JPH10221259A - Intra-pipe inspection device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an intra-pipe inspection device with which the inside of a pipe in the water flowing condition can be viewed in any direction over a long inspection range any as desired. SOLUTION: An intra-pipe inspection device is equipped with a camera 29 for observing the inside of a pipe and includes a propulsive element 12 capable of advancing in the water in the pipe and an impeller 40 capable of spouting a propulsive jet stream 46 from the propulsive element 12. The impeller 40 is fitted with a plurality of blades laid in the circumferential direction in such an arrangement that the front edge of one blade and the rear edge of its foregoing blade are overlapped in a certain area in the circumferential direction when viewed in the axial direction.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an in-pipe inspection apparatus for inspecting the inside of a pipe in a water flowing state, and more particularly, to inspecting an inner surface of a pipe in a water flowing state in an existing water pipe by a television camera or the like. The present invention relates to an in-pipe inspection apparatus that can be used for updating an aging pipeline and maintaining and managing the pipeline.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A water channel composed of cast iron pipes is generally installed buried underground. Therefore,
In order to inspect the inside of the pipe of this water channel, excavation work must be performed from the ground and the inside of the pipe must be cut off. For this reason, there is a problem that the cost is high, the night work is mainly performed, and the inhabitants of the area where the inspection is to be performed are troublesome.

[0003] For this reason, attempts have conventionally been made to inspect the inside of such a waterway without cutting or uncut water. As a device for this purpose, a push-rod television camera and a push-type tube endoscope have been conventionally developed.

[0004] Among them, the push rod type television camera has a television camera for observing the inside of the pipe at the tip side of a push rod which can be inserted into the pipe from a branch portion of a pipe such as a fire hydrant or an air valve. is there.

[0005] The push-in type tube endoscope has a television camera connected to the end of a cable that can be pushed into the pipe from the same branch in the pipe line as described above.

[0006]

However, in the conventional push-rod type television camera, since the endoscope is limited to the endoscope with the television camera installed at the distal end side of the push-rod, the viewing range is limited to the insertion portion of the push-rod. There is a problem that it is limited to a range of about 2 to 3 meters around a branch portion such as a fire hydrant or an air valve. There is also a problem in that the direction of the endoscope is limited and only the endoscope can be performed for the side view.

In the conventional push-in type tube endoscope, it is necessary to push the television camera into the tube by a cable, and the cable must have rigidity enough to withstand the pushing force. Also, the cable is inevitably curled. For this reason, there is a limit to the length of the cable to be pushed into the pipe due to the influence of the rigidity and winding of the cable, and there is a problem that the cable can be actually pushed only about 10 to 20 meters along the pipe axis direction. . In addition, since the television camera is simply connected to the end of the cable, there is also a problem that a place to be observed in the tube cannot be freely viewed.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve such a problem and allow an arbitrary range over a long distance in a pipe to be viewed from an arbitrary direction.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an apparatus for inspecting the inside of a pipe in a water-passing state, comprising a camera for observing the inside of a pipe and a propelling body capable of propelling underwater in the pipe. An impeller provided on the propulsion body and capable of jetting a jet water stream for propulsion from the propulsion body,
This impeller has a plurality of blades in the circumferential direction, and when viewed in the axial direction, the front edge and the rear edge of the blade adjacent in the circumferential direction overlap in a certain range in the circumferential direction. It is.

[0010] With this configuration, the propelling body can propell itself through the water in the pipe by the action of the jet water jet spouted by the impeller, so that it is possible to easily see an arbitrary range over a long distance in the pipe. Becomes Also, by adjusting the propulsion direction, the direction of the apparatus, that is, the camera, can be arbitrarily adjusted, so that the inner surface of the tube can be viewed from any direction. The impeller has a plurality of blades in the circumferential direction, and is configured such that when viewed in the axial direction, the front edge and the rear edge of the blade adjacent in the circumferential direction overlap in a certain range in the circumferential direction. Therefore, even though pressure is applied to the downstream side of the impeller due to the rotation of the impeller, backflow is prevented from flowing forward, and the efficiency of the impeller is improved.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In FIG. 4, reference numeral 1 denotes a horizontal pipe line buried underground, and a plurality of cast iron pipes 2 are joined to each other and, for example, water is passed through the pipes. It is in a state. Above the pipeline 1, manholes 3 are cut from the ground at appropriate distances. 4 is the lid. A branch pipe 5 that branches upward from the pipeline 1 in a direction perpendicular to the pipe line 1 is guided toward the manhole 3, and a short pipe 6 for height adjustment and a sub-valve 7 are provided at the upper end of the branch pipe 5. The fire hydrant 8 and an air valve not shown are attached. When the inside of the pipe is inspected by the apparatus of the present invention, the auxiliary valve 7 is closed, the fire hydrant and the air valve are removed, and the insertion / recovery device 9 is attached to the auxiliary valve 7 as shown in the figure.

Reference numeral 10 denotes a cable drum, which is provided on the ground and around which a cable 11 is wound. This cable 11
After being unwound from the drum 10, it is inserted into the pipe 1 through an insertion and recovery device 9 arranged vertically.
An in-pipe underwater diagnosis robot 12 as an in-pipe inspection apparatus according to the present invention is connected to the distal end of the cable 11. The robot 12 has a cylindrical casing 13.

The insertion / recovery device 9 includes an emergency shutoff valve 15 attached to the auxiliary valve 7 and a cylindrical portion connected to the emergency shutoff valve 15.
16, a water stopping part 17 attached to the upper end of the cylindrical part 16 on the ground, and a cable gripping / sending part 18 connected to the water stopping part 17. Further, the insertion / recovery device 9 has a guide tube 19 inside thereof. The guide tube 19 can be sent downward from the insertion / recovery device 9 through the tube portion 16 and the emergency shut-off valve 15. And the branch pipe 5 so as to be able to protrude into the pipe 1. cable
An opening 20 passes through the inside of the guide tube 19 and is formed at a lower portion of the guide tube 19 so as to face the pipe 1.
From the pipe 1 to the inside.

The cable 11 is electrically connected to a drawing line 21 from the cable drum 10, and the drawing line 21 is led to a ground controller 22. The ground controller 22 includes a manual operation unit 23 and a monitor receiver 24.
And are electrically connected.

FIG. 1 shows a sectional structure of the robot 12. The casing 13 of the robot 12 is formed to have a size capable of passing through the guide cylinder 19 and the opening 20 of the guide cylinder 19,
It has a water pressure resistant structure that can withstand the pressure of water in the pipeline 1. An opening 26 is formed at the tip of the casing 13, and the opening 26 is closed by a glass window 27. This glass window
A columnar space 28 is formed inside the space 27, and this space
At the center of 28, a television camera 29 capable of photographing an outside area through a glass window 27 is provided. TV camera
Around the 29, a plurality of halogen lamps 30 are provided along the circumferential direction for illuminating an area to be photographed by the television camera 29. 31 is a substrate, and this substrate 31
Is mounted with an electronic circuit for performing power conversion and communication control for the TV camera 29 and the halogen lamp 30.
Thus, an image module 32 is configured in the first half of the robot 12.

In the latter half of the robot 12, a propulsion module 34 is provided. That is, a DC motor 35 is provided inside the casing 13, and a magnet coupling 36 is connected to the DC motor 35. The magnet coupling 36 has a casing inner rotor 37 that is directly rotated by the motor 36, and an outer casing rotor 38 that is rotated by the casing inner rotor 37 by the action of magnetic force. That is, a cylindrical outer casing rotor 38 is provided concentrically inside the bottomed inner casing rotor 37, and the two rotors 37, 38 are provided with magnets 61, 62 which attract each other.

A water impermeable wall is provided between the rotors 37 and 38.
A casing 63 is provided so as to cover the outer casing rotor 38, and the interior and exterior of the casing 13 are completely impermeable to water by the impermeable wall 63. That is, the rotor 37 inside the casing is installed in the casing 13 in a completely water-blocking state, and the rotor 38 outside the casing is installed so as to be able to communicate with the water outside the casing 13, and then the rotational force is applied between the rotors 37 and 38. Can be transmitted.

A shaft 39 is connected to the outer rotor 38 of the casing, and an impeller 40 located on the center line of the casing 13 is provided at a tip end of the shaft 39. A suction channel 41 is formed around the shaft 39, and the casing 13 is provided with a plurality of suction ports 42 in the circumferential direction communicating with the suction channel 41. A discharge flow path 43 is formed behind the impeller 40, and the discharge flow path 43 is provided with a stator 49 having a fixed wing structure for canceling a counter torque generated by rotation of the impeller 40. A movable nozzle 44 as a discharge port is provided at the tip of the discharge channel 43.

As shown in detail in FIGS. 2 and 3, the impeller 40 has a plurality of blades 67 in the circumferential direction. When the impeller 40 is viewed in the axial direction, the front edge portion 68 and the rear edge portion 69 of the blade 67 adjacent in the circumferential direction overlap each other in a certain range in the circumferential direction. 70 is the overlapping part. Also, the tip edge 71 of the blade 67
It is configured such that the gap 73 between the flow path and the flow path wall 72 is as small as possible.

The stator 49 has a plurality of fixed blades 75 in the circumferential direction.
And a boss 76 at the center. The distal end 77 of the shaft 39 is supported by a bearing 78 provided on the boss 76.

The movable nozzle 44 is made of a magnetic material, and its direction is controlled by the action of a solenoid 47 provided on the casing 13, thereby changing the direction of the jet flow 46. It is configured so that the propulsion direction can be controlled.

The robot 12 is configured so as to have a space 48 around the image module 32 and the DC motor 35 and the inner rotor 37 of the propulsion module 34, and the neutral buoyancy state where the whole specific gravity becomes substantially 1 It is to be.

As shown in FIG. 1, the cable 11 is a robot
Although connected to the rear end of the cable 12, the cable 11 is also configured to be in a neutral buoyancy state in which the overall specific gravity becomes substantially 1 like the robot 12. Cable 11
The electric wires 53 inside are exposed behind the robot 12, and these wires 53 are connected to the casing 13. At the rear end of the casing 13, a tubular cable protection cover 59 is provided on the outer peripheral side of the movable nozzle 44 in order to prevent these electric wires 53 from being caught in the jet stream 46.

In such a configuration, when inspecting the inside of the pipe, the insertion and recovery device 9 is attached to the sub-valve 7 as shown in FIG. A guide cylinder by operating the sending section 18
Lower the lower part of 19 toward the inside of the pipeline 1. At this time, the robot 12 is housed inside the opening 20 of the guide cylinder 19.

When the guide cylinder 19 has dropped to a predetermined position,
The impeller 40 of the robot 12 is rotated by remote control from the operation unit 23 and the controller 22 on the ground, and the jet flow is
By ejecting 46, the robot 12 generates a propulsive force in the pipe axis direction. In this case, if the robot 12 is propelled in the direction of the water flow 60 in the pipeline 1, smooth propulsion becomes possible.

Impeller rotated by DC motor 35
40 is a leading edge 68 and a trailing edge 69 of a blade 67 adjacent in the circumferential direction.
And a certain range in the circumferential direction, so that the reverse action of the impeller 40 is prevented from being generated forward even though pressure is applied to the downstream side of the impeller 40 due to the rotating action of the impeller 40. Can be. For this reason, the efficiency of the impeller can be improved. Further, since the gap 73 between the leading edge 71 of the blade 67 and the flow path wall 72 is configured to be as small as possible, the impeller
40 efficiency can be increased.

Since water 45 is supplied to the impeller 40 through a plurality of suction ports 42 in the circumferential direction communicating with the suction flow path 41, the water 45 is uniformly sucked in the circumferential direction toward the suction flow path 41. be able to. For this reason, the robot 12 can be mechanically balanced compared to a case where water is sucked in from one suction port.

Since the stator 49 having the fixed blades 75 is provided behind the impeller 40, the counter torque generated by the rotation of the impeller 40 is negated, and the casing 13 is prevented from being rotated by the counter torque. it can. Further, by providing the stator 49, it is possible to correct the twist in the wake of the impeller 40 and improve the propulsion efficiency. That is, if there is a twist remaining in the wake, the nozzle 44
There is a possibility that a sufficient propulsive force may not be obtained due to the jet flow 46 ejected from the nozzle being diffused by centrifugal force. However, the provision of the stator 49 can reliably prevent such a problem from occurring.

Further, by using the nozzle 44 as described above, the wake of the impeller 40 can be accelerated and the high-speed jet stream 46 can be jetted, thereby improving the propulsive force.

As described above, since the robot 12 is propelled by itself, the inside of the pipe 1 for water supply can be inspected over a long distance in a state of uncut and uncut water, and this inspection is performed at low cost and in a short time. be able to. The robot
In response to the propulsion of 12, the cable 11 is fed out into the pipe 1 by the cable gripping / sending unit 18. Further, since the robot 12 is in a neutral buoyancy state, the robot 12 can be moved only by the action of the water flow 60.

At the place where the inspection is performed, the camera unit 32 of the robot 12 is controlled by controlling the direction of the movable nozzle
To the part to be inspected on the inner wall. Then, the target portion is illuminated by the halogen lamp 30, and the situation of the target portion is photographed by the television camera 29. By controlling the direction of the movable nozzle 44, it is possible to freely observe a desired part in the tube. Image signal is cable 11
To the ground controller 22 and monitored by the receiver 24. At this time, for example, if a rotary encoder or the like is installed in the cable gripping / sending unit 18, the position of the inspection target unit along the pipe axis direction can be detected.

On the ground, the inside of the pipeline 1 is inspected by visually checking the image of the receiver 24. Also,
By performing image processing from the obtained data, specific numerical analysis processing such as the effective water flow cross-sectional area is performed.

When the inspection is completed, the robot 12 is recovered. At this time, the robot 12 is moved by pulling the cable 11 by the cable gripping / sending unit 18 or the like.
Is drawn toward the insertion / recovery device 9. As a result of this pulling, the robot 12 enters the inside of the guide tube 19 through the opening 20, and thereafter the robot 12 is recovered by pulling the guide tube 19 out of the pipeline 1 to the ground. Robot 12
Since the components are accommodated in the cylindrical casing 13 and there are no protrusions, the components can be easily inserted into and removed from the guide cylinder 19 without being caught in each part.

[0034]

As described above, according to the present invention, a propulsion body provided with a camera for observing the inside of a pipe and capable of propelling underwater in the pipe, and a jet water stream for propulsion provided from this propulsion body from the propulsion body are provided. With the provision of an impeller that can be ejected, the propulsion body can propel itself in the water in the pipe by the action of the jet water jet ejected by the impeller, and easily see any area over a long distance in the pipe. be able to. Further, by adjusting the propulsion direction, the direction of the apparatus, that is, the camera, can be arbitrarily adjusted, so that the inner surface of the tube can be viewed from any direction.
The impeller has a plurality of blades in the circumferential direction, and is configured such that when viewed in the axial direction, the front edge and the rear edge of the blade adjacent in the circumferential direction overlap in a certain range in the circumferential direction. Therefore, even though pressure is applied to the downstream side of the impeller due to the rotation of the impeller, backflow is prevented from flowing forward, and the efficiency of the impeller can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of an in-pipe inspection apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a main part in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side view of a portion shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a state of inspecting the inside of a pipe using the inspection device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 13 Casing 29 Television camera 34 Propulsion module 40 Impeller 67 Blade 68 Front edge 69 Rear edge 70 Overlap

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing from the front page (72) Inventor Akio Kamada 1-1-1 Hama, Amagasaki-shi, Hyogo Prefecture Kubota Research and Development Laboratory Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A device for inspecting the inside of a pipe in a water-passing state, comprising a camera for observing the inside of a pipe and capable of propelling underwater in the pipe, and a propulsion body provided on the propulsion body, An impeller capable of ejecting a jet water stream for propulsion, the impeller having a plurality of blades in a circumferential direction, and a front edge and a rear edge of blades adjacent in the circumferential direction when viewed in the axial direction. An in-pipe inspection device, wherein an edge portion overlaps in a certain range in a circumferential direction.