JPH0756536Y2 - In-robot robot camera - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an in-pipe robot camera for in-pipe inspection of underground pipes such as water pipes and gas pipes.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Underground buried pipes represented by water supply pipes and gas pipes are currently used in various sizes from small diameters of φ50 or less to large diameters of φ300 or more. It is becoming mainstream to inspect the inside of these pipes without stopping water and gas. However, at present, the insertion port of the in-pipe inspection device cannot have a large opening diameter because of problems with the air valve and strength.
Therefore, in recent years, a small and lightweight in-tube robot camera has been developed and put into practical use, which is excellent in waterproof property and can cope with a small insertion port, and is equipped with illumination and has good operability and passability. This in-pipe robot camera is composed of a plurality of constituent elements, and is provided with a camera head portion including a lens, lighting, etc. at the head.

However, when such an in-pipe camera robot for a small-diameter pipe is used for a large-diameter pipe, as shown in FIG. 6, the illumination and the field of view of the region S of the pipe wall are insufficient, and a satisfactory inspection must be performed. I couldn't.

[0004]

In the conventional small in-tube robot camera described above, when performing in-tube inspection of a large-diameter tube, the distance from the tube wall becomes long and the illumination and the visual field are insufficient to perform a good inspection. I couldn't.

In view of this, the present invention provides illumination and a visual field by vertically (horizontally) driving (moving) the camera head portion, which has been used for a conventional small-diameter tube and is excellent in insertability and passage. An object of the present invention is to provide an in-pipe robot camera characterized by making it possible to inspect a large-diameter pipe by making up for the shortage.

[0006]

According to the present invention, a camera head portion associated with one end of a shaft, a fulcrum portion provided at the other end of the shaft, and the fulcrum portion separate from the camera head portion. A support portion supported by the housing, and means for driving the shaft in two orthogonal directions for determining the imaging direction of the camera head portion are provided inside the housing.

[0007]

According to the above means, the camera head portion can be oriented in an arbitrary image pickup direction, and more detailed inspection can be performed.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention.
This invention is provided with a component having a swinging mechanism at the rear stage of the camera head of the in-pipe inspection robot. Figure 1
In one end of the housing 1 provided with a swinging mechanism, a fulcrum portion 4 in which a thick shaft 2 and a thin shaft 3 are integrally formed is supported by a support portion 11 (for example, a spherical slide bearing) on the housing shaft. It is supported so that it can swing.

As shown in FIG. 2, the drive fittings 5 and 6 are made of, for example, a metal flat plate bent in a U shape, and a hole is formed in the top plate portion in the longitudinal direction, and one side plate portion is a worm wheel. 7, the top plate portion is movable when the worm wheel 7 is rotated. The drive fittings 5 and 6 are combined in the same direction in a state of being orthogonal to each other, and are arranged in the housing 1 so that the fulcrum portion 4 is located on the rotation axis of each worm wheel 7. The thin shaft 3 is loosely fitted. A camera head portion 8 is attached to the end of the thick shaft 2. The thick shaft 2 may be a coil spring, for example, in order to have flexibility.

The drive fitting 5 is driven by meshing a worm 10 attached to a motor 9 with a worm wheel 7, and when the worm wheel 7 of the drive fitting 5 is rotated, the camera head 8 is indicated by an arrow in the figure. It becomes rotatable in the (A, B) directions. Although not shown, when the worm wheel 7 of the drive fitting 6 is rotated, the worm wheel 7 is rotatable in the directions of arrows (C, D) in the figure. FIG. 3 shows a conceptual diagram of these operations. That is, the camera head 8 can move vertically and horizontally (pivotally) around the fulcrum portion 4 supported by the support portion 11 of the housing 1.

FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 show examples of using this in-pipe robot camera. When inspecting a small diameter pipe, the camera head portion 8 is used in a normal state as shown in FIG. 4, and when inspecting a large diameter pipe, the camera head portion 8 is used as shown in FIG. Raise and use. Since the camera head unit 8 can be rotated vertically and horizontally in this way, even when a small in-tube robot camera is used for a large-diameter pipe, the camera head unit 8 can be moved in any direction and the distance from the pipe wall can be increased. By shortening, it is possible to solve the lack of illumination and the field of view, and it is possible to perform more detailed inspection. Although the camera head portion 8 and the thick shaft 2 are directly attached in the above embodiment, the angle of the camera head portion 8 may be changed by further using a gear or the like.

[0013]

As described above, according to the in-pipe robot camera according to the present invention, by driving the camera head up and down and left and right (pivoting), it is possible to compensate for the lack of illumination and the field of view, and even in the case of a large-diameter pipe, The inspection can be done more easily and properly.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of drive fittings 5 and 6 shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining an example of use of the device shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining an example of use of the device shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a problem of a conventional device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Housing, 2 ... Thick axis, 3 ... Thin axis, 4 ... Support point, 5, 6 ...
Drive metal fittings, 7 ... worm wheel, 8 ... Camera head section, 9 ... Motor, 10 ... Worm, 11 ... Support section.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Internal reference number FI Technical indication H04N 7/18 B

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A camera head part associated with one end of a shaft, a fulcrum part provided at the other end of the shaft, and a support part for supporting the fulcrum part in a housing separate from the camera head part. ,
And a means for driving the axes in two orthogonal directions to determine the imaging direction of the camera head portion, which is provided inside the housing.