JPH0545389B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] Industrial Application Field The present invention relates to a robot for cleaning inside pipes, and is used, for example, to remove old paint films during repair painting of the inner surfaces of penstock pipes in hydroelectric power plants. be.

Conventional technology When repair painting the inner surface of a penstock in a hydroelectric power plant, for pipes with diameters larger than a certain level, workers ride directly onto a trolley that can be raised and lowered using a winch for polishing and repair painting. However, the reality is that such work cannot be done on small diameter pipes and they are left untreated.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention Penstocks in hydroelectric power plants are used to channel water stored in a dam from a high place to a generator in a low place with a high head, and most of the penstocks are arranged in an inclined manner. The conventional method in which the worker directly climbs into the vehicle is not only dangerous but also unfavorable in terms of work efficiency. In addition, small-diameter pipes have problems such as short service life and frequent replacement because no repair painting is performed inside the pipes.

In addition, as an automatic pipe cleaning device,
Publication No. 26470, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 1982-8275, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 1983
-150055 etc. are known, but these do not have a means to grasp the situation inside the pipe or a means to move the cleaning device at a stable speed against various changes in the inclination angle. However, there was a problem in that it was not possible to uniformly finish the parts in the pipe that needed to be polished.

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention has been developed in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art. In-pipe cleaning in which the inner wall surface of the pipe is polished by supplying grit with air pressure to the grit injection nozzle of the blast head, and the grit is collected together with the flakes on the inner surface of the pipe by the collection nozzle of the grit collection head connected to the blast head. In robots, self-propelled trolleys
An ITV camera and a mechanism for tensioning the inner surface of the tube that can be taken in and out are provided, and a self-propelled trolley is pulled from outside the tube via a wire rope, and the wire rope maintains a constant tension at all times. A traction device with winding and unwinding speed and tension adjustment functions is installed to allow the trolley to run stably with its self-propelled function, and furthermore,
A control device was installed to control the running of the self-propelled trolley, the loading and unloading of the tension mechanism, and the rotation of the grit injection nozzle from outside the pipe using the ITV camera monitor device.

Function Grit is pumped out of the pipe by high-pressure air from a grit injector, and is evenly sprayed onto the inner circumferential surface of the pipe from the grit injection nozzle at the front of the blast head, peeling off the old paint film. By installing the grit injector outside the pipe, the blast head can be made smaller and can be applied to small diameter pipes. The blast head uses a self-propelling function to move in the direction of the tube axis at an appropriate speed, and its tension function allows it to
Ensures self-propelling power within the pipe. The injected grit is collected by a grit collection head connected to the blast head.

Furthermore, by employing a traction device with speed and tension adjustment functions, it is possible to prevent the plast head from accelerating and falling when it is self-propelled, and to ensure that it is always self-propelled stably at a constant speed. Furthermore, the ITV camera monitors the conditions inside the pipe, and the controller controls the tension mechanism's loading and unloading, the self-propelled trolley's self-propelled speed, and the rotation of the grit injection nozzle, ensuring that only the areas that need to be cleaned are properly cleaned. It can be polished and finished as desired.

Embodiment FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing an application example of the present invention, in which A is a blast head, B is a grit injector, C is a grit collection head, D is a control device, and E is a grit injector.
indicates a traction device with speed and tension adjustment functions, F indicates a penstock, and G indicates an extra-pipe grit recovery device.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, the blast head A includes a main body 1, a self-propelled trolley 2, a tensioning function 3,
A self-propelled drive mechanism 4, a grid injection nozzle 5,
It consists of a nozzle rotation mechanism 6.

The self-propelled trolley 2 has wheel frames 2a on both sides of the lower part of the main body 1 at an angle of about 120° from the central axis of the main body 1.
Multiple units attached via (3 on each side, 6 in total)
each driving wheel 2b has a driven chain wheel 2c, and an endless chain 2e from the driving chain wheel 2d.
It is linked by.

The self-propelled drive mechanism 4 includes a servo motor 4a and an electromagnetic clutch 4b connected to the servo motor 4a.
, a cyclo reducer 4c connected to this electromagnetic clutch 4b, and a drive chain wheel 2d on both sides from this cyclo reducer 4c via bevel gears 4d, 4e, 4f.
2d, and a gearbox 4g, which is attached to the lower part of the main body 1.

The tension mechanism 3 includes a plurality of driven wheels 3b connected by a connecting plate 3a, a parallel link 3c that connects the connecting plate 3a to the upper surface of the main body 1 so as to be able to rise and fall, and a parallel link 3.
Air cylinder 3e that drives drive lever 3d of c
It consists of a parallel link 3c and an air cylinder 3.
e are arranged symmetrically on both sides of the driven wheel 3b.

The grit injection nozzle 5 has a rotary cylinder 5a that is rotatably supported on the central axis of the main body 1, and has a tip opening inclined with respect to the central axis of the main body 1, and a gear 5b is attached to a part of the rotary cylinder 5a. The gear 5b is fixed and opened, and the gear 5b meshes with the output gear 6b of the gear motor 6a forming the nozzle rotation mechanism 6 and is driven to rotate.

The rear end of the rotary cylinder 5a is connected to a hose 7 for supplying grit.

The blast head A has the above configuration, and the drive lever 3 is operated by the air cylinder 3e of the tension mechanism 3.
The parallel link 3c is erected via d, and the driven wheel 3
b is brought into pressure contact with the upper part of the inner surface of the tube to prevent the drive wheel 2b from slipping and move it at an appropriate speed in the tube axis direction by the self-propelled drive mechanism 4, and the driving force necessary for pulling the grit supply hose, etc. The grit is jetted from the grit jetting nozzle 5, which rotates at the same time, and is sprayed onto the inner surface of the pipe for cleaning.

As shown in FIG. 6, the grit injection machine B includes an injection tank 9 having a grit charging hopper 8 at the top thereof;
The high pressure air from the compressor 10 is transferred into the injection tank 9 and into the mixing valve 11 at the bottom of the injection tank 9.
The high pressure air supply pipe 12 is equipped with an electromagnetic on-off valve 13.
is provided, and the supply of high-pressure air is controlled by an operation button switch (not shown) on the operation panel 14.The high-pressure air mixed with grit by the mixing valve 11 is delivered to the blast head by the grit supply hose 7. The grit is fed under pressure to the grit injection nozzle 5 of A.

The grit and recovery head C includes a recovery tank 15 and a recovery nozzle 16, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8.
The recovery tank 15 has a cylindrical shape, has a plurality of casters 15a on both sides of the lower part, has an opening/closing lid 15b at the upper part, and has an ejector at the rear end of the inside. It is equipped with a type suction device 18, a collection nozzle 16 is provided on the upper front surface, and a plurality of separator plates 15c are attached inside.

The recovery nozzle 16 has a suction port formed at the tip of a flexible tube. It is designed to swing back and forth.

High pressure air is supplied to the ejector type suction device 18 from outside the tube via an air hose 18a.

The grit collecting head C has the above-mentioned configuration, is connected to the blasting head A, moves within the pipe, and collects the grit injected into the pipe.

The control device D controls the drive of the self-propelled drive mechanism 4, the tension mechanism 3, and the nozzle rotation mechanism 6 of the plast head A, and the nozzle swing device 1 of the grit collection head C.
7 drive control from outside the pipe, and in addition to the respective operation switches and lamps, it also controls the operation of the plastic head A.
The facility is equipped with ITV camera monitoring equipment, etc.

Traction device E with speed and tension adjustment function is installed outside the tube to prevent the blast head A from accelerating and falling when it is self-propelled, and while always applying a constant tension, the self-propelling function inside the blast head maintains a stable speed. This is to realize self-propulsion by applying force in the pulling direction of blast head A with a torque motor winch, and comparing the free-propulsion speed of blast head A with the payout speed of wire rope H. When these deviations exceed a certain level, the winding and braking forces are automatically controlled.

As shown in Fig. 1, the extra-pipe grit recovery device G consists of a dust collector attached to a manhole I formed in the middle of the penstock F, and collects the grit collected by the grit recovery head C at the position of the manhole I. Then, the opening/closing lid 15b is opened and collected, and the material peeled off from the inner surface of the tube is filtered and separated using a filter, and then supplied to the grit injection machine B.

The embodiment of the present invention has the above configuration, and the overall operation will be explained next.

The blast head A and the grit collection head C are connected by a universal connector, and the rear end of the grit collection head C is connected with a wire rope H fed out from a traction device E with speed and tension adjustment, and the upper end of the penstock F is connected. Then lower it to the point where repair painting is required. Then, after operating the tension mechanism 3, the self-propelled drive mechanism 4 is driven, and at the same time,
The nozzle rotation mechanism 6 is operated. Further, grit is force-fed from the grit injector B to the grit injecting nozzle 5 via the hose 7. Accordingly, the grit injection nozzle 5 rotates the inner surface of the tube in the circumferential direction while injecting grit, and polishes the inner surface of the tube with a predetermined injection width, that is,
Peel off the old paint film. Since the grit collection head C is moved in the axial direction of the tube by the self-propelled trolley 2, the inner surface of the tube is polished in a spiral manner.

In this case, the rotational speed of the grit injection nozzle 5 and the self-propelled speed of the self-propelled truck 2 are controlled in a related manner so that the widths of grit ejected overlap to some extent in the tube axis direction. The grit injected into the pipe is
The grit is collected by the grit collection head C.

Once the necessary areas have been cleaned, the entire penstock F is lifted up from the upper end.

In order to cope with different pipe diameters, the self-propelled trolley 2
The legs can be exchanged with ones with different lengths, and the grit injection nozzle 5 is made to substantially coincide with the central axis of the pipe to which it is applied.

Although the above embodiment shows the case where it is applied to the penstock F, the present invention may be used for other pipe cleaning work.

Effects of the Invention According to the present invention, the interior cleaning work can be performed safely and efficiently not only in large diameter pipes but also in particular in small diameter pipes.

In addition, the traction device with speed and tension adjustment functions allows the speed and tension of the blast head to be stabilized when it is self-propelled in response to changes in the slope of the pipe, making it possible to uniformly clean the inside of the pipe. can.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, the control device controls the loading and unloading of the tension mechanism, the self-propelled speed of the self-propelled trolley, and the rotation of the grit injection nozzle while grasping the situation inside the pipe using the ITV camera. It is possible to easily obtain a polished finished surface, and it is possible to prevent problems such as excessive wear on the pipe thickness and insufficient polishing due to partial over-polishing. In particular, self-propelled trolleys have various inclination angles for penstocks, etc., and the inclination angle may change along the way. A uniform ground surface is an important requirement and is ensured by the winding, unwinding speed and tension adjustment of the traction device.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a schematic side view showing an example of application of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a side view of the blast head, Fig. 3 is a partially cutaway side view thereof, Fig. 4 is a partially cutaway front view thereof, and Fig. 5 6 is a side view showing the drive system of the self-propelled trolley.
7 is a side view of the grit injector, FIG. 7 is a side view of the grit collection head, and FIG. 8 is a front view thereof. A... Blast head, B... Grit injector, C... Grit collection head, D... Control device, E... Traction device with speed and tension adjustment function, H
... Wire rope, 2 ... Self-propelled trolley, 3 ... Tension mechanism, 4 ... Self-propelled drive mechanism, 5 ... Grit injection nozzle, 6 ... Nozzle rotation mechanism, 7 ... Grit supply hose , 16... recovery nozzle, 17...
...Nozzle rocking device.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. Grit is supplied by air pressure from a grit injector outside the pipe to the grit injection nozzle of a blast head mounted on the front of a self-propelled truck and rotates within the pipe to polish the inner wall surface of the pipe. , a robot for cleaning inside pipes that collects grit together with flakes on the inner surface of the pipe through the collection nozzle of the grit collecting head connected to the blast head. A tension mechanism is provided, and the self-propelled trolley is pulled from outside the pipe via a wire rope, the wire rope maintains a constant tension at all times, and the self-propelled trolley runs stably with its self-propelled function. A traction device with winding and unwinding speed and tension adjustment functions is installed to control the movement of the self-propelled trolley, the loading and unloading of the tensioning mechanism, and the rotation of the grit injection nozzle from outside the tube using an ITV camera monitoring device. A robot for cleaning inside pipes, which is equipped with a control device.