JPH0347957B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to welding technology, and more particularly to an apparatus for resistance butt welding annular joints of pipe members to construct continuous underwater pipelines.

[Conventional technology]

The problem with constructing continuous underwater pipes is that the annular joints of continuous pipe members are welded in a limited space while being subjected to rolling and pitting on a floating ship equipped with pipe member welding equipment. That's true.

The previously known laser beam device for welding pipe parts (West German Patent No. B 2515925) uses a fixed support device fixed to the deck of a pipe-laying vessel to hold, align and maintain the pipe and the working position to be welded thereto. and a retaining device for maintaining.

Although the productivity of this device for constructing conduits is high, the cost is extremely high due to the use of laser beam technology.
It goes without saying that it also requires a considerable amount of auxiliary equipment and a large number of operators.

Welding complex equipment for underwater pipeline construction using electric arc welding with consideration to cost reduction (Welding Journal,
September 1978 issue, pages 15-21 RL Jones et al. “Using
the gas metal arc process speeds pipelaying
and construction reduces time of North Sea
This welding complex is installed on the deck of a barge-type engineering ship, and is an airtight welding device located at the operating position in the area where pipe lines and pipe members are welded together. An electric arc welding machine, a deburring trimmer disposed at an operating position coaxial with a pipe line along a path of movement relative to a work vessel so as to move toward an operating position, and a trimmer for attaching, holding and holding a pipe member to be welded. a fixed holding device for maintaining the welding machine and the trimmer in their operating position aligned with a support device supporting the end section of the pipe line and the pipe member to be welded thereto; An accumulator is provided at a position offset laterally from the coaxial line with the pipe line for storing the pipe parts to be welded and for continuously supplying the pipe parts to the loading position. The tubes are stacked parallel to each other in an accumulator and loaded by a tube handling device that continuously moves the tubes in horizontal and vertical translation into position where they abut the conduit. The stability of the relative position of the end section of the pipe and the pipe part to be welded during the welding operation is maintained by the special construction of the work vessel and by maintaining its relative position to the bottom of the water tank.

However, the productivity of this electric arc welding is not very high. This is because electric arc welding requires a lot of manual input, requires a lot of auxiliary equipment, and presents significant problems in fitting these auxiliary equipment into a limited working space.

On the other hand, resistance butt welding is a highly productive welding technique that provides good quality requirements and does not require bulky equipment, but it has not been used in the field of underwater pipeline construction. .

However, the use of resistance butt welding machines in conventional welding complex equipment requires complex operations to precisely align the axes of the pipe members to be joined during rolling and pitting, and Inserting a relatively long pipe welding machine or internal deburring trimmer into a pipe member requires an extra working area (equal to the length of the trimmer) is a hindrance.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

The object of the invention is to introduce a movable element in the holding device in order to perform resistance butt welding, which is convenient for welding tubular members in the confined spaces of work vessels subject to rolling and pitting. An object of the present invention is to provide an economical and efficient welding composite device for constructing continuous underwater pipes.

As used herein, the term "tube member" is to be understood as a length of tube to be welded at one time to a conduit. The "tube member" may have the length of a single tube, or it may have several tubes welded together in advance to prepare for the next process.

[Means to solve the problem]

The above purpose is to provide a welding complex device for constructing continuous underwater pipes to be installed on a construction vessel, which includes a welding machine installed at the connection point between the pipe and the pipe member to be welded; a deburring trimmer arranged coaxially with the conduit so as to be movable relative to the conduit in a region; a support device for supporting the end portion of the conduit; a tube member to be welded; a holding device rotatably arranged to attach, retain and maintain the machine and a deburring trimmer axially aligned with the end portion of the conduit; the conduit and the pipe member to be welded thereto; According to the present invention, an accumulator is arranged to be laterally offset from the coaxial line of the retainer for storing the tube member and continuously supplying the tube member to the loading position. The device comprises a platform movable along an axis common to the axis of the pipe line and the axis of the pipe parts to be welded by a resistance butt welding machine, and a plate having a support device for carrying the pipe parts to be welded. The plate member is provided on a sharp shaft on the table so as to rotate between a position aligned with the pipe member to be welded and a loading position, and a rotation drive for said rotation. operably connected to the device;
In the above-mentioned accumulator, the pipe member to be supplied extends at a predetermined angle with respect to the end portion of the pipe line, and when the plate member is rotated to the loading position, the pipe member is removed from the accumulator by a holding device. This is achieved by means of a welding complex which can be moved longitudinally inward.

The above-described construction of the welding complex makes it possible to use resistance butt welding for the construction of continuous underwater pipes. Since the table carrying all the welding equipment used for the welding operation is movable, it can follow the movement of the end portion of the pipe, and pipe members can be continuously loaded from the joint side. Due to the structure of the accumulator and the rotatable plate member, the alignment of the pipe line and the pipe member is precise and the spacing between the ends to be welded remains constant. Moreover, the total length of the welding complex device can be reduced. Furthermore, the device of the invention allows handling of long tubular members. This increases the efficiency of pipe construction work by reducing the number of seams that must be welded on site.

Depending on the length and diameter of the pipe member to be welded, the resistance butt welding machine included in the welding composite device of the present invention may be an in-pipe welding machine, that is, a welding machine that can be inserted into the pipe member to be welded. Alternatively, it can be a welding machine installed externally to the tubular member.

In order to simplify the structure of the holding device, the pivot point for rotating the plate member of the holding device is located at the opposite end of the pipe member to the end to be welded to the pipe line and the pipe member to be welded to it. including a piston rod of a hydraulic cylinder mounted on the table in alignment with a common axis of the pipes, and a piston rod on the table at the end of the tubular member to be welded for cooperating with the plate member in the aligned position of the tubular member. It is advantageous to provide at least two hydraulic cylinders with piston rods, which cooperate with said hydraulic cylinders to align the axis of the pipe member to be welded with the axis of the conduit in the same horizontal plane. be.

〔Example〕

Referring to the accompanying drawings, a welding composite device 1 (FIG. 1) for constructing a continuous underwater pipeline 2 is provided on the deck 3 of a work boat 4. The welding complex device 1 includes a support device 5 (formed in the shape of a roller table installed on the deck 3) that supports the end portion of the pipe line 2, and an in-pipe welding machine 7 for resistance butt welding.
(FIG. 2); a clamping mechanism 8, 9; and an external trimmer 10 for removing burrs. On the side of the holding device 6 there is a tube member 12 to be welded.
An accumulator 11 (Figs. 3 and 4) is provided for storing and continuously supplying water, and each pipe member is made up of one pipe or several pipes welded in advance in preparation for the next process. There is.

The welding composite device 1 (Fig. 1) includes a power generation device 13.
Electric power is supplied from (Figures 3 and 4). This power generation device 13 is provided integrally with a control unit (not shown) on the deck 3 (FIG. 1) of the work boat 4, and a rotating boom 14 that supports a power cable 15.
(FIG. 2), it is electrically connected to the pipe welding machine 7.

In the present invention, the holding device 6 includes a platform 16 provided to reciprocate on the deck 3 along a rail 17 extending in the axial direction of the conduit 2 . The platform 16 cooperates with an actuating device 18, which is formed in the form of a power cylinder pivotally mounted on the deck 3, the piston rod of which is located on the bottom side of the platform 16 in the region of the wheels 19 of the platform 16. It is pivoted. stand 16
A guide roller 22 is provided at the end of the plate member 21 which is provided to rotate around the upper vertical cusp 20, and when the plate member 21 rotates around the cusp 20, the guide roller 22 is adapted to rotate along an arcuate rail 23 (FIG. 4) provided on the table 16. The plate member 21 is provided with a rotation drive device 24 for rotating the plate member. The rotary drive device 24 is formed in the form of a double-acting fluid cylinder, and the housing of the rotary drive device is pivotally connected to the base 16, and the piston rod of the rotary drive device is pivotally connected to the plate member 21. There is.

In the region of the cusp 20 the plate member 21 (FIG. 5)
Above is an in-pipe welding machine (for example, a West German patent)
The reciprocating mechanism 2 is operatively connected to a rod 26 carrying a suitable tube welding machine known in the art, such as a resistance butt tube welding machine such as B2918082.
5 is provided.

Although the reciprocating mechanism 25 in this embodiment is a rack-and-pinion type mechanism, it can be any other reciprocating mechanism, such as a hydraulic cylinder, for example. A clamp mechanism 8 (FIG. 2) is supported on the stand 16 facing the distal end of the plate member 21. The clamping mechanism 8 aligns the pipe member 12 received from the accumulator with the pipe line 2 in the vicinity of the pipe welding machine 7 with respect to the stand 16 . This clamping mechanism 8 can be any suitable known device, for example of the suspended trolley type (as disclosed in Soviet Patent No. A904244 Welding Composite Device) with a housing fixed to a stand 16.

On the plate member 21 and between the reciprocating mechanism 25 and the clamp mechanism 8, there is a pipe member 12 to be welded.
A carrier device 27 is provided for carrying the. In this embodiment, the carrier device 27 is shown as a driven roller table, which facilitates the axial adjustment of the tube member 12.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the plate member 2
The vertical cusp 20 on 1 is constituted by the piston rod of a hydraulic cylinder 28 (FIG. 5) mounted on pedestal 16.

Disposed below the distal end of the plate member 21 are hydraulic cylinders 29 and 30 (FIG. 6) mounted on the platform 16 and supporting the arcuate rail 23 with their piston rods.

The combination of hydraulic cylinders 28, 29, 30 provides adjustment and correction of the axial position of the tube part 12 to be welded with respect to the axis of the end section of the line 2. That is, an operative alignment is obtained that aligns these two axes in the same horizontal plane. The operable alignment of these two axes on the same vertical plane is achieved by a rotary drive or hydraulic cylinder 24 (FIGS. 3 and 4) capable of rotating the plate member 21 and a horizontal displacement mechanism 31 (FIGS. 3 and 4). (Fig. 5). The above-mentioned horizontal movement mechanism 31 includes two fluid pressure cylinders 3 provided on the plate member 21 and facing in the horizontal direction.
2, 33, the piston rod of the hydraulic cylinder is connected to the rod 2 of the housing of the reciprocating mechanism 26.
It collides with both sides of 6.

The clamping mechanism 9 (FIGS. 2 and 3), which is provided on the stand 16 over the outline of the plate member 21,
for maintaining the platform 16 in the operative position relative to the end of the plate. It is preferable that the clamp mechanism 9 has the same structure as the above-described clamp mechanism 8, and includes an external burr removal trimmer 10 that reciprocates in the axial direction.
The housing can be of known construction, such as in US Pat. No. 3,657,962.

An accumulator 11 for the storage and continuous supply of tubular parts 12 to be welded, as disclosed in German patent A 2364502, is fixed on the deck 3 of the work boat 4 next to a platform 16 (FIGS. 3 and 4). The axis of the pipe member 12 to be supplied (that is, the loading position of the composite welding device 1) is inclined at an angle α with respect to the axis of the pipe line 2. The actual value of the angle .alpha. is selected such that the space required is minimal and the stroke of the hydraulic cylinder 24 to rotate the plate 21 through this angle is minimal. However, in principle, the range of this value is quite wide.

The accumulator is provided with a scraping tool 34 for aligning the ends of the tube members 12 in preparation for welding.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a modified embodiment of the present invention.
Instead of the in-pipe welding machine, an externally mounted welding machine 35 for resistance butt welding, which is integrated with the welding composite device 1, is provided. The externally mounted welding machine 35 can be, for example, as in German patent B2332006.

Externally mounted resistance butt welding machine 35 is operatively connected to platform 16 via clamping mechanism 8 . The reciprocating mechanism 25 in this embodiment is operatively connected to a rod 36 having an optional internal deburring trimmer 37 such as that of U.S. Pat. No. 3,745,319.

The above-described embodiment of the welding complex 1 is otherwise similar to the embodiment described above.

The operation of the welding composite device 1 of the present invention will be explained below.

The pipe member 12 whose end has been treated in advance with the scraping tool 34 is placed in the accumulator 11 (FIGS. 3 and 4).
to the loading position. Rotation drive device 24
is activated to cause the pipe welding machine 7 together with the plate member 21 to
By pivoting around the pointed axis 20 by an angle α, the geometrical axis of the tube welding machine 7 is moved from its initial skewed position and brought into alignment with the axis of the pipe line 2 . When the plate member 21 is rotated in this manner, the guide roller 22 of the plate member is guided by the arcuate rail 23.

On the contrary, when the welding complex device 1 includes an externally mounted welding machine 35, the plate member 21 rotates, but the externally mounted welding machine 35 remains on the stand 16, and the internal burr removal trimmer 37 is the plate member 21
rotates with.

At the loading position, the tube welding machine 7 (or the internal burr removal trimmer 37) transfers the tube member 12 to the tube welding machine 7 (or the internal burr removal trimmer 3).
7) is supplied by a driven roller table (not shown) below the tube member 12 on the accumulator 11 and coaxial with the tube member 12.

The rotation drive device 24 is urged in the opposite direction, and the plate member 21 and the pipe welding machine 7 (or the internal trimmer 3
7) and the received tubular member 12 is rotated and moved to an initial alignment position abutting the housing of the clamping mechanism 8.

The pipe member 12 moves toward the pipe line 2 together with the pipe welding machine 7 (or internal burr removal trimmer 37), abuts against the end face of the pipe line 2, and is preliminarily clamped by the clamp mechanism 8. Next, the axis of the pipe member 12 and the axis of the pipe line 2 are connected to the fluid pressure cylinders 28 to 30.
are aligned on the same horizontal plane, and on the same vertical plane by the horizontal movement mechanism 31 of the plate member 21 and its rotation drive device 24. In the embodiment having an in-pipe welding machine 7, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the reciprocating mechanism 25 pushes the in-pipe welding machine 7 into the pipe line 2 as much as necessary to form a joint between the pipe line 2 and the pipe member 12. Acquire the operating position of. Associated mechanisms of the tube welding machine 7 then perform the final centering and clamping of the tube member 12 to be welded relative to the conduit 2. At the same time, the clamp mechanism 8 releases the clamp on the tube member 12.

In the embodiment with an external welding machine 35 (FIG. 7), the reciprocating mechanism 25 pushes the internal deburring trimmer 37 into the pipe line 2 as far as necessary, while the pipe member 12 is moved externally. The tubular member 12 is then moved into an on-board welding machine 35 for final alignment and clamping from the outside. Clamp mechanism 9
actuates the clamping mechanism 8, which has been kept in a moving state holding the platform 16 relative to the conduit 2, to release the tube member 12.

When the position of the work vessel relative to the pipe line 2 is changed by rolling or pitting, the pipe line 2 cooperates with the platform 16 via the clamping mechanism 9 and the pipe welding machine 7
Alternatively, the table 16 is moved along the rail 17 by tightening the externally mounted welding machine 35, and all the equipment of the welding complex related to welding is moved together with the table 16. The mobility of this platform 16 therefore ensures reliability and accuracy of the alignment of the tube element 12 with the line 2 and also allows the tube element 12 to be preset in a preset position of the relative axis of the weld with the line 2. does not change.

If the platform 16 is moved from approximately its center position to the rail 17
When moved longitudinally, the actuator 18 is actuated to return the weld to the central position, allowing welding operations even in fairly rough seas. or actuating device 1
8 acts as a hydraulic shock absorber.

In the operating position of the above-mentioned welding composite device 1,
The seams are welded by an in-pipe welding machine 7 or an externally mounted welding machine 35.

When the welding operation is completed, the reciprocating mechanism is activated to pull the pipe welding machine 7 or the internal burr removal trimmer 37 past the welding area to remove the internal burr.

External flash is removed by an external trimmer 10 or, in embodiments with an externally mounted welding machine 35, by a trimming device attached to the externally mounted welding machine 35.

Clamping mechanism 9 is then actuated to release conduit 2 from its rollers. (Even in the embodiment equipped with an externally mounted welding machine, the clamp mechanism 9 operates to release the pipe line 2.) The work boat 4 is moved a required distance from the pipe line 2 to which the above-mentioned pipe member 12 is joined. The pipe 2 is moved forward (during this time the pipe 2 rolls freely on the roller table of the support device 5) so that the previously welded end of the pipe member 12 is separated by a distance necessary for the next welding. The work boat 4 is held and the pipe line 2 is clamped by the clamp mechanism 9.
It is again held against the platform 16 by the holder and the above-described operating cycle is repeated.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As can be seen from the above description, the welding composite device of the present invention is compact and operationally reliable. The length occupied by the welding equipment is short and the length occupied by the auxiliary equipment is truncated.

By providing a rotatable plate member, there is no need to retract the pipe welding machine (or internal deburring trimmer) over a length equal to the entire length of the pipe parts to be welded. Therefore, the length of the pipe parts to be welded can be increased and the number of joints on site is reduced. The above increases the productivity of pipeline construction,
The ability to perform offshore resistance butt welding increases production efficiency.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a pipe-laying work boat equipped with a welding composite device of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the entire welding composite equipment in more detail than Fig. 1, and Figs. FIG. 4 is a plan view of the welding complex, particularly showing the operating and loading positions, FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line V-V in FIG. 2, and FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line - The cross-sectional view, FIG. 7, is a schematic diagram generally illustrating another embodiment of the invention. 2... Pipeline, 5... Support device, 6... Holding device, 7, 35... Resistance butt welding machine, 10,
37... Trimmer for burr removal, 11... Accumulator, 12... Pipe member, 16... Stand, 20... Sharp shaft, 21... Plate member, 24... Rotation drive device, 2
7... Carrying device, 28, 29, 30... Fluid pressure cylinder.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A welding composite device for constructing a continuous underwater pipe 2 installed on a construction vessel, which is disposed at a connection point between the pipe 2 and a pipe member 12 to be welded thereto. a welding machine; a flash removal trimmer 10, 37 disposed coaxially with the pipe line 2 so as to be movable relative to the pipe line 2 in the welding area; a support device for supporting the end portion of the pipe line 2; 5; rotatably provided for mounting, holding and maintaining the pipe member 12 to be welded, the welding machine and the deburring trimmer 10, 37 axially aligned with the end portion of the pipe line; a holding device 6 disposed laterally offset from the coaxial line of the pipe line 2 and the pipe piece 12 to be welded thereto for storing the pipe piece 12 and keeping it in the loading position; and an accumulator 11 for supplying the pipes in the same manner as shown in FIG. It comprises a table 16 movable along the plate member 21 and a plate member 21 having a support device 27 for supporting the pipe member 12 to be welded.
1 is provided on a sharp shaft 20 on the table 16 so as to rotate between a position aligned with the pipe member 12 to be welded and a loading position, and is actuated by a rotation drive device 24 for the above-mentioned rotation. The above-mentioned accumulator 11 is connected to the pipe member 12 to be supplied to the pipe line 2.
The tube member 12 is extended at a predetermined angle with respect to the end portion of the plate member so that the pipe member 12 can be moved in the longitudinal direction from the accumulator 11 into the holding device 6 when the plate member is rotated to the loading position. A composite welding device characterized by: 2. Claim 1, wherein the resistance butt welding machine is an in-pipe welding machine 7 provided on the plate member 21 of the holding device 6.
Composite device for welding as described in. 3 The resistance butt welding machine is mounted on the stand 1 of the holding device 6.
A welding complex device according to claim 1, which is an externally mounted welding machine (35) mounted on a welding machine (35). 4 The plate member rotation point shaft 20 of the holding device 6 is aligned with the common axis of the pipe line 2 and the pipe member 12 to be welded to the position of the end of the pipe member 12 opposite to the end to be welded. includes a piston rod of a hydraulic cylinder 28 mounted on the pedestal 16;
At least two hydraulic cylinders 29, 30 with piston rods are provided in the end position of the upper tube part 12 to be welded, which cooperate with the plate part 21 in the aligned position of the tube part 12, The welding device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the axis of the pipe member 12 to be welded and the axis of the pipe line 2 are aligned in the same horizontal plane in cooperation with the fluid pressure cylinder 28 of. Composite device.