JPH0349514A - Push-in type in-conduit-line travel device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable changing the inclination of a probe camera and efficiently lay a cable in a conduit line, the inner face of which has obstacles, by driving a front plate with suction-and-exhaust-type expansion flexible materials. CONSTITUTION:V-shaped flat front plate 1 and rear plate 5 are arranged parallel and face to face and connected by three hollow cylindrical suction-and- exhaust-type expansion flexible tubes 4 extended from one plate to the other and interposed therebetween. The front plate 1 and the suction-and-exhaust-type expansion flexible tubes 4 which are used must have high degrees of freedom of rotation. Compression coil springs 3 are made around each of the suction-and- exhaust-type expansion flexible tubes 4 coaxially therewith. Inclination of the front plate 1, or the direction of a probe camera is changed as desired and obstacles are avoided by selectively supplying air to the three suction-and- exhaust-type expansion flexible tubes 4 to change the pressure.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] This invention is a push-in pipe running device, more specifically, a push-in pipe running device that is manually pushed into a pipe one by one using a pushing operation cable attached to the device. The present invention relates to a push type pipe running device used for inspecting the inside of the pipe and pulling cables into the pipe.

[Conventional technology]

Hitherto, there has been no special devised push-in pipe traveling device, and the only known device is, for example, one in which a TV camera for inspecting the pipe is simply attached to the tip of a cable.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Due to the above-mentioned structure in conventional equipment, it is difficult to thoroughly observe and inspect the inner wall of a relatively large-diameter conduit, such as a conduit for installing electric cables, over its entire circumference. It is difficult to do.

If there is some kind of obstruction in the conduit and it becomes impossible to push the device in, the only way is to repeat trial and error, such as pulling out the cable once and trying to push it in again. It was difficult to accurately grasp the obstacles, avoid those obstacles, and explore the path ahead.

[Means to solve the problem]

This invention was made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and includes a front plate to which an exploration camera can be attached, a rear plate to which a cable to be laid can be attached, and the front plate and the rear plate. At least two flexible supply/exhaust tubes arranged between the two and connecting the two, and a coiled compressor provided in parallel in the vicinity of each flexible flexible tube for supply/exhaust. This is a push type pipe running device characterized by comprising a spring.

Further, in the above-mentioned push-in conduit traveling device, at least two transfer elements that contact the inner wall surface of the conduit are provided on each of the front plate and the rear plate, and the transfer elements are spaced apart in the circumferential direction of the conduit. This is a push type pipe running device.

The present invention also provides a push-in type intra-pipe traveling device as described above, in which each of the coiled compression springs is wrapped around the outer periphery of each of the air supply/exhaust type telescoping flexible pipe bodies.

[Effect]

By expanding and contracting at least two extensible supply/exhaust type flexible pipe bodies, the inclination of the front plate, and thus the direction of the exploration camera, can be changed to thoroughly inspect the inside of the pipe.

By attaching the cable to the rear panel and pushing it in, you can install the cable inside the conduit.

In addition, if there is an obstacle in the pipeline, it is possible to inspect and explore the area around the obstacle, find a route that avoids the obstacle, and push it further into the pipeline. It is also possible to install new cables.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

A front plate 1, which is a flat plate in the shape of a "<", and a rear plate 5, which has the same shape, are arranged parallel to each other, and between the two 1 and 5 are three hollow cylindrical plates extending in the direction connecting them. They are connected by an air supply/exhaust type telescoping flexible pipe body 4.

The connecting portion between the front plate 1 and the air supply/exhaust type extensible and retractable tube body 4 is preferably a so-called universal joint that has a relatively large degree of freedom of rotation.

The supply/exhaust type telescopic flexible tube body 4 has a hollow cylindrical shape with both ends closed, and contracts in the axial direction when a working fluid, usually compressed air, is supplied. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, a hollow cylindrical tube 42 made of synthetic rubber or the like is covered with a braided bag 4l having a diamond-shaped mesh on the outside, or is formed integrally with the tube 42. and molded tube 4
When air is injected into the inside of the braided bag 4l and pressurized, the preformed tube 42 tends to expand in all directions, but due to the expansion in the radial direction, the diamond shape of the mesh of the braided bag 4l becomes longer, and the diagonal line along the circumferential direction becomes longer. Since the tube 42 is deformed into a diamond shape in which the diagonal along the axial direction becomes shorter, the certain-shaped tube 42 actually contracts in the axial direction. The degree of this contraction is related to the shape of the braid, the wall thickness and material of the original tube 42, and has the form of a nonlinear decreasing function f (P) for the internal pressure P.
Therefore, it becomes ff(P) for the original length l.

A coiled compression spring 3 is installed coaxially with the outer side of the air supply/exhaust type extensible rockfish tube 4.

An exploration camera 2, which is a suitable industrial TV camera, can be attached to the front of the front plate 1.

An operation control cable 6 is attached to the rear surface of the rear plate 5.

This operation control cable 6 is used for pushing operation, so it has relatively high rigidity and flexibility, and inside there is a control cable for operating the exploration camera 2 and a supply/exhaust type telescopic flexible tube body 4. Contains an air hose for supplying and exhausting air.

Further, when the device of the present invention is used for cable installation, the tip of the cable 8 to be installed is attached to the rear plate 5.

Furthermore, at least two places on the front plate 1 and the rear plate 5 are placed at least two places spaced apart in the circumferential direction on the outside, in this embodiment, one place each at the three vertices of the "<" character, for example, at three places, such as pole casters. A rolling element 7 is attached.

Next, the operation of this inventive device will be explained.

By selectively supplying air to the three extensible flexible tubes 4 and varying the internal pressure, the inclination of the front plate 1 and therefore the direction of the exploration camera 2 can be freely changed, You can thoroughly inspect the inside of the

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 4, if there is an existing cable 10 in the conduit 9, the advantage of the device of the present invention that allows the direction of the exploration camera 2 to be freely changed can be fully utilized to remove the obstacle. Therefore, it is possible to find a route to avoid the existing cable 10 and push it further into the interior.

Next, a modified embodiment of this invention will be considered.

At least two flexible air supply/exhaust tubes 4 are required, spaced apart in the circumferential direction. However, since the purpose of the coiled compression spring 3 is to promote the return of the front plate 1 to the previous position when exhaust air is exhausted from the air supply/exhaust type telescoping flexible pipe body 4, the coiled compression spring 3 is not provided in parallel in this vicinity. Therefore, it is not necessarily necessary to provide it coaxially with the outside of the air supply/exhaust type telescoping flexible tube body 4.

Regarding the number of coiled compression springs 3, is the purpose of their operation mentioned above? Considering this, it can be seen that in extreme cases, it is sufficient to have one in the center.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to this invention, the front plate is equipped with at least two extensible and retractable flexible tubes for air supply and exhaust, so these can be expanded and contracted to freely change the inclination of the front plate and, therefore, the direction of the exploration camera. This has the effect of allowing thorough inspection and observation of the inside of the pipeline.

In addition, (1) the cable can be attached to the rear panel, so in combination with the effect (2) mentioned above, there is an advantage that the cable can be laid efficiently in a conduit where there are obstacles such as existing cables.

In addition, in this embodiment, (1) transfer elements are attached to the front plate and the rear plate, which is convenient because friction is reduced when pushing in while contacting the inner wall of the pipe.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a side sectional view showing an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a front view thereof, Fig. 3 is a simplified side sectional view illustrating an air supply/exhaust type telescoping flexible pipe body, and Fig. 4 is an existing cable FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a pipe line. 1... Front plate, 2... Exploration camera, 3...
・Coil-shaped compression spring, 4... Air supply/exhaust type telescopic flexible tube body,

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A front plate (1) to which an exploration camera (2) can be attached; a rear plate (5) to which a cable (8) to be installed can be attached; and the front plate (1). ) and the rear plate (5), and at least two air supply/exhaust type telescoping flexible pipe bodies (4) connecting both (1) and (5); A push type in-pipe traveling device characterized by comprising coiled compression springs (3) arranged in parallel in the vicinity of a flexible tubular body (4). 2. Each of the front plate (1) and the rear plate (5) is provided with at least two rolling elements (7) which are spaced apart in the circumferential direction of the conduit and which contact the inner wall surface of the conduit. 2. The push-in conduit traveling device according to claim 1. 3. The push type intra-pipe traveling device according to claim 1, wherein each of the coiled compression springs (3) is wrapped around the outer periphery of each of the air supply/exhaust type telescoping flexible pipe bodies (4).