JPH05319258A - Traveling device for traveling dolly which travels in inside-pipe fluid - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To travel in a pipe in which the fluid such as water and oil flows through the revolution around the axis line without requiring the energy such as electricity and pressure, and can properly execute the prevention of adhesion of foreign materials on the inner surface of the pipe and the detection of the defect on the inner surface of the pipe over the peripheral and lengthwise directions on the inner surface of the pipe. CONSTITUTION:A traveling device consists of a propeller 2 which is revolved by the flow of the fluid in a pipe A and a traveling dolly 1 which travels in the pipe A, using the revolution of the propeller 2 as power, and on the traveling dolly 1, a plurality of wheels 4 in contact with the inner surface of the pipe A are installed in inclination by a prescribed angle for the axis line of the pipe A. Accordingly, the traveling dolly 1 can be traveled in the axis line direction in the pipe A through the revolution around the axis line.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a traveling apparatus for a traveling vehicle that travels in a pipe of a pipeline through which a fluid such as water or oil flows, by the flow of the fluid.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in order to prevent foreign substances such as living things, dust, sludge, etc. from adhering to the inner surface of a pipeline through which a fluid such as water or oil flows, or to detect flaws on inner surface defects of a pipe, 2. Description of the Related Art A traveling carriage equipped with a foreign matter adhesion preventive device, a flaw detection device, etc. is made to travel inside a pipe along its axis.

In order to drive such a traveling carriage in the pipe, energy such as electricity or pressure has conventionally been required as power for the traveling, so that the traveling mechanism and operation of the traveling carriage become complicated and the cost is high. There was a problem such as bulking.

As a device which solves the above-mentioned problems and allows a traveling carriage to travel without requiring energy such as electricity or pressure, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-26158, for example, rotates by the flow of a fluid flowing in a pipe. A device composed of a propeller and a traveling carriage that travels by using the rotation of the propeller (hereinafter,
Prior art) is disclosed.

FIG. 4 is a schematic vertical sectional view of the prior art device described above. As shown in FIG. 4, the propeller 32, which is slightly shorter than the inner diameter of the pipe A, is rotatably supported by the traveling carriage 31 via the shaft 33. At least two wheels 34 rotatably contacting the inner surface of the pipe A are attached to the traveling carriage 31 via support shafts 35. A worm gear 36 is attached to the tip of the rotating shaft of the propeller 32, a gear 37 meshes with the worm gear 36, and a pulley 38 is coaxially attached to the gear 37. A belt 40 is wound around a pulley 38 and a pulley 39 mounted on one wheel 34.

According to the above-mentioned prior art, the rotation of the propeller 32, which is rotated by the flow of the fluid flowing in the pipe, causes the rotation of the propeller 32 through the worm gear 36, the gear 37 and the belt 40 to the one of the wheels 34.
Is transmitted to the traveling carriage 31 by the rotation of the wheels 34.
Runs in tube A along its axis. Therefore, it is not necessary to supply energy from the outside, and the traveling carriage 31 can be economically driven by a simple mechanism.

[0007]

The above-mentioned prior art has the following problems. That is, according to the prior art,
As described above, the traveling carriage 31 can be made to travel along the axis of the pipe A, but the traveling carriage 31 cannot be made to perform rotational movement about that axis. Therefore,
For example, when a brush or the like that comes into contact with the inner surface of the pipe A is attached to the traveling carriage 31, and in order to prevent organisms from adhering to the inner surface of the pipe A by this brush, the brush should be brought into contact with the entire inner circumferential surface of the pipe A. Unless a large number of large brushes are attached, it is not possible to properly prevent the adhesion of organisms to the inner surface of the tube A in the circumferential direction thereof.

The problem described above can be solved by running the traveling carriage 31 in the pipe while rotating it about its axis. However, if another power mechanism is provided for this purpose, the device becomes extremely complicated and maintenance is difficult. Inspection is not easy, and problems such as high cost occur. The rotation of the propeller 32 is transmitted to one of the wheels 34 via the worm gear 36, the gear 37 and the belt 40, and the rotation of the wheel 34 causes the traveling carriage to travel.
Since 31 is adapted to travel in the pipe A, the driving force of the traveling vehicle 31 by the propeller 32 is weak.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and to rotate a traveling carriage around its axis without requiring energy such as electricity or pressure.
It can run in a pipe where a fluid such as water or oil flows.
This allows organisms, debris, and
It is an object of the present invention to provide a traveling device for a traveling carriage that can prevent foreign substances such as sludge from adhering to the inner surface of the pipe, and can detect flaws on the inner surface of the pipe accurately in the circumferential direction and the length direction of the inner surface of the pipe.

[0010]

[0011]

In the device of the present invention, the propeller which rotates by the flow of the fluid in the pipe, and the plurality of wheels which are in contact with the inner surface of the pipe and travel along the axis of the propeller by the rotation of the propeller as power. Each of the plurality of wheels of a device including a traveling carriage having a. Is mounted at a predetermined angle with respect to the axis of the pipe. Therefore, while rotating the traveling carriage around its axis,
It can run in the axial direction.

Therefore, for example, when a brush or the like that comes into contact with the inner surface of the pipe is attached to the traveling carriage and the foreign matter is prevented from adhering to the inner surface of the pipe with this brush, the brush is moved by the traveling and rotation of the traveling carriage. It can be moved in the length direction of the pipe while being in spiral contact with the inner surface of the pipe.
As a result, it is possible to appropriately prevent foreign matter from adhering to the inner surface of the pipe in the circumferential direction and the longitudinal direction of the inner surface of the pipe.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, the device of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic front view showing an embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a view taken in the direction of arrow a in FIG. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, at one end of the traveling carriage 1, four propellers 2 that are slightly shorter than the inner diameter of the pipe A are provided.
Three wheels 4 that rotatably contact the inner surface of the pipe A are radially mounted in the same plane via a support shaft 3 on each of the front portion and the rear portion of the traveling carriage 1. Each of the wheels 4 is attached at a predetermined angle with respect to the axis of the pipe A.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing an example of a mechanism for transmitting the rotation of the propeller 2 rotated by the flow of the fluid flowing in the pipe A to the wheels 4. As shown in FIG. 3, the propeller 2 is installed in the traveling carriage 1 along the central axis of the traveling carriage 1.
A rotary shaft 5 having first bevel gears 6 at both ends thereof is provided for transmitting the rotation of the wheel to the wheel 4.

In the traveling carriage 1, a first gear 7 coaxial with the shaft 2a of the propeller 2 and a second gear 8 meshing with the first gear 7 are provided.
And a third gear 9 coaxial with the shaft 8a of the second gear 8 and a fourth gear 10 that meshes with the third gear 9 and rotates around the rotary shaft 5.
A fifth gear 11 meshing with the fourth gear 10, a sixth gear 12 coaxial with the fifth gear 11, and a rotating shaft 5 meshing with the sixth gear 12.
A seventh gearwheel 13 that surrounds the shaft and idles; a clutch 14 that can move horizontally on the rotary shaft 5 and that rotates integrally with the rotary shaft 5;
A first engagement piece 14a provided on one end side of the clutch 14 and engageable with the seventh gear 13, a second engagement piece 14b provided on the other end side of the clutch 14, and a second engagement piece An eighth gear 15 that is engageable with 14b and rotates around the rotating shaft 5, a ninth gear 16 that meshes with the eighth gear 15, and a sixth gear that is coaxial with the shaft 16a of the ninth gear 16. A tenth gear 17 meshing with 12 is provided. Reference numeral 18 is a torque limiter provided on the fourth gear 10.

First bevel gears 6 provided at both ends of the rotary shaft 5.
A second bevel gear 20 attached to the upper end of a vertical shaft 19 for rotating the wheels 4 meshes with the gear, and a third bevel gear 21 is attached to the lower end of the vertical shaft 19. The third bevel gear 21 meshes with the fourth bevel gear 23 attached to the horizontal rotation shaft 22 of the wheel 4.

A clutch switching mechanism 24 has one end protruding from one end of the traveling carriage 1 through the propeller 2 and the other end protruding from the other end of the traveling carriage 1.
Switching rod 25 that can move horizontally and switching rod 25
Is fixed to the middle part of the
And a switching piece 26 that engages with 14c.

Switching rod of clutch switching mechanism 24
25 is operated by a switching rod operating mechanism (not shown), and the first engaging piece 14a of the clutch 14 is meshed with the seventh gear 13 by the switching piece 26 that engages with the groove 14c of the clutch 14. The rotation of the propeller 2 is performed by rotating the first gear 7, the second gear 8, the third gear 9, the fourth gear 10, the fifth gear 11, and the sixth gear 1.
2, through the seventh gear 13 and the first engaging piece 14a of the clutch 14 and transmitted to the rotating shaft 5 by the clutch 14,
Rotate to the right as indicated by the solid arrow.

As a result, the first bevel gear 6 provided at both ends of the rotary shaft 5, the second bevel gear 20 attached to the upper end of the vertical shaft 19, the third bevel gear 21 at the lower end of the vertical shaft 19, and the horizontal rotation. axis
The wheel 4 rotates forward through the fourth bevel gear 23 attached to the wheel 22. As described above, the wheels 4 are attached so as to be inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the axis of the pipe A, so that the traveling carriage 1 advances in the pipe A while rotating around the axis.

Switching rod of clutch switching mechanism 24
25 is operated by a switching rod actuating mechanism (not shown), and the second engaging piece 14b of the clutch 14 is meshed with the eighth gear 15 by the switching piece 26 that engages with the groove 14c of the clutch 14. The rotation of the propeller 2 is performed by rotating the first gear 7, the second gear 8, the third gear 9, the fourth gear 10, the fifth gear 11, and the sixth gear 1.
2, the tenth gear 17, the ninth gear 16, the eighth gear 15, and the second engaging piece 14b of the clutch 14 are transmitted to the rotary shaft 5 by the clutch 14, and the rotary shaft 5 is indicated by a dotted arrow. Turn counterclockwise.

As a result, the first bevel gear 6 provided at both ends of the rotary shaft 5, the second bevel gear 20 attached to the upper end of the vertical shaft 19, the third bevel gear 21 at the lower end of the vertical shaft 19 and the horizontal rotation. axis
The wheel 4 rotates in the reverse direction via the fourth bevel gear 23 attached to the wheel 22. Therefore, the traveling vehicle 1 moves backward in the pipe A while rotating about its axis.

As described above, since the traveling carriage 1 moves back and forth in the pipe A while rotating about its axis, if the traveling carriage 1 is equipped with a foreign matter adhesion preventive device such as a brush or a flaw detector. It is possible to prevent foreign matter from adhering and to detect flaws over the entire circumference of the pipe. Further, the rotation of the propeller 2 is transmitted to all the wheels 4 via the rotary shaft 5, and the rotation of the wheels 4 causes the traveling carriage 1 to travel in the pipe A. The driving force of the traveling carriage 1 by the propeller 2 is strong, so that the traveling carriage 1 can smoothly travel in the pipe A. The mechanism for transmitting the rotation of the propeller 2 to the wheels 4 is not limited to the structure described above.

[0023]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The traveling carriage can be reciprocated along the axis of the pipe while rotating around the axis without requiring energy such as electricity or pressure, which causes fluid such as water or oil to flow. It is possible to prevent foreign matter such as living things, dust, and sludge from adhering to the inner surface of the pipe, or to detect flaws on the inner surface of the pipe, etc. accurately, and to bring about an industrially useful effect. .

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view showing an embodiment of the device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view on arrow a of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing an example of a mechanism for transmitting the rotation of the propeller of the traveling carriage to the wheels.

FIG. 4 is a schematic vertical sectional view of a prior art device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 A pipe, 1 traveling carriage, 2 propellers, 3 support shafts, 4 wheels, 5 rotating shafts, 6 first bevel gears, 7 1st gears, 8 2nd gears, 9 3rd gears, 10 4th gears, 11 5th Gears, 12 6th gear, 13 7th gear, 14 clutch, 14a 1st engagement piece, 14b 2nd engagement piece, 15 8th gear, 16 9th gear, 17 10th gear, 18 torque limiter, 19 vertical Shaft, 20 second bevel gear, 21 third bevel gear, 22 horizontal rotating shaft, 23 fourth bevel gear, 24 clutch switching mechanism, 25 switching rod, 26 switching piece, 31 traveling carriage, 32 propeller, 33 shaft, 34 wheels , 35 support shaft, 36 worm gear, 37 gear, 38 pulley, 39 pulley, 40 belt.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Tomoaki Sato 1-2-1, Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Nihon Kokan Co., Ltd. (72) Koji Ueda 1-2-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Nippon Steel Tube Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yukihiko Okamoto 1-2-1, Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Nihon Steel Tube Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A propeller that rotates by the flow of a fluid in a pipe, and a traveling carriage that has a plurality of wheels that are in contact with the inner surface of the pipe and that run in the pipe along its axis by using the rotation of the propeller as a power. In the traveling apparatus of the traveling carriage consisting of, each of the plurality of wheels contacting the inner surface of the pipe is attached to the traveling carriage inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the axis of the pipe, and thus, inside the pipe. A traveling apparatus for a traveling vehicle that travels in a fluid in a pipe, characterized in that the traveling vehicle traveling along an axis is provided with a rotational motion about the axis.