JPH0694626A - Truck to be driven inside pipe - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve a running performance further in conformity with pipings of various pipe diameters and to facilitate also pullback and the like at the time of emergency by making the pressing force of a crawler adjustable by a remote control, in a running system by the crawler. CONSTITUTION:A drive motor 31 of a driving device 30, a gear case 32 and a cylinder unit 21 of a pressing device 20 are joined linearly and thereby a truck body 2 is constructed. Crawler devices 15 disposed in a plurality of sets around this truck body 2 are joined so that they can be driven by the driving device 30, and the crawler devices 15 are joined to the truck body 2 so that they can be moved in parallel thereto by a parallel link mechanism 10. Besides, the crawler devices 15 are joined to the truck body 2 through the intermediary of an air cylinder 22 of the pressing device 20, a slider 25 and pressing links 27 and an air pressure of this air cylinder 22 is controlled by a pressing control device so that a pressing force is controlled to be variable.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an in-pipe drive carriage for driving and traveling by remote control in pipes such as gas pipes and water pipes buried underground to inspect the pipe for damages and welding conditions. Relates to a pipe inner wall pressing mechanism of a crawler device using an air cylinder.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to inspect various pipes buried underground, it has been proposed to transport a truck equipped with a TV camera or the like by a self-propelled drive truck. Here, in this type of piping, the bent parts bend right and left, and up and down at right angles,
The standing pipe portion is slippery, and there are joints, welded portions, stepped portions, and other uneven portions inside the pipe, which makes traveling very difficult. For this reason, the drive cart is required to be configured to travel reliably by remote control even under such adverse conditions, and to be able to be easily pulled back when traveling is impossible due to a failure of parts or the like.

Conventionally, as the above-mentioned in-pipe drive carriage, there is one shown in FIG. 6, for example. That is, the vehicle body 7 of the drive cart 70
1, the drive motor 72, the gear mechanism 73 and the differential mechanism 74.
Are linearly connected to each other, and the chain caterpillars 75 are arranged to face each other in the upper and lower two directions around the vehicle body 71. Here, the chain caterpillar 75 is attached to the vehicle body 71 substantially in parallel with the arm 76 and a rod 78 having a pressing spring 77, and is attached so as to be radially movable while always exerting a spring force outward. The chain mechanism 75 is connected to the differential mechanism 74 via the power transmission mechanism 79 so as to be driven, and a plurality of guide rollers 80 are radially arranged around the vehicle body 71. As a result, when the drive carriage 70 is put in the pipe 5 buried underground, the two chain caterpillars 75 are pressed against the wide area of the pipe inner wall 5a by the spring force, and in this state, the chain caterpillar 75 is rotated to move the pipe inside the pipe. Have been shown to drive.

[0004]

By the way, in the above-mentioned prior art, the chain caterpillar 7 of the vehicle body 71 is used.
Since 5 is elastically pressed against the inner wall of the pipe, the contact area and the grip force are significantly increased, and thus the running performance for slippery conditions and uneven portions is improved, but the pressing spring 77 causes the pressing action. There are the following problems. That is, since the pressing force of the spring 77 is always constant, an appropriate pressing force cannot be applied when the pipe diameter changes. Since it is not possible to adjust the pressing force by remote control, the pressing force may be insufficient when going up and down on a standing pipe, causing slippage and making traveling impossible. If a trouble such as a failure of the drive motor 72 occurs,
It cannot be pulled back easily.

The present invention has been made in view of this point,
In the crawler traveling method, it is possible to adjust the pressing force of the crawler by remote control, further improve traveling performance by adapting to pipes of various pipe diameters, and facilitate pullback in an emergency. .

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention forms a vehicle body by linearly connecting a drive motor of a drive device, a gear case, and a cylinder unit of a pressing device, and surrounding the vehicle body. A plurality of sets of crawler devices are drivably connected by a drive device, the crawler device is connected to a vehicle body by a parallel link mechanism so that the crawler device can be moved in parallel, and a pressing device having an air cylinder is connected. The air pressure of the air cylinder is controlled by the pressing control device to variably control the pressing force.

[0007]

[Operation] Based on the above configuration, when inspecting the inside of the pipe,
By inserting the crawler device into the pipe together with the vehicle body and introducing a predetermined air pressure into the air cylinder of the pressing device, the crawler device is expanded by the parallel link mechanism and pressed against the inner wall based on the air pressure, and driven in this state. By operating the device, the crawler of the crawler device rotates and travels. When slipping, the pressing control device increases the air pressure of the air cylinder to increase the pressing force of the crawler device to prevent slipping, and in an emergency, the air cylinder is exhausted to release the pressing force of the crawler device and easily pull it. It will be possible to put it back.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The configuration of the in-pipe drive carriage will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. Reference numeral 1 is a drive carriage, and the parallel link mechanism 10 is provided around the center of the vehicle body 2 in, for example, two vertical directions.
As a result, two sets of crawler devices 15 are mounted so as to face each other.
The vehicle body 2 and the crawler device 15 are provided with a pressing device 20 having an air cylinder, and are connected so as to be drivable by a drive device 30.
5 are provided. A pulling cable 3 is connected to the rear end of the vehicle body 2, and the air hose 51 of the pressing control device 50 and the electric wire 61 of the drive control device 60 are connected together to the cable 3 and connected to the control box 52 for remote control. Can be configured.

The vehicle body 2 is constructed by linearly connecting a cylinder unit 21 of the pressing device 20, a drive motor 31 of the drive device 30 and a gear case 32. Then, the camera carriage is connected to the front of the vehicle body 2 via a bendable connecting means 4.

The crawler device 15 includes two elongated side plates 1.
A driving roller 17 and a plurality of driven rollers 18 are mounted between the rollers 6, and a crawler 19 is provided between these rollers 17, 18.
It is constructed long by mounting. Then, the crawler 19 presses and contacts a wide range of the inner wall 5a of the pipe 5 to rotate,
It is designed to run on the vehicle body 2. Parallel link mechanism 1
In the case of 0, two links 11 and 12 parallel to one of the left and right sides of the crawler device 15 have one end rotatably connected to the shaft 13 behind the side plate 16 and the other end similarly connected to the shaft 14 of the gear case 32. It is configured to be movable in parallel. On the other of the left and right sides of the crawler device 15, one link 11 and a drive system inside the gear cover 37 constitute a similar link mechanism, and these links 11 and 12 form a crawler device 15.
It is possible to support and move in parallel.

As shown in FIG. 4, the drive unit 30 has a motor case 33 of a drive motor 31 that rotates in the forward and reverse directions and a gear case 32.
The reduction gear 34 is connected to the differential device 35. One output shaft 36 of the differential device 35 is connected to the direction changing gear 38 of the gear cover 37,
It is connected to a gear 40 of the crawler device 15 via a shaft 39, and this gear 40 is connected to a gear 43 of a shaft 42 of the drive roller 17 via an idler gear 41 to drive the drive roller 17 to rotate.

In the pressing device 20, a cylinder unit 21 mounted on the vehicle body 2 has an air cylinder 22 installed horizontally, and a piston 23 of the air cylinder 22 is moved forward and backward by a guide pin 24 via a shaft 28. It is configured to be connected to a slider 25 that is movably guided so that a large stroke can be obtained. And the crawler device 15
On both sides of the slider 25, the slider 25 is connected to the middle of the side plate 16 via a shaft 26 and a pressing link 27 that is inclined in the opposite direction to the link mechanism 10.
5 to move the pressing link 27 upright, the crawler device 15 is moved in parallel, and the inner wall 5a of the pipe 5 is moved.
The pressing force is applied to the variable.

The wheel device 45 is constructed such that wheels 46 project from the front and rear sides of the vehicle body 2 in four directions, up and down, left and right, by supporting members 47, and the same wheels 46 project in the middle left and right sides of the vehicle body 2. To be done. Then, when the diameter of the crawler device 15 is reduced in a bent portion of the pipe 5 in an emergency, the wheel 46 is attached to the inner wall 5a.
The vehicle body 2 is guided and held in contact with.

The pressing control device 50 and the drive control device 60 will be described with reference to FIG. Pressing control device 50
The air hose 51 from the air cylinder 22 is communicated with the air passage 53 of the control box 52.
A pressure reducing valve 54, a switching valve 55, and a one-way throttle valve 56 are sequentially provided in the air passage 53, and an air passage 53 is connected to a compressor 57 via an air hose 51. The pressure reducing valve 54 adjusts the air pressure, the switching valve 55 switches to supply or discharge the air pressure to the air cylinder 22, and the one-way throttle valve 56 gradually supplies the air pressure to quickly discharge the pressure. The air pressure of the air cylinder 22 is controlled by operating the valve 54 and the switching valve 55. The drive control device 60 includes a drive motor 31.
The electric wire 61 is connected to the power source 63 via the switch 62 of the control box 52. And switch 62
By the operation of, the drive motor 31 is energized to perform forward / reverse drive.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. First, when the drive cart 1 is not used, the pressing control device 5
The air cylinder 22 is exhausted by the zero switching valve 55.
Therefore, the piston 23 of the air cylinder 22 and the slider 2
5 is most retracted and the pressing link 27 is tilted, whereby the crawler device 15 moves inward in the radial direction and is in a reduced diameter state.

Next, at the time of inspecting the inside of the pipe 5, the drive cart 1 in which the crawler device 15 has its diameter reduced as described above.
By inserting the inside of the pipe 5, the drive carriage 1 and the camera carriage are easily set in the pipe. After that, each controller 50, 60 is connected to the compressor 57 and the power source 63,
Prepare for remote control. Then, the pressure reducing valve 54 adjusts the air pressure to a predetermined air pressure according to the pipe diameter, wall surface condition, etc., and the switching valve 55 supplies the air pressure to the air cylinder 22 of the pressing device 20 via the air hose 51. Then, the piston 23 of the air cylinder 22 and the slider 25 move forward to stand up the pressing link 27. Therefore, the parallel link mechanism 10 causes the crawler device 15 to move in parallel in the radial outward direction, and thus the above-described contraction. Expand from the diameter state. Then, the long crawler 19 is strongly pressed against the wide area of the inner wall 5a of the pipe 5 based on the above air pressure, and the crawler 19 can run.

When the switch 62 of the drive control device 60 is operated to drive the drive motor 31 of the drive device 30 by energizing it, the motor power is reduced by the reduction gear 34, the differential device 35, the direction changing gear 38, the shaft 39, the crawler. Drive roller 1 through each gear 40, 41, 42 of device 15
It transmits to 7 and rotates. Therefore, the crawler 19 is rotated by the drive roller 17 and the driven roller while being pressed against the pipe inner wall 5a, and the side plate 1 is rotated by the rotation of the crawler 19.
The vehicle body 2 integrated with 6 travels forward at a predetermined speed.

The crawler 19 is always in contact with a wide area in the longitudinal direction of the inner wall 5a of the pipe 5 and rotates with a large grip force, so that the vehicle body 2 travels stably.
Moreover, the slippery standing pipe, the stepped portion of the pipe 5, the welded portion, the sleeve joint, and the axial gap of the pipeline easily get over the uneven portion and travel. At the bent portion of the pipe 5, the wheels 46 in front of and behind the vehicle body 2 come into contact with the curved surfaces of the bent portion to change the traveling direction of the vehicle body 2. At this time, the differential device 35 of the drive device 30 absorbs the rotation difference between the two sets of the crawler devices 15, and thus the curved portion also travels smoothly. As the drive carriage 1 travels inside the pipe 5 in this way, an image inside the pipe by the camera of the camera carriage is displayed on the CRT, and this image is checked and checked.

The running state of the drive carriage 1 is also checked from the above image, and when the crawler 19 slips on a slippery wall surface, the pressure reducing valve 54 of the pressing control device 50 increases the air pressure. Then, the air cylinder 22, the slider 25, and the pressing link 27 of the pressing device 20 increase the pressing force of the crawler device 15 and the grip force to prevent slipping. Thus, the remote operation allows the drive carriage 1 to travel reliably. Controlled.

Further, in an emergency such as a failure of the drive motor 31 or disconnection of an electric wire, the switching valve 55 of the pressing control device 50 exhausts the air cylinder 22. Then, the pressing link 27 is tilted and the crawler device 15 is reduced in diameter so as to be separated from the inner wall 5a of the pipe 5, and the wheels 46 of the respective parts of the wheel 46 device come into contact with the inner wall 5a and can freely travel. Then, by pulling the pulling cable 3, the drive carriage 1 is easily pulled back.

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to this.

[0022]

As described above, according to the present invention, in the crawler type in-tube drive carriage, the crawler device is connected to the vehicle body by the parallel link mechanism and the pressing link of the pressing device. It is possible to reliably translate in a large stroke and apply a large pressing force.

The pressing device has an air cylinder and a pressing control device for controlling the air pressure of the air cylinder so as to variably control the pressing force. Therefore, the pressing force can be appropriately set for various pipe diameters. Therefore, the crawler device can be prevented from slipping and the running performance is improved. Further, in an emergency such as a motor failure, the drive carriage can be easily pulled back.

Since the air cylinder of the pressing device is installed horizontally on the vehicle body, the stroke can be increased and the size can be reduced. Since the pressing control device has the pressure reducing valve, the switching valve, and the one-way throttle valve in the control box, the operation of the air cylinder and the air pressure can be controlled appropriately.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a partial cross-section of an embodiment of an in-pipe drive carriage according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the same embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a drive system of a drive device.

FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram showing a control system of a pressing control device and a drive control device.

FIG. 6 is a side view showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 In-pipe drive cart 2 Vehicle body 10 Parallel link mechanism 15 Crawler device 20 Pressing device 22 Air cylinder 30 Drive device 31 Drive motor 32 Gear case 50 Pressing control device

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A vehicle body is constructed by linearly connecting a drive motor of a drive device, a gear case, and a cylinder unit of a pressing device, and a plurality of sets of crawler devices arranged around the vehicle body can be driven by the drive device. , The crawler device is connected to the vehicle body by a parallel link mechanism so that the crawler device can be moved in parallel, and the pressing device equipped with an air cylinder is used to control the air pressure of the air cylinder by the pressing control device to control the pressing force. An in-pipe drive carriage characterized by being variably controlled. 2. The pressing device includes an air cylinder horizontally installed in front of a drive motor of a vehicle body, and a slider that is moved by the operation of the air cylinder. The slider is connected to a crawler device via a pressing link. The in-pipe drive carriage according to claim 1, which is configured. 3. The pressing control device includes an air hose connected to an air cylinder, which communicates with a compressor via a control box, and the control box is provided with a pressure reducing valve for adjusting at least air pressure and a switching valve for switching operation of the air cylinder. The in-pipe drive carriage according to claim 1, wherein.