling body 16 and the main body case 11 are relatively rotatable in the direction around the axis.

Further, at one end of the rotary body 16 on the side of the insertion port 13, a conical winding trunk portion 18 is formed, the diameter of which becomes smaller as it advances toward the insertion port 13 side. The winding trunk part 18 is formed parallel to the conical part 12 of the main body case 11, and between the winding trunk part 8 and the conical part 12 is the insertion opening 13.
A housing space 19 is formed which is connected to the housing space 19 .

The insertion section 1 is guided into the accommodation space 19, and the insertion section 1 is wound spirally onto the outer circumferential surface of the winding drum section 18 using the inner surface of the conical section 12 as a guide surface.

A support plate 20 is attached to the open end of the rotating body 16 on the end plate 14 side to cover this open end. This support plate 2
A shaft portion 21 is provided protruding from the center of the 0.

The shaft portion 21 is coaxial with the axis X1-X of the main body case 11, and this shaft portion 21 enters into a recess 22 at the center of the end plate 14, and is inserted into the recess 22 via a bearing 23. It is rotatably supported. A hollow cylindrical eyepiece 24 that extends into the recess 22 is protruded from the end plate 14, and an eyepiece 25 is provided in the eyepiece 24.

The winding start end 1a of the insertion portion l with respect to the winding trunk 18 is as follows:
It is introduced into the inside of the rotating body 16 through a through hole lea in the outer peripheral surface of the rotating body 16, and the protective tube 3 that forms the outer shell of the rotating body 16 is fixed to the support plate 20.

At the winding start end 1a of the insertion portion 1, the image guide 5 and light guide 6 are led out from the protective tube 3. The derived portion of the image guide 5 is the above-mentioned shaft portion 2.
1 and is guided upward along the axes X and -X of the main body case 11. The structure is compatible with each other.

Further, the tip of the lead-out portion of the light guide 6 is connected to the rotating body 16.
It is provided opposite to a lamp 27 fixed inside. A lead wire 28 from this lamp 27 is connected to the shaft portion 21.
The base is guided to the large-diameter step 29 of the root, and is connected to a slip ring 30 on the outer peripheral surface of this step 29, and this slip ring 30 is connected to the contact 31 on the end plate 14 side.
is slidably in contact with. This contact 31 is connected to a plug 33 via an external lead wire 32, and the lamp 27 is energized by inserting the plug 33 into a power outlet (not shown).

Note that the main body case 11 is provided with a handle 34 for the inspector A to grasp.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be explained.

When inserting the insertion section 1 into the conduit 2, the examiner A
As shown in the figure, the insertion section 1 is pulled out from the main body case 11. Then, since the insertion part 1 is spirally wound around the rotating body 1B in the main body case 11, it is successively drawn out from the insertion opening 13 of the main body case 11, and the inserted part 1 that has been drawn out is , and push it into the conduit 2 while appropriately rotating it in the direction around the axis from the tip on the objective lens 7 side.

In this case, the insertion part l is wound spirally around the winding trunk part 18 of the rotary body 16, but since the rotary body 16 itself is rotatably supported by the main body case 11, the insertion part l is wound around the axis. When it is rotated in the direction, the rotating body 16 follows the movement of the insertion portion l and rotates freely inside the main body case 11, so that the rotation of the insertion portion l is not hindered.

Moreover, when pulling out the insertion part 1 from the conduit 2, this insertion part 1 is sequentially pushed into the main body case 11 through the insertion opening 13. Then, the insertion part I is inserted into the accommodation space 1 between the conical part 12 of the main body case 11 and the winding drum part 18 of the rotating body 16.
9, and is sequentially wound helically around the outer circumferential surface of the winding drum 18 using the inner surface of the conical portion 12 as a guide surface, and is housed in the main body case I1.

According to the first embodiment of the present invention, when the insertion section 1 is rotated in the direction around the axis when the insertion section 1 is inserted into the conduit 2 and when it is withdrawn from the conduit 2, this insertion section Since the rotating body 16 rotates freely following the movement of the spirally wound insertion portion 1, the spirally wound insertion portion 1 does not move loosely or come apart.

For this reason, there is no need to deploy the insertion section 1 led out of the conduit 2 in a straight line as in the past, and of course there is no need for any special work to deploy the insertion section 1. Even if a large space is not available around the conduit 2 to be inspected, the insertion and withdrawal operations of the insertion section I can be performed smoothly and effortlessly.

In addition, since the insertion portion I is housed in the main body case 11 in a spirally wound state, the insertion portion I is not bulky even though the insertion portion 1 is long. , the entire device can be made compact. Therefore, the insertion and withdrawal operations of the insertion portion I can be performed without difficulty, and the usability is improved.

Furthermore, in the case of the above configuration, the main body case 11 does not have to move away from the insertion part into the conduit 2, and the main body case 11 is provided with an eyepiece part 24 that is connected to the image guide 5 of the insertion part 1. Therefore, the examiner A can perform insertion and withdrawal operations of the insertion section 1 while observing the condition inside the conduit 2 through the eyepiece section 24.

Therefore, a series of operations from inserting the insertion portion l into the conduit 2 to observing the inside of the conduit 2 and pulling it out can be performed by one person, which has the advantage of contributing to labor saving.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the first embodiment described above, and FIG. 4 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. However, in FIG. 4, the same components as those in the first embodiment described above are given the same numbers, and the explanation thereof will be omitted.

That is, inside the main body case 11, the end plate 14 and the rotating body 1 are disposed.
A support plate 41 is attached between the support plate 6 and the support plate 6.

At the center of this support plate 41 is a shaft portion 21 on the rotating body 1B side.
A through hole 42 is formed through which the through hole 4 passes through.
The shaft portion 21 is rotatably supported on the inner surface of the shaft portion 2 via a bearing 43.

Further, the support plate 41 is provided with a motor 45 that is capable of forward and reverse rotation. A pulley 4 is mounted on the drive shaft 4B of this motor 45.
7 is fixed, and a belt 48 is passed between this pulley 47 and the shaft portion 21. therefore,
When the motor 45 is driven, the rotational force of the drive shaft 46 is transmitted to the shaft portion 21 via the pulley 47 and the belt 4B,
The rotating body 16 is configured to be rotationally driven in the direction around the axis, and the rotation direction of the motor 45 can be switched between when the insertion portion 1 is inserted and when it is withdrawn.

In the case of this embodiment, the contact 31 that contacts the slip ring 30 is supported on the support plate 41 side.

In the second embodiment with such a configuration, when inserting the insertion portion l into the conduit 2, especially if the conduit 2 has a small diameter, simply pushing the insertion portion l into the conduit 2 will not work. This insertion portion 1 does not enter into the conduit 2, and the pulling operation and rotation operation are used together as described above.

1 In this case, in the above configuration, the insertion portion 1 is automatically rotated around the axis by rotating the rotating body 16 by the motor 45, so that the examiner A can grasp the insertion portion 1 with his hands. There is no need to rotate the insertion part 1 by simply pushing the insertion part l in and pulling it out.

Therefore, the work of inserting and pulling out the insertion portion J can be further simplified, and the work time can be shortened.

In this case, since the rotation work of the insertion section 1 has been automated, it is conceivable that the operation of pushing in and pulling out the insertion section 1 can also be performed automatically by a motor.

However, if the pushing and withdrawing operations of the insertion section 1 are automated, it is virtually impossible to make subtle adjustments to the pushing force and withdrawal force that would be required if, for example, the insertion section 1 gets caught in the bend 2a of the conduit 2. Therefore, there is a possibility that the protective tube 3 on the outer periphery of the insertion section 1 may buckle, and conversely, it takes time m1 to insert the insertion section I.

Therefore, as in this embodiment, if only the rotating operation of the insertion section 1 is automated and the pushing and withdrawal operations that require delicate adjustment of force are manual, the insertion and withdrawal operations of the insertion section 1 can be performed efficiently. Can be done.

On the other hand, a third embodiment of the present invention is disclosed in FIGS. 5 and 6.

In this third embodiment, an image sensor 51 such as a CCD is used as the image transmitter of the insertion section 1.
is incorporated in the tip of the elastic tube 4. A signal line 52 that supplies current to the image sensor 51 and inputs and outputs signals is guided inside the rotating body 16 through the elastic tube 4, and then connected to the stepped portion 2 that rotates together with the rotating body 1B.
9 is connected to the slip ring 53 on top. and,
These slip rings 53 are connected to a control unit 55 external to the main body 10 via contacts 54 on the end plate 14 side, and a monitor 56 that displays signals from the image sensor 51 as images is connected to this control unit 55. ing.

In this embodiment as well, the rotating body 16 is rotationally driven in the direction around the axis by the motor 45, but this motor 45 is supported by the end plate 14, and the drive shaft 46 of the motor 45 is rotated around the axis of the rotating body 16. It is directly connected to the shaft portion 21.

According to the third embodiment, the signal line 52 of the image sensor 51 is
Since it is less likely to be damaged, the durability of the insertion portion 1 is improved, which is particularly convenient when inspecting the inside of the conduit 2 which is complicatedly bent.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, since the state inside the pipe 2 is observed by displaying the image on the monitor 56 outside the main body 10, the monitor 56 can be used for inspection without being restricted by the position of the main body 10. Person A can freely set it up in a position where it can easily be seen, which has the advantage of allowing more accurate observation.

Note that the conduit 2 into which the insertion part I is inserted may have dirt, dust, etc. accumulated inside it, and if the insertion part I is inserted into such a conduit 2, the Dirt and dust will adhere to the objective lens 7 and the exit port 8 located on the tip surface.

For this reason, if dirt or dust gets on the objective lens 7 or the exit port 8, the insertion section I must be pulled out of the conduit 2 and the objective lens 7 or the exit port 8 must be cleaned. Accordingly, the inspection requires more effort and the inspection time becomes longer.

Therefore, one embodiment of the insertion portion l which is provided with this stain prevention measure is shown in FIGS. 7 and 8.

That is, in this insertion part 1, a driving member 61 made of a shape memory alloy is attached to the distal end of the elastic tube 4. This driving member 61 is bent so that its tip side overlaps the tip end surface of the elastic tube 4, and a cover member 62 that covers the objective lens 7 and the exit port 8 is attached to this bent portion.

The drive member 61 has a pre-memorized shape that extends in a straight line in the axial direction of the insertion portion 1 when heated to a predetermined temperature, and the drive member 6I is connected to a power source via a power line (not shown). has been done.

Therefore, when the drive member 61 is heated to a predetermined temperature by energizing the drive member 61, the drive member 61 deforms in a straight line as shown in FIG. The objective lens 7 and the exit aperture 8 are exposed.

Note that the cover member 62 has a circumferential surface 62a exposed in the conduit 2 having a spherical shape so that it can be inserted into the conduit 2 easily.

According to this configuration of the insertion section 1, when the inside of the conduit 2 is dirty with filth, first, the power to the drive member 61 is canceled,
The insertion portion 1 is inserted into the conduit 2 with the objective lens 7 and the exit port 8 covered with the cover member 62. Once the insertion section 1 has been inserted to the length required for inspection, the drive member 6
I is energized to separate the cover member 62 from the distal end surface of the elastic tube 4, exposing the objective lens 7 and the exit port 8, and observing the inside of the conduit 2 while pulling out the insertion part l.

Therefore, according to this configuration, when inserting the insertion portion l into the conduit, it is possible to prevent the objective lens 7 and the exit port 8 from becoming dirty, and it is possible to shorten the working time.

Note that the cover member 62 does not necessarily need to cover the objective lens 7 and the exit port 8 from the beginning of insertion into the conduit 2;
The objective lens 7 and the exit port 8 may be covered only when the insertion portion 1 passes through a dirty portion in the conduit 2.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention described in detail above, not only does the special work of deploying the insertion portion in a straight line become unnecessary, but also a large space cannot be obtained around the duct to be inspected. Even if
The insertion and withdrawal operations of the insertion section can be performed without difficulty.

Furthermore, since the insertion section is housed in the main body case in a spirally wound state, the elongated insertion section does not become bulky, and the entire device becomes compact accordingly. Therefore, the insertion and withdrawal operations of the insertion portion can be performed without difficulty, and the usability is improved.

Furthermore, in the case of the above configuration, the main body does not have to move away from the insertion part into the pipe, and since the main body is provided with the output end of the observation means, the inspector can observe the inside of the pipe while inserting the pipe. can be inserted and withdrawn. Therefore, a series of operations from insertion of the insertion section to observation of the inside of the tube and withdrawal of the insertion section can be performed by one person, which has the advantage of contributing to labor savings.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 3 show a first embodiment of the present invention.
The figure is a sectional view of the main body, FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the insertion part, FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a state in which the inside of the pipe is inspected, partially in cross section, and FIG. 4 is a second embodiment of the present invention. 5 and 6 show a third embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the main body, FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the insertion portion, and FIGS.
The figure is a sectional view showing another aspect of the insertion section. 5.51... Image transmitter (image guide, image sensor)
,B...Light guide, 7...Objective lens, lO・
... Main body, 16... Rotating body, 1B... Winding trunk, 24
...eyepiece.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A long flexible insertion section incorporating an observation optical system having an objective lens and an image transmission body and an illumination optical system having a light guide; connected to the proximal end of the insertion section; a rotating body including a conical drum around which the insertion section is spirally wound; the rotating body is rotatably supported in a direction around the axis of the drum, and the observation optical system is mounted on the rotating shaft; A pipe inspection device comprising: a main body having an output end;