FR2748294A1 - DEVICE FOR LAYING CUSHIONS INSIDE A TUNNEL - Google Patents

Abstract

The subject of the invention is a device (20) for laying segments (10) inside a tunnel dug by a tunnel boring machine, of the type comprising an erector (21) supporting a table (30) for gripping each segment (10) for the removal of said segment from a storage store and the transfer of this segment inside the tunnel. The table (30) comprises an upper plate (31), a lower plate (32) provided with a gripping member of the segment (10) to be laid, means (34, 35, 36) for moving the lower plate (32 ) relative to the upper plate (31) along three orthogonal axes and means for rotating the lower plate (32) relative to the upper plate (31) along an axis perpendicular to said upper plate (31).

Description

The subject of the present invention is a device for laying segments in

  inside a tunnel dug by a drilling machine, notably a tunnel boring machine

full face type.

  The tunnel boring machines generally comprise a cutting wheel driven in rotation at a speed determined according to the nature of the dug ground and a crown of jacks arranged at the rear periphery

  of the TBM at an end opposite the cutting wheel.

  To consolidate the tunnel, covering elements, commonly called segments, are placed on

the inner wall of the tunnel.

  For example in the case of drilling using a full-face tunnel boring machine, rings are made

  complete by assembling the segments.

  The segments are each in the form of a pre-fabricated curved plate of concrete or

  cast iron and have a weight that varies between 1 and 15 tonnes.

  These segments are stored in a store located at the rear of the tunnel boring machine and are taken one after the other from this store by a manipulator arm, called segment erector, and fixed inside the tunnel contiguously laterally to form a

  longitudinal succession of annular series of you-

evenings.

  In addition, the consolidation function of the internal wall of the tunnel, the segments provide, by their front face, a support for the crown of jacks which, arranged at the rear of the tunnel boring machine along the wall of the tunnel, exert on it Ci the push necessary to

  the excavation of the land crossed.

  Variations in the direction of the TBM are obtained by thrust differences between the different

  cylinders distributed around the periphery of the TBM.

  To place the segments within the tunnel, the erector supports a gripping table for each segment intended to take the segment to be laid from a storage store and to transfer this segment to

inside the tunnel.

  For this purpose, the table comprises means of displacement of the segment to be laid generally in two

  orthogonal axes located in the plane of said segment.

  The pose of each segment in relation to

  voussoirs previously installed is carried out by an opera-

  tor which controls the movements of the erector and the table in order to gradually bring the points identified on the segment to be placed in accordance with points

  identified on the segments previously laid.

  However, taking into account the design of the tables used so far and the degrees of freedom of these tables, the positioning of each segment to be laid by

  compared to the other segments poses problems.

  Indeed, after the alignment of a point, the displacement of the segment to be posed to bring the other points into concordance causes the first point to be adjusted and so on so that, in most cases, the final positioning of the the segment to be placed at a specific location is done manually. As a result, the installation of segments is relatively long and random which can lead to a difference between the different annular series of segments given the repetition of the operations of

  handling of all of these segments.

  The object of the invention is to avoid these inconveniences.

  by proposing a device for installing segments

  inside a tunnel to assist the operation-

  tor in positioning the segments and increasing

positioning accuracy.

  The subject of the invention is therefore a device for laying segments in a tunnel dug by a tunnel boring machine, of the type comprising an erector supporting a grasping table of each segment for the removal of said segment from a storage store. and the transfer of this segment inside the tunnel, characterized in that the table comprises an upper plate, a lower plate provided with a member for gripping the segment to be placed, means for moving the lower plate relative to the plate upper along three orthogonal axes and means of rotation of the lower plate relative to the upper plate

  along an axis perpendicular to said upper plate.

  According to other characteristics of the invention

  tion: the displacement means are formed by three jacks connecting the plates to each other and distributed over said plates in a triangle,

  - two of said cylinders are connected respective-

  vement to the upper and lower plates by swivel connections and the third jack is connected, on the one hand, to the upper plate by a rigid connection forming the axis of rotation of the lower plate relative to the upper plate and, on the other hand, to the lower plate by a swiveling connection, - the means of rotation of the lower plate relative to the upper plate are formed by two opposite jacks and facing each other, supported by the lower plate and acting on a lug secured to the upper plate, - the means of rotation of the lower plate relative to the upper plate are formed by two opposite jacks and facing each other, supported by the upper plate and acting on a lug secured to the lower plate, - the means of rotation of the lower plate relative to the upper plate are formed by a double-acting cylinder comprising a body provided with a lug connected to the upper plate by a fork joint and a piston rod connected to the lower plate by a fork joint, - the gripping member of said segment is located substantially at the intersection of the medians of the triangle formed by the jacks, - the gripping member is formed by a jack comprising at its free end a connecting element with the segment to be laid, the connecting element is formed by

  claws, a hook or a suction cup.

  Other features and benefits of

  the invention will appear during the description which

  will follow, given solely by way of example and made with reference to the appended drawings, in which: - FIG. 1 is a schematic view in axial section, with partial cutaway, of a tunnel boring machine equipped with a segmenting installation device according to the invention, - FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of a portion of a tunnel partially covered with segments, - FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of the installation device according to the invention, - FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view in section along line 4-4 of FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view in section along line 5-5 of FIG. 4, - FIG. 6 is a partial view in cross section of the laying device showing a variant of the means of rotation of the lower plate with respect to the upper plate, - FIG. 7 is a sectional view along the

line 7-7 of Fig. 6.

  In Fig. 1, there is shown schematically

  only a tunnel boring machine, for example of the full face type, designated as a whole by the reference 1 and which is

  typically consists of a 2-gen envelope

  cylindrical in front of which is arranged

  a cutting wheel 3 provided with cutting tools, not shown

  smelled, intended for the felling of the ground under the advance

of the TBM.

  This cutting wheel 3 is driven in

  rotation by at least one motor 4 at a deter- mined speed

  which is a function of the nature of the ground to be dug.

  The tunnel boring machine 1 also includes means for evacuating the rubble which are formed, in the example shown in FIG. 1, a worm screw extending from the front part towards the rear part

TBM 1.

  The tunnel boring machine 1 also comprises means 6 for axially moving the cutting wheel 3, a store 7 for storage of segments 10 and a device

  for laying the segments 10 inside the tunnel.

  The segments 10 made up of curved precast concrete or cast iron plates are intended

  to consolidate the internal wall 9 of the tunnel.

  For this, these segments 10 are placed inside the tunnel contiguously laterally to form a longitudinal succession of annular series 11 of segments 10, as shown in FIG.

2.

  Concrete is then injected between the face

  the external segments 10 and the internal wall 9 of the tunnel.

  Referring now to Figures 3 to 5, we will describe the device 20 for installing segments 10

inside the tunnel.

  The device 20 consists of an erector 21 supporting a table 30 for gripping each segment for the removal of said segment 10 from the

  storage 7 and the transfer of this segment 10 internally

  laughter of the tunnel. The table 30 is connected to the erector 21 by means of a support 22 which is mounted movable in the axis of said erector 21 by means of two members

guide 23 and two cylinders 24.

  In addition, the table 30 is movable according to a

  axis perpendicular to the erector 21.

  For this, the support 22 comprises two parallel rods and extending perpendicular to the erector 21 and on each of which slides a guide

25 secured to table 30.

  The movement of the entire table 30 perpendicular to the erector 21 is ensured by two

cylinders 27 (Fig. 3).

  As shown in Figs. 3 to 5, the table 30 comprises an upper plate 31, a lower plate 32 provided with a member 33 for gripping the

segment 10 to ask.

  Furthermore and as will be seen in more detail later, the table 30 also comprises means for moving the lower plate 32 relative to the upper plate 31 along three orthogonal axes X, Y and Z and means for rotating the lower plate 32

  with respect to the upper plate 31 along a perpetual axis

  dicular to said upper plate 31.

  The means of moving the lower plate

  laughing 32 relative to the upper plate 31 are formed by three jacks, respectively 34, 35 and 36 connecting the

plates 31 and 32 between them.

  These cylinders 34, 35 and 36 are cylinders with

double effect.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the jacks 34, 35 and 36 are distributed on the plates 31 and 32 according to a triangle and the gripping member 33 of the

  segment 10 to lay is located substantially at the intersection

tion of the medians of this triangle.

  The two cylinders 34 and 35 are connected, respectively

  tively to the upper plate 31 and to the lower plate

32, by swiveling connections.

  For this and as shown in FIG. 4, the

  upper plate 31 comprises a cage 40 provided with a lo-

  internal spherical bearing 41 which cooperates with a ball joint

  34b provided at the free end of the body 34a of the jack 34.

  The lower plate 32 comprises a cage 42 provided with a spherical internal housing 43 which cooperates with a ball joint 34d provided at the free end of the rod 34c

cylinder 34.

  According to a variant, the position of the jack 34

  between the plates 31 and 32 can be reversed.

  In this case, the ball 34b of the rod 34c is disposed in the housing 41 of the cage 40 secured to the upper plate 31 and the ball 34b of the body 34a is arranged in the housing 43 of the cage 42 secured to the

lower plate 32.

  Identically, the upper plate 31

  comprises a cage 44 provided with a spherical internal housing

  that 45 which cooperates with a ball joint 35d arranged at the end

  free half of the body 35a of the jack 35.

  The lower plate 32 also comprises a cage 46 provided with a spherical internal housing 47 which cooperates with a ball joint 35d formed at the free end

of the rod 35c of the jack 35.

  According to a variant, the position of the jack 35

  between the plates 31 and 32 can be reversed.

  In this case, the ball 35d of the rod 35c is arranged in the housing 45 of the cage 44 secured to the upper plate 31 and the ball 35b of the body 35a is arranged in the housing 47 of the cage 46 secured to the

lower plate 32.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the third jack 36 is connected, on the one hand, to the upper plate 31 by a rigid connection forming the axis of rotation of the lower plate 32 relative to the upper plate 31 and, on the other hand, to said lower plate 32 by a

swiveling connection.

  For this, the jack 36 includes a body 36a which is fixed to the upper plate 31 by means of a flange 37 and fixing members such as for example

bolts, not shown.

  The jack 36 also comprises a rod 36b provided at its free end with a ball 36c disposed in a spherical housing 48 formed in a cage 49

secured to the lower plate 32.

  The means of rotation of the lower plate 32 relative to the upper plate 31 about the axis Z formed by the body 36a of the jack 36, are constituted by two jacks, respectively 50 and 51, as shown

in Fig. 4.

  Cylinders 50 and 51 are opposite and arranged

  opposite and are single acting cylinders.

  The jack 50 has a body 50a and a rod

  b and the jack 51 comprises a body 51a and a rod 51b.

  According to a first embodiment shown

  felt in FIG. 4, the jacks 50 and 51 are supported by the lower plate 22 and the rods 50b and 51b of the jacks 50 and 51 act on a tab 52 secured to the

upper plate 31.

  According to a variant not shown, the jacks 50 and 51 are supported by the upper plate 31 and the rods 50b and 51b of these jacks act on a

  lug secured to the lower plate 32.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the gripping member 33 of the segment 10 to be laid is formed by a jack which comprises a body 55 secured to the lower plate 32 and a rod 56 movable in the body 55 and which comprises at its free end an element of

  link 57 with the segment 10 to be laid.

  This connecting element 57 is formed for example by claws, a hook or a suction cup or

any other appropriate body.

  According to a variant shown in Figs. 6 and 7, the means of rotation of the lower plate 32 with respect to the lower plate 31 about the axis Z formed by the body 36a of the jack 36, are constituted by a double-acting jack 60 connected to the upper plates 31 and lower 32 to the means of clevis joints,

61 and 62 respectively.

  The jack 60 comprises a body 63 and a piston 64 delimiting inside said body 63 two independent chambers, respectively A and B. The clevis joint 61 consists of a clevis 65 integral with the upper plate 31 and in which is placed a tenon 66 secured to the body 63 of the jack 60. The tenon 66 is connected to the clevis 65 by a pin 67 which passes through said tenon 66 and the legs of the clevis

65.

  The clevis joint 62 consists of a clevis 68 secured to the lower plate 32 and in which is placed the end of a rod 69 secured to the piston 64 of the jack 60. The rod 69 is connected to the clevis 68 by a axis 70 which passes through said rod 69 and the

clevis legs 68.

  The connection between the jack 60 and the plate

  superior 31 materializes a fixed point.

  Pressurizing chamber A or chamber B of the jack 60 has the effect of displacing the rod 69 in one direction or the other, which causes the rotation of the lower plate 31 around the axis of

  rotation Z in one direction or the other.

  The operator controls by a radio control or a remote control the erector 21 so as to collect by

  the intermediary of table 30 and the gripping member

  sion 33, a segment 10 to lay and makes a very rough approach to this segment 10 to lay segments

previously laid.

  The operator by controlling the jacks 24 and 27 moves the table 30 relative to the erector 21 so as to achieve a finer approach to the segment 10 by

  compared to the segments previously laid.

  Then, the operator gradually brings the segment 10 into its ideal position by matching the reference points located on the segment 10 to be placed with the reference points located

  on the segments previously laid.

  For this, depending on the position of the segment 10 to be placed, the operator acts on the jack 55 of the gripping member 33 so as to move this segment relative to the table 30 in the Z axis or acts on the jacks 34, 35 and 36 so as to move the lower plate 32 relative to the upper plate 31 along the X or Y axes. These displacements are possible thanks to the swiveling connections between the jacks 34 and 35 and the plates 31 and 32 and also thanks at the link

  swiveling between the jack 36 and the lower plate 32.

  The operator can also act on the cylinders 50 and 51 or the double-acting cylinder 60 so as to rotate the lower plate 32 relative to the upper plate 31 in rotation along the axis Z, and this by virtue of the swiveling connection between the cylinder 36 and said tray

lower 32.

  The different cylinders used in the installation device are hydraulic cylinders or

pneumatic cylinders.

  Given the different degrees of freedom of the table 30 relative to the erector 31 and the lower plate 32 relative to the upper plate 31, the successive positioning of the segments to be laid relative to the segments previously laid is carried out in excellent conditions and with all the precision

required.

  The segments 10 are fixed to each other by suitable members to form inside the tunnel, a longitudinal succession of annular series of segments. The laying device according to the invention therefore makes it possible to position the segments in the interior of the tunnel and to increase the speed and precision of laying of these segments, which is important given the number of segments to be laid for the

complete construction of a tunnel.

Claims (9)

  1. Device for laying segments (10) inside a tunnel dug by a tunnel boring machine, of the type comprising an erector (21) supporting a table (30) for gripping each segment (10) for the removal of said segment a storage magazine (7) and the transfer of this segment (10) inside the tunnel, characterized in that the table (30) comprises an upper plate (31), a lower plate (32) provided with '' a member (33) for gripping the segment (10) to be placed, means (34, 35, 36) for moving the lower plate (32) relative to the upper plate (31) along three orthogonal axes and means (50 , 51) of rotation of the lower plate (32) relative to the upper plate (31) along an axis perpendicular to said upper plate (31). 2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the displacement means are formed by three jacks (34, 35, 36) connecting the plates (31, 32) between them and distributed over said plates (31, 32) according to a triangle.   3. Device according to claim 2, characterized in that two (34, 35) of said jacks are respectively connected to the upper plate (31) and   lower (32) by swivel connections and the third   fifth cylinder (36) is connected, on the one hand, to the upper plate (31) by a rigid connection forming the axis of rotation of said lower plate (32) relative to the upper plate (31) and, on the other hand, on the set   lower (32) by a swiveling connection.   4. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the means of rotation of the lower plate (32) relative to the upper plate (31) are formed by two jacks (590, 51) opposite and facing each other, supported by the lower plate (32) and acting on   a tab (52) integral with said upper plate (31).   5. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the means of rotation of the lower plate (32) relative to the upper plate (31) are formed by two jacks (50, 51) opposite and facing each other, supported by the upper plate (31) and acting on   a lug integral with said lower plate (32).   6. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the means of rotation of the lower plate (32) relative to the upper plate (31) are formed by a double-acting cylinder (60) comprising a body (63) provided with a tenon (66) connected to the upper plate (31) by a clevis joint (61) and a piston rod (64, 69) connected to the lower plate (32) by a clevis joint (62).   7. Device according to claims 1 and   2, characterized in that the gripping member (33) of said segment (10) to be placed is situated substantially at the intersection of the medians of the triangle formed by the cylinders (34, 35, 36).   8. Device according to claim 1 or 7, characterized in that the gripping member (33) is formed by a jack (55, 56) comprising at its free end a connecting element (57) with the segment (10) to put.   9. Device according to claim 8, characterized in that the connecting element (57) is formed   by claws, a hook or a suction cup.