JPH072391Y2 - Unmanned underwater cleaning machine - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial field of application] The present invention relates to an unmanned underwater cleaning machine for underwater structural members and the like.

[Conventional technology]

For example, a steel pipe pedestal of a huge offshore structure that stands up on the seabed will reduce its thickness due to corrosion, so it is necessary to regularly check this for safety. As shown in the perspective view, the diver dives, or an underwater unmanned cleaning machine as described below is attached to the pedestal and remotely controlled via an umbilical cable, but the former is inefficient, and Work is dangerous.

As the latter device, as shown in the plan view of FIG. 7, the unmanned aerial vehicle body 1 is provided with a pair of left and right gripping arms 8 and 8, and hydraulic cylinders 9 attached to the tips of the gripping arms 8 are opposed to each other. The unmanned aerial vehicle body 1 is attached to the pedestal 7 to be cleaned via the contact member 10, and the brush rotator 4 for rotating the brush 6 is pressed against the pedestal 7 via the hydraulic cylinder 5 for cleaning. Here, in order to change the cleaning position, loosen the hydraulic cylinder 9,
The front and rear thrusters 2 and / or the vertical thrusters 3 are operated to move the unmanned aerial vehicle body appropriately.

[Problems to be solved by the device]

However, in such a means, the cleaning position of the object to be cleaned is changed one after another, and the releasing and fixing of the grip is repeatedly performed each time. On the surface, marine organisms such as Fujitsubo, Serupura, and seaweed are irregularly attached in a considerable amount,
Due to the large unevenness, it is difficult to securely and firmly fix the drone in the correct position relative to the pedestal.

The present invention has been proposed in view of the above circumstances, and can securely and firmly fix pedestals of various external shapes having large surface irregularities, and save labor for cleaning the pedestals over the entire surface. The purpose is to provide a labor-saving unmanned submersible cleaner.

[Means for Solving the Problems]

Therefore, the present invention has an underwater television camera, a pair of left and right thrusters, and a vertical thruster which are supported by the object by holding the object through a pair of left and right gripping arms protruding at the front end. In an unmanned aerial vehicle that has a rotary brush and is driven and controlled via an umbilical cable to clean an object, the unmanned aerial body is attached to the opposite surfaces of the pair of left and right gripping arms projecting from the front end of the unmanned aerial vehicle body. It is characterized by comprising a rubber tube which expands by increasing the internal pressure of the hollow portion, and a plurality of spherical rolling members which are vertically and horizontally arranged on the facing surfaces of the rubber tubes.

[Action]

With such a configuration, when water pressure is supplied to the rubber tubes, each rubber tube expands, and the plurality of spherical rolling elements distributed on the opposing surfaces are uniformly pressed against the uneven surface of the pedestal surface with appropriate force. Therefore, the main body of the unmanned aerial vehicle is reliably supported by the pedestal at the three points of both gripping arms and the central fixed seat.

When the unmanned aerial vehicle body is swung and lifted, the front and rear thrusters and vertical thrusters are operated to apply a swivel moment and thrust to the unmanned aerial vehicle body, and the spherical rolling element rotates and the opposing surface of the rubber tube is pedestal. Because it deforms elastically along the irregularities of the drone, the drone body can swivel and ascend and descend without loosening the gripping arms, and the rotator brush scans the pedestal entirely to clean the attached organisms. be able to.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view thereof, FIG. 2 is a side view of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view showing a contact member of FIG. FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view of FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view of a modification of FIG.

First, in FIGS. 1 and 2, the same reference numerals as in FIG. 7 denote the same members as in FIG. 7, respectively, and the present invention is greatly different from the structure in FIG. The attached contact member has a structure in which it expands by increasing the internal pressure, and a plurality of spherical rolling elements are distributed vertically and horizontally on the contact surface facing the pedestal, and at the front end of the drone body 1. There is a central fixed seat.

That is, 20 is a fixed seat that is provided at the center of the front end of the rectangular drone main body 1 and has a concave curved surface at the front end, and 21 is the fixing seat shown in FIGS.
As shown in the figure, it is a hollow rubber tube, which is reinforced with reinforcing fibers 22 to maintain flexibility and strength, and can be expanded by supplying water pressure to the hollow portion. Reference numeral 23 designates a plurality of spherical rolling members which are vertically and laterally fixedly secured to the opposing surface of the rubber tube 21, and each rolling member is provided with a seat 24 as shown in FIGS.
The sphere 25 is pivotally attached to the concave curved hole of the through the central axis 26,
The directions of the central axes 26 are random, respectively, but as a whole, the numbers oriented in the left-right direction, the up-down direction, the right diagonal direction, and the left diagonal direction are distributed in substantially the same number.

In such a structure, by remotely controlling the drone through the umbilical cable and the thruster, the drone is supported by the central fixed seat 20 and the gripping arms 8a and 8a as shown in FIGS. Is brought to a position where it is sandwiched by three points, and then water pressure is applied to the hollow portions of both rubber tubes 21.

Then, each rubber tube 21 expands and its contact surface becomes a curved surface along the surface of the pedestal and deforms as shown in the figure, and the stud surface is appropriately sized through the plurality of rolling members 23. The unmanned aerial vehicle is securely and firmly fixed to the pedestal because it abuts over the area of the ridge.

Therefore, the rotary brush 6 is pressed against the surface of the pedestal via the hydraulic cylinder 5, and then the brush rotating machine 4 is driven to clean the surface of the pedestal.

After cleaning, if you drive the thrusters 2 in opposite directions,
Since the rolling member 23 freely rotates around the central axis 26, the drone body does not loosen the gripping force by the gripping arms 8a, 8a.
Since it rotates around the pedestal by a desired angle, the surface of the pedestal can be cleaned here in the same manner with a rotating brush.

Needless to say, in an unmanned aerial vehicle that also has left and right thrusters, turning can be performed using the left and right thrusters.

Similarly, by operating the vertical thruster 3, the drone moves up and down to clean the surface of the pedestal.

When the unmanned aerial vehicle is turned or raised or lowered, the center axes of the plurality of rolling members are randomly arranged so as to be oriented in multiple directions. Although the roller of the part does not rotate, the drone can move freely along the pedestal by rotating the remaining rollers.

As shown in FIG. 5, the rolling member may be an omnidirectional rolling member in which the spherical body 25 is rotatably housed in the receiving seat 24a without a central axis. According to the rolling type, ascending / descending and turning along the pedestal of the drone body becomes very smooth.

[Effect of device]

In short, according to the present invention, by holding an object through a pair of right and left gripping arms protruding at the front end, the object itself is supported by the same object and has an underwater television camera, a pair of left and right thrusters and a vertical thruster. In an unmanned aerial vehicle that has a rotating brush and is driven and controlled via an umbilical cable to clean an object, attach it to the tip facing surfaces of a pair of left and right gripping arms protruding from the front end of the unmanned aerial vehicle body. By providing a rubber tube that expands by increasing the internal pressure of the hollow portion and a plurality of spherical rolling members vertically and horizontally arranged on the facing surfaces of each rubber tube, various surface irregularities are provided. The present invention provides a labor-saving and labor-saving unmanned submersible cleaner that can securely and firmly fix even an outer diameter pedestal and cleans the entire pedestal. It is extremely useful on the industry.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 is a plan view showing an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a cylindrical pedestal of a marine structure, FIG. 2 is a side view of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a contact member of FIG. FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view, FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view of FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view of a modification of FIG. FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing a conventional cleaning procedure for a pillar of a marine structure, and FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a known unmanned underwater cleaning machine. 1 …… Unmanned aircraft body, 2 …… Front and rear thrusters, 3 …… Vertical thruster, 4 …… Brush rotary machine, 5 …… Brush front and rear hydraulic cylinders, 6 …… Rotary brush, 7 …… Cleaning pedestal, 8a ...... Grip arm, 20 …… Center fixing seat, 21 …… Rubber tube, 22 …… Reinforcing fiber, 34 …… Spherical rolling member, 24,2
4a …… seat, 25 …… sphere, 26 …… central axis.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (72) Masanori Tajima 1-11-25 Higashiooi, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo Goyo Construction Co., Ltd. Technical Research Laboratory (56) Reference JP-A-48-74002 (JP, A) JP 62-299492 (JP, A)

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A submersible television camera, a pair of left and right front and rear thrusters, and a vertical thruster supported by the object by holding the object through a pair of left and right gripping arms protruding at the front end, and rotating. In an unmanned aerial vehicle that has a brush and drives and is controlled via an umbilical cable, the unmanned aerial body is hollow attached to the opposite surfaces of the pair of left and right gripping arms protruding from the front end of the unmanned aerial vehicle body. An unmanned underwater cleaning machine comprising: a rubber tube that expands by increasing the internal pressure of a section; and a plurality of spherical rolling members that are vertically and horizontally arranged on the opposing surfaces of the rubber tubes.