JPH0958586A - Underwater moving device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an underwater moving device to be well suitable for traveling on a vertical wall surface and reduce size and weight. SOLUTION: When thrust fans 10a and 10b are rotated, a differential pressure opening closing type check valve 40 is opened and water is injected to the outside and a device body 5 is moved to the belly side 4. By bringing a seal skirt 26 at the periphery of the opening of the belly side 4 into contact with a wall surface 25 in water, the interior of the device body 5 is brought into a negative pressure and an underwater moving device 1 is sucked on the wall surface 25. In this case, when a negative pressure at the inside of the device body 5 exceeds a given value, a differential switch 51 stops the thrust fans 10a and 10b, a differential pressure opening closing type check valve 40 is closed, and the interior of the device body 5 is kept at a negative pressure. When a negative pressure at the interior of the device body 5 is reduced to a value lower than a given value, the differential pressure switch 51 restarts the thrust fans 10a and 10b, the differential pressure opening closing type check valve 40 is opened, and the degree of a negative pressure at the interior of the device body 5 is increased. When, with this state, a moving mechanism 11 is driven, the device body 5 is able to travel over the wall surface 25.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to cleaning of water passages for intake and drainage of thermal power plants, cleaning of screws of ships, inspection of inner surfaces of pressure vessels of nuclear reactors, and various other marine structures. The present invention relates to an underwater moving device for use in underwater work.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in a thermal power plant or the like, a relatively long waterway is provided between the sea and a power generation plant for taking in and draining seawater for cooling. Various algae adhere to the surface. Therefore, in order to remove these marine organisms, an underwater moving device that freely travels along the road surface of the waterway is required.

An example of this type of underwater moving device is shown in FIG.
Those shown in (a) and (b) are known (for details, refer to Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 3-79323). As shown in the figure, this underwater moving device a rotates a thrust fan b provided in the device main body to generate a jet flow to press the device main body against a horizontal road surface d of a water channel, and in this state, drive wheels c Is used for traveling on a horizontal road surface d.

[0004]

However, as described above, the jet flow of the thrust fan b causes the main body of the apparatus to move toward the road surface d of the water channel.
In the underwater moving device a of the type that is pressed against,
As shown in the figure, when it is attempted to run along a vertical wall surface instead of a horizontal road surface d, the thrust of the thrust fan b is applied in order to press the underwater moving device a against the wall surface and apply an appropriate contact pressure to the drive wheels c. It has to be increased significantly.
That is, in order to drive the underwater moving device a along the vertical wall surface, the size of the motor of the thrust fan b must be increased.
Because you have to increase the number of installations,
The entire trolley becomes large and heavy.

An object of the present invention, which was devised in view of the above circumstances, is to provide an underwater moving device which is suitable for traveling on a vertical wall surface and which can be made compact and lightweight. It is in.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided a device main body having a ventral side opening, a thrust fan provided on the back side of the device main body, and a wall surface provided around the ventral side opening of the device main body. A seal skirt that comes into contact with the wall surface to maintain a negative pressure inside the device body at the time of adsorption, a moving mechanism that moves the device body along the wall surface, and a rear side opening of the device body that houses the thrust fan, and the opening is closed. The differential pressure open / close check valve that is always urged in the direction and the pressure inside and outside the main unit of the device are detected, and when the differential pressure exceeds the predetermined value required for adsorption traveling, the thrust fan is stopped And a differential pressure switch for activating a thrust fan when the pressure becomes smaller than the predetermined value.

According to the above construction, when the thrust fan is rotated in the forward direction, a jet flow is generated, the differential pressure opening / closing check valve is opened by the force of the jet flow, and the apparatus main body moves to the belly side.

When the seal skirt provided around the ventral side opening comes into contact with the underwater wall surface, the seal skirt causes a negative pressure inside the apparatus body, and the underwater moving apparatus is adsorbed to the wall surface.

At this time, when the negative pressure inside the apparatus body becomes larger than a predetermined value, the differential pressure switch detects this and stops the thrust fan. Then, the differential pressure open / close check valve is closed and the inside of the apparatus main body is kept at a negative pressure.

When the negative pressure inside the apparatus main body becomes smaller than a predetermined value, the differential pressure switch detects this and restarts the thrust fan. Then, the differential pressure open / close check valve is opened, and the degree of negative pressure inside the apparatus main body is increased.

In this state, by driving the moving mechanism, the underwater moving device can run on the wall surface.

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

In this case, FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway plan view of the underwater moving apparatus according to the present embodiment, FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of the underwater moving apparatus adsorbed on a wall surface, and FIG. 3 is a seal skirt portion of FIG. FIG. 4 is an enlarged view, FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of a differential pressure opening / closing check valve portion, and FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a signal path in which a differential pressure switch is provided.

As shown in the figure, the underwater moving apparatus 1 is
The apparatus main body 5 is formed by closing one end surface of a cylindrical body 6 having a height smaller than the diameter with a disc 7 and having an open ventral side 4.

A casing 8 is attached to the inner surface of the disk 7 in a watertight manner, a floating body 2 is formed in the upper part of the casing 8, and a weight 3 is formed in the lower part. .

The floating body 2 is composed of a closed tank 9 filled with air, styrofoam, or the like.
Is composed of thrust fans 10a and 10b, which will be described later, and motors 12 to 17 that drive drive wheels 11 as a moving mechanism. Then, the closed tank 9 and the motor 12
By -17, the buoyancy is adjusted so that the apparatus body 5 floats vertically in water. More specifically, the buoyancy is adjusted so that the device body 5 slightly sinks.

The thrust fans 10a and 10b are composed of the disk 7
One is provided in each of ducts 18 formed on both left and right sides and extending toward the ventral side 4. That is, the thrust fans 10 a and 10 b are provided on the back side 19 of the apparatus body 5.
It is provided in. According to this configuration, the thrust fans 10a and 10b are rotated in the forward direction, so that the apparatus body 5
Can be moved to the ventral side 4 while floating vertically in water. The left thrust fan 10a is driven by two motors 12 and 13 connected in series, and similarly, the right thrust fan 10b is driven by two motors 14 and 15 connected in series. Each of the motors 12 to 15 is controlled so that the current value is constant. Therefore, when the load increases, the rotation speed slows down, and when the load decreases, the rotation speed increases.

The motors 12 to 15 for the fans are arranged in a quadrangle shape in a plane parallel to the disc 7. The rotating shafts 20 of the motors 12 and 13 are connected to each other. Similarly, the rotating shafts 21 of the motors 14 and 15 are connected to each other. With this configuration, the thrust of the thrust fans 10a and 10b can be increased while suppressing the total height H. Further, the motors 12 and 13 for the left thrust fan 10a and the motor 1 for the right thrust fan 10b
4 and 15 can independently control the rotation speed and the rotation direction.

Stepped pulleys 22 are attached to the rotary shafts 20 and 21 of the motors 12 and 15 for the thrust fans 10a and 10b, respectively. Each stepped pulley 22 is interlocked by a stepped belt 24 with a stepped pulley 23 attached to the drive shafts of the left and right thrust fans 10a, 10b. According to this structure, the left thrust fan 10a is driven by the motors 12 and 13, and the motor 1
The thrust fan 10b on the right side is driven by 4 and 15. Therefore, by controlling the rotation speeds of the respective motors 12 to 15 and appropriately changing the rotation speeds of the left and right thrust fans 10a and 10b, the apparatus body 5 moves to the belly side 4 in a state of being vertically suspended in water. It can be turned or turned.

Around the opening of the cylindrical body 6, that is, the apparatus main body 5
Around the opening of the ventral side 4 of the apparatus, when the apparatus main body 5 moves while standing vertically and the abdominal side 4 hits the underwater wall surface 25, the inside of the apparatus main body 5 is contacted with the wall surface 25. A seal skirt 26 is provided for keeping a negative pressure.

As shown in FIG. 3, the seal skirt 26 is a flare portion 2 made of a freely deformable film-like resin material such as rubber, which is attached around the opening of the cylindrical body 6.
7 and a seal ring portion 28, which is attached to the outer edge of the flare portion 27 and is made of a resin material in the shape of a donut ring having flexibility such that it is partially deformable such as polyester resin.

When the inside of the apparatus main body 5 becomes a negative pressure, the flare portion 27 is pulled inward as shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. 3 and deformed so as to contact the wall surface 25. However, at this time, the flare portion 27 does not completely liquid-tightly seal the inside and outside of the apparatus body 5, and the wall surface 25
A water flow from the outside to the inside of the device main body 5 is allowed between. Therefore, the inside of the apparatus body 5 is not vacuumed and is not completely fixed to the wall surface 25.

Further, an inclined surface 30 is formed on the outer edge of the seal ring portion 28 for overcoming obstacles 29 (dust, bolts, welding lines, shellfish, etc.) attached to the wall surface 25.

Further, on the left and right sides of the casing 8, there are mounted drive wheels 11 which come into contact with the wall surface 25 when the apparatus body 5 is adsorbed on the wall surface 25. Each drive wheel 11 includes a drive wheel motor 16, 17 housed in the casing 8.
Driven by. Motors 16 and 17 for each drive wheel
Are arranged adjacent to the fan motors 14 and 15, respectively. A pinion 31 is attached to the rotation shafts of the motors 16 and 17 for each drive wheel. These pinions 31 are meshed with the pinions 32 attached to the drive shaft of each drive wheel 11.

The left and right drive wheel motors 16 and 17 can independently control the rotation speed and the rotation direction. According to this configuration, the device body 5 is attached to the wall surface 25.
After adsorbing onto the wall surface 25, the left and right drive wheels 11 are independently driven by controlling the rotational speeds and rotational directions of the left and right drive wheel motors 16 and 17, thereby allowing the wall surface 25 to travel straight or turn freely. be able to.

The drive wheel 11 is provided near the lower part of the abdominal side 4 of the apparatus main body 5 standing vertically. Therefore, the mounting position of the drive wheel 11 is close to the position of the center of gravity of the apparatus main body 5 standing vertically, and the traction (contact friction) when contacting the wall surface 25 becomes good. As a result, idling of the drive wheels 11 can be suppressed. Also, on the upper part of the casing 8,
A ball caster (driven wheel) 33 is provided. The ball caster 33 is adapted to freely change the direction of the device body 5.

At the top of the casing 8 there are provided various boards 34 and controllers 35 for the motors 12-17. In addition, on the upper part of the casing 8, the connector 3
6 are provided. A cable 37 (power transmission cable) for power supply and control signal is connected to the connector 36. The power transmission cable 37 also has a function of an operation cable for operating a vertical movement with respect to the apparatus main body 5 floating in a state of standing vertically in water.

On the left and right sides of the casing 8, there are provided planimeters 38 for detecting the traveling distance with respect to the wall surface 25. The planimeter 38 includes a friction roller 39 that rolls in contact with the wall surface 25 when the apparatus body 5 travels on the wall surface 25, and a rotary encoder (not shown) that counts the number of rotations of the friction roller 39. With these, the traveling distance on the wall surface 25 is detected.

Further, in the underwater moving apparatus 1 having the above-mentioned basic structure, a differential pressure open / close check valve 40 is provided at the opening on the back side 19 of the duct 18 for accommodating the thrust fans 10a, 10b.

That is, as shown in FIG. 4, a sealing material 41 is attached around the opening of the duct 18 in the disk 7 constituting the back side 19 of the apparatus main body 5 and faces the outside of the sealing material 41. Two sets of bosses 42 and 43 are formed in a projecting manner, and a pair of shafts 44 and 45 are inserted and arranged so as to be parallel to each other between the bosses 42 and 43 of each set, and a butterfly flap 46 is attached to each shaft 44 and 45. , 47 to which the hinges 48 are fitted, and the hinges 48 are provided with a closing member 50 such as a spring for urging the flaps 49 of the butterfly flaps 46 and 47 in the closing direction.

Further, the cylindrical body 6 of the apparatus main body 5 is constructed so as to be turned off when the pressure inside and outside the apparatus main body 5 is detected and the differential pressure becomes larger than a predetermined value required for adsorption traveling. The differential pressure switch 51 is attached to the thrust fan 10 from the control device 35 provided on the upper part of the casing 8.
A differential pressure switch 51 is connected in the middle of a signal path 52 for sending a control command to the motors 12 to 15 of a and 10b.

The operation of the embodiment of the present invention having the above configuration will be described.

Since the underwater moving apparatus 1 having the above structure has the closed tank 9 as the floating body 2 in the upper part of the casing 8 and the motors 12 to 17 as the weight body 3 in the lower part, Float while standing vertically. Therefore, when the thrust fans 10a and 10b are normally rotated in this state, the underwater moving device 1 moves to the belly side 4 while standing vertically in water.

The left and right thrust fans 10a, 1
By changing the rotation speed of 0b, the underwater moving apparatus 1 turns in the vertical standing state while moving in water. At this time, the butterfly flaps 46, 47 of the differential pressure check valve 40 are resisted against the closing member 50 such as a spring by the force of the jet flow generated by the thrust fans 10a, 10b.
The flap portion 49 of is opened.

By operating the power transmission cable 37, which also serves as an operation cable, which is connected to the apparatus main body 5, from above, the underwater moving apparatus 1 moves vertically in the water while standing vertically.

By operating the thrust fans 10a and 10b, the underwater moving apparatus 1 is brought close to the wall surface 25 with the ventral side 4 thereof facing the vertical wall surface 25 in the water, and as shown in FIG. The seal skirt 26 provided around the opening on the abdominal side 4 is brought into contact with the underwater wall surface 25. Then, the abutting seal skirt 26 makes the inside of the device body 5 of the underwater moving device 1 a closed space, so that the drainage action of the thrust fans 10a and 10b causes a negative pressure in the device body 5 and the suction generated at this time. Due to the force, the flare portion 27 of the seal skirt 26 is sucked inward and deformed as shown in FIG. 3, and the inside of the device main body 5 is maintained at a negative pressure, and the underwater moving device 1 is adsorbed to the wall surface 25.

Here, since the seal skirt 26 surrounds a larger area than the apparatus main body 5, it is possible to obtain a large suction force as a whole even with a small negative pressure per unit area. Is. Therefore, the outputs of the motors 12 to 15 of the thrust fans 10a and 10b can be reduced, and the size can be reduced.

The flare portion 27 which is sucked and deformed
Does not completely seal the space between the wall surface 25 and the wall surface 25, and allows a water flow of a leak water flow that flows in from the outside of the device body 5 to pass through. Therefore, the thrust fans 10a and 10b are rotated so as to discharge the amount of water for this water flow and the amount of water for making the negative pressure.

Further, the differential pressure switch 51 attached to the cylindrical body 6 of the apparatus main body 5 detects the pressure inside and outside the apparatus main body 5, and the differential pressure is larger than a predetermined value required for adsorption traveling. Then, the signal path 52 for sending a control command from the control device 35 provided on the upper portion of the casing 8 to the motors 12 to 15 of the thrust fans 10a and 10b is turned off. As a result, the motors 12 to 15 of the thrust fans 10a and 10b are stopped, the generation of the jet flow is stopped, and the flap members 49 of the butterfly flaps 46 and 47 are closed by the closing member 50 such as a spring, and the device main body 5 is closed. The inside is kept at a predetermined negative pressure.

When the differential pressure between the inside and outside of the apparatus body 5 becomes smaller than the predetermined value due to the leaked water flow or the like, the differential pressure switch 51 causes the control device 35 to move the thrust fan 10 to the outside.
The signal path 52 for sending a control command to the motors 12 to 15 of a and 10b is turned on. As a result, the thrust fan 1
The motors 12 to 15 of 0a and 10b are restarted, the generation of jet flow is restarted, and the flap portion 4 of the butterfly flaps 46 and 47 is resisted against the closing member 50 such as a spring.
9 is opened, and the degree of negative pressure inside the apparatus body 5 is increased.

In this way, the pressure difference between the inside and the outside of the apparatus body 5 is detected, and the motors 12 to 12 of the thrust fans 10a and 10b are detected.
By repeating ON / OFF of 15, the motors 12 to 1 of the thrust fans 10a and 10b
No need to keep 5 running all the time, and the thrust fans 10a, 10b can be operated efficiently,
The economical efficiency and life of the device can be improved.

In this way, the apparatus body 5 is attracted to the wall surface 25, and at the same time, the drive wheels 11 provided on the ventral side 4 of the apparatus body 5 come into contact with the wall surface 25. Therefore, thereafter, by rotating the drive wheels 11, the underwater moving apparatus 1 can travel on the wall surface 25. Here, since the seal skirt 26 is provided so that the friction between the two can be reduced while ensuring the necessary sealing property, the drive wheel 11 can easily travel on the wall surface 25. Therefore, the motors 16 and 17 for the drive wheels 11 can be downsized.

Since the drive wheel 11 is provided in the lower part of the abdominal side 4 of the apparatus main body 5 standing upright, the mounting position is close to the center of gravity, so that traction (driving friction) when contacting the wall surface 25 is achieved. Will be good. Therefore, idling of the drive wheels 11 is suppressed. Further, by changing the rotational speeds of the left and right drive wheels 11, the underwater moving apparatus 1 can turn on the wall surface 25. At this time, the planimeter 38
By detecting the traveling distance on the wall surface 25 by
The positioning accuracy of the underwater moving device 1 can be improved. Further, since the total height H of the underwater moving device 1 is kept low, it is possible to easily enter a narrow gap.

As shown in FIG. 3, an obstacle 29 is placed on the wall surface 25.
Even if there is (dust, bolts, welding lines, shellfish, etc.), the underwater moving apparatus 1 can be easily overcome by the inclined surface 30 of the seal ring portion 28 of the seal skirt 26. At this time, the flexible seal ring portion 28 is partially deformed and the sealing performance inside and outside the device body 5 is deteriorated to some extent, so that the suction water flow from outside to inside (hereinafter referred to as leakage water flow).
However, since the motors 12 to 15 of the thrust fans 10a and 10b are controlled to have a constant current value, the inside of the apparatus body 5 can be maintained at a substantially constant negative pressure. That is, in the case of the constant current value control, the motors 12 to 15 have a small load when the leak water flow is large, and therefore have a high rotation speed, and the motor 12 to 15 have a large load when the leak water flow is small and have a low rotation speed. As a result, the inside of the apparatus body 5 can be maintained at a substantially constant negative pressure.

[0045]

As described above, according to the underwater moving device of the present invention, it is possible to provide a small and lightweight device capable of traveling on a vertical wall surface.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway plan view of an underwater moving device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing a state where the underwater moving device is adsorbed on a wall surface.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a seal skirt portion of FIG.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of a differential pressure open / close check valve portion.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a signal path provided with a differential pressure switch.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of an underwater moving device showing a conventional example,
(A) is a side view, (b) is a plan view.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Underwater moving device 4 Ventral side 5 Device body 10a, 10b Thrust fan 11 Driving wheel (moving mechanism) 19 Back side 25 Wall surface 26 Seal skirt 40 Differential pressure open / close check valve 51 Differential pressure switch

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Toshihiko Sasahara 1 Shinshinarahara-cho, Isogo-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Ishi Kawashima Harima Heavy Industries, Ltd. Yokohama Engineering Center (72) Inventor Yuichi Miura Toyosu Mito, Koto-ku, Tokyo 1-15 Ishikawajima Harima Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. Toji Technical Center (72) Inventor Katsumi Kai 3-1-1 Toyosu, Koto-ku, Tokyo Ishikawajima Harima Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. Toji Technical Center

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A device main body having a ventral side opening, a thrust fan provided on the back side of the device main body, and a negative pressure inside the device main body provided around the ventral side opening of the device main body during wall adsorption. In order to keep the seal skirt in contact with the wall surface, the moving mechanism for moving the device body along the wall surface, and the opening provided on the back side of the device body for accommodating the thrust fan, the difference is always biased in the direction of closing the opening. With a pressure check type check valve,
Detects the pressure inside and outside the device body, stops the thrust fan when the differential pressure exceeds a predetermined value required for adsorption running, and starts the thrust fan when the differential pressure becomes smaller than the predetermined value. An underwater moving device comprising: