WO2002012640A1

WO2002012640A1 - Device for opening narrow trenches and placing matching prefabricated elements

Info

Publication number: WO2002012640A1
Application number: PCT/ES2001/000293
Authority: WO
Inventors: Eduardo Gomez Perez
Original assignee: Aplicaciones Especiales De Ingenieria Civil, S.A. (Aples)
Priority date: 2000-08-01
Filing date: 2001-07-24
Publication date: 2002-02-14
Also published as: EP1325987B1; ATE285002T1; CN1214160C; AU2001282135A1; PT1325987E; CN1452677A; DE60107866D1; EP1325987A1; DE60107866T2

Abstract

The device is associated with a trench-digger, comprising a cutting disc (2) and a matching prefabricated element feeder that includes a sweeping box (32) with a U-shaped traversal section which is closed in the front by a rake (34) so that no earth can fall inside and means for pushing the matching prefabricated elements (33), comprising push wheels (7) that frictionally transmit a longitudinal push so that the various matching prefabricated elements (33) remain coupled when they are being lowered into the interior of the sweeping box (32). The sweeping box serves as temporary formwork of the trench, said box making it possible to lower and place the matching prefabricated elements (33) in the interior thereof automatically and reliably in an environment free from earth, thereby enabling perfect coupling.

Description

DEVICE FOR OPENING NARROW TRENCHES AND PLACEMENT OF

MACHIHEMBRATED PREFABRICATED ELEMENTS DESCRIPTION

The present invention relates to a device for opening narrow trenches and placing in the same different prefabricated conduits constituted by short straight, rigid and interlocking sections by tongue and groove. Both the opening of the trench and the placement of the conduits or gutters and the final compaction and smoothing of the excavated material are carried out in a single operation and at good speed. The device of the invention has been developed to place auxiliary conduits in high-speed railways but can also be used for electrical and communication cables in urban areas, irrigation canals, etc.

Devices for opening narrow trenches by disk trenchers are known. Thus, document ES 8703560 of the same applicant describes a disc trencher specially adapted to open narrow trenches in compact terraces that uses a cutter disk that has on its periphery a plurality of replaceable hard metal spikes, the depth of cut being adjustable thanks to that the chassis rests on the firm by Intermediate of a wheel movable in height.

For its part, document ES 2027503 also of the same applicant describes a device that, starting from the trencher described in the previous document, incorporates support means for a cable coil and an oscillating guide tube for depositing the cable at the bottom of the trench, which allows the opening of the trench and the placement of the cable in the same continuous operation.

However, all these devices are oriented to the opening of trenches and subsequent placement of cables supplied in coils, not being viable for the placement of precast concrete gutters made in short sections and, of course, are totally rigid.

The problem posed is that once the trench is opened, it must be ensured that no land re-enters it, which would affect the regularity of the gutter supports on the bottom of the trench and, what is more serious, to the correct adjustment and flush of each channel with the following.

US 5,707,175 describes a device composed of a trench excavator associated with a feeder-loader adapted to the placement of tongue and groove pipes. The objective is to carry out, more or less continuously, the excavation of the trench and the placement of the pipes, for which the feeder-loader contains a certain number of sections of pipe stacked vertically. A mechanical retainer releases the lower pipe section in a timely manner, and then a piston Hydraulic is responsible for plugging it into the larger diameter housing of the last section of pipe deposited in the trench. One such solution, although it solves the problems of lowering the pipe section to the bottom of the trench without danger of detachment of the walls of the same and ensure the coupling and tightness of the conduction implies a basically discontinuous operation, that is to say descending and pushing , while posing serious difficulties both in the regulation of the speed of advance of the excavator and in the alignment of the successive sections of pipe causing, consequently, failures and stops of the device.

The device of the invention has been designed to solve this problem to full satisfaction and for this purpose, the installation of the disc trencher and the means that make up and contain the excavated earth and, in particular, a drawer, are planned on the same vehicle sweeper that, located behind the trencher, allows to make up and contain the land on the outside while the successive gutters, coupled together and subjected to a thrust that allows to form a continuous channel, descend down inside. In this way the opening of the trench is achieved to fair measures with any type of terrain, compact or loose, and on the other hand it prevents the land from the edges from falling to the bottom of the ditch creating problems supporting the gutters, leaving at the bottom of the ditch a very fine excavation that constitutes an excellent seat bed of the rigid gutters on the ground. In addition, the gutters are embedded in each other by their front and are deposited in the sweeping drawer with a certain longitudinal thrust so they behave as an articulated polygon for the small inclination deviations they suffer.

The device object of the invention comprises a tractor vehicle that incorporates a disc trencher at its rear with a cutting width slightly greater than that of the gutters, and which reaches a suitable useful depth at the height thereof. As the gutters must be flush with the ground, the device incorporates a support wheel on which the trencher chassis rests and which, being height adjustable, maintains the desired depth of cut.

On the rear of the disc trencher and transversely thereto is connected by one end and supported by wheels on the other a roller feeder. In it, the gutters are deposited manually or by means of a wheelbarrow or loader provided with a hydraulic actuator. The roller feeder has a small inclination so the channels move transversely to its longitudinal axis until it falls into a roller pusher. This is arranged in the same direction of travel and also has a slight inclination, which is gradually reduced to a minimum value very close to the horizontal. The gutters are imprisoned against the roller pusher by a plurality of pneumatic push wheels, which transmit them by friction a force that presses the gutters against each other and forces them to penetrate the ditch. The speed of rotation of the thrust wheels is variable and is regulated by a lap counter in the thrust motor itself that supplies them with their turning movement, in such a way that it adapts to the travel speed of the towing vehicle, providing a a certain sliding between the push wheels and the gutters, that is to say the pneumatic wheels tend to move the gutters at a faster speed than the displacement of the device on the ground, since the maximum thrust effort absorbed by the gutters is limited by the coefficient friction wheel / gutter.

The sweeping drawer is attached on its side and at ground level an adjustable blade to distribute the excavated material leaving most of it in an excavation slope but reserving a small amount to fill the lateral grooves that remain between the gutters and the walls of the ditch. In its back it incorporates two raseadoras blades to extend the excavation and fill the grooves between gutters and ditch, as well as some compactor rollers that compact and smooth the excavated material used for filling the grooves, pressing it down and against the outer walls of the gutters

Although with the device just described it has been possible to multiply by three the speed of placement of the conduction and simultaneously reduce by half the number of operators required with respect to the prior art, several problems that cause deterioration have been detected at the edges of the gutters as well as sporadic arrests of the positioning device.

Thus, a first problem lies in the fact that the tilting stop used to feed the gutters transversely allows them to pass in compact groups until the first one stops at the roller pusher. Consequently, the first gutter is trapped laterally by the weight of the following, being subjected to a significant friction that stops its movement preventing it from reaching the first thrust wheel. The proposed solution consists in replacing the rocker stop with a step-by-step rotary feeder that only releases one channel at a time.

A second problem detected lies in the defective lateral alignment of the successive gutters once they are trapped in the roller pusher. It has been observed that if the gutters can move in it with excessive transverse clearance, the tongue and groove they have at their ends may not coincide and since the entire gutter train is subjected to a strong longitudinal thrust, deterioration will occur. at the edges of the eyelashes that constitute the tongue and groove. The proposed solution is that the thrust wheels have a width that coincides substantially with the central channel of the gutters, which ensures their perfect guidance and a smooth coupling, without interference, of the tongue and groove of successive gutters. A third problem detected is that the gutters during their descent define a straight path that forms a slight angle to the ground as they are being pushed by the device of the invention, while once deposited at the bottom of the ditch they logically follow the Same alignment as the terrain. This makes that when leaving the device the successive channels tend to support each other at the top, so that this area can suffer small breaks that, not affecting the functionality of the driving, have a deteriorated visual appearance. The proposed solution consists in inserting soft material separators between successive channels that absorb the stresses and prevent direct contact between the upper part of successive channels. To complete the foregoing description and in order to help a better understanding of the features of the invention, a detailed description of a preferred embodiment will be made based on a set of drawings that accompany this specification, and in where the following is represented merely for guidance and non-limiting purposes: Figure I shows an elevation of the device object of the invention.

Figure 2 shows a plan view of the device object of the invention. Figure 3 shows a top perspective view of the front end of a gutter.

Figure 4 shows schematically, in plan, the tongue and groove coupling of the gutters.

Figure 5 shows a side view of the roller feeder with its stop. Figure 6 shows a schematic longitudinal view of the roller pusher. Figure 7 shows schematically, in plan, the successive treatment of excavated lands. Figure 8 shows a schematic elevation of the step-by-step rotary feeder system used in the improved device.

Figure 9 shows a plan view of the improved device. Figure 10 shows a schematic longitudinal view of the placement of gutters when separators are interleaved, the broken line which they configure when passing from the roller pusher to the bottom of the trench is appreciated. In these figures the numerical references correspond to the following parts and elements.

1. Tractor vehicle.

2. Cutter disk. 3. Support wheel.

4. Feeder rollers.

5. Stop.

6. Pusher rollers.

7. Thrust wheels 8. Thrust motor

9. Push chains

10. Adjustable blade.

11. Razor blades.

12. Rollers compactors. 13. Deflector.

14. Chassis.

15. PTO.

16. Conical Forwarding.

17. Spades. 18. Support fork.

19. Support piston.

20. Wheel fork.

21. Wheel joint.

22. Wheel axle. 23. Push springs.

24. Regulation nut.

25. Threaded rod.

26. Assembly of the roller pusher.

27. Stop shaft. 28. Stop lever.

29. Handle.

30. Interlocking.

31. Fixed accommodation.

32. Sweeping drawer. 33. Prefabricated tongue and groove elements (gutters).

33 '. Intermediate gutter 33 ". Gutters adjacent to the intermediate.

34. Rake.

35. Articulation of knives and compactor rollers.

36. Compactor roller shaft. 38. Side slots.

39. Initial excavation.

40. Excavated flush.

41. Compacted excavation.

42. Housing for cover. 43. Tab.

44. Tab hosting

51. Step-by-step rotary feeder

52. Rotary feeder discs.

53. Central axis of the rotary feeder. 54. Alveolar plates.

55. Cogwheel

56. Bolt

57. Pneumatic actuator.

58. Switch. 59. Probe.

60. Separators.

61. Machihembrados.

As can be seen in figures 1 and 2, the device object of the invention is formed by a towing vehicle (1), of great drag power, to which a chassis (14) is coupled on which a cutting disc (2) is arranged. ) that receives its turning movement, contrary to that of driving, from the power take-off (15) of the tractor vehicle (1) through a conventional conical forwarding (16), mounted on the periphery of the cutting disc (2) a plurality of spades (17) of tungsten carbide. The chassis (14) rests on a support wheel (3) mounted on a support fork (18), articulated on the chassis (14), and whose position with respect to the chassis (14) is regulated by a support piston (19 ), hydraulic. At the rear of the chassis (14) and behind the cutting disc (2) there is a plurality of feeder rollers (4) located perpendicular to the march and ending in a plurality of pusher rollers (6) in prolongation with the cutting disc (2) and, also, slightly inclined towards the back and on whose side uprights (26) two wheel forks (20) are mounted on two wheel joints (21) provided with a wheel axle (22) on the that is available pneumatic thrust wheels (7), which exert a substantially vertical force against the pusher rollers (6) thanks to two thrust springs (23) compressed between the wheel fork itself (20) and a regulating nut (24) mounted on a threaded rod (25) jointly connected to the side post (26) of the pusher rollers (6). A thrust motor (8) transmits its movement to the thrust wheels (7) by means of thrust chains (9).

On the feeder rollers (4) there is a stop (5), in the form of a vertical sheet, integral with a stop shaft (27) attached to a stop lever (28) that ends in a handle (29). Under it, an interlocking (30) is provided consisting of a double articulated lever whose shorter arm is capable of penetrating into a fixed housing (31). See figure 5.

Below the pusher rollers (6) and attached to their lateral uprights (26) there is a sweeping drawer (32) made of thin sheet and of a "U" shaped cross section, closed at the front by means of a rake (34) whose function is to prevent the excavation soil not ejected out of the ditch by the cutting disc (2) from interfering with the correct placement of the gutters (33).

A set of compactor rollers (12) that roll on the ground freely rotating on their roller shafts (36), and a set of blades are fixed on the rear of the side uprights (26). raseadoras (11) that move at a certain height on the ground.

The operation of the device is as follows: the gutters (33) are arranged side by side and transverse to the slope on the feeder rollers (4) tending to move in the direction of the arrow as indicated in the figure 5, until retained by the stop (5). The operator unlocks it by pressing the interlock (30), at which time the stop lever (28) is released, which can be turned up by raising the stop 5 and allowing the gutters (33) to travel through the feeder rollers ( 4) due to the inclination that these present until reaching the pusher rollers (6), where they are retained by the lateral upright (26).

The structure of the roller pusher can be seen in detail in Figure 6. The gutters (33) move to the left of the figure due to the inclination that the roller feeder presents until they are trapped by the push wheels (7) that exert a thrust in the direction of the arrows thanks to the fact that they receive a Rotary movement supplied by a thrust motor (8) through two thrust chains (9). The effort with which the gutters (33) are pressed by the push wheels (7) against the pusher rollers (6) can be regulated by means of the adjusting nuts (24) acting on the preload of the springs of push (23). The maximum thrust force that is carried out on the set of gutters to force their introduction into the trench recently opened by the cutting disc (2) will depend on the setting of the thrust springs (23) and the coefficient of friction between the thrust wheel (7) and the surface of the gutters (33). The thrust motor (8) is sized with a power greater than the maximum that can be transmitted by friction.

Consequently, the gutters (33) are pressed against each other being fitted together thanks to the introduction of some tabs (43), in "L" that have in their front part, in the corresponding flange housings (44). See figures 3 and 4. The gutter train, embedded in each other, is introduced under pressure against the gutters already deposited in the trench, preventing relative movement between adjacent gutters both vertically and transversely and longitudinally.

In this way it is achieved that when the lift on the pusher rollers (6) ends, the gutters (33) do not fall sharply into the sweeping drawer (32) which, in addition, when being closed frontally by the rake (34), is Keeps clean of dirt.

In fact, each channel is suspended for a moment by the channel that follows it. This solves the problem that the gutters are placed in the ditch as a whole, that is, as a gutter train and that they undergo a minimum turn when passing from the final inclination of the pusher rollers (6) to their final horizontal position . In the device described as a preferred embodiment, two thrust wheels (7) have been presented since it has been found to be the optimum number to place gutters of a certain size, such as those used for auxiliary services in the lines of the high speed railways.

For smaller gutters it will be sufficient with a single push wheel (7) while for large channels it will be necessary to increase the number of push wheels (7).

In figure 7 the different elements involved in the excavation and filling of the trench have been very schematically represented. This is opened by the cutter disk (2) of the trencher, which ejects the excavated material forward and upward being diverted to each side of the ditch by the deflector (13) located at the front of the cutting disc (2). The baffle (13) has a "Y" shape of uneven branches and is offset from the cutting disc (2) so that most of the excavated material (39) is directed to one side, in this case to the side right of march. The orientable blade (10) has the mission of dividing the initial excavated material (39) from the side where it has mostly accumulated in a small amount close to the trench similar to that deposited by the deflector (13) on the opposite side thereof, shifting the most of the initial excavation (39) at the lateral distance of the desired trench. This displaced excavated material constitutes the excess of the excavation.

The raseadoras blades (11) move at a constant height on the ground since they are attached to the same frame that supports the compactor rollers (12) that roll on the ground.

Its function is to transform the small initial excavation (39) deposited on each side of the ditch into a flush excavation (40) that occupies greater width, filling the lateral grooves (38) that are between the outside of the gutters (33). and the walls of the ditch. Finally the compactor rollers (12) smooth and compact the flush excavation (40) to leave it as compacted excavation (41).

In the described example of a preferred embodiment, a type of gutter (33) commonly used for auxiliary conduits of high-speed railways has been represented. As shown in Figures 3 and 4, the channel in question is made of concrete and has a "U" cross section open at the top, where it has, on each side, two cover housings (42) that allow cover the gutters (33) and their contents with a cover not shown. It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the device object of the invention is also suitable for depositing in the ditch any other type of prefabricated rigid ducts, for example hollow pipes of rectangular external perimeter that constitute a hollow duct, fully buried or no, in which electrical or communications cables can be introduced later.

Likewise, other embodiments adapted to the type of prefabricated tongue and groove elements to be deposited in the trench will be evident to one skilled in the art. Thus, if it is a question of depositing cylindrical pipe, it will be convenient to replace the set of horizontal pusher rollers (6) with two sets of rollers that form an angle to each other, or with three sets of thrust wheels (7) positioned at 120 degrees between them.

The improved device comprising a step-by-step rotary feeder (51) arranged on the feeder roller assembly (4) is shown in Figures 8 and 9. This step-by-step rotary feeder (51) is constructed from two discs (52) joined by a central axis (53) onto which a plurality of alveolar plates (54) are welded, semicircularly, preferably in number of six , regularly distributed by its periphery and with a step that allows to release a gutter but retain the next. On one at least of the discs (52) there is a cogwheel (55) and cooperating therewith a bolt (56) capable of moving by means of a pneumatic actuator (57). In addition, a switch (58) provided with a probe (59) it can detect the presence or not of a channel (33) resting on the initial section of the pusher rollers (6).

The operation of the improved device is as follows.

A set of gutters (33) deposited on the feeder rollers (4) will be retained by the first one because the alveolar plates (54) of the step-by-step rotary feeder (51) will be inserted into the central channel of this first gutter, at the same time that the bolt (56) prevents the rotation of the gearwheel (55) and consequently that of the set of the rotary feeder step by step (51). When the last channel supported on the pusher rollers (6) is displaced by the push wheel (7) and the initial section of the pusher rollers (6) is free, this absence is detected by the sensor probe (59) of the switch (58) arranged laterally against the gutters (33) by activating the pneumatic actuator (57) of the bolt (56) for a short period of time, sufficient to release the sprocket (55) which, in this way, will allow a feeder to rotate step-by-step swivel (51) of 1/6 turn, since it has the same number of teeth as alveolar plates (54), so that the first gutter will move from the feeder rollers (4) to the pusher rollers (6), the following channel being retained by the rotary feeder step by step (51). At this time, in principle manually, two separators (60) are deposited in the upper part and between successive gutters (33) which are then trapped, guided and pushed by the push wheel (7) as described above. The successive gutters (33) thus descend to the bottom of the trench supported by the pusher rollers (6), always leaving an intermediate gutter (33 ') suspended in the air in the area where there are no longer pusher rollers ( 6), due to the low height on the bottom of the ditch, remaining supported by the tongue and groove (61) of the adjacent gutters (33 "). See figure 10.

In this improved embodiment it is convenient that the thrust wheels (7) have a cross-sectional profile as rounded as possible since, when almost seamlessly coupled to the central channel of the gutters (33), it must allow lateral movements thereof to center and separate them from the vertical walls of the sweeping drawer (32). As for the separators (60), excellent results have been obtained when performing these in expanded polystyrene since it does not matter that they undergo permanent deformation during the placement of the gutters, being a very economical material. It will be evident to a person skilled in the art that in the case of the installation of other prefabricated tongue and groove elements that must constitute a watertight conduit, such as pipes, they can be advantageously used as separators rings of an elastomeric material, rubber for example, which will be previously deposited inside the tongue and groove of the pipes.

Claims

1. Device for opening narrow ditches and positioning of prefabricated tongue and groove elements, of those consisting of a cutting disc (2) and a feeder of prefabricated tongue and groove elements, characterized in that the feeder of prefabricated tongue and groove elements comprises;

• a sweeping drawer (32) of a U-shaped cross section closed frontally by a rake (34); in such a way that the excavated earth cannot fall inside,

• thrust means of the tongue and groove prefabricated elements (33) comprising a plurality of thrust wheels (7) that frictionally transmit a longitudinal thrust in the direction of keeping the different tongue and groove prefabricated elements (33) coupled together while being deposited inside the sweeping drawer (32).

2. Device for opening narrow ditches and placing prefabricated tongue and groove elements according to claim 1, characterized in that the cutting disc (2) is provided with replaceable spikes (17), arranged in its perimeter and the cutting depth can be adjusted thanks to to which the chassis on which the cutting disc (2) is mounted rests on the ground by means of a support wheel (3) whose position is adjustable by means of a hydraulic support piston (19).

3. Device for opening narrow trenches and placing prefabricated tongue and groove elements according to claim 2, characterized in that the cutting disc (2) receives its movement from the power take-off (15) of a tractor vehicle (1) by intermediate of a conical forwarding (16).

4. Device for opening narrow trenches and placing prefabricated tongue and groove elements according to claim 1, characterized in that the thrust means of the prefabricated tongue and groove elements comprise a plurality of pusher rollers (6) on which said elements are compressed prefabricated tongue and groove (33) thanks to a plurality of push wheels (7), pneumatic, which exert a downward force on them because said thrust wheels (7) are mounted on a wheel axle (22) integral of a wheel fork (20) pivotally mounted by means of a wheel joint (21) on the side uprights (26) that hold the pusher rollers (6), the wheel fork (20) being pressed down by some springs (23) compressed between the wheel fork itself (20) and a regulating nut (24) mounted on a threaded rod (25) articulated on the uprights rails (26), the thrust wheels (7) also receiving a turning movement from a thrust motor (8) through thrust chains (9) thereby transmitting a longitudinal thrust by friction to the prefabricated tongue and groove elements (33).

5. Device for opening narrow trenches and placing prefabricated tongue and groove elements according to claim 4, characterized in that a plurality of feeder rollers (4) are arranged between the cutting disc (2) and the pusher rollers (6). they form a transverse path to the advance of the device and inclined downwards for the prefabricated tongue and groove elements (33).

6. Device for opening narrow trenches and placing prefabricated tongue and groove elements according to claim 5, characterized in that a stop (5) is arranged on the feeder roller assembly (4), and next to its lower part, in such a way that it stops the prefabricated elements tongue and groove (33) in its fall by gravity along the feeder rollers (4), on which they rest.

7. Device for opening narrow trenches and positioning of prefabricated tongue and groove elements according to claim 6, characterized in that the stop (5) is mounted in solidarity on a stop shaft (27) carrying a stop lever (28) terminated in a handle (29) under which an interlock (30) is provided consisting of a double articulated lever whose minor arm is capable of penetrating into a fixed housing (31); in such a way that when the stop lever (28) is immobilized by the interlocking (30) the prefabricated tongue and groove elements (33) are retained by the stop (5), while once the interlocking (30) of the fixed housing is released ( 31), the stop lever (28) can freely rotate and with it the stop (5) allowing the passage of the prefabricated tongue and groove elements (33) to the first pusher rollers (6), where they are retained by the lateral upright ( 26).

8. Device for opening narrow trenches and placing prefabricated tongue and groove elements according to claim 5, characterized in that a step-by-step rotary feeder (51) is arranged on the feeder roller assembly (4) and next to its lower part. ); in such a way that it allows the feeding of a single prefabricated tongue and groove element (33) each time it is released successively.

9. Device for opening narrow ditches and placing prefabricated tongue and groove elements according to claim 8, characterized in that when the prefabricated tongue and groove elements (33) are "U" cross-section gutters, the step-by-step rotary feeder (51) is consisting of disks (52) attached by a central axis (53) on which a plurality of alveolar plates (54) are fixed, equally distributed on its periphery, and at least one sprocket (55) capable of being immobilized by a bolt (56) that can be displaced by a pneumatic actuator (57) controlled by a switch (58) provided with a probe (59).

10. Device for opening narrow trenches and placing prefabricated tongue and groove elements according to claim 9, characterized in that the push wheels (7) are pneumatic and of the same width as the central channel of the prefabricated tongue and groove elements (33).

11. Device for opening narrow trenches and placing prefabricated tongue and groove elements according to claim 1, characterized in that between each two prefabricated tongue and groove elements (33) a separator (60), of a material of lesser hardness, is introduced in such a way Your direct contact is prevented.