JPH0261705B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a container inspection device for inspecting the health of a container such as a pressure vessel of a nuclear power plant using an inspection sensor such as an ultrasonic probe.

The structure of the pressure vessel of a nuclear power plant and its vicinity is shown in Figure 1.The pressure vessel consists of a body part 1, a lower mirror part 3, a skirt 9, and an upper mirror integrated by flanges 7 and 8. It consists of part 2. In the case of nuclear power plants, it is stipulated that the vicinity of welding lines be periodically inspected using ultrasonic waves. For this reason, the longitudinal weld line 10 of the body part 1 and the circumferential weld line 1
1 also needs to be inspected, but there is a heat insulating material 5 and a gamma shield 6 around it, and the space between them is of such a size that humans cannot pass through.
Therefore, the drive device is installed from the position of the opening 12 on the track that was previously installed along the weld line during plant construction, and the drive device equipped with this ultrasonic probe is automatically scanned remotely to conduct inspections. .

FIG. 2 shows an example in which only a conventional longitudinal track is installed, and the drive device 25 runs along the track 24 attached to the bottom or top of the longitudinal track 24, and also performs a probe. By scanning the child 26 along the arm 27, a portion of the longitudinal track 23 and the circumferential track 22 can be inspected. This track 24 has a rat 29, and a pinion 32 connected to the motor of the drive device 25 meshes with it to move. In this case, if the motor cannot be driven remotely due to a break in the motor drive cable 31 or for some other reason during traveling, the pinion 32 and motor can be connected by pulling the wire 30 attached to the drive device 25 in advance. A method is used in which the material is recovered by sliding a sliding clutch provided in between. The disadvantages of this method are that (1) it must stop in place if not pulled and move only if pulled, and the slip clutch will never operate for normal scanning; Since it requires a large frictional force, it also requires a considerable amount of pulling force, making it difficult to retrieve it. (2) When a circumferential track 40 is provided on the body 21 of the pressure vessel as shown in Fig. 3 and the turntable 42 is used to move it vertically and horizontally, a pulley 41 is provided because the pulling direction and the moving direction of the drive device 25 are different. However, it is something that cannot be taken back.

On the other hand, since it is extremely difficult for humans to approach the middle part of the pressure vessel body due to work time and radiation exposure, it is necessary to be able to reliably recover the drive unit even if trouble occurs. For this reason, the drive device must have a mechanism that will never cause any trouble, and it must also have a mechanism that can always recover the drive device in the event that various troubles occur. As described above, this device is required to have high reliability. However, in the past, only longitudinal orbits were scanned, so there was no need to think about retrieval in orbit, but in the future, orbits will be required to be scanned, so it will be possible to deal with troubles in orbit. is necessary. To do this, since the drive device can only be pulled back to the top and bottom of the fuselage, it is necessary to create a mechanism that converts vertical force into horizontal force, and to enable the drive device to move easily on the circumferential track with less force.

The object of the present invention is to provide a probe driving device that can be used not only in a circumferential orbit but also in a longitudinal orbit that is a vertical orbit.
To provide a device that can be easily recovered without any problem in the event that a trouble occurs and a drive device cannot be driven remotely.

In order to achieve the above object, first, a mechanism is provided for engaging and disengaging the rack and pinion. Second, the drive device is provided with a contact portion that contacts the track, and a mechanism that brings the contact portion into contact with and separates from the track. Furthermore, thirdly, a step is provided so that the contact portion does not contact the circumferential track.

With the first means, the driving part of the driving device does not become a load during collection, so the pulling force can be small. Furthermore, in order to ensure reliable recovery, it is desirable that the first means be such that the pinion automatically leaves the rack when trouble occurs, or that it can be controlled remotely.

When the second means is added to the first means, an appropriate frictional force is created between the drive device and the track when the drive device is recovered in the falling direction (in the direction of gravity) along a longitudinal track. Since the drive unit can be safely recovered without falling. At this time, by forming a wheel on the contact part and providing a means for adjusting the ease of rotation of the wheel, such as a deceleration mechanism,
By balancing the weight of the drive device with the load generated at the contact portion, stable collection can be achieved without pulling the wire. In addition, when the drive device is recovered in the anti-gravity direction along a longitudinal track, the contact part is a wheel, and by providing a means to limit the rotation direction of the contact wheel such as a one-way clutch, it is possible to prevent the drive unit from falling. It can be collected stably without causing any damage.

Furthermore, if the second means is provided, when the drive device is in a circumferential orbit, the second means becomes a load when the drive device is pulled by the wire. In order to avoid this, the third means is to control the circumferential orbit so that the contact portion is separated from the orbit, or to provide a step such as a recess so that the contact portion does not contact the circumferential orbit.

The scanning method of the drive device for remotely scanning the body of the pressure vessel with an automatic ultrasonic probe in the longitudinal direction and the circumferential direction will be described below with reference to FIG. Drive device 2 equipped with probe 26
5 is attached to the bottom or top of the longitudinal track 24. When moving from the longitudinal track 24 to the circumferential track 40, the drive device 25 is placed on the turntable 42, and then the turntable 42 is rotated using a handle that penetrates the heat insulating material 5 or the gamma shield so that it is in the same direction as the circumferential track 40. do. In addition, when it is moved to the circumferential orbit 40, it can also be moved to the longitudinal orbit 24 by operating the turntable 42.

The configuration of the probe drive device is shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. FIG. 4 is a plan view of the drive device when viewed from the heat insulating material side, showing a motor 101 for moving along a track 121 consisting of a track 24 and a track 40, and a worm integrated with the motor 101. Motor 1 rotates as it meshes and changes the direction of rotation.
Worm gear 105 for keeping the drive device at that position on the track even in the stopped state of 01
and a shaft 104 that rotates together with it.
and the gear 1 that rotates together with the shaft 104.
50, and a plurality of pinions 102, 15 which are given the same rotation by this gear 150 and mesh with racks on the track 121 to move in the track direction.
1 and an ender 103 for detecting the moving distance from the number of rotations thereof. Also, the probe head 106 is connected to the orbit 121.
arm 116 for scanning in a direction perpendicular to
The arm 116 consists of a feed screw 107 and two pipes 108, and is rotated by a motor mounted near the probe head 106. The feed screw 107 rotates, and the arm 116 There is an arm direction drive unit that moves the arm along the Furthermore, there is a shift mechanism for dealing with seam-by-seam deviations of the vertical weld line by moving the arm 116 left and right in the longitudinal direction of the arm 116. By applying the rotational force obtained by the motor 110 to the feed screw 113, the arm 115
moves in a direction perpendicular to trajectory 121. In this case, the arm 115 is integrated with the arm 116, and as the arm 115 moves, the roll 112 rotates along the rail 109, which has a curvature close to the curvature of the subject.
6 can be shifted. In other words, by shifting the center of the arm 116 to the center of the weld line as the weld line shifts from seam to seam, inspection can be carried out in response to the weld line shift. By being able to shift left and right, it can be applied without any problem even if the direction of displacement of the vertical weld line is reversed when the drive device scans from the top or bottom of the pressure vessel body. The roller 117 has a track 121
provided for installation on. FIG. 5 is a side view of the drive system, in which arm 116 is adapted to move probe head 106 in a direction perpendicular to track 121 and is mounted on carriage 120. This truck 120 has a plurality of rollers 112.
, and the rail 10 moves according to the movement of the arm 115.
9, the arm 116 is shifted. In order to move in the circumferential direction of the pressure vessel body, the rail 109 is provided with a curvature close to that curvature, and is designed to bring the probe 106 closer to the subject. In addition, when the probe 106 is pressed against the subject and scanned, not only does the contact surface experience friction, but also the running friction increases, so the number of balls 119 can be adjusted to the extent that it does not interfere with the inspection. For example, probe 1
The probe 106 is attached so as to create a gap of 0.5 mm between the probe 06 and the subject. In addition, an air cylinder 1 is used to perform this pressing at a constant pressure.
There are 18.

The arm direction drive unit for moving the probe in the arm direction will be explained with reference to FIG.
The zero rotational force is once decelerated by the gear head 131, and the torque is increased and transmitted to the gear 134.
The gear 134 further rotates the gear 135, thereby causing the feed screw 107 to rotate. Here, since the gear 135 is limited to rotation only by the stopper 132 and the two pipes 18, the portion including the motor 130 is
Move according to 07. By integrating this moving part and the contact, it is possible to move on the arm in a direction perpendicular to the trajectory. Further, the rotation of the gear 135 is further transmitted to the gear 133, and by rotating the encoder 137, the moving distance of the probe is detected.

The number of permanently placed tracks is 300 during plant operation.
It expands thermally because it becomes a high-temperature atmosphere close to 30 degrees Fahrenheit, but when inspections are carried out, the plant is shut down, so the temperature returns to near room temperature and it contracts. Therefore, in order to cope with thermal expansion in this orbit, spaces are provided between the orbits 121A and 121B at regular intervals as shown in FIG. 7. Since the rollers 117 provided on the drive device so as to sandwich the track run in the grooves 161 on the side surfaces of the track, the drive device 25 does not come off the track. In this case, the roller 117A is
When it comes to the space where A and the track 121B connect, it comes off, but the driving device 25 can be kept attached to the track 121 by the other roller 117B combined with it and the other set of rollers 117C, 117D. .
After that, when the drive device 25 advances, the roller 117
A is attached to the track 121B, and the roller 117B comes off the track, but the roller 117 along with the roller 117A
C and 117D, the drive device 25 can be attached to the track 121. In this way, orbit 121A,
Even if there is a space between 121B, at least 6 rollers are in contact with each other, so there is no problem with driving device 2.
5 can be run.

The operation of the double pinion when the drive device 25 shown in FIG. 3 moves from the turntable 42 to the orbit 40 will be explained from FIG.
The drive device 25 mounted on the turntable 42
and the circumferential orbit 40 by overcoming the gap between the circumferential orbit 40 and the circumferential orbit 40
In order to move the pinion 151 through the gear 150 to which the rotational force of the motor is transmitted,
Runs in conjunction with 2. The drive device 25 is temporarily stopped before the gap. This positioning is performed by detecting a counter provided on the circumferential track 40 by a sensor installed in the drive device 25 and using a signal.
Next, the pinion 102, which is given the same rotation by the gear 150, is pressed against and engaged with the rack 153 by remotely applying air pressure to the air cylinder 155. Next, the air pressure in the air cylinder 154 is lowered by remote control, and the pinion 151 is removed from the rack 152. In this state, if the motor connected to the gear 150 is rotated, the drive device 25 can move over the gap to the orbit 40. When traveling on the circumferential track 40, the pinion 151 is held in the rack 15.
Both pinions 151 and 102 may be meshed with each other, or the pinion 102 or the pinion 151 may each run independently.

If the piping of the air pressure supply system is cut for some reason when the drive device 25 is on the circumferential orbit 40 in FIG. 3, the supply of air pressure to the air cylinder will stop, and both pinions will come off the rack.
The drive device 25 will no longer be able to run. For this reason,
In order to recover the drive device 25 to the mounting position, the turntable 4 is pulled manually using a wire provided in the cable 31, using the pulley 41 as a fulcrum.
2 and rotate the turntable 42 to move it onto the longitudinal track 24. in this case,
Since the drive device 25 falls due to gravity, the drive device 25 has a slowdown mechanism as shown in FIG. In the normal state, the drive device 25 operates on the track 4
The groove roller 117 on the 0 side is inserted, and the motor 5
5 is transmitted to the pinion 52 via the gear 54, which meshes with the rack 51 and travels along the track 40. Air cylinder 15 due to air pressure disconnection, etc.
5 is returned by the spring 69, and the pinion 102 connected thereto leaves the rack 153. For this reason, if it is in a longitudinal orbit, it will fall due to gravity, but to prevent this, another air cylinder 5
9 is pressed against the track 40 by a spring 58. This roller 57 normally has a spring 58 in a contracted state by the force of air pressure 66 supplied to an air cylinder 59. A one-way clutch 61 and a gearbox 60 are connected to the roller 57. If the drive device 25 is installed from the lower part of the longitudinal track, it must be recovered to the lower part, so the lever 65 is operated in advance to connect the gears 63, 64, and 62. That is, when collecting the material at the bottom, when the roller 57 is pressed against the track 40 by the disconnection of the air pressure 66, the roller 57 rotates due to gravity and frictional force, and the rotational force is transferred to the gearbox 60 via the one-way clutch 61.
transmitted to. One-way clutch 6 in this case
1 is oriented in such a direction that rotational force is transmitted. Therefore, the rotational speed of the roller 57 is reduced by the gearbox 60, and the drive device 25 can be slowed down. Furthermore, when the drive device is installed from the top of the longitudinal track, the lever 65 is operated in advance to remove the gear 64 from the gears 63 and 62. In either case of the upper or lower part, the drive device 25 is always installed in such a way that it advances to the opposite side of the cable attachment part in order to prevent troubles with the cable. For this reason, when the air pressure is cut off, the body tries to fall from the direction of the head. In other words, the direction is completely opposite to that of the lower part. In this case, roller 57
The one-way clutch 61 stops the force that tends to rotate the terminal downward. Therefore, it moves only in the direction in which the wire is pulled, and there is a drive device 25 at the top.
can be recovered.

On the other hand, when the drive device 25 is on the circumferential track, the air cylinder 59 is actuated by the cutoff of the air pressure 66 to push out the roller 57 and press the roller 57 against the track 40;
Since the track 40 and the roller 57 are not in contact with each other, the drive device 25 can be easily moved to the turntable by manually pulling the wire.
The subsequent recovery on the longitudinal track is the same as in the case of mounting from each upper and lower part as described above. Next, the positioning on the turntable when the wire is pulled manually is as shown in FIG.
The roller 57 moves along the groove 67 provided in the turntable 42, but the groove 70 provided in the turntable 42 disappears in the middle of the turntable.
7 stops here. In this way the drive can be aligned. Here, handle 7
1, the groove 70 of the turntable 42
If it is installed at the bottom, the drive device will slow down due to gravity and frictional force. Additionally, if it is mounted on the top, it can be pulled up.
Here, it is appropriate for the roller 57 to be made of a material having a large friction coefficient, such as rubber.

As can be seen from FIG. 9, it is possible to prevent the driving device 25 from falling if the air cylinder 59 is operated first instead of simultaneously operating the air cylinders 59 and 69 by cutting off the air pressure 66. For this reason, it is necessary that the spring 58 be stronger than the spring 69, or that the air cylinder 59 operate at a higher air pressure.

According to this embodiment, the following effects are achieved.

(1) The pinion can be moved away from the rack by remote control if necessary. In addition, the pinion can be released from the rack when air pressure is no longer available or when air pressure is no longer available due to pipe breakage, etc.

(2) Since the pinion is a double pinion and each is operated independently, it is possible to reliably get over gaps such as the track and turntable by switching the pinion.

(3) Collection can be performed in accordance with the case where the drive device is on a longitudinal orbit or on a circumferential orbit. That is, if it is attached from the bottom of the longitudinal track, it can be lowered at a slow speed. Furthermore, if it is installed from the top of the longitudinal track, it will stop at that position and can only move in the direction of the force that pulls it back. Furthermore, when it is in a circumferential orbit, it can be pulled back even with a small force, and after the turntable has moved, it can be recovered by the above-mentioned recovery method on the longitudinal orbit.

(4) It requires only a small pulling force to be applied and does not require detailed operation, and the machine is simple, so it has little effect on the weight and size of the device and is highly reliable.

Note that the present invention is not limited to what has been described so far, and can also be applied to the following cases.

(1) Although the system has been described in which the rotational force is transmitted directly to the pinion from the gear, it is also possible to use a system in which, for example, a chain or the like is used between them to freely change the interval between them.

(2) We have explained the troubles that occur when the air pressure drops, such as when the air pressure supply system connection to the pinion pressing air cylinder is broken, but of course there may be cases where the air pressure is not released and remote operation is not possible due to the high pressure state. Therefore, in order to deal with such a case, a solenoid valve can be installed near the air cylinder in the air pressure supply system, and air can be released to the outside using an emergency power source.

(3) A concave part was provided on the circumferential track to prevent it from coming into contact with the rollers of the collection mechanism, but the present invention is not limited to this. It may be made to contact only the convex portion.

(4) The method of switching the gap between the track and the turntable has been explained, but if the pitch of the rack that is in contact with the gap is matched, there is no need to switch the pinion. Further, even if the interval between the pinions can be changed in advance to accommodate this pitch deviation, there is no need to switch the pinions.

(5) Although we have explained the method in which the pinion is operated directly by the air cylinder, the method is not limited to this, and it is also possible to change the operating direction of the air cylinder and the direction of movement of the pinion by interposing a mechanism such as a lever. However, the pressing force can also be increased or decreased by changing the fulcrum of the lever.

(6) Move the pressing roller of the recovery mechanism 1 in the longitudinal direction of the track.
Although we have explained an example in which only one piece is installed, two pieces may be installed in the longitudinal direction of the track at a distance that allows the gap to be overcome, or two or more pieces may be arranged in a row in the width direction of the track to increase the frictional force. It is valid.

(7) The working fluid is not limited to air, and the use of other types of gas or liquid depending on the purpose will not deviate from the purpose.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a diagram for explaining a pressure vessel to be inspected, Fig. 2 is a diagram for explaining a conventional inspection method, and Fig. 3 is a diagram for explaining an inspection method for explaining the present invention. , Figures 4 and 5 are diagrams explaining the configuration of the drive device, Figures 6 and 7 are diagrams explaining the operation of the drive mechanism, and Figure 8 is a diagram showing the double pinion for overcoming the orbital gap. FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining the configuration and operation of the recovery mechanism, and FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining an example of positioning on the turntable. 24...Longitudinal orbit, 25...Probe drive device, 40
... circumferential orbit, 102, 151... pinion, 152,
153...Rack, 154,155...Air cylinder.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A track provided with racks laid in the longitudinal and circumferential directions along the container, and a plurality of wheels attached to the track and pinions meshing with the racks to run on the track. A container inspection device having a drive device for retrieving the drive device, and a traction means attached to the drive device for recovering the drive device, characterized in that a mechanism for engaging and disengaging the rack and pinion is provided. Container inspection equipment. 2. The container inspection device according to claim 1, wherein the drive device is provided with a contact part that contacts the track, and a mechanism that brings the contact part into contact with and separates from the track. 3. The container inspection device according to claim 2, wherein the contact portion is a wheel, and means for adjusting the ease of rotation of the contact wheel is provided. 4. The container inspection device according to claim 2, wherein the contact portion is a wheel, and means for limiting the rotational direction of the contact wheel is provided. 5. The container inspection device according to claim 2, 3, or 4, characterized in that a step is provided so that the contact portion does not come into contact with the circumferential orbit.