JPH08268271A - Travel truck with steering system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To simplify a driving mechanism as well as to improve the accuracy of control operation by constituting a wheel frame into three stages in making their angles displaceable with an arm and an air cylinder unit, in this travel truck with steering system to be used for inspecting and repairing a defect in a pipeline inner surface. CONSTITUTION: When four air cylinders 27a to 27d are extended by a command from the ground, each pair of support legs 8a, 8b and 9a, 9b rotate with main shafts 10a, 10b and 12a, 12b as their fulcrums, and thereby they are expanded wide up-down and right-left respectively. With this constitution, three driving rollers 26a to 26c to be attached to each support tip end are projected higher than three guide rollers 28a to 28c and pressed a pipeline inner surface. In this state intact, when each motor 15 is started, these driving rollers 26a to 26c are rotated via a chain 23 or the like and thus traveling is started. A steering system 13 is equipped with a steering roller 30 to be borne by an axle frame 39, and it is angle-displaced into three stages by a combination of operations of two cylinder units 45 via an arm 43.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a traveling carriage with a steering device used for inspecting and repairing defects on the inner surfaces of pipes such as water pipes, gas pipes and plant pipes buried underground. It is a thing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when inspecting and repairing the inner surface of pipes such as water pipes and gas pipes buried in the ground, a series of trucks as shown in FIG. 13, that is, a self-propelled type for forward and reverse travel is used. A train type inspection / repair device including a traveling trolley 101, 102; a work trolley 103 equipped with a welding device and a control trolley 104 equipped with a control device is installed inside a pipe (not shown) and provided on the ground. 10 carriages from the command room 105
1, 102, 103, 104 are controlled to carry out truck operation and pipe inspection / repair work.

However, when the traveling carriage 101 travels inside a bent pipe, the traveling carriage 101 tilts sideways and meanders, which twists the arrangement of the carriage group and makes it difficult to grasp the circumferential position of the damaged portion. In addition, there was a problem that the setting of the welding start position of the welding torch (it is customary to move the welding torch in the circumferential direction starting from the highest position of the pipe for welding the inner surface of the pipe) becomes inaccurate. .

Therefore, in order to solve these problems,
A traveling vehicle with a steering device that detects the inclination angle of the traveling vehicle to control the posture of the traveling vehicle has been proposed (for details, see Japanese Patent Publication No. 5-18667).

As shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, this traveling carriage has six sets of support legs 113 attached to the front and rear portions of the carriage main body 106 in a radial manner around the main body 106 and rotatably around pins 115, respectively. Front lowermost leg 1
A wheel frame 109 having a steering roller 108 is pivotally supported at the tip of the wheel 13, and the wheel frame 109 is used to drive the motor 11
11 sets of supporting legs 113, 113, 11 excluding the lowermost supporting leg while rotating by 1 for steering operation of the traveling carriage.
A drive roller 112 is attached to each tip of 3, ..., And each drive roller 112 is driven by a motor (not shown) so as to be self-propelled inside the pipe.

Reference numeral 110 in the figure is a speed reducer, 114
Is a cylinder device for rotating each supporting leg, 107 is a rolling angle detector for detecting the posture of the traveling carriage, and the detector 107 is attached to the lower surface of the carriage main body 106.

[0007]

However, the traveling vehicle described above has the following problems. (1) While traveling inside the pipe, the traveling carriage has a large number of drive rollers 112 pressing the inner surface of the pipe 118, so that the traveling resistance is large and the steering performance is poor.

(2) Since the motor 111 and the speed reducer 110 are used as the drive mechanism, the drive mechanism is complicated,
Equipment costs are high. (3) Since the angular position (zero steering angle) of the wheel frame that moves the traveling vehicle straight ahead is controlled as an intermediate position between a pair of limit switches that limit the maximum left and right steering angles, the accuracy of the control operation is poor. Is not running smoothly when going straight.

In view of the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a traveling vehicle with a steering device having a simple drive mechanism structure, high control operation accuracy, and good steering performance.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention comprises the following two means. (1) (Claim 1) A pair of support legs extending forward from a rear part of a bogie main body of a traveling bogie that travels inside a pipe, and a front end side of which extends vertically, and a rear part from a front part of the bogie main body. Pair of support legs extending toward the left and right sides of which extend in the left-right direction, a steering device provided at the tip of the support legs that extend downward, and the tips of each of the support legs that extend in the upward and horizontal directions. And a drive roller provided in the steering section, and the steering device includes a steering roller, a wheel frame, and an air cylinder device that rotates the wheel frame via an arm. Traveling trolley with take-up device. (2) (Claim 2) The air cylinder device is composed of two sets of cylinder devices in which the ends on the side opposite to the rod are integrally connected, and the angular position of the wheel frame is changed in three stages only by the expansion and contraction operation of the rod. A traveling carriage with a steering device according to 1.

[0011]

[Action]

(1) Since the wheel frame is rotated by using the air cylinder device and the arm, the structure of the drive mechanism is simple, and the angular position of the wheel frame is determined at the stroke end of the air cylinder, so that the control operation is highly accurate. And, it is reliable, and traveling straight ahead is smooth. (2) The traveling carriage has four rollers, namely, a driving roller and a steering roller that expand in the vertical direction at the front of the carriage main body, and a drive roller that expands in the left and right directions at the rear of the carriage main body inside the pipe. Since the vehicle is running by pressing, the running resistance of the entire roller is smaller and steering performance is better than that of the conventional one.

(3) As a result, the meandering of the traveling carriage and the twisting of the carriage group are reduced. Therefore, grasping the defect position,
The welding start position of the welding torch can be set easily and accurately.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows the overall arrangement of a train-type inspection / repair device that travels in a pipe. This device comprises a traveling carriage 1 at the beginning, a rear traveling carriage 2 at the end, the traveling carriage 1 and rear traveling. It is composed of a work carriage 3 and a control carriage 4 connected between the carriages 2. A universal joint 5 is arranged between the bogies so as to allow the vehicle to travel in a bent pipe.

Both the traveling trolley 1 and the rear traveling trolley 2 are self-propelled, and the traveling trolley 1 pulls other trolley groups when moving forward and the rear traveling trolley 2 pulls other trucks when moving backward. It runs inside the pipe 6. In FIG. 1, 32 is a main control vehicle installed on the ground, 33 is a lighting device, 34 is a television camera,
Reference numeral 35 is a welding device, and 36 is a cable.

Next, the relationship between the structure of the traveling vehicle and the steering device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 12. (1) Configuration of Traveling Vehicle As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, in the center of the traveling vehicle 1,
A pipe-shaped carriage body 7 extending in the front-rear direction of the carriage is provided, and the carriage body 7 is equipped with various devices as described below. That is, two pairs of two pairs of supporting legs 8a, 8b; 9a, 9b are attached to the carriage body 7, and the two pairs of supporting legs 8a, 8b; 9a, 9b are attached.
The b's are arranged in an intersecting manner with their positions displaced from each other by 90 degrees in the circumferential direction.

One of the supporting legs 8a and 8b is the carriage main body 7.
In order to expand the front side of the bogie body 7 and the other supporting legs 9a and 9b to the rear side, these supporting legs are extended to the main shaft 10 of the carriage main body 7.
It is pivotally supported about a, 10b, 12a, and 12b as fulcrums. A drive mechanism is incorporated in the upper support leg 8a and the left and right support legs 9a and 9b, and the steering device 13 is mounted on the lower support leg 8b.

More specifically, each supporting leg 8a, 8b, 9
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a and 9b are two plates 14a and 14b arranged in parallel at appropriate intervals, and the motor 15 is installed in the middle of three sets of plates except 8b. The motor 15 rotates the intermediate shaft 18 via the bevel gears 16 and 17.

The intermediate shaft 18 is rotatably supported at a portion near the center of the three sets of plate members 14a and 14b, and a sprocket 19 (see FIG. 4) is attached to the intermediate shaft 18. A driven shaft 22 to which a sprocket 20 is attached is rotatably supported at portions near the tip ends of the three sets of plate members 14a and 14b, and a chain 23 is provided between the sprocket 20 and the sprocket 19. It is hung around.

From the motor 15 to the bevel gear 16,
As shown in FIG. 4, all of the power transmission mechanisms to the 17, 17, the sprockets 19 and 20, and the driven shaft 22 are made of the plate material 14a,
It is arranged between 14b, that is, in the dead space.

Further, on each driven shaft 22, there are fixed rollers 25 consisting of three drum-shaped rollers 24 on both sides of the sprocket 20 and in a state of being close to the sprocket 20. Drive rollers 26a, 26b, 26c composed of 25 are provided on the upper and left supporting legs 8a,
It is incorporated in 9a and 9b.

Each drive roller 26a, 26b, 26c is
While traveling in the pipe while rotating with the driven shaft 22, the drum-shaped roller 24 freely rotates around the mandrel orthogonal to the driven shaft 22, so that the traveling resistance is reduced when the traveling carriage 1 travels in the curved pipe portion. It can be done (For details, see Japanese Patent Publication No. 52-
See 10269). The lower support leg 8b is provided with the steering device 13 and has no drive mechanism.

Air cylinders 27a, 27b, 2 are provided between the ends of the supporting legs 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b and the carriage body 7.
7c and 27d are attached. That is, the piston rods of the air cylinders 27a, 27b, 27c, 27d are pivotally attached to the tips of the supporting legs 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b, and
The air cylinders 27a, 27b, 27c and 27d are pivotally supported by the carriage main body 7 so that the air cylinders 27a, 27b, 27c and 27d rotate with the expanding operation of the support legs 8a, 8b, 9a and 9b. Further, guide rollers 28a, 28b, 28c, 28d are arranged near the bases of the supporting legs 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b.

Each guide roller 28a, 28b, 28c,
28d are rotatably supported at the tips of columns 29a, 29b, 29c, and 29d that are erected radially around the carriage body 7, and as shown by phantom lines in FIG.
The height from the carriage main body 7 is set so that when the supporting legs 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b are closed, the supporting legs 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b are located at a position higher than the drive rollers 26a, 26b, 26c by ΔL.

Next, the operation of the traveling vehicle 1 will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, a part of the pipe 6 which is buried in the ground by excavating the ground is cut out, and the traveling carriage 1, the working carriage 3, the control carriage 4 and the rear traveling carriage 2 are placed inside the piping 6 through this opening. Insert sequentially. At this time, the work carriage 3 is connected to the rear portion of the traveling carriage 1 via the universal joint 5, and the control carriage 4 is further connected via the universal joint 5.

When the traveling carriage 1 is inserted into the pipe, the air cylinders 27a, 27b, 27c and 27 are installed.
The support legs 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b are in the closed state without moving d. Therefore, each drive roller 26a, 26
b and 26c are guide rollers 2 as shown by phantom lines in FIG.
8c, 28a, 28b are retracted inward, and some of the guide rollers 28a, 28b, 28c, 28d and the steering roller 30 are in contact with the inner surface of the pipe 6 to support the traveling carriage 1.

Next, when the air cylinders 27a and 27b are extended in response to a command from the ground main control vehicle 32 shown in FIG. 1, the supporting legs 8a and 8b are supported by the main shafts 10a and 10b of the carriage main body 7.
Rotate around as a fulcrum and open up and down.

Similarly, when the air cylinders 27c and 27d are extended, the left and right supporting legs 9a and 9b are moved to the main shafts 12a and 12, respectively.
It rotates about b as a fulcrum and spreads to the left and right. By this expansion, the drive roller 26 attached to the tip of each supporting leg 8a, 9a, 9b
As shown in FIG. 5, a, 26b, and 26c project higher than the guide rollers 28a, 28b, and 28c, and are pressed against the inner surface of the pipe 6. In other words, the traveling carriage 1 is self-centeringly raised with respect to the pipe axis by the expansion of these two sets of the supporting legs 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b and is in a state of being stretched on the inner surface of the pipe.

When the motors 15 are activated by a command from the main control wheel 32, the drive rollers 26a, 26 are driven through the sprockets 19, 20 and the chain 23.
b and 26c rotate, and the traveling carriage 1 travels by itself.

When the traveling carriage 1 travels in the curved pipe portion, the expansion amount of each of the supporting legs 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b changes, but at this time, the air cylinders 27a, 27b, 27.
c and 27d appropriately expand and contract to drive the drive rollers 26a and 2d.
6b, 26c and the steering roller 30 are brought into pressure contact with the inner surface of the pipe 6, and the position of the traveling carriage is adjusted so that the center of the carriage body 7 coincides with the axis of the pipe 6.

(2) Configuration of Steering Device Next, the steering device 13 will be described. 3 and 7
As shown in FIG.
The wheel frame 39 is rotatably attached to the bearing portion 38 of the bearing stand 37. And
A steering roller 30 is rotatably supported on an axle 40 of the wheel frame 39.

An arm 43 is firmly attached to the upper end of the rotary shaft 42 of the wheel frame 39, and an air cylinder device 45 is provided between the tip of the arm 43 and a bracket 44 attached to the inside of the supporting leg 8b. Are arranged.

The air cylinder device 45 is shown in FIGS.
As shown in 0, it is composed of two cylinder devices 49 and 50 having a cylinder 46, a piston 47 and a rod 48, and the ends of the two cylinders 46 and 46 on the side opposite to the rod are integrally connected to each other. Is made. The tip of one rod 48 is rotatably attached to the tip of the arm 43, and the tip of the other rod 48 is rotatably attached to the bracket 44.

The steering roller 30 is shown in FIGS. 6, 8, 9 and 1.
As shown in 0, the expansion and contraction operations of the two cylinder devices 49 and 50 are performed in three directions, that is, rightward (mode 1),
It is possible to steer straight ahead (mode 2) and leftward (mode 3). Table 1 shows the operation of the two cylinder devices 49, 50 in each mode 1, 2, 3.

[0034]

[Table 1]

That is, two cylinder devices 49, 50
The angular position in three directions can be obtained only by the expansion / contraction operation of. At this time, since the angular position of the wheel frame is determined only by the stroke end of the air cylinder, the control operation is accurate and reliable.

As a rolling angle detector for detecting the posture of the traveling carriage 1, it is convenient to use a known rotary non-contact potentiometer (for details, see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-90008). The container 52 is attached to the front part of the carriage main body 7 as shown in FIG.

When the traveling vehicle rolls, the detector 52 produces an electrical signal, which is the main control vehicle 3 on the ground.
2, a signal of a control valve (not shown) for driving the air cylinder device 45 is generated, and the signal causes the air cylinder device 45 to operate. A known solenoid type air pressure switching valve is used as the control valve. As the rolling angle detector, other methods such as an optical type and an electromagnetic type may be used.

11 and 12 show the relationship between the state when the traveling vehicle 1 is rolling and the operation of the steering roller 30. Here, FIG. 11 is a diagram of the traveling carriage 1 viewed from the front, and FIG. 12 is a diagram of the traveling carriage 1 viewed from the bottom.

Now, the traveling carriage 1 travels inside the bent pipe, and the traveling carriage 1 leans to the right side (right rolling).
In this case, the steering roller 30 faces the direction of the mode 1 in FIG. 12 to reduce the inclination of the traveling carriage 1. When tilted in the opposite direction, the reverse operation is performed.

As described above, according to the traveling carriage with the steering device, since the number of driving rollers is smaller than that of the conventional traveling carriage, the steering performance of the steering roller is good and the air cylinder device is compressed. Since it is driven by air, it has cushioning properties and is less likely to malfunction.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and may be applied to, for example, inspection and repair work of plant pipes provided with the traveling carriage and the carriage group on the ground. It goes without saying that various changes can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

[0042]

As described above, the present invention exhibits the following excellent effects. (1) Since the axle frame is angularly displaced in three steps using the arm and the air cylinder device, the drive mechanism is simple and the control operation is highly accurate.

(2) Since the running resistance of the steering roller is small, the steering performance when steering the steering roller is good. (3) As a result, the meandering of the traveling carriage and the twisting of the carriage group are reduced. Therefore, it is possible to easily and accurately grasp the defect position and set the welding start position of the welding torch.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a general arrangement of a bogie group including a traveling bogie according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partially cut side view of the traveling vehicle shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a partially cut arrow view from a III-III direction in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view illustrating a power transmission mechanism for driving the drive roller shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining mutual positions of a drive roller and a guide roller shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the steering apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an operating state of the air cylinder device shown in FIG.

9 is a cross-sectional view illustrating another operating state of the air cylinder device shown in FIG.

10 is a cross-sectional view illustrating still another operating state of the air cylinder device shown in FIG.

11 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the operation of the traveling vehicle shown in FIG.

FIG. 12 is a bottom view for explaining the operation of the steering roller of the traveling vehicle shown in FIG.

FIG. 13 is a side view showing a general arrangement of a bogie group including a conventional traveling bogie.

14 is a partially cutaway side view of the traveling carriage for forward movement shown in FIG.

FIG. 15 is an arrow view from the XV-XV direction in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Traveling Bogie 7 Bogie Main Body 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b Support Leg 13 Steering Device 26a, 26b, 26c Drive Roller 30 Steering Roller 39 Wheel Frame 43 Arm 45 Air Cylinder Device 49, 50 Cylinder Device

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Naoki Kawazoe 1-20-1 Shimonotani-cho, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa (72) Inventor Masatoshi Kodera 2-65, Yoshinodai, Kawagoe-shi, Saitama Den-Yo Stock Company Saitama Factory (72) Inventor Kazuyuki Saito 2-865 Yoshinodai, Kawagoe City, Saitama Denyo Co., Ltd. Saitama Factory

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A pair of support legs extending forward from a rear part of a bogie main body of a traveling bogie that travels inside a pipe, and a front end side of which extends vertically, and a front part of the bogie main body to a rear side. A pair of support legs extending and expanding in the left and right direction, a steering device provided at the tip end of the support leg expanding downward, and a steering device provided at the tip end of each support leg expanding in the up and left and right directions. With a steering device, the steering device includes a steering roller, a wheel frame, and an air cylinder device that rotates the wheel frame via an arm. Traveling dolly. 2. The air cylinder device is composed of two sets of cylinder devices in which the ends on the side opposite to the rod are integrally connected, and the angular position of the wheel frame is changed in three steps only by the expansion and contraction operation of the rod. Trolley with steering device.