JPH0689870B2 - Remote piping joint device - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a pipe joint device that can be easily detached and attached by remote control, and more particularly, it is remarkably difficult to enter for maintenance work in a nuclear industrial facility. The present invention relates to a pipe joint device for equipment that is placed in a difficult place.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, equipment for handling spent nuclear fuel, high-level radioactive materials, and the like in nuclear industry facilities is arranged in a sufficiently shielded hot cell in order to prevent radiation exposure of workers. Then, when it becomes necessary to perform repair work on these devices, first, the hot cell is sufficiently decontaminated until the worker can enter the hot cell, and then the repair work is performed.

However, as described above, in order to decontaminate the hot cell until the worker can enter the hot cell,
Since it takes a lot of time, there is a problem that the utilization rate of the facility is significantly reduced.

Therefore, in order to repair the equipment in the hot cell, if the method of taking out the equipment from the hot cell and bringing it into a special equipment repair room for repair can be adopted, the above problems will be greatly improved. However, for that purpose, it is necessary to change the connection method in which each device is currently connected to the process piping or the utility piping by welding to a connection method using a joint that can be easily handled by remote control.

Various types of pipe joints that can be operated remotely have been proposed. Among them, as in the present invention, as a method of indirectly tightening and fixing the joint portion with a flange structure by means of bolts between the flange surfaces, there is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 58-97384, JP-A 60-97384. The remote piping joints described in No. 88396 and Pneumatic Combustion Technical Report No. 49-1984.3 are known.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

However, in the remote operated pipe joint of Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 58-97384, the support member freely slides in the axial direction of the pipe by the key provided in the joint. Since the member supports the drive mechanism and the collar that clamps and fixes between the pair of flange surfaces by the drive mechanism, it is difficult to align the flange and the collar by remote control, and the detachable side pipe joint body and the fixed side are difficult to align. Since there is no positioning method for the pipe joint body, it is difficult to align in the radial direction, and until the flange is tightened and fixed by another collar, the detachable side pipe joint body must be gripped and supported by another means. I won't.

Further, it is necessary to change the size of the collar for each fixed pipe size, the gears of the drive mechanism are changed for each size, and the drive mechanism is always larger than the pipe size.

Next, in the remotely operable tightening device disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-88396, the flange and the pipe part that are joints are considered for connecting straight pipes, as shown in FIG. 1 of the present invention. When used for various joint pipes, the screw rod of the tightening clamp on the device side cannot obstruct the joint pipe due to the structure and cannot be turned upward.Therefore, the manipulator must be turned sideways or downward. It is not suitable for remote operation.

Therefore, when used as a curved pipe-shaped joint, like the straight pipe portion, the loose flange portion must be attached between the fixing flanges facing each other, and in order to attach the centering plate to the guide rod, An elastic intermediate member is required. Since a metal bellows is used for this elastic intermediate member, fluid accumulates in the bellows,
In addition, there is a problem that the structure of the portion in direct contact with the fluid becomes complicated, such as a perfect seal is required so that the fluid does not leak from the pin portion which is the fulcrum of the lever for operation.

Next, the GE Hanford Coupling, which was published in the Technical Report No.49-1984.3, is for single piping and cannot be used for collective piping. Moreover, since the flange is always pulled directly by the connector jaw, there is a problem in durability when used for a long time.

In addition, the Grayloc Remotely Operable Conn
The drive screw (Drive Screw) that tightens between the flange surfaces is provided in the plane perpendicular to the direction of fluid flow, and multiple pipe joints are installed at the same level.
Moreover, if they are arranged on the same plane, there is a problem in that it is difficult to secure a space for the impact wrench for operating the drive screw. Therefore, it is necessary to sufficiently expand the space between the joints, and the joint cannot be effectively used in the limited space in the hot cell.

Also, the Tri-clamp (Los Alamos Scientifi
c Laboratory Tri Clamp) is a clamp segment (Cl
amp segment) is divided into three in the circumferential direction, and each is opened and closed via a pin. If the pipe joints are aligned on the same level and on the same plane as in the conventional example, a sufficient space for expanding the clamp segment is obtained. However, the limited space in the hot cell cannot be effectively used. Furthermore, the clamp segment must open and close along the circumference of the pipe. For this reason, the manipulator requires a three-dimensional movement and complicates the remote operation, and thus is not suitable for the remote operation in which the simplest operation is required.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to easily connect pipes to each other, to easily perform a detaching operation, and to take a relatively large space. Another object of the present invention is to provide a remote pipe joint device which has no structure, and can be used in a collective pipe by the same operation as a single pipe, and has a structure that is extremely easy to handle as a whole.

[Means for solving problems]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has a pair of remote joint flanges, which are in close contact with the fixing flange fixed to the end of the hot cell side fixed pipe and the fixing flange fixed to the end of the device side fixed pipe, respectively. Remote joint pipes fixed to the respective parts, a positioning mechanism provided between each of the fixed flanges and the remote joint flanges, and each of the fixed pipes and the remote joints provided at both ends of the remote joint pipes. A clamp mechanism for engaging and disengaging the pipe and a lifting member that is fixed to the remote joint pipe and has a grip portion on the upper portion, while the clamp mechanism is fixed to one surface of the remote joint flange. A pedestal, a plurality of shaft guides provided around the pedestal, a plurality of shafts slidably inserted through these shaft guides, and fixed to one end of these shafts, and A fixing ring is a tapered surface plane,
An arm body fixed to the other end of the shaft, a remote control bolt screwed to the arm body and rotatably inserted in the center of the pedestal, and openably and closably mounted around the pedestal, In addition, the outer peripheral portion has an inclined surface that comes into contact with the tapered surface of the fixing ring, and the inner peripheral portion comes into contact with the tapered surface formed on the outer peripheral portion of each of the fixed flange and the remote joint flange. And a plurality of claw bodies having inclined surfaces, and an opening mechanism that is provided on these claw bodies and that separates the claw bodies from the flanges.

[Action]

When connecting the hot cell side fixed pipe and the device side fixed pipe in the hot cell using the remote pipe joint device of the present invention, first, rotate the remote control bolt of the clamp mechanism in the direction in which the arm body is separated from the pedestal. Then, by horizontally moving the arm body, the plurality of shafts and the fixing ring to the head side of the remote control bolt in an integrated state, the plurality of claw bodies that are openably and closably mounted around the pedestal are pushed by the opening mechanism. Keep it open.

In this state, the manipulator grips the grasped portion of the lifting member attached to the position where the weight of the remote joint pipe is well balanced, and the remote joint flanges at both ends of the remote joint pipe are attached to the hot cell side fixing flange and the equipment side fixing flange. The abutting is made by a pair of positioning mechanisms. This 2
Since the pair of positioning mechanisms are arranged at vertically separated positions, the remote joint pipe does not rotate or drop even if the manipulator is separated from the grip portion of the lifting member.

Then, the remote control bolt of the clamp mechanism is rotated by, for example, an impact wrench attached to the manipulator or the like, and the arm body moves from the head side of the remote control bolt toward the pedestal. The shaft slides in the shaft guide of the pedestal. As these shafts slide, the taper surface inside the fixing ring fixed to one end of these shafts contacts the inclined surfaces of the outer peripheries of the plurality of pawls to move the pawls toward the radial center. Push in.

As a result, the inclined surface of the inner periphery of the claw body comes into contact with the taper surfaces of the hot cell side fixing flange and the device side fixing flange and both remote joint flanges, and each is clamped and fixed in a wedge shape to form a set of remote piping joint devices. The attachment is completed.

Further, when disassembling this remote piping joint device, the reverse operation of the above-mentioned procedure may be performed.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 11.

1 to 4 show an embodiment of the present invention.
1 is a partial cross-sectional assembly view when the remote joint piping is a single pipe, FIG. 2 is a view taken along the line II-II of FIG. 1 in which the suspension member is omitted, and FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the clamp mechanism. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the suspension member. In these figures, the hot cell side fixed pipe 1 and the device side fixed pipe 2 are arranged in the horizontal direction and in the same direction, respectively, and the end faces (pipe welding surface) a of the hot cell side fixed flange 3 and the device side fixed flange 4 are arranged. Is fixed to each of the fixed pipes 1 and 2. These fixed flanges 3 and 4 have the same shape, and each fixed flange
A tapered surface 5 is formed on the outer circumference of one of the surfaces 3 and 4, and a sealing material contact surface 6 is formed on the other surface of each of the fixing flanges 3 and 4.
A peripheral contact surface 7 and a guide pin receiving hole 8 are formed.

The guide pin receiving holes 8 are provided in the lower portion of the hot cell side fixing flange 3 and the upper portion of the device side fixing flange 4, respectively.

The remote piping joint device 10 for connecting between the fixed pipes 1 and 2 is fixed to the end faces (pipe welding surface) b of the pair of remote joint flanges 11 and 11 which are in close contact with the fixed flanges 3 and 4, respectively. Remote joint piping 12 and each of the above remote joint flanges 11, 11
Guide pins 13 and 13 projecting from and fixed to the guide pin receiving holes 8 of the fixing flanges 3 and 4 by loosely fitting,
Clamping mechanisms 14, 14 provided at both ends of the remote joint pipe 12 and for engaging and disengaging the respective fixing flanges 3, 4 and the remote joint flanges 11, 11 and a weight balance at an appropriate position of the remote joint pipe 12. It is configured mainly with a lifting member 15 fixed in consideration.

A taper surface 16 is formed on the outer peripheral portion of one surface of each of the remote coupling flanges 11 and 11, and a seal material mounting groove 17 and an outer peripheral contact surface 18 are formed on the other surface of each of the remote coupling flanges 11 and 11. At the same time, the guide pins 13 are provided so as to project.
The guide pin receiving hole 8 and the guide pin 13 form a positioning mechanism 9.

As shown in FIG. 3, the clamp mechanisms 14 and 14 have a pedestal 20 fixed to the remote joint flanges 11 and 11 by bolts 19, and a plurality of pedestals 20 provided around the pedestal 20 (three in the figure). , And a plurality of shafts 2 slidably inserted in the shaft guides 21 through sleeves 21a.
2 and a fixing ring 25 fixed to one end of these shafts 22 by a fixing pin 23 and having an inner surface as a tapered surface 24.
And an arm body 28 fixed to the other end of each of the shafts 22 by a spring washer 26 and a hexagonal nut 27, a screw portion 29a is screwed to the arm body 28, and a central bearing 30 of the pedestal 20. The small-diameter shaft portion 29b has a pair of thrust washers 31, 31.
It is rotatably supported in a state where it is inserted, and is attached to the retaining ring groove 29c formed at the end of the small-diameter shaft portion 29b, and the retaining ring 32 for the shaft prevents the remote operation from being removed from the pedestal 20. The bolt 29 and the support pin 33 on the outer periphery of the pedestal 20 ...
Is provided so as to be openable and closable, and has an inclined surface 34 that contacts the tapered surface 24 of the fixed ring 25 on the outer peripheral portion, and the taper of the fixed flanges 3 and 4 and the remote coupling flanges 11 and 11 on the inner peripheral portion. A plurality of (three in the figure) claw bodies 36 having a pair of inclined surfaces 35, 35 contacting the surfaces 5, 16 respectively
, And spring receiving grooves 37 formed on the inner surface side of these claw bodies 36 and spring receiving grooves 38 formed on the outer peripheral side of the pedestal 20.
Individual) springs (opening mechanism) 39.

Further, the lifting member 15 is provided with a tubular remote control bolt guide 40 at an intermediate portion thereof, and a manipulator grip portion 41 at an upper end thereof.

The remote pipe coupling device 10 configured as described above is placed between the hot cell-side fixed pipe 1 and the device-side fixed pipe 2 and assembled, which is performed by operating the clamp mechanisms 14, 14.

That is, first, the remote control bolt 29 rotatably mounted on the bearing 30 at the center of the pedestal 20 of the clamp mechanism 14, 14,
The arm body 28 is rotated away from the pedestal 20. As a result, the arm body 28, the plurality of shafts 22, ... And the fixing ring 25 are integrally moved and horizontally moved to the head 29d side of the remote control bolt 29, and the fixing ring 25 and the arm body 28 are respectively shown in FIG. The positions of 25a and 28a indicated by the chain double-dashed line are reached.

At this time, the pawls 36, which are openably and closably supported by the support pins 33, around the pedestal 20, are expanded by the spring 39 in the radial direction.

In this state, the remote pipe fitting device 10
Is assembled.

A manipulator (not shown) grips the gripping portion 4 of the lifting member 15 on the remote joint pipe 12, and projects the remote joint flange 11 into the guide pin receiving holes 8 of the hot cell side fixing flange 3 and the equipment side fixing flange 4. The guide pins 13 thus formed are inserted to bring the flange surfaces into contact with each other.

At this time, a seal material (not shown) is attached to the seal material attachment groove 17 of the remote joint flange 11.

In the above state, even if the manipulator is separated from the grip portion 41 of the lifting member 15, the guide pins 13 are loosely fitted in the guide pin receiving holes 8 of the fixing flanges 3 and 4, respectively, and Since the guide pins 13 are arranged apart from each other in the vertical direction, the remote joint pipe 12 does not rotate and does not fall.

Next, the remote control bolt 29 of the clamp mechanism 14 is rotated by, for example, an impact wrench (not shown) attached to the manipulator, etc.
When the heads 29d of 29 are moved toward the pedestal 20 from the side of the head 29d, a plurality of shafts 22 fixed to the arm body 28 ...
Slide inside.

As the shafts 22 slide, the fixing ring 25 also moves in the same direction. At this time, the taper surface inside the fixing ring 25
The 24 contacts the inclined surfaces 34 on the outer periphery of the plurality of claw bodies 36, and pushes the claw bodies 36 toward the center in the radial direction.

In this case, on the inner peripheral surface of the pawl body 36, a pair of inclined surfaces 35, 35 which come into contact with the respective fixed surfaces 3, 4 and the respective tapered surfaces 5, 16 of the remote joint flanges 11, 11 are formed. Therefore, the inclined surfaces 35 and 35 tighten the fixing flanges 3 and 4 and the remote joint flanges 11 and 11 in a wedge shape, respectively, so that
Assembly of the remote piping joint device 10 is completed.

Further, when the remote pipe joint device 10 is disassembled, the reverse operation of the above-mentioned procedure may be performed.

Further, FIGS. 5 to 8 show an embodiment in the case of a collective pipe, FIGS. 5 and 6 show an example in the case of two remote joint pipes 12, and FIGS. An example in which the number of the remote joint pipes 12 is 4 is shown. Note that the clamp mechanism and the lifting member are omitted in FIGS. 5 to 8. Even when these collecting pipes are used, they can be easily assembled and disassembled as in the case of the single pipe described above, and are extremely easy to handle.

The clamp mechanism 14 described so far has been described as having a configuration in which the shaft guide 21 is provided in the intermediate portion of the pedestal 20 as shown in FIG. 1. However, the shaft guide 21 is also provided on the arm body 28 side of the pedestal 20.
By providing, it is possible to more reliably prevent the arm body 28 from trying to rotate together when the remote control bolt 29 is turned.

Further, FIG. 9 shows an example in which the remote joint pipe 50 is doubly bent to easily absorb the thermal expansion of the pipe.

Further, FIGS. 10 and 11 show another example of the opening / closing method of the pawl body 36, in which the protrusion 51 and the shaft provided at one end of the pawl body 36
The collar 52 fixed to the fixing ring 25 side of 22 and the claw 36 are opened.

Furthermore, although the pair of guide pins 13 and 13 projecting from the remote joint flanges 11 and 11 are drawn to have the same length in FIG. 1, the longer guide pins 13 and 13 can be used by changing the length.
The mountability may be improved by inserting the guide pin 13 into the guide pin receiving hole 8 first.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, in the remote pipe joint device according to the present invention, the hot cell side fixing flange, the device side fixing flange, the remote joint pipe including the remote joint flange, the positioning mechanism, the clamp mechanism and the lifting member are screw-coupled. Alternatively, because it is constructed by combining by welding, the conventional remote-controlled pipe joint (Actual No. Sho 58-97384)
As described above, when there is no drive mechanism portion that is a combination of a support member and a gear that can slide using a key as a guide, and when the positioning of the remote joint piping is completed by the positioning mechanism, it is not necessary to hold the lifting member, After that, the flange surfaces can be closely joined only by rotating the remote control bolt with an impact wrench.

In addition, if the remote joint flange is adapted to the large diameter of the pipe, a plurality of small-diameter pipes can be provided and the collective pipes can be formed for each same process of the fluid flowing in the pipes in the allowable space.

Next, a conventional remotely operable tightening device (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-
(No. 88396), since it is not a tightening clamp mechanism arranged in the direction orthogonal to the direction of fluid flow, even if the hot cell side fixing flange and the device side fixing flange are arranged in the same direction, the impact wrench will not It is possible to approach from one direction toward the flange surface.

Further, unlike the above-mentioned conventional example, since the elastic intermediate member using the bellows is not required, the fluid is not accumulated in the remote piping joint device, and a sealing portion other than the flange surface is not required.

Furthermore, since it is not a structure in which the flange is directly pulled and joined by the connector jaws like the Handford coupling described in Kinko Giho No.49-1984.3, there is a problem in the durability of the clamp mechanism even after long-term use. It never happens.

In addition, Gray Rock Remotery in the same technical report
The remote piping joint device according to the present invention is not a drive screw system provided in two directions orthogonal to the direction of fluid flow, such as an operatable connector, but the remote pipe coupling device according to the present invention has a compact clamp mechanism and extends outward from the fixing ring. Since there is no such thing, the hot cell side fixing flange and the device side fixing flange can be arranged so as to be close to each other within the allowable range of maintenance equipment such as manipulators, so that the limited space in the hot cell can be saved. It can be used effectively.

Further, since it is not a mechanism that opens and closes in the inner circumferential direction by a clamp segment like the tri-clamp in the technical report, remote operation by the manipulator can be simplified.

Further, in the remote piping joint device according to the present invention, the lifting member is attached at a position where the weight of the remote fitting piping is well balanced in the horizontal direction, and the remote piping joint is positioned between the hot cell side fixing flange and the equipment side fixing flange and the remote joint flange. Since a mechanism is provided, after positioning each fixed flange and remote joint flange by this positioning mechanism,
The manipulator can be separated from the lifting member, and when the remote control bolt is tightened by an impact wrench or the like, the manipulator does not interfere with the tightening operation, and the tightening operation can be performed easily.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 to 4 show an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 1 is a side view in which a part of the remote coupling pipe is a single pipe in cross section, FIG. 2 is a view taken along the line II-II of FIG. 1 in which the lifting member is omitted, and FIG. Is an exploded perspective view of the clamp mechanism, FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the lifting member, and FIG. 5 is an example of a remote piping joint device in which the remote fitting piping is two collecting pipes, and a side surface without the lifting member and the clamping mechanism. Figure,
FIG. 6 is a view taken along the line VI-VI of FIG. 5, and FIG. 7 is an example of a remote pipe joint device using four collective pipes as the remote joint pipe.
FIG. 8 is a side view in which the lifting member and the clamp mechanism are omitted, FIG. 8 is a view taken along the line VIII-VIII in FIG. 7, and FIG. 9 is a side view showing another example in which the shape of the remote joint pipe is changed, FIG. And Fig. 11 show another example of the opening / closing method of the claw body. Fig. 10 is a partial detailed sectional view of the claw body in a tightened state, and Fig. 11 is a partial detail of the claw body in an open state. FIG. 1 …… Hot cell side fixed piping, 2 …… Device side fixed piping,
3 …… Hot cell side fixing flange, 4 …… Device side fixing flange, 5 …… Tapered surface, 9 …… Positioning mechanism, 10 ……
Remote piping joint device, 11 …… Remote fitting flange, 12 …… Remote fitting piping, 14 …… Clamp mechanism, 15 …… Lifting member,
16 …… Tapered surface, 20 …… Pedestal, 21 …… Axis guide, 22 ……
Shaft, 24 ... Tapered surface, 25,25a ... Fixing ring, 28,28a ...
… Arm body, 29 …… Remote control bolt, 34 …… Slope, 35
…… Inclined surface, 36 …… Pawl, 39 …… Spring (opening mechanism), 41 …… Grip part, 50 …… Remote joint piping, 51 …… Convex part, 52 …… Color.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A remote pipe joint device for connecting a fixing flange fixed to an end portion of a hot cell side fixed pipe and a fixing flange fixed to an end portion of a device side fixed pipe, wherein both fixing flanges are connected to each other. A remote joint pipe in which a pair of closely spaced remote joint flanges are fixed at both ends, a positioning mechanism provided between each of the fixed flanges and each remote joint flange, and provided at both ends of the remote joint pipe, respectively. And a clamping mechanism that engages and disengages each of the fixed pipes and the remote joint pipe, and a lifting member that is fixed to the remote joint pipe and that has a grip portion at the top, while the clamp mechanism is A pedestal fixed to one surface of the remote joint flange, a plurality of shaft guides provided around the pedestal, and a plurality of shafts slidably inserted in the shaft guides, A fixing ring fixed to one end of these shafts, the inner surface of which is tapered, an arm member fixed to the other end of the shaft, screwed to the arm member, and rotated to the center of the pedestal. A remote control bolt that is freely inserted and installed, and an inclined surface that is openably and closably mounted around the pedestal, and that has an inclined surface that contacts the tapered surface of the fixing ring on the outer peripheral portion, and that has an inner peripheral portion. A plurality of pawls each having an inclined surface in contact with a tapered surface formed on the outer peripheral portion of each of the fixed flange and the remote joint flange, and a plurality of pawls provided on these pawls, the pawls being provided on both the flanges. A remote pipe joint device, comprising: