JPH0443680Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] (Field of industrial application) This invention automatically inserts a coil wire gradually into a gas supply pipe or other pipe that has a complicated route such as bends and steps. The present invention relates to a control mechanism in a pipe insertion device that performs various operations such as measuring the length of a pipe, detecting specific points such as bent portions, inspecting the inside, and removing obstacles.

(Prior Art) As a conventional pipe insertion device that works by inserting a coil wire into a pipe having a complicated route such as a curved portion, there is, for example, a drainage pipe cleaning device. A main body container is rotatably supported, and a coil wire inserted into a conduit is rotated by the rotation of the main body container, and work is performed by a member provided at the tip of the coil wire.

However, this device does not automatically insert the coil wire; for example, without rotating the main container and the coil wire, a person directly holds the coil wire with their hands and draws it out of the main container and inserts it into the pipe line. After the coil wire is temporarily fixed to the main container so that it cannot move forward or backward, the main container is moved while rotating and pushed into the conduit, and then the temporary fixation is released and only the main container is inserted. It is inserted by repeatedly retracting it.

(Problems to be solved by the invention) With such conventional devices, the insertion work cannot be performed automatically, and the work is not only complicated, but also it is difficult to automatically detect the feeding length from the main container. I can't. Therefore, for example, when trying to measure the length of a pipe by the length of the coil wire, it is practically very difficult to measure the length of the pipe because it requires marking the coil wire itself and other parts. It is also very difficult to detect specific locations.

Attempts have been made to automatically unwind the coil wire and detect the unwinding distance, but the current situation is that nothing is yet satisfactory.

In order to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks of the conventional devices, the inventors of the present invention have previously published, for example, Japanese Utility Model Application No. 165163, No. 165164, and No. 165165 (1985). As disclosed in the Japanese Patent Application (November 1 issue), the coil wire is tightly wound so that it functions equivalently as a screw shaft, that is, a long tightly wound coil wire provided with a tip member is stored in the main body, We have proposed a conduit insertion device in which the coil wire is rotated by the rotation of the main body and propelled by a screw-like propulsion mechanism to insert the conduit.

In such a conduit insertion device, since the pitch of the coil wire is known, the length of the wire to be fed out can be detected based on the number of rotations of the main body.

However, in this configuration in which the coil wire is automatically propelled through the conduit, it is necessary to detect that insertion of the tip member is obstructed and there is a risk of damage to the component, and to proceed based on this. It is necessary to stop.

In other words, if further rotational propulsion force is applied even though the insertion of the tip member is obstructed, the coil wire on the tip member side may be twisted or bent and damaged, or the front and back may be folded back and the tip member may be damaged. This may cause problems such as winding up and clumping together, making it impossible to retreat.

The present invention has been devised in view of these points, namely, in the above-mentioned rotary propulsion type conduit insertion device, insertion of the tip member is obstructed and there is a risk of damage to the constituent members. In such a case, the purpose is to prevent damage to the above-mentioned structural members by detecting such insertion abnormality, controlling the main body, and stopping the rotational propulsion of the coil wire.

(Means for Solving the Problems) To explain the means for solving the above-mentioned problems, the present invention stores a long closely wound coil wire provided with a tip member in a main body, and when the main body rotates, In a conduit insertion device configured to insert a conduit through a conduit by rotating a tightly wound coil wire and propelling it by a screw-like propulsion mechanism, a non-tightly wound coil wire is inserted at an appropriate place between the tip member and the tightly wound coil wire. A coil spring is provided, and within the coil spring, a plurality of contact or proximity sensors each consisting of a pair of detection members fixed one after the other in the length direction are provided at appropriate distances in the length direction, and these A signal from the sensor is detected on the main body side via an electric wire passed through the coil wire, and the main body is controlled by the OR output of the signals from the plurality of sensors to stop the rotational propulsion of the coil wire. We propose a control mechanism for a conduit insertion device configured to

(Function) Even if insertion is obstructed in the conduit and the tip member stops, the coil wire continues to be rotated and propelled on the main body side, so the non-tightly wound coil spring continues to be rotationally propelled. It is compressed and deformed by the coming coil wire.

Therefore, a pair of detection members provided on the coil spring come into contact with each other or come close to each other within a predetermined range to generate a signal. This signal is then transmitted to the main body, and the rotational propulsion of the coil wire is stopped.

A plurality of sensors consisting of a pair of detection members are installed at appropriate distances in the length direction of the coil spring, and the above-mentioned control is performed based on the OR output of these sensors, so it is possible to determine the state of the pipe line and the position of the tip member. Reliable control can be performed regardless of the situation.

(Example) Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

Reference numeral 1 indicates the conduit insertion device as a whole;
This conduit insertion device 1 stores a long closely wound coil wire 3 provided with a tip member 2 in a main body 4, and rotates the main body 4 to propel the coil wire 3 from the main body 4 by a screw-like propulsion mechanism. This is a configuration in which the conduit 5 is inserted through.

That is, in the embodiment, the main body 4 is capable of storing the coil wire 3 in the storage space 8 formed between the outer shell 6 and the inner shell 7, and has an entry/exit part 9 for the coil wire 3 on one side. A storage container 10 comprising the following is rotatably mounted on a base body 11. Further, the base body 11 is provided with protrusions that engage between wires at a plurality of locations around the coil wire 3 in correspondence with the inlet/outlet portions 9 to form a screw-like propulsion mechanism portion 12 . On the other hand, a non-tightly wound coil spring 13 is provided between the tip member 2 and the coil wire 3, and within this coil spring 13, a pair of detection members 14, 14' are arranged one behind the other in the length direction. A plurality of sets 1 of sensors 15 consisting of
5a, 15b, . . . are provided. Then, signals from the sensors 15, 15a, 15b, . Thus, rotational propulsion of the coil wire 3 is stopped.

A pair of detection members 14, 14' is connected to an insulator 1, which constitutes each contact point of a switch that is turned ON when it comes into contact with the detection members 14, 14'.
In addition to being fixed to the coil spring 13 via the coil spring 13, the proximity switch may be constructed of each member constituting the proximity switch, and any structure is suitable as long as it can detect at least their contact or proximity. Further, the method of stopping the rotational propulsion of the coil wire 3 by the signal from the sensor 15 includes a method of stopping the motor 18 that rotationally drives the storage container 10, and a method of rapidly stopping the rotation of the storage container 10 at an appropriate position of the main body 4. It is possible to provide a brake device 19 having an appropriately configured configuration so that the storage container 10 can be rapidly stopped by the brake device 19.

In the figure, reference numeral 20 denotes a coil spring configured between the coil spring 13 and the tip member 2, and 21 denotes a coil spring configured between the coil spring 13 and the coil wire 3. Part 2
It is configured to be sequentially flexible in the direction to improve the insertion performance of the tip member 2, especially the insertion performance at the bent portion 22. Further, although not shown in the drawings, a well-known mechanism such as a slip ring may be used to connect the electric wire 16 to the control device 23 on the main body 4 side.

In the above configuration, when the storage container 10 is rotated by the motor 18, the coil wire 3 is drawn out from inside the storage container 10 by the screw-like propulsion mechanism section 12 and is rotationally propelled, and thus the tip member 2 and the coil wire 3 are rotated. Move forward inside the conduit 5 and reach the bend 2
2, steps 24, etc., it can be automatically and gradually inserted into the pipe line 5. The length of the unwound coil wire 3 can be detected from the rotational speed of the storage container 10 since its pitch is known.

Next, when the storage container 10 is rotated in the reverse direction, the coil wire 3 returns to the storage container 10 of the main body 4, and the tip member 2
can be retracted and returned from the conduit 5. For example, as an example, the outer diameter of the coil wire 3 is φ10.6,
A tightly wound wire with a diameter of d2.3 is used, and its rotation speed is
At 500 rpm, the coil wire 3 can be inserted at a moving speed of about 19 mm/sec.

As described above, when the distal end member 2 is rotationally propelled and advances in the conduit 5 and reaches the end of the conduit 5 as shown in FIG. 5a, for example, the distal end member 2 cannot be inserted. When it comes into contact with an obstacle and cannot move forward, it is pushed by the coil wire 3 that is subsequently rotated and a compressive force acts on the coil spring 13 and the coil springs 20 and 21. Since this coil spring 13 is non-tightly wound, it is compressively deformed by the compressive force, and therefore, a pair of detection members 14, which are provided on the coil spring 13 and are normally maintained at a predetermined interval in the front and rear direction, 14' comes into contact or approaches within a predetermined range, and one or both of the sensors 15a, 15b issues a contact or proximity signal. Therefore, this signal is detected by the control device 23 on the main body 4 side via the electric wire 16, and the brake device 19 etc. are actuated to stop the rotational propulsion of the coil wire 3, thereby controlling the coil springs 13, 20, 21 can be prevented from progressing.

As described above, when the coil wire 3 continues to be rotated even though the tip member 2 cannot be inserted, for example, the coil spring 20, which has high flexibility to improve insertion, It may meander and twist and break, or as shown in Fig. 6, the front and back may fold back and wrap together with the tip member 2, resulting in a large clump, making it impossible to retreat. This may also cause some inconvenience.

However, as described above, in the present invention, the tip member 2 cannot be inserted, and the coil spring 13
is subjected to a predetermined compressive deformation, the sensor 15
Since the rotational propulsion of the coil wire 3 is stopped by a signal from the coil spring 20, deformation of the coil spring 20 beyond a predetermined value can be prevented, thereby effectively preventing damage and inconvenience from occurring.

It is preferable to stop the rotational propulsion of the coil wire 3 as soon as possible after the above-mentioned cause occurs. That is, it is preferable to provide a brake device 19 or the like that can instantly stop the storage container 10 as described above.

By the way, when the tip member 2 cannot be inserted, the portion of the coil spring 13 is shown in FIG. 5b.
If the coil spring 13 is located within the bent portion 22 as shown in FIG. 2, no axial compressive force is applied to the portion a of the coil spring 13 that is bent within the bent portion 22, and no compressive deformation occurs. Therefore, if the detection members 14, 14' are present in this part, these detection members 14,
14' cannot be contacted or approached and cannot emit a signal.

However, in the present invention, as described above, a plurality of sets 15a, 15b, .
Even if one of the sensors, for example sensor 15a, corresponds to part a in the bend 22, the other sensor 15b is out of this part a, and therefore this sensor 15b cannot detect the compressive force. The members 14, 14' can emit a signal in contact or proximity, thus causing the plurality of sensors 15a,
15b, . . . , the main body 4 is controlled as described above, that is, the main body 4 is controlled by the OR output of the signals from the plurality of sensors, and the coil wire 3 is controlled. By stopping the rotational propulsion, the above-mentioned damage and inconvenience can be always reliably and effectively prevented regardless of the state of the conduit 5 or the position of the tip member 2.

(Effect of the invention) Since the invention is as described above, a long closely wound coil wire provided with a tip member is stored in the main body,
In a conduit insertion device configured to insert a conduit through the conduit by rotating the tightly wound coil wire by the rotation of the main body and propelling it by a screw-like propulsion mechanism, when the tip member is inserted into the conduit, If the coil wire comes into contact with an impenetrable obstacle and cannot move forward, it can be detected by a sensor that emits a signal and the rotational propulsion of the coil wire can be stopped.For example, in order to improve the insertion performance, This has the effect of preventing deformation of a highly flexible coil spring or the like beyond a predetermined level, thereby reliably preventing problems such as breakage and the inability of the tip member to retreat.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 5 show embodiments of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory diagram of the overall configuration, FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional explanatory diagram of the portion shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. FIGS. 4A and 4B are enlarged explanatory views of other parts of the figure, FIGS. 4A and 4B are sectional explanatory views showing the configuration and operation of the main parts, and FIGS. 5A and 5B are explanatory views of operating states. Further, FIGS. 6a and 6b are explanatory diagrams of an example of problems that occur when the control mechanism of the present invention is not used. Code 1... Pipe insertion device, 2... Tip member, 3
... Coil wire, 4 ... Main body, 5 ... Conduit, 6
...outer shell, 7...inner shell, 8...storage space, 9...access/exit section, 10...storage container, 11...
Base body, 12... Screw-shaped propulsion mechanism section, 13, 20,
21... Coil spring, 14, 14'... Detection member, 15, 15a, 15b,... Sensor,
16...Electric wire, 17...Insulator, 18...Motor, 19...Brake device, 22...Bent part, 2
3...control device, 24...step.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] (1) A long closely wound coil wire provided with a tip member is stored in a main body, and the tightly wound coil wire is rotated by the rotation of this main body and propelled by a screw-like propulsion mechanism. In a conduit insertion device configured to insert a conduit through a conduit, a non-tightly wound coil spring is provided at an appropriate position between the tip member and the tightly wound coil wire, and a coil spring is inserted into the coil spring in the length direction thereof. A contact or proximity sensor consisting of a pair of detection members fixed one after the other,
A plurality of sets are provided at appropriate distances in the length direction,
Signals from these sensors are detected on the main body side via electric wires passed through the coil wire, and the main body is controlled by the OR output of the signals from the plurality of sensors to rotate and propel the coil wire. A control mechanism in a conduit insertion device, characterized in that the control mechanism is configured to stop. (2) A control mechanism in a conduit insertion device according to claim 1, wherein the main body is provided with a brake device operated by a signal from a sensor.