KR20200032483A - Apparatus for removing foreign matter - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed is a foreign substance removing apparatus for a leg. According to one embodiment, provided is the foreign substance removing apparatus for a leg, which includes: a driving unit moved along the leg; a cleaning unit towed by the driving unit at a back end of the driving unit and removing foreign substances adhering to the leg; and a connecting part elastically connecting the driving unit and the cleaning unit.

Description

Leg foreign substance removal device {APPARATUS FOR REMOVING FOREIGN MATTER}

The present invention relates to a device for removing foreign substances for legs.

As demand for eco-friendly energy development increases, power generation using wind power generators is drawing attention worldwide. However, demanding environmental conditions are required to install a wind generator.

For example, the place where the wind power generator is installed should be a place where a wind speed of a certain level or higher can be guaranteed to obtain a significant rotation of the blade, and the air pollution caused by noise generated when driving the wind power generator should not be an issue. . In addition, even if these environmental conditions are satisfied, there is a problem that a very large area is required to install a wind power generator.

Recently, there has been increasing interest in offshore wind generators that are relatively free from the above constraints. Offshore wind power generators can be installed in a variety of ways, but are generally installed by assembling parts into several units, making them on land, and then moving the assembled units to the sea to assemble them.

A floating structure that moves a unit of an offshore wind generator manufactured onshore to the sea and installs an offshore wind generator on the sea is generally referred to as a wind turbine installation vessel (WTIV).

The ship with wind generators can be operated in sailing mode and jack-up mode due to the nature of the work. Specifically, the wind power generator installation ship moves in a sailing mode to a position where a marine wind power generator is to be installed. In the sailing mode, the leg can maintain a state of being moved upward of the main body to reduce resistance caused by seawater.

Thereafter, the ship with the wind generator installed switches to the jack-up mode, lowers the leg, places it on the seabed, and then lifts the body along the leg so that the body is spaced a certain distance from the sea level. When the main body reaches a certain position, the wind power generator installation ship stops the movement of the main body and installs the offshore wind power generator, and when the installation is completed, proceeds in the reverse order of the above procedure and moves to the next installation position.

However, the conventional floating structure as described above may cause the following problems.

The floating structure performing the jack-up mode performs a task to be achieved for a certain time while the main body is spaced from the sea level. While the floating structure works while the body is spaced from the sea level, a part of the leg becomes submerged in water for a certain period of time, while marine life such as barnacles, shellfish, etc. on the leg (hereinafter referred to as "foreign matter") ) May be attached.

The foreign matter attached to the leg increases the surface roughness of the leg, and when the surface roughness of the leg increases, the surface area in contact with the external environmental load increases, which can act as a factor for increasing the load of the leg. Therefore, when the leg is operated, a structural response is greatly generated, which not only applies a load to the leg operating system, but also causes a corrosion of the leg.

Korean Registered Patent 10-1434572

Embodiments of the present invention, it is mounted on the legs of the floating structure performing the jack-up mode is to provide a foreign matter removal device for legs that can cleanly remove various foreign substances attached to the submerged legs.

According to an aspect of the present invention, a traveling unit that moves along a leg; A cleaning unit that is towed by the traveling unit at a rear end of the traveling unit and removes foreign substances attached to the leg; And a connecting unit for elastically connecting the driving unit and the cleaning unit.

In addition, the traveling unit, the traveling body portion is configured in a cylindrical shape to surround the leg; A wheel part rotatably provided on an inner circumferential surface of the driving body part, and in contact with the leg to move the driving body part along an extending direction of the leg; And it may include a position sensor for detecting the position of the driving body.

In addition, the driving body portion is configured to be detachably detachable from the leg, and can be opened and closed by a hinge portion.

In addition, the wheel portion may include an anti-slip member to move along the leg without slipping.

In addition, the cleaning unit, the cleaning body portion is configured in a cylindrical shape to surround the sink leg; And it is provided on the inner circumferential surface of the cleaning body portion, it may protrude toward the leg may include a removing means for removing the foreign matter.

In addition, the cleaning body portion is divided into a plurality of pieces so as to be detachable from the leg and can be opened and closed by a hinge portion.

In addition, the connecting portion, an elastic body that elastically connects the driving unit and the cleaning unit; And a bellows part surrounding the elastic body, shielding a gap between the driving unit and the cleaning unit, protecting the elastic body, and extending in length.

According to the embodiment according to the present invention, it is possible to prevent corrosion of the leg and reduce the load on the leg by cleanly removing various foreign substances attached to the leg that is submerged in the water and attached to the leg of the floating structure performing the jack-up mode. .

1 is a view showing a typical floating structure performing the jack-up mode.
Figure 2 is a side view showing a foreign matter removal device for legs of a floating structure according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a view of FIG. 2 viewed from the direction “A”.
FIG. 4 is a view of FIG. 2 viewed from the direction “B”.
5 and 6 is a functional state diagram of a foreign matter removal device for legs of a floating structure according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, a configuration and operation according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The following description is one of several aspects of the present invention that can be patented, and the following description may form part of the detailed description of the present invention.

However, in describing the present invention, detailed descriptions of known configurations or functions may be omitted to clarify the present invention.

The present invention can be applied to various changes and may include various embodiments, and specific embodiments will be illustrated in the drawings and described in the detailed description. However, this is not intended to limit the present invention to a specific embodiment, it should be understood to include all modifications, equivalents, and substitutes included in the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Terms including ordinal numbers such as first and second may be used to describe various components, but the corresponding components are not limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one component from another.

When an element is said to be 'connected' or 'connected' to another component, it is understood that other components may be directly connected to or connected to the other component, but other components may exist in the middle. It should be.

The terms used in this application are only used to describe specific embodiments, and are not intended to limit the present invention. Singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

Hereinafter, a debris removing device 10 for legs according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Referring first to Figure 1, the floating structure 20, such as a wind turbine installation vessel can be operated in a sailing mode and a jack-up mode, the floating structure 20 in the sailing mode to reach the destination resistance by seawater In order to reduce the leg 30, a voyage is performed in which the body 40 is moved upward.

After that, when reaching the destination, the floating structure 20 is switched to the jack-up mode, lowers the leg 30 as shown in FIG. 1, and puts it on the seabed, so that the body 40 can be separated from the sea surface by a certain distance. The body 40 is raised along the leg 30.

When the main body 40 reaches a certain position, the floating structure 20 stops the movement of the main body 40 and performs a predetermined operation (for example, an operation for installing an offshore wind generator). You can proceed in reverse order to move to sailing mode to the next installation location.

In the jack-up mode as shown in FIG. 1, the legs 30 are kept in a locked state until the floating structures 20 complete a predetermined operation, and accordingly, each structure constituting the legs 30 Various foreign substances (e.g., various marine organisms such as barnacles and shellfish) may adhere to and adhere to the surface (e.g., rack & cord and brace), and these foreign substances can cause various problems as described in the background art. . Accordingly, an embodiment of the present invention provides a foreign material removal device 10 for legs for removing the foreign material 1 adhered to the leg 30 of the floating structure 20.

Referring to FIG. 2, the apparatus for removing foreign substances for legs according to an embodiment of the present invention may include a driving unit 100, a cleaning unit 200, and a connection unit 300.

The driving unit 100 is configured to be mounted on the leg 30 while the leg 30 is submerged in water and move along the leg 30. At this time, the leg 30 includes a rack & cord part 31 arranged in the vertical direction and a brace part 32 connecting the rack & cord part 31 in an inclined direction, wherein the driving unit 100 is a brace It is mounted on the part 32 and provided to move along the brace part 32, but may be moved along the rack & cord part 31 as needed.

Specifically, the driving unit 100 may include a driving body part 110, a wheel part 120, and a position sensing part 130.

3, the driving body 110 may be configured in a cylindrical shape to surround the leg 30. A through hole 111 through which the leg 30 penetrates may be formed at a central portion of the traveling body portion 110, and the traveling body portion 110 may be formed to be divided into a plurality so as to be detachably installed on the leg 30. You can.

Since the traveling body portion 110 divided into a plurality of portions can be opened and closed by the hinge portion h, the traveling body portion 110 is opened through the hinge portion h to be installed on the leg 30, and one side portion is opened. In the open state, the through hole 111 is located on the outer circumferential surface of the leg 30. After that, the traveling body portion 110 is closed to allow the traveling body portion 110 to be installed in a structure surrounding the outer circumferential surface of the leg 30. The driving body portion 110 may be locked by a locking means 112 such as a coupling pin.

In addition, the wheel portion 120 may be rotatably provided on the inner circumferential surface of the driving body portion 110. The wheel part 120 may be installed to protrude so as to contact the leg 30 on the through hole 111 of the driving body part 110.

Accordingly, when the wheel unit 120 is rotated, the travel body unit 110 may be moved along the extending direction of the leg 30. The wheel unit 120 may be rotated by a power means such as a driving motor (not shown), and the power means may be operated by an external electrical signal (eg, a control signal from a control unit or a remote controller).

Here, the wheel portion 120 may include an anti-slip member 121 to move along the leg 30 without slipping when in contact with the leg 30. Because the leg 30 is submerged in water for a long period of time, the surface of the leg 30 is not only very slippery, but also because the aquatic organisms adhere to the surface, and the frictional force with the wheel portion 120 is also reduced. Slip may occur when moving along the leg 30.

Accordingly, an anti-slip member 121 capable of preventing slip may be provided on the outer surface of the wheel portion 120. The non-slip member 121 may be formed in a sawtooth shape as shown in FIG. 2, and may be configured to have a structure capable of easily riding over the surface of a foreign material adhered to the surface of the leg 30.

The position sensing unit 130 may detect the position of the driving body unit 110. At this time, the position detecting unit 130 may be configured by GPS, but the embodiment of the present invention is not necessarily limited to this, and other types of sensors may be applied if position sensing is possible.

The position sensing unit 130 detects the position of the driving body unit 110 when the driving body unit 110 moves on the leg 30 and monitors it with a separate monitoring device (not shown). ) Not only makes it easy to grasp the position, but also the movement trajectory of the driving body part 110 is known, so that the area where the driving body part 110 has not passed in the large-sized leg 30, that is, foreign matter removal It is easy to see the unoccupied area.

On the other hand, the cleaning unit 200 may be towed by the driving unit 100 at the rear end of the driving unit 100 (the rear of the driving unit 100 in a moving direction). The cleaning unit 200 is configured to remove the foreign material 1 attached to the leg 30, and may be cleaned by removing the foreign material 1 attached to the leg 30 while being towed by the driving unit 100.

Specifically, the cleaning unit 200 may include a cleaning body part 210 and a removing means 220.

The cleaning body 210 is configured in a cylindrical shape to surround the leg 30 as shown in FIG. 4, and may be formed to be divided into a plurality so as to be detachably installed on the leg 30.

Since the cleaning body part 210 divided into a plurality of parts can be opened and closed by the hinge part h, the cleaning body part 210 is opened through the hinge part h to be installed on the leg 30, and one side part is opened. The cleaning body portion 210 may be installed to wrap the leg 30 in the cleaned state. The cleaning body 210 may be locked by locking means 212, such as a coupling pin.

In addition, the removal means 220 may be formed to protrude in the circumferential direction and the extending direction of the cleaning body portion 210 on the inner circumferential surface of the cleaning body portion 210 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4. At this time, the removal means 220 is configured to protrude toward the leg 30 to remove the foreign material 1 fixed to the leg 30 when the cleaning body portion 210 is moved.

The removal means 220 is composed of a plurality of knives with sharp and sharp ends, so that foreign matter 1 such as a barnacle firmly fixed to the leg 30 can be easily removed.

In addition, the connection unit 300 may elastically connect the driving unit 100 and the cleaning unit 200. Accordingly, when the driving unit 100 moves along the leg 30, the cleaning unit 200 may be moved by the connecting unit 300 while being moved in the same direction as the driving unit 100, and the cleaning unit 200 may move. During the process, the foreign matter 1 attached to the leg 30 is removed by the removal means 220 so that the leg 30 can be cleaned cleanly.

When the leg 30 is cleaned, the leg 30 can be prevented from being corroded by the foreign material 1, and the load of the foreign material 1 attached to the leg 30 is removed, so that the weight of the leg 30 can be reduced. have.

Here, the connection part 300 may include an elastic body 310 and a bellows part 320 as shown in FIG. 2.

The elastic body 310 is a member that elastically connects the driving unit 100 and the cleaning unit 200, and is elastically deformed in the circumferential direction of the elastic body 310 as well as being stretched and stretched in the longitudinal direction of the elastic body 310. Can absorb. Accordingly, the degree of freedom for relative motion between the driving unit 100 and the cleaning unit 200 is increased, so that the leg 30 can be cleaned more completely and stably.

For example, when the traveling unit 100 and the cleaning unit 200 are connected by a rigid body, any one of the traveling unit 100 and the cleaning unit 200 is lifted by the foreign material 1 during the cleaning operation and the leg ( Even when the height from 30) is increased, the height of other units is also affected by this, and thus driving performance may be deteriorated or cleaning performance may be deteriorated. However, according to an embodiment of the present invention, since the connecting portion 300 is made of an elastically deformable member, the driving unit 100 and the cleaning unit 200 have an advantage of being less affected by the relative positions of each other.

In addition, the bellows part 320 is a member whose length extends and contracts along the extending direction, and is configured to surround the elastic body 310. The bellows unit 320 may shield a gap between the driving unit 100 and the cleaning unit 200 and protect the elastic body 310.

The bellows portion 320 may be made of a material having excellent corrosion resistance to seawater having salinity, and may prevent the elastic body 310 from directly contacting the seawater, thereby improving the corrosion resistance of the elastic body 310.

Hereinafter, the operation according to an embodiment of the present invention will be briefly described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6.

As shown in FIG. 5, the foreign material removing device 10 for legs according to an embodiment of the present invention may be mounted on the leg 30 to which the foreign material 1 is fixed. 5 exemplarily shows that one embodiment of the present invention is mounted on the brace portion 32 among the legs 30.

After the embodiment of the present invention is mounted on the brace portion 32, the driving unit 100 can be moved by sending an electrical signal to the wheel portion 120. The traveling unit 100 is moved along the extending direction of the brace portion 32, and the cleaning unit 200 is towed by the movement of the traveling unit 100, and the brace portion 32 is a removal means 220 formed therein. ) Can remove foreign objects (1), such as barnacles and shellfish. Therefore, as illustrated in FIG. 6, the place where the cleaning unit 200 has passed is cleaned by removing the foreign material 1.

As described above, the present invention has been described using preferred embodiments, but the scope of rights of the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described, and any person having ordinary knowledge in the art may be within the scope of the present invention. Substitution and modification of components are possible, and this also belongs to the rights of the present invention.

1: Foreign material 10: Foreign material removal device for legs
20: floating structure 30: leg
31: rack & code section 32: brace section
40: main body
100: traveling unit 110: traveling body portion
120: wheel portion 121: anti-slip member
130: position detection unit 200: cleaning unit
210: cleaning body 220: removal means
300: connecting portion 310: elastic body
320: bellows part

Claims (7)

A driving unit moving along the leg;
A cleaning unit connected to a rear end of the driving unit and removing foreign matter attached to the leg; And
A connecting portion elastically connecting the driving unit and the cleaning unit;
Containing, foreign matter removal device for legs. According to claim 1,
The traveling unit,
A driving body portion formed in a cylindrical shape to surround the leg;
A wheel part rotatably provided on an inner circumferential surface of the driving body part and in contact with the leg to move the driving body part along an extending direction of the leg; And
A position detecting unit detecting a position of the driving body part;
Containing, foreign matter removal device for legs. According to claim 2,
The traveling body portion is configured to be detachably detachable from the leg, and opened and closed by a hinge portion, a foreign material removal device for legs. According to claim 2,
The wheel portion includes a non-slip member to move along the leg without slipping, the foreign material removal device for legs. According to claim 1,
The cleaning unit,
A cleaning body part configured in a cylindrical shape to surround the singer leg; And
A removal means provided on the inner circumferential surface of the cleaning body, protruding toward the leg to remove the foreign matter;
Containing, foreign matter removal device for a leg. The method of claim 5,
The cleaning body part is divided into a plurality of pieces to be detachable from the leg, and opened and closed by a hinge part, a device for removing foreign matter for legs. According to claim 1,
The connecting portion,
An elastic body elastically connecting the driving unit and the cleaning unit; And
A bellows part surrounding the elastic body, shielding a gap between the driving unit and the cleaning unit, protecting the elastic body, and extending in length;
Containing, foreign matter removal device for legs.

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