JPS58217280A - Moving apparatus in arranged pipe - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an intra-pipe moving device, and more particularly to an intra-pipe moving device suitable for inspecting the entire interior of the pipe.

As for the conventional pipe internal inspection device, there is a pipe internal inspection device called "Mi-I TEJ" developed by Nikireine in France.
1, 10j. Figure 1 shows rMERITE
This figure shows the external appearance of J.Two traveling 47J motors 102 and 103 are fixed to the fuselage ioi, and the traveling motor 3
Wheels 104 and 105 are connected to wheels 102 and 103 via rotary wheels 1'l and t, respectively. A brace 106, 107 is attached near the wheel 104 so as to face the slope of the body 101. Motor 106, 107
The rotating mei 1 is attached to the shaft with its axis shifted.
There are 10. A leg 111 is fixed to a rotating scout 110, and a pole caster 112 is provided at the tip of the leg 111. Therefore, by rotating the motor 106 (i-), the pole caster 112 moves in a circular motion.
The tension moldings 108° and 109 near the are also similar to the above (f4).

That is, inside the piping, the traveling motor 102゜1
03 and the Bolle caster 112 at the tip of the four legs 111
comes into contact with the inner surface of the pipe and moves toward cars @104 and 105. Because of this mechanism, when the diameter of the pipe inside the pipe changes, the turning angle of the leg 111 changes, causing a relative positional shift between the central axis of the pipe and the body 101. Therefore, if a sensor or the like for inspection is installed, the position of the sensor, etc. needs to be corrected. When moving the shaft, curved part, reducer part, vertical part, etc., the torque 'auxiliary control, rotation angle control, etc. of each of the motors 106 to 109 are performed.
Requires complex control.

The shortcomings of the prior art can be summarized as follows.

(1) The position within the pipe of the body changes according to the change in the diameter of the pipe.

(2) Sloppy control is required at the curved section, reducer section, and vertical section.

(3) Power is (5) power, so it cannot be used underwater or in a flammable gas atmosphere.

There were drawbacks such as:

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an in-pipe movement device that can easily move all the joints of pipes of different diameters.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An intra-pipe moving device +1, which is a preferred embodiment of the present invention, will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the present invention. The overall structure consists of four bodies 1 to 4 of the same structure each having four legs 6 (the bodies 1 and 2 are operated by a gas pressure cylinder 7, and the bodies 3 and 4 are operated by a gas pressure cylinder 9). 2 telescopic units C') Uniso lower and 1 intermediate retractable unit L- of this ft L:
0 and λ is also 4-kichi-'-.

A TV left camera 5 is mounted at the tip of the fuselage 1. T
The V left camera 5 has a single-turn mirror inside, and is capable of direct viewing and side viewing. For example, by installing an ultrasonic sensor or the like on the TV left camera 5, ultrasonic wave deep damage testing can be performed, or by attaching a welding torch or grinder, it is also possible to perform these tasks. be.

Below, FIG. 2 will be explained in detail. The body 1 is held by gas pressure cylinders fixed at every 90 degrees on its outer circumference (4 legs 6) so that the center axis of the pipe 20 and the center axis of the body 1 almost coincide. A swivel caster 5 is provided at the tip of the leg 6.
As will be described later, the wheel 7 has a leg 6f: a pipe 20 due to gas pressure.
By pressing against the inner surface of the wheel 7, a brake can be applied to the wheel 7. The universal joint +lO is equipped with two telescopic units so that their posture can be easily changed by 16 times according to the shape of the curved portion of the pipe 20. As shown in FIG. 3, the leg 6 has a flange 21 provided on a cylinder 22 of the leg 6 fixed to the body 1 with bolts or the like. Since the other three legs 6 also have the same structure, explanation of each family will be omitted. cylinder 2
2 and the piston 23 are kept airtight by an O-ring 2↓ fitted in a groove provided in the piston 23, and are slidable. The pin 27 of the swivel caster 5 is smoothly inserted into the tip of the piston (fist 25).
The set screw 26 is screwed into the groove 28 provided in the hole 7 and engaged. However, this set screw 26 does not prevent the movement of the swivel caster 5. A sliding washer 29 is provided at the part where the tip of the piston rod 25 and the swivel caster 5 come into contact, to make the movement of the swivel caster 5 smoother. I have to. The flexible cask 5 is pressed against the inner surface a+ of the pipe 2o by a compression coil spring 30 provided on the outside 11+1 of the cylinder 22. Therefore, the legs 6 are always in an extended state, and the wheels 7 are lightly pressed against the inner surface of the pipe 20. By providing the compression coil spring 30 in the cylinder 22, the four legs 6 are pushed against each other with the same force, and the body 1 is held so as to be substantially aligned with the central axis of the pipe 20. On the other hand, the wheel 7 is slidably fitted to the axle 32 so as to rotate freely.
is held on the support sparrow 31 of the index caster 5 with a retaining ring 33 or the like. The axle 32 is constantly pressed downward by a compression spring 35 in a chamber 34 provided inside the support fitting 31 . The axle 32v'i, as shown in FIG. 4, is fully inserted into the elongated hole 40 of the support fitting 31, and can freely slide within the elongated hole 40. However, since the aforementioned compression spring 35 presses the axle 32 downward, the wheel 7 is always held at the downward position A and can rotate freely, that is, the brake function is released. Ru. wheel 7
Yang Hui applies the brakes to the gas pressure inlet 36 and pressurizes the gas chamber 37 in the fuselage 1.
The piston 23'c in the eyelet 6 is pressurized at the same time. The pressure exerted by the piston 23 is transmitted to the piston rod 253 and the caster 5. By making the pressing force of the piston 23 stronger than the compression force of the compression spring 35, the compression spring 35
is compressed and point B in FIG. 4 moves to point A, and the wheel 7 comes into contact with the concave surface 41 of the caster 5. Through the wheel 7 and the four sides 41
The wheel 7 is fixed due to the friction between the two wheels. In other words, the brake is applied and the fuselage 1 is fixed within the cargo delivery 20. In this way, the pressure condition of the piston 23 under which the brake f is released or released on the wheel 7 only by the pressure of the piston 23 is the compression force of the compression spring 35 at P3. The compression force of the compression spring 30 is P.

In this case, if the pressing force of the piston 23 is P23, the following condition must be added (4).

Wheel open state MjQ-P23 < P so < P
ss When the wheel is fixed, jm Pso<Pss<PzsThe first shift of the compression force P30 changes in compression because the length of the compression spring 30 changes due to a change in the expansion/contraction state of the leg 6 based on a change in the diameter of the pipe 20. However, within the stroke range of the piston 23, the above conditions must be satisfied. Pressure force P
The value of 23 must be changed significantly, but it can be easily controlled by simply changing the gas pressure.

Since this body 1 and a body 2 having the same function are connected by a gas pressure cylinder 8, the distance between the bodies can be changed. As shown in FIG. 5, gas pressure inlets 45.4 are provided at both ends of the medal-shaped cylinder 43 of the gas pressure cylinder 8.
6 will be provided. A piston rod 47 connected to the cylinder 431j11i' body 1 and the piston 44 of the cylinder 43 is fixed to the body 2 with a screw or the like. body 1 and body 2
has rigidity with respect to the axial direction of the piston rod 47.

By supplying pressure #a gas into the chamber 37 of the fuselage 1 and pressing the piston 23, the legs 6 of the fuselage 1 are connected to the piping 20.
The wheel 7 is fixed as described above by pushing it onto the inner surface of the fj. On the other hand, when compressed gas is introduced into the cylinder 43 from the gas pressure introduction port 45, the piston 44 is pressurized and moves toward the body 2,
The body 2 moves one stroke of the piston 44.

At this time, compressed gas is not supplied to the chamber 37 of the fuselage 2, and the vent 6 of the fuselage 2 is in a state where it can freely expand and contract. After the piston 44 moves, compressed gas is supplied into the chamber 37 of the body 2 to press the piston 23, move the legs 6 of the body 1 in the radial direction of the distribution W20, and move the wheels 7 to the concave surface 4.
Fix at 1. The compressed gas in the chamber 37 of the fuselage 1 is released to release the engagement between the wheel 7 and the concave surface 41. When the compressed gas in the cylinder 43 is discharged from the gas pressure inlet 45 and the compressed gas is introduced into the cylinder 44 from the gas pressure inlet 46 to pressurize the piston 44 from the piston rod 47 side, the cylinder 43 is released from the body 2 side. The body 1 moves by the stroke amount of the piston 44.

This action causes the fuselage 1 and the fuselage 2 to move into the cylinder 43.
This means that it has moved toward the body 2 by the stroke of .

By repeating this operation, the pipe moving device can be moved within the pipe 20. The diameter of the pipe 20 changes. In this case, as shown in Fig. 6, pipes with different diameters are connected by a V juicer 50, so that the diameter changes gradually. , it's on. This implementation 171],
When the leg 6 of the torso 1 is located at the reducer 50 at the rock h
When trying to hold the reducer 50 with a pressure of +, a force of a component force Q of P acts on the slope 11 of the reducer 50 along the slope. Therefore, the wheel 7 descends along the slope in the counterclockwise direction of the arrow 55, and cannot move in the direction of the pipe moving device 55. The same applies to the legs 6 of the body 2. The magnitude of the component force Q of P is Q = P sin θ, where θj is the angle formed by the slope of the reducer 50, and the larger the value of θ, the more curved Q becomes. The in-pipe moving device of this embodiment shown in FIG. 2 has a structure that eliminates the problem of not being able to move in the direction of the arrow 55 when the leg 6 is placed on the reducer 50. In other words, 7 connected by a gas pressure cylinder.
A universal joint 10 connects two units consisting of a pair of bodies.
It is connected by . Reducer 5 according to this embodiment
The state of movement in part 0 will be explained with reference to FIG. body 2 and body 3
Reju to the distance? By controlling the movements of the legs 6 of the torso 2 and the torso 3 to be performed simultaneously, even if the legs 6 of the torso 3 are located on the reducer 50, the legs 6 of the torso 2 Since it is fixed to the pipe 2°, it is possible to move in the direction of arrow 55.

Figure iZ8 shows a flowchart for controlling the mechanism by which the intra-pipe moving device according to the present invention moves within the pipe. At the position where the device is in the pipe 20, the cylinders 22 of the legs 6 of the bodies 2 and 3 are pressurized with compressed gas, and the wheels 7 are braked to fix the bodies 2 and the bodies 1 and 3. Next, body 1
and release the compressed gas in the cylinder 22 of the leg 6 of the fuselage 4,
Release the brake. Thereafter, by shortening the gas pressure cylinder 8 for extending and retracting the body and simultaneously extending the other gas pressure cylinder 9, the body 1 and the body 4 move forward by the stroke length of the gas pressure cylinder. Next, the cylinders 22 of the legs 6 of the fuselage 1 and the fuselage 4 are pressurized with compressed gas and the wheels 7 are braked to fix the fuselage 1 and the fuselage 4. Next, fuselage 2
and release the compressed gas in the 7 cylinders 22 of the legs 6 of the fuselage 3,
Release the brake. After this gas pressure 7. By expanding and contracting IJ das 8 and 9', respectively,
The body 2 and +j+1 body 3 move forward by the stroke length of the gas pressure cylinder. The above operation completes 1 control, and the above operation is repeated until 11 at the predetermined stop position, and even if the diameter of the pipe 20 is liquefied or there is a curved part, it will follow the shape of the pipe 20 and reach 15 iJ. I'll move on.

In the case of going backwards, it is possible to move backwards by a simple operation 1' [by simply rearranging the sequence of contraction and extension of the gas pressure cylinders 8 and 9, as indicated by the dotted line 1 in Figure 8. . The control devices I' and f that perform the operations shown in FIG.
The transmission of control signals between the 1tIIJ 1iI41 device and the intra-pipe moving device is carried out by a cable connected to the intra-pipe moving device. It is also possible to perform wireless communication.

Further, if there is an obstacle on the inner surface of the pipe 20, this will be explained with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10. No. 91], 11.
Reference numeral 12 denotes a gas pressure motor, and between the bodies 1 and 2 and the bodies 3 and 4, the gas pressure motors 11 and 12 are set at IsJ so as to rotate in the radial direction via a gas pressure cylinder. Now, as shown in FIG. 10, if an obstacle (hole) 13 such as a branch pipe 19 exists in the contact portion of the wheel 7, the tensioning operation of the leg 6 becomes impossible. In order to avoid this, during the propulsion operation, the right camera 5 detects the obstacle 1 and 13, and the gas pressure motors 11 and 12 are activated automatically or by the operator's operation before the obstacle 1 and 13 are detected. is driven, the postures of the bodies 1 and 2, 3 and 4 are sequentially rotated relative to each other, and the vertical position of the wheels 7 can be moved to the axis X and the axis Y. Therefore, the obstacle 13 can be avoided by cooperatively controlling the thrusting operation of the legs 6 and the gas pressure cylinders 8, 9, etc. by the gas pressure motors 11 and 12.

According to the present invention, two sets of bodies that extend and contract into the piping with several legs are connected using in-house joints, and the wheels are equipped with a swivel caster mechanism. You can move around. Furthermore, since the legs are equipped with elastic bodies and the wheels are kept in contact with the piping at all times, the body can be positioned on the central axis of the piping even when the body is moving. Furthermore, the cylinder control can be simplified by repeating the simple operation of pressurizing the cylinder with compressed gas and releasing the gas. In addition, since electricity is not used for power, it can be used underwater or in an atmosphere of flammable gas. Because the body is always on the central axis of the piping no matter how much distance it has traveled, it can be accurately measured from the gas pressure/cylinder operation number and stroke amount.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is an external view of a conventional pipe moving device, Fig. 2 is an external view of a pipe moving device which is a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 3 is a longitudinal cross-section of the leg of the device shown in Fig. 2. 4 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the wheel shown in FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the telescopic cylinder shown in FIG. 2, and FIGS. 6 and 7 are explanations of the operation of the pipe moving device 8 are flowcharts of the control of the device shown in FIG. 2, and FIGS. 9 and 10 are explanatory views of the operation of the device shown in FIG. 2 when there is an obstacle. 1.2, 3.4...Body 5...Swivel casters, 6
...Leg, 7...Wheel, 8.9...Gas pressure cylinder, 10...Universal joint, 20...Piping, 22...Cylinder, 23...Piston, 25... piston rod,
29... Sliding spring, 30... Compression spring, 32.
...Axle, 35...Compression spring, 37...Gas chamber, 41...Concave surface, 43...Double funeral 20 -4 and funeral 4 diagram 5 ward condolence 7 condolence diagram Figure 10 Continued from page 1 [Phase] Inventor: Senji Yoshioka, Hitachi, Ltd., Energy Research Laboratory, 1168 Moriyama-cho, Hitachi City 0 Inventor: Masanori Suzuki, 489- Hitachi, Ltd. Energy Research Laboratory, 1168 Moriyama-cho, Hitachi City

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A plurality of units having an expansion joint consisting of a cylinder and a piston, a pair of bodies connected by the expansion joint, and a universal joint that interconnects one body of each unit. An intra-pipe movement device comprising: a leg portion that is radially attached to each of the bodies and is extendable and retractable; and wheels provided on the leg portions. 2. The intra-pipe moving device according to claim 1, further comprising means for pressing the wheels against the inner surface of the pipe.