JPS60179389A - Submersible cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To remove adhered matters effectively by fixing a cleaning brush through a gear mechanism and an universal joint to the rotary shaft of impeller in an outboard cleaner to be mounted on an adsorption travel truck then driving through single drive source to follow the curved face of the outboard. CONSTITUTION:In a cleaning machine to press against the underwater outerboard through rotation of an impeller 4 and to remove the ocean livings adhered onto the surface by means of a cleaning brush 6, said cleaning brush 6 is fixed through a gear mechanism 70 and an universal joint 10 to the rotary shaft of impeller 4. While a spring 11 is arranged around said universal joint 10 to hold the cleaning brush 6 in the neutral position thus to follow the curved face of the outerboard. The rotary directions of the impeller 4 and the cleaning brush 6 are reversed to smooth the water flow thus to remove/discharge the adhered matters effectively.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] This invention is a method for cleaning deposits adhering to an object to be cleaned (hereinafter referred to as an object to be cleaned) such as a ship or a building located under the surface of water such as the sea or a lake. Regarding underwater cleaning machines.

By the way, living organisms such as seaweed and shellfish, and contaminants such as oil adhere to the underwater surface of ships and the like, so these adherents must be removed periodically or at desired times to maintain aesthetic appearance and performance. For this reason, conventionally, as part of the first stage of cleaning, a diver manually removes the deposits one by one using a scraper. However, such manual work is extremely inefficient, and for large ships etc., there is a problem that the burden of obtaining it becomes large.

For example, the first cleaning machine that solves this problem is
An underwater cleaning machine, the schematic structure of which is shown in Figures 1 and 2, has been proposed (for example, Utility Application No. 53-32107).
, Cylindrical outer shells 101, 102, and 10 are provided at the rear left and right and front central portions of the main body 100A of the underwater cleaning machine 100;
are provided, and impellers 104 to 1off are arranged concentrically within the cylinders of these outer shells +01 to 103.
The bottom surface of the main body 100A is pressed against the surface of the object to be cleaned by the propulsive force generated by the rotational drive of the main body 100A. Three driving wheels 110 to 112 are provided at the bottom of the main body 100A, and by steering the driving wheel 110 at the rear end leftward or rightward R, the underwater cleaning machine 10
I am trying to change the running direction of 0.

Furthermore, cleaning brushes 107 to 109 for removing deposits from objects to be cleaned are attached to the bottom surfaces of the impellers 1.04 to 106 concentrically.

The cleaning brushes 107 to 109 are rotated by driving the impellers 104 to 106 to remove deposits from the surface of the object to be cleaned. In this case, the rotational directions of the impeller 104 and 4N sweeping brush 107 inside the outer flQloI and the corresponding rotational directions of the impeller 105 and cleaning brush +08 inside the outer shell 102 are opposite to each other, and are opposite to each other in the front outer shell 102. The rotation direction of the impeller 106 and cleaning brush +09 in the shell +03 is R2 or R.
It has two directions. Furthermore, above the main body 100A is an operating lever 114 for operating and controlling the cleaning work.
A handrail +15 is provided for the operator to hold his/her hand while performing the work, making the cleaning operator's operations more convenient. And outer shells 101 to 103
Collection nets 101A to 103A for collecting deposits removed by cleaning work are provided on the upper part of the container.

In such a configuration, the cleaning machine 100 has an operation lever]
14, but the running direction is controlled by the steering of the driving wheels 110 provided at the rear, so the direction cannot be changed at the same position, and it moves in an arc. It is necessary to be able to change direction, and if steering is performed, the direction must be restored to the original position by lever operation.
The drawback was that you couldn't go straight without the L. Also,
Since the number of impellers 104 to 106 and the cleaning brushes 107 to +08 connected thereto are an odd number (three in this example), the driving directions of the rear outer shells 101 and 102 are reversed to maintain balance. However, the impeller 108 and cleaning brush IO inside the front outer shell 103! 3
Since the rotation direction of must be set to R2 or R2,
It has the disadvantage of not being able to maintain an overall balance.

Furthermore, since the cleaning blades 107 to 108 are fixed to the impellers 104 to 106, respectively, there is no problem if the cleaning surface is flat, but there is a drawback that it is not possible to reliably clean uneven cleaning surfaces. , because the cleaner cannot move downward, depending on the position of the cleaning machine lOθ, the cleaning brush may come into contact with the surface of the object to be cleaned, and in some cases, the collision may damage the cleaning brushes 107 to 109 or the object to be cleaned. Ta. In addition, the conventional underwater cleaning machine 10
0 does not take into consideration the buoyancy control and attitude control of the cleaning machine body 100A (LiI, etc.), so there is a large difference in buoyancy between fresh water and salty seawater, making it impossible to perform cleaning work smoothly. In addition, there were many problems in terms of energy consumption, such as the posture state of the cleaning machine 100 becoming unbalanced depending on the running direction of the cleaning machine 100, and a particularly strong driving force being required.Furthermore, the planar shape of the main body 100A is close to a circular throat. Because of this, there was also the drawback that it was not possible to remove deposits from corners.

This invention was made from the above-mentioned circumstances,
It is an object of the present invention to provide an underwater cleaning machine capable of smoothly and reliably cleaning objects to be cleaned under the water surface.

This invention will be explained below.

This invention presses the cleaner body against the surface of an object to be cleaned in water by rotationally driving an impeller provided approximately at the center of the cleaner body, and the bottom part of the cleaner body pressed against the surface of the object to be cleaned is Then, the cleaning brush, which is arranged concentrically with the impeller, is rotated to remove the debris stuck to the surface of the object to be cleaned, and the cleaning machine body is moved to the surface of the object to be cleaned.
This relates to a submersible cleaning machine that is capable of running at a speed of 1-, and is provided with one pair of impellers and one pair of cleaning brushes, and arranged in parallel at right angles to the forward and backward movement direction of the main body of the cleaning machine.
The impeller and cleaning brush are driven by the same drive source, and the cleaning plans are combined using a universal joint.

FIGS. 3 and 4 (A) to (C) are an external view and a structural view showing an embodiment of the present invention, respectively. An elliptical cavity IA is provided in the center of the cavity I.
Inside A, cylindrical inner chambers 2 and 3 are provided, and impellers 4 and 5 are provided in the inner chambers 2 and 3, respectively, and below the impellers 4 and 5 are universal joints. ) Cleaning brushes 6 and 7 are connected via 10 and 10.

The impellers 4 and 5 are driven to rotate in opposite directions by hydraulic motors 8 and 9 that are connected to the upper part of the impellers. Further, an elevating mechanism 20 for moving the entire mounting member 21 fixing the impellers 4 and 5 downward by a hydraulic sill is disposed in the inner chambers 2 and 3, and this elevating mechanism 20 It is controlled by a control lever 63 (or remote control) provided at the rear of the cleaning machine main body 1. In addition, the mounting member 21
The hydraulic motor 8 (or 9) is fixedly mounted, and the impeller 4 (or 5) is connected below the hydraulic motor 8 (or 9), and the universal joint 1 is also connected to the impeller 4 (or 5).
Since the cleaning brushes 6 (or 7) are connected through -10, by moving the mounting member 21 up and down by the lifting mechanism 20, the cleaning brushes 6 and 7 can be moved to the I (L limit) in FIG. 4(B). ) and IT state (lower limit).

On the other hand, floats 30 and 31 are arranged in parallel in the main body 1 in the front and rear directions of the inner chambers 2 and 3, respectively, for controlling the buoyancy of the main body 1 with good precision.
Above the floats 30 and 31, an attitude control device 40 having a perfectly circular cross section and a hollow interior is disposed so as to surround the inner chambers 2 and 3, and the attitude control device 40 is configured to save energy in one main body. It is designed to take control.

Further, four driving wheels 51 to 54 for running are arranged on the square bottom of the main body l, and two driving wheels 51 . '52, 53, and 54 are each driven independently and in series by hydraulic motors 55-58. Furthermore, a handrail 61 is provided around the outside upper part of the main body l for the convenience of workers such as holding their hands, to make it easier to work in dark places such as on the seabed, or to prevent danger. In addition, lights 62 for illuminating the front and the rear are respectively arranged at the bottom. Note that a collection net may be provided in the upper part of the cavity IA to collect the objects that have been cleaned and removed.

Also, Figure 5 shows the impellers 4, 5 and cleaning brushes 6.7.
In addition to showing the structure of the universal joint 1 to 0 in detail, it shows the universal joint 1 and 0 that make the connection, and by rotating the impeller 4 in the direction M shown in the figure with a hydraulic motor 8, thrust in the direction D is obtained. The rotation of the impeller 4 is transmitted to the cleaning brush 6 via the universal joint 110, and the cleaning surface C8 of the cleaning brush 11i can be freely adjusted according to the curved surface of the object to be cleaned by the connection of the universal joint NO. It is tilted in the direction. A spring 11 is installed between the impeller 4 and the cleaning brush 6 so as to surround the universal joint NO, and is designed to hold the cleaning surface C5 of the cleaning brush 6 horizontally in a steady state. . Further, the hydraulic motor 8 is fixed to a mounting member 21, and the six-stroke lowering mechanism 20, which is connected via a retaining piece 23 to a cylinder rod 22 of a lifting mechanism 20 fixed to the main body l side, has a piston 26. It consists of a syringe 28 with a built-in chamber, and the chamber is divided by a piston 26 and has an injection tube 2.
Hydraulic pressure is inflowed into and discharged from the chamber 6 through an injection pipe 25, and hydraulic pressure is inflowed into and discharged from the first and other chambers through an injection pipe 25. Injection tubes 25 and 26
If the amount of oil pressure in both chambers defined by the piston 2C is changed, the piston 26 moves up and down, and the mounting member 21 is moved through the cylinder 22 connected thereto and the engagement piece 23.
It also moves ten degrees. 6(A) and 6(B) show an example of the structure of the universal joint 10, which intersects with the fixing member 12 of the cleaning brush 6 having four parts, and transmits the impeller 4 having a concave part. Connecting member 1 between member 16
3 is provided, the coupling member 13 and the fixing member 12 are pivotally supported by a pin 15, and the coupling member 13 and the transmission member 1
6 is pivotally supported by a pin 14, so that the rotational force from the transmission member 16 is directly transmitted to the cleaning brush 6, and the cleaning brush 6 can change the direction of the cleaning surface C8 in any direction. Become. Note that the universal joint 10 is not limited to the structure shown in FIGS. 6(A) and 6(B), and transmits the rotational force of the impeller 4 as it is, as well as cleaning the four-wheel sweeping brush 6 connected thereto. Surface C8
Any device may be used as long as the direction of the object can be changed in any direction depending on the surface of the object to be cleaned that is pressed.

FIG. 7 shows another example of the drive mechanism of the cleaning brush 6.7 according to the present invention, which has a universal joint I.
A gear mechanism 70 is inserted between the impeller 4 and the impeller 4, so that the rotation direction of the impeller 4 and the rotation direction of the cleaning brush 6 coupled thereto are reversed. By reversing the rotational direction of the impeller 4 and the rotational direction of the rotating brush 6 in this way, the water flow within the inner chamber 2 can be made smoother, and the removal and discharge of deposits can be achieved more effectively. I can do something.

Further, No. 81ffl schematically shows the schematic structure of the underwater cleaning machine of the present invention by the correspondence between Flowchart 30.31 and the driving wheels 51 to 54, and the floats 30 and 31 are equipped with a control device of a boat or the like. Pressurized air is transmitted from the air pumps installed in the air pumps through air transmission pipes 32, and flows 30 and 31 are arranged symmetrically with respect to the cavity IA to maintain overall balance. It has become. The structure and operation of 70-t30.31 will be described later.

Further, driving wheels 51 to 54 are arranged at the four corners of the bottom 1 m of the main body 1, and the drive system of these driving wheels 51 to 54 is arranged as shown in Fig. 9, and the hydraulic pressure is transmitted from the hydraulic pipe T1 in the P direction. The valve control circuits 50 and 58 are directly connected by the hydraulic pipe T2, and the hydraulic pressure is discharged in the Q direction from the hydraulic pressure T3 through the valve control circuits 50 and 59. 55-57 are connected by hydraulic pipes T4-T8, respectively.

In such a configuration, the two driving wheels 51, 52 and 53, 54 parallel to the forward and backward directions are each controlled at a constant speed and in the same running direction, and are also controlled independently of each other. There is. That is, when controlling the driving wheels 51 and 52 in the forward direction and making the other driving wheels 53 and 54 run in the same direction, the valve control circuits 50 and 58 are switched as shown in FIG. 10(A),
The hydraulic pressure from the valve switching circuit 50 is branched into hydraulic pipes T4 and T7 and input to the hydraulic motors 56 and 58,
Furthermore, the hydraulic motors 5 are connected via hydraulic pipes T5 and T8, respectively.
5 and 57, and the hydraulic pressure from the hydraulic motors 55 and 57 is input to the valve control circuit 59 via hydraulic pipes T7 and T9, and is discharged from the hydraulic pipe T3. In this case, the hydraulic pipes T4 and T7 are controlled by the valve switching circuit 50.
The amount of hydraulic pressure flowing into the cleaning machine can be individually controlled, and thereby the speeds of the hydraulic motors 55, 56 and 57, 58 can be changed, and by changing the speeds of both, the running direction of the cleaning machine can be controlled. be able to. Of course,
When traveling straight, both speeds should be the same. Also,
When changing direction of the cleaning machine at the same place, the first θ
As shown in FIG.
The inflow direction of the hydraulic pressure at T9 is controlled as shown in Figure J.

Thereby, the direction of the cleaning machine can be changed at the same location without taking up space for changing direction. Similarly, the driving wheels 51 and 52 are moved backward, and the other driving wheels 53 and 54 are
It is also possible to control LeJ so that it moves forward. Further, forward and backward movement is also controlled by valve control in the valve switching circuit 58.

On the other hand, FIGS. 1I (A) and (8) show the structure of 7o-1-30 (or 31), in which the float 30 is composed of a cylindrical cylinder 33, and the inside of the cylinder 33 is A piston 34 fitted with a ring or the like is fitted, and the piston 34 divides the inside of the cylinder 33 into an air chamber 35 and an ice chamber 36. And Himuro 36
A liquid input/output pipe 37 is provided on the wall of the ice chamber 36 through which liquid such as seawater can freely flow in or be discharged.
A spring 38 is loaded into the cylinder 33 and has an elastic force that causes the piston 34 to constantly slide in the M direction. By controlling the amount of air supplied from the air transmission pipe 32, the capacity of the air chamber 35 can be varied, thereby controlling the buoyancy of the float 3o. That is, when air is pressurized into the air chamber 35, the piston 34 slides in the N direction, and the liquid in the ice chamber 36 is discharged from the liquid output pipe 37, increasing the buoyancy of the float 30, and the transmission pipe 32 When the air pressure from the spring 3 is reduced, liquid naturally flows into the ice chamber 36 due to the suppressing action of the spring 3 and the deep sea pressure flowing in from the input/output pipe 37, and the piston 34 slides in the M direction, causing the air to flow into the ice chamber 36. Room 35
, which reduces the buoyancy of the float 30. In this way, by varying the capacity of the air chamber 35 by =f depending on the capacity of the pressurized air from the transmitter 32, the buoyancy of the float 3o can be freely controlled. and,
By arranging such floats symmetrically on both sides of the cavity IA, the buoyancy of the cleaning machine I is balanced and accurately controlled. In addition, F-D-1 is 2
It is not necessary that there be two, and they may be arranged on the left and right.

Further, FIG. 12 shows the structure of the attitude control device 40 according to the present invention, in which a fixing member 4 [having a perfectly circular hollow structure] is fixedly disposed at the periphery of the cavity IA. The cross-sectional structure of the fixing member 41 is rectangular as shown in FIG. 13, and a large number of freely movable metallic balls 42, such as pachinko balls, are sealed in this cavity.

These large numbers of balls 42 can move freely in the cavity within the fixed member 41, and in a horizontal state they are scattered almost uniformly within the cavity, and when the cleaning machine main body 1 is tilted like a slope, etc. When the ball 42 is placed in this position, the enclosed ball 42 moves in one direction, for example as shown in FIG. 14, and the center of the ball 42 moves in the moving direction. Thereby, when controlling the movement of the cleaning machine main body 1, it is not necessary to control the handle operation etc. with a large driving force, and the attitude can be quickly changed even with a small power. Such attitude control has great significance in reducing the driving force of the cleaning machine body through attitude control, since the underwater cleaning machine of the present invention is operated underwater in a zero-gravity state. In this embodiment, the ball 42 is used as the movable object to be sealed in the fixed member 41, but mercury can also be sealed if it can be electrically sealed.

In addition, if mercury is used for 11 people, in order to prevent mercury gas from leaking to the outside, oil with a light specific gravity may be sealed in two layers on the upper surface of the mercury.

In the above-mentioned configuration, the impellers 4 and 5 of the cleaning machine are rotated by operating the operating lever 63, and the cleaning machine is pressed against the surface of the object to be cleaned by the propulsion force generated by this rotation, and the cleaning machine is driven by the driving wheels 51 to 54. Runs freely on the surface of the object to be cleaned. In this state, the cleaning brushes 6 and 7 are in the working position. When the cleaning position is reached, the lifting mechanism 20 is activated to lower the cleaning brushes 6 and 7, and the cleaning brushes are rotated at the II position for cleaning. The cleaning brushes 6 and 7 are formed of metal pieces or metal needles, and can remove shellfish, seaweed, etc. adhering to the object to be cleaned 1m in contact with the pressing force and rotational force thereof. In this case, buoyancy control by the floats 30 and 31 and attitude control by the attitude control device 40 are also performed.

In this way, in this invention, the cleaning brushes 6.7 can be moved up and down by the elevating mechanism 20, so that in the normal elevating state, the cleaning brushes are placed in the upper row as shown by the lines in FIG. 4(B). This is done so that the cleaning brush 6.7 does not come into contact with the surface of the object to be cleaned due to the running of the driving wheels 51-54. When the underwater cleaning machine reaches the desired object to be cleaned, the lifting mechanism 20 lowers the cleaning brush 6.7 to position 11 in FIG. 4(B), and in this state, the cleaning brush 6.7 is rotated. By doing so, the surface of the object to be cleaned can be reliably cleaned.

Furthermore, by making the cleaning brush 6.7 movable up and down in this way, even when the underwater cleaning machine moves over a protruding surface, the cleaning brush 6.7 will not collide with the running road surface. Neither the object to be cleaned nor the cleaning brush 6.7 is damaged.

As described below, according to the underwater cleaning machine of the present invention, the number of impellers and cleaning brushes is an even number (two in this example), so the rotation of the impeller and cleaning brushes causes the underwater cleaning machine to be pulled. Since floats are installed on the front and rear or left and right sides of the cleaning machine to control the buoyancy, even if there is a difference in buoyancy due to differences in the salt content of fresh water or seawater, the underwater cleaning machine can be operated accurately. Buoyancy can be controlled. In addition, it has a posture control function that allows moving objects to move freely within the cavity, so when changing the direction of the underwater cleaning machine or moving the cleaning machine onto an inclined surface, it is possible to If the object moves 1ii14 times, the moving object will move 1α in the moving direction, so it is possible to precisely control the position of the underwater cleaning machine with a small amount of power. Furthermore, in this invention, four driving wheels are provided, and since each pair of driving wheels is independently controlled in the +Q forward or reverse direction, there is no need for eight wheels to perform steering by controlling the direction of the driving wheels. It becomes extremely easy to change direction at a location. In addition, since the cleaning brush has a structure that allows it to move up and down, it is possible to prevent damage during travel, and it is possible to reliably remove one item of clothing from the object to be cleaned.

Since the main body of the cleaning machine has a rectangular shape, the tip of the cleaning brush can reach the corners for thorough cleaning.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is an external view showing an example of a conventional underwater cleaning machine, Fig. 2 is a view for explaining its functions, Fig. 3 is an external view showing an embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 4 (A). 11 is a partially cross-sectional view of a structure showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. FIG. 5 is a front view showing a cross-sectional structure, and FIG. 5 is a diagram showing details of the structure of the impeller and cleaning brush of the present invention.
FIG. 6(A) is a front view showing the structure of the universal joint used in this invention, FIG. 6(B) is a side view thereof, and FIG.
The figures are a mechanical diagram showing another example of the combination of the impeller and the cleaning brush in this invention, Fig. 8 is a configuration diagram schematically showing a structural example of the invention, Fig. 9 and Fig. 1θ (A>, (
B) is a diagram for explaining the driving wheel control device in this invention, FIG. 11 (A) is a cross-sectional structural diagram of a float used in this invention, FIG. 11 (B) is a side view thereof, and FIG. FIG. 13 is a functional diagram showing a structural example of the attitude control device in the invention, FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional structural diagram of the attitude control device, and FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining an example of attitude control. l...Main body, IA...Cavity, 2.3...Inner chamber, 4
．． 5... Impeller, 6.7... N0 sweeping brush, 8
, 9... Hydraulic motor, 10... Universal joint, 11... Spring, 12... Fixing member, 1
3... Connection member, 16... Transmission member, 20... Lifting mechanism, 21... Mounting member, 22... Cylinder rod,
23... Engaging piece, 24, 25... Injection pipe, 2B.
...Piston, 28...Cylinder, 30.31...
Float, 32...Air transmission pipe, 33...Cylinder, 34...Piston, 35...Air chamber, 36...
Ice room, 37...Liquid input/output pipe, 38...Spring,
40... Posture control device, 41... Fixing member, 42...
...Ball, 50, 59...Valve control circuit, 51-54.
... Driving wheel, 55-58 ... Hydraulic motor, 61 ... Handrail, 62 ... Light, 63 ... Operation lever, 70
...gear mechanism. Applicant's agent Yasugata Yu 3-hole 2 Diagram A〃 He 5 Diagram f, 7 Diagram (71il signature ξ101 〈εノ(A) ＆/／ Diagram (ε) 3θ

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] (+) The cleaning machine body is pressed against the surface of the object to be cleaned in water by the rotational drive of an inopara provided approximately at the center of the main body of the cleaning machine, and the surface of the object to be cleaned is pressed against the surface of the object to be cleaned. A cleaning brush disposed at the bottom of the cleaning machine main body and concentrically with the impeller is rotated to remove deposits adhering to the surface of the object to be cleaned, and the cleaning machine main body is rotated. In the underwater cleaning machine that can run on the surface of the object to be cleaned, the impeller and the cleaning brush are
The impeller and the cleaning brushes are provided in pairs, arranged in parallel at right angles to the forward and backward movement direction of the cleaning machine body, and the impeller and the cleaning brushes are driven by the same drive source, and the cleaning brushes are connected by a universal joint. Underwater cleaning machine. (2) The rotation direction of each pair of impellers and cleaning brushes. The underwater cleaning machine according to claim 1, wherein the L is reversed. (3) A gear mechanism is provided between the impeller and the universal joint, and the directions of rotation of the impeller and cleaning brush are reversed. Underwater cleaning machine. (4) The underwater cleaning machine according to claim 3, wherein the cleaning brush can be moved up and down.