KR101107404B1 - Robot for inspecting long distance pipelines - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a long distance pipe inspection robot, the long distance pipe inspection robot according to the present invention, the long distance pipe inspection robot for inspecting the inside of the pipe, the inspection unit for photographing or inspecting the inside of the pipe; And a relay cable electrically connected to the inspection unit, which moves together with the inspection unit, and expands the pipe inspection range of the inspection unit by installing the relay cable, and when the construction of the relay cable is completed, from the inspection unit. It is characterized in that it comprises a; a plurality of relay units which are separated and fixed in the pipe position.

Thereby, a long distance piping inspection robot is provided which can be relayed to inspect the inside of a pipe without limitation in distance and time.

Plumbing, pipes, inspection, filming, non-destructive inspection, relay, cable, long distance

Description

Robot for inspecting long distance pipelines}

The present invention relates to a relay unit for a long distance pipe inspection robot, and more particularly, to a long distance pipe inspection robot capable of inspecting the inside of a pipe without a great limitation on the length and inspection time of the pipe.

Defects in the pipes that transport oil and gas not only cause economic losses, but also lead to enormous casualties, so regular checks on the stability of the pipes are required through non-destructive testing.

In particular, in the case of oil and gas pipes connecting long-distance bases between regions, physical and chemical breakdowns are likely to occur because the inside of the pipes must be maintained at a high pressure due to the nature of the long-distance connection.

However, in case of existing robots that can inspect the inside of the pipe, when connecting the robot and the worker with the power supply and control cable to transmit / receive the power source and the photographing information, the cable length limit, the cable and the floor and Due to various limitations such as driving disturbance due to the frictional resistance of the robot, the range in which the robot can be driven was difficult.

In addition, a robot equipped with an independent battery and a control module inside and moving the pipes by itself and performing inspection has a disadvantage in that it is not suitable for a long distance and long time pipe exploration mission due to the limitation of the battery capacity.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve such a conventional problem, and to provide a long distance pipe inspection robot that can be connected to the outside without limiting the distance and driving time at the time of internal pipe inspection.

The above object, according to the present invention, a long distance pipe inspection robot for inspecting the inside of the pipe, the inspection unit for photographing or inspecting the inside of the pipe; And a relay cable electrically connected to the inspection unit, which moves together with the inspection unit, and expands the pipe inspection range of the inspection unit by installing the relay cable, and when the construction of the relay cable is completed, from the inspection unit. It is achieved by a long-haul pipe inspection robot comprising a; a plurality of relay units which are separated and fixed in the pipe position.

The relay unit may further include: a winding unit configured to receive a relay cable that becomes a power supply and communication path inside the main body; And a moving part provided on an outer surface of the housing to provide a moving force.

In addition, the winding unit may further include a cylindrical winding drum for winding or unwinding the relay cable.

The winding unit may further include a rod-shaped guide arm disposed in parallel with an axial direction of the winding drum to guide the relay cable such that the relay cable is wound around the winding drum at a uniform thickness and interval. have.

The moving unit may include a traveling member provided along the outer surface of the main body to be spaced apart from each other, and configured to allow traveling within the pipe, and by differentially distributing driving force to the one traveling member and the other traveling member. It is possible to allow running in a pipe with curvature.

The apparatus may further include a docking member provided at the front end of the main body, wherein the main end of the main body is recessed in the form of a hemisphere, and a docking hole may be formed at the center thereof.

According to the present invention, there is provided a long-haul pipe inspection robot that can extend the available range by using a winding machine.

In addition, by providing a cylindrical winding drum, a spatially efficient winding is possible.

In addition, the relay cable can be wound on a winding drum without twisting.

Further, by differentially distributing the driving force applied to the traveling member, the straight pipe and the curved pipe can be freely moved without a separate steering member.

In addition, by allowing the docking member to be inserted into the docking hole it is possible to facilitate fastening between the relay unit.

With reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in detail a long-range pipe inspection robot according to an embodiment of the present invention.

1a and 1b is a view showing that the long-haul pipe inspection robot according to an embodiment of the present invention to operate inside the pipe, Figure 2 is a perspective view of the relay unit of the long distance pipe inspection robot of Figure 1, Figure 3 2 is a cross-sectional view of the relay unit of FIG. 2 taken along line III-III ', and FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the relay unit of FIG. 1 viewed from another position.

1A and 1B, a long-distance pipe inspection robot according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a test unit 50 and a relay unit 100, and includes a plurality of relay cables 131 therein. The relay unit 100 is fastened to the train type detachably to the rear of the inspection unit 50.

The inspection unit 50 is a unit installed at the front of the long-range pipe inspection robot, and basically has the same form and internal structure as the relay unit 100 to be described later. However, a photographing camera for photographing the inside of the pipe, a module capable of performing nondestructive inspection, and various sensors may be attached.

2 to 4, the relay unit 100 includes a main body 110, a docking member 120, a winding unit 130, and a moving unit 140.

The main body 110 is a member that accommodates the winding unit 130 to be described later and determines the overall appearance. Since the main body 110 is accommodated in a cylindrical pipe, the main body 110 is also provided in a cylindrical shape in terms of utilization of space. to be.

5 is a perspective view of a main body of the relay unit of FIG. 1, and FIG. 6 is a rear view of the relay unit of FIG. 1. 5 and 6, the end of the cylindrical body 110 is formed so that the conical shape extends outward along the circumference. Conical shape is provided with a recess 111 is formed to be recessed inward in the hemispherical shape in the middle portion without forming a vertex.

Docking hole 112 having a diameter corresponding to the diameter of the docking member 120 to be described later is formed in the center of the depression 111 to penetrate into the interior of the main body 110, the other relay when the relay unit is mutually fastened The docking member 120 provided in the unit is accommodated.

The docking member 120 is provided with a cylinder having a diameter corresponding to the diameter of the docking hole 112 at the opposite end of the main body 110 in which the depression 111 is formed. The center is provided to penetrate the hole, and serves to connect the relay cable 131 and the winding drum which are installed on the outside by accommodating the relay cable 131 therein.

In addition, the connecting portion of the docking member 120 and the main body 110 may be connected by a universal joint (not shown) to allow traveling inside the pipe with curvature.

7 is a perspective view of a winding unit of the relay unit of FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 7, the winding unit 130 includes a relay cable 131, a winding drum 132, and a guide arm 133.

The relay cable 131 is used as a path for receiving power necessary for traveling from the outside of the pipe during pipe exploration and transmitting information acquired in the pipe to the outside. On the other hand, the relay cable 131 is a power loss generated during winding and running, the maximum volume of the relay cable 131 that can be accommodated in the winding drum 132 and friction between the relay cable 131 and other members Consider diameter, weight, outer shell material, etc.

The winding drum 132 is a member for winding or releasing the relay cable 131 on the outer circumferential surface, and is provided as a hollow drum-shaped cylinder. A winding motor (not shown) is accommodated in the winding drum 132 to rotate the winding drum 132. In addition, a reducer (not shown) may be provided coaxially with the shaft on which the winding drum 132 rotates to adjust the rotational force of the winding motor. At this time, the bearing is inserted into the rotation shaft of the winding drum 132 may help smooth rotation.

In addition, at the end of the winding drum 132, an auxiliary frame 136 for receiving the rotating shaft of the winding drum 132 and supporting and fixing the guide arm 133, which will be described later, is formed to extend in the radial direction.

The guide arm 133 includes a guide bar 134 and a receiving part 135.

The guide bar 134 is provided in the form of a rod having a length of the length corresponding to the length of the axial width of the winding drum 132, the end frame is provided with an end extending radially from the winding drum 132 136 is attached. In addition, the guide bar 134 is formed with a groove having a predetermined interval, so that the receiving portion to slide on the guide bar 134 to be described later can be fixed without shaking in a necessary position.

The accommodating part 135 has a pair of drum-shaped cylinders attached to be spaced apart by a predetermined interval, and the relay cable 131 extending from the winding drum 132 is accommodated between the pair of drum-shaped cylinders.

In addition, an amplifier (not shown) is installed inside the main body 110 to amplify and transmit a signal, and amplifies a signal emitted from the forefront at a long distance pipe inspection, and transmits the signal to the outside.

The moving unit 140 is a member that adds a moving force using electric power applied through the relay cable 131, and includes a traveling member 141, an elastic member (not shown), and a driving motor (not shown). And a fixing member (not shown).

The traveling member 141 has three wheels arranged in parallel in a row, and three traveling members 141 having the same shape are provided on an outer surface of the main body 110 in parallel with a traveling direction in a pipe. In addition, the traveling members 141 are arranged to be spaced apart from each other by the same distance between the traveling members 141 along the outer circumferential surface. Therefore, in this embodiment, the three traveling members 141 are attached to form 120 ° along the outer circumferential surface of the main body.

The elastic member (not shown) is disposed between the main body 110 and the traveling member 141 to elastically support the traveling member 141 in the radial direction of the main body 110. Therefore, the driving member 141 may be in close contact with the inner circumferential surface of the pipe even in a pipe of non-standard size, thereby enabling stable driving. The elastic member in the present embodiment may be used, such as a spring having an elastic force and a recovery force.

The driving motor has a rotating shaft installed coaxially with the rotating shaft of the driving member to apply a rotating force to the driving member 141.

The fixing member is a member that adds sufficient braking force to prevent unnecessary movement of the traveling member 141 so that the relay unit can be fixed at a predetermined position, and a method of increasing physical friction between the fixing member and the pipe may be used. Can be.

The operation of one embodiment of the long-range pipe inspection robot provided with the above-described relay unit will now be described.

1A and 1B, the long distance pipe inspection robot is provided with a plurality of relay units 100 coupled to the rear of the inspection unit 50 for photographing or inspecting the inside of the pipe. At this time, the test unit 50 and the relay unit 100 are electrically wound by the relay cable 131 accommodated in the test unit 50 being wound around the winding unit 130 inside the relay units 100 immediately behind. Connected.

Figure 1a is shown the initial state of the long-haul pipe inspection robot, when the long-haul pipe inspection robot is introduced into the pipe 10 to be inspected, the traveling member attached to the outer surface of the main body 110 of the relay unit ( 141 is in close contact with the inner circumferential surface of the pipe 10 by the wheel of the traveling member 141 by the elastic force generated by the elastic member.

Therefore, when the elastic member is used, the traveling member 141 may be brought into close contact with the inside of the pipe 10 to maintain a stable posture even when the vehicle travels, and it is possible to easily cope with a change in the inner diameter of the pipe 10.

Long-distance pipe inspection After the robot is put into the pipe, the relay cable 131 wound around the winding drum 132 is released from the rear relay unit 100, and the relay cable 131 is laid, and the shooting and inspection of the pipe are started. do.

On the other hand, the relay unit according to the present embodiment has three driving members 141 are provided in three different directions, respectively, the driving force transmitted between any one of the traveling member 141 and the other traveling member 141 By differential allocation, redirection can be induced. This is a phenomenon caused by the difference in the moving speed at each position where the traveling member 141 is provided, and thus the driving direction can be easily adjusted without having a separate steering device.

Referring to FIG. 1B, when all of the relay cables 131 of the rearmost relay unit are released and further advancement is difficult, the docking member 120 and the rearmost relay unit of the rearmost relay unit 100 are disposed immediately in front of each other. The fastening between the docking holes 112 of the relay unit 100 is released, and the rearmost relay unit remains in a place where all the cables are exhausted. Meanwhile, the relay unit 100 disposed immediately in front of the rearmost relay unit hypothesizes the inside of the pipe 10 while releasing the relay cable 131 installed therein. Subsequently, the inspection of the pipe 10 is resumed in the same manner until the relay cable 131 runs out.

At this time, the rear relay unit is fixed to the inner surface of the pipe by activating the fixing member installed in the rear relay unit moving part 140 so that the relay cable 131 of the front relay unit is not pulled out by the tension generated. Let's do it.

Since the same process as described above is performed in sequence and the inspection inside the pipe 10 may proceed until the front relay cable 131 is exhausted, the long distance pipe inspection robot of the present embodiment may be used. Depending on the length and the combined quantity of the relay unit 100 can be inspected without being largely limited to the length of the power and the pipe (10).

When the inspection of the pipe 10 is completed, the relay cable 131, which is hypothesized to the reverse of the above-described process, may be recovered so that the long-distance pipe inspection robot can be carried out to the outside of the pipe, and at the same time, the relay units are coupled to each other.

When this process is described in detail, the relay cable 131 accommodated inside the inspection unit 50 located at the foremost in reverse order with the relay cable 131 is wound while winding the cable forward to the relay unit 100 immediately behind. The inspection unit 50 moves backwards, and the docking member 120 of the rear relay unit is guided to the recess 111 recessed in the rear end of the main body 110 of the foremost unit to be inserted into the docking hole 112. Units are combined.

At this time, since the receiving portion 135 of the guide arm 133 adjusts the thickness of the winding while moving reciprocally on the guide bar 134, the relay cable 131 is concentrated on a portion of the winding drum 132 You can prevent colds. Therefore, using this, the relay cable 131 can be wound to a uniform thickness without the problem of twisting on the winding drum 132.

 The same process proceeds until the docking member 120 of the relay unit 100 at the rear end is immediately inserted into the docking hole 112 of the front docking member 120. After export, it can be recovered.

The scope of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but may be embodied in various forms of embodiments within the scope of the appended claims. Without departing from the gist of the invention claimed in the claims, it is intended that any person skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains falls within the scope of the claims described in the present invention to various extents which can be modified.

1A and 1B illustrate a long distance pipe inspection robot operating in a pipe according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the relay unit of the long-haul pipe inspection robot of Figure 1,

3 is a cross-sectional view of the relay unit of FIG. 2 taken along III-III ',

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the relay unit of Figure 1 seen from another position,

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the main body of the relay unit of Figure 1,

Figure 6 is a rear view of the relay unit of Figure 1,

7 is a perspective view of a winding unit of the relay unit of FIG. 1.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

 10: piping 130: winding

 50: inspection unit 131: relay cable

100: relay unit 132: winding drum

110: main body 133: guide arm

120: docking member 140: moving part

Claims (6)

In the long distance pipe inspection robot for inspecting the inside of the pipe, Inspection unit for photographing or inspecting the inside of the pipe; And a relay cable electrically connected to the inspection unit, which moves together with the inspection unit, and expands the pipe inspection range of the inspection unit by installing the relay cable, and when the construction of the relay cable is completed, from the inspection unit. Long distance piping inspection robot comprising a; a plurality of relay units that are fixed in position in the pipe to be separated. The method of claim 1, The relay unit, A winding unit accommodating the relay cable serving as a power transmission path inside the main body; Long range piping inspection robot comprising a; moving portion provided on the outer surface of the main body to provide a moving force. 3. The method of claim 2, The winding unit, Long range piping inspection robot comprising a cylindrical winding drum for winding or unwinding the relay cable. The method of claim 3, Long distance piping inspection is arranged parallel to the axial direction of the winding drum, further comprising a rod-shaped guide arm for guiding the relay cable so that the relay cable is wound around the winding drum at a uniform thickness and interval. robot. 5. The method of claim 4, The moving unit, It is provided to be spaced apart from each other along the outer surface of the main body, and includes a traveling member to enable the traveling in the interior of the pipe, Long-distance pipe inspection robot, characterized in that it is possible to travel in the pipe with curvature by differentially distributing the driving force to any one of the traveling member and the other traveling member. The method of claim 5, Further comprising a docking member provided at the front end of the main body, The main body, The rear end is recessed in the form of a hemisphere, the long distance pipe inspection robot, characterized in that the docking hole is formed in the center.

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