TWI420107B - Pipe direction detector - Google Patents

Description

Pipeline trend explorer

The invention relates to a pipeline running explorer, in particular to utilizing an angle change of a strip end and a feed length of a strip to form a path information to understand the trend of the pipeline.

There is currently no really simple and effective instrumentation available to explore a hidden pipeline or hole path. For example, the climbing device shown in the U.S. Patent No. 6,378,627 uses a pair of motors to drive a pair of magnetic rings inside a plurality of connected circular tubes, thereby driving the scissors mechanism of the individual circular tubes to be driven by the pair of magnetic rings. When you open it, hold the well wall of the well and push it forward. It is equipped with a depth indicator and a gyroscope to provide the location of the climbing equipment. It is barely a function to explore the hole path, but The structure is large, precise and complex, and it is necessary to use artificial intelligence to control the software to coordinate operation. This is too large for the general underground pipeline or hole path below 2吋 to be applicable.

It is suitable for small-diameter, portable instruments to enter the pipeline climbing equipment. Refer to the creeping equipment shown in the US Patent No. 5,309,844. The two ends of the coupling are respectively radially distributed with several gas pressure rods and rollers. There is another pair of axial gas pressure rods between the two ends of the device. When the radial gas pressure rod at the rear end is extended against the pipe wall, the axial gas pressure bar is elongated to advance the front end forward; then the radial extension of the front end is against the pipe wall. The radial gas bar at the rear end is retracted, and the axial gas bar is shortened so that the rear end is also advanced forward. The inventor calls this "inchworm". Since such a creeping device requires sufficient space for the radial gas pressure bar, the diameter of the device cannot be reduced, making it suitable for portable equipment to explore a general underground pipeline or hole path below 2 inches.

In view of the above, the present invention provides a pipeline direction explorer for detecting a pipeline running behind a ground or a shield, including an angle sensing head, a signal strip, and a pass. A feed controller and a control unit. The angle sensing head is electrically connected to the end of the strip including the signal line for providing angle change information of the end of the strip. The through feed controller is provided with a plurality of suction cups, a plurality of air passages and at least one feeding mechanism. A vacuum pump continuously draws air from the suction cup through the air passage so that the suction cup can suck the through-feed controller to the surface of the shield. The feeding mechanism feeds the line containing the signal line into the pipeline at a certain speed, so that the angle sensing head advances along the pipeline. The control unit records the angular change of the length of the feed end of the strip containing the signal line at each feed length, and combines it into a path information for understanding the course of the pipeline.

The above described objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent and appreciated. The embodiment includes an angle sensing head 10, a signal line-containing strip 20, a flux feed controller 30, and a control unit 40. The angle sensing head 10 is electrically connected to the end of the strip 20 including the signal line for providing angle change information of the end of the strip 20 .

As shown in FIG. 2, the feed-feed controller 30 may be provided with a plurality of suction cups 31, a plurality of air passages 32, and at least one feed mechanism 33. The suction cup 31 allows the feed-feed controller 30 to be sucked on the surface 60 of a shield, and the vacuum suction pump 50 continuously draws air from the suction surface of the suction cup 31 through the air passage 32, so that the suction cup 31 maintains sufficient suction force to be adsorbed on the suction cup 31. The surface 60 of the shelter.

The feed mechanism 30 may be constituted by a pair of stepping motor-driven friction wheels or pressure rollers for feeding the signal line-containing bars 20 into the pipeline 61 to be searched at a certain speed, and each feed length △ S is passed back to the control unit 40. When the strip 20 containing the signal line advances, the angle sensing head 10 is advanced inside the pipeline 61, and the angle sensing head 10 transmits the angle value to the control unit 40 through the signal line-passing strip 20, and each feed The angle values corresponding to the length ΔS are combined into path information as shown in Fig. 4 for understanding the course of the line 61.

The control unit 40 can include a signal processor 41, a display 42 and a storage device 43. The signal processor 41 may include an input length ΔS returned by the 8051 microchip reading feed mechanism 30 and an angle value returned by the angle sensing head 10, and is stored by the storage device 43 and transmitted through the display 42. To display; for example, mark the nth point as (S _n , θ _n , ψ _n ), and mark the n+1 point as (S _n+1 , θ _n+1 , ψ _n+1 ), where: S _n = (△S) (n); S _n+1 = (ΔS) (n+1);

θ _n : when the feed length of the line 20 containing the signal line reaches S _n , the angle sensing head 10 transmits an angle value of the angle between the projection of the length direction of the x-y plane and the x-axis; ψ _n : when When the feed length of the wire 20 of the signal line reaches S _n , the angle sensing head 10 transmits an angle value of the angle between the length direction and the x-y plane; θ _n+1 : when the feed length of the wire 20 containing the signal line reaches When S _n+1 , the angle sensing head 10 transmits an angle value of the angle between the projection of the length direction on the x-y plane and the x-axis; ψ _n+1 : when the feed length of the line 20 containing the signal line reaches S _n+1 , the angle The sensing head 10 transmits an angle value of an angle between its length direction and the x-y plane; the angle sensing head 10 is used to advance along a line 61 to generate a plurality of feed lengths ΔS, and for each feed The length ΔS is a set of angular values (θ _n , ψ _n ). As shown in FIG. 3 , the angle sensing head 10 can include a housing 11 , a battery 12 , and a microgravity angle sensing component 13 . The battery 12 and the microgravity angle sensing component 13 are received in the housing 11 . The electrical energy is supplied to operate the microgravity angle sensing element 13. The microgravity angle sensing element 13 communicates with the signal processor 41 of the control unit 40 through the line 20 containing the signal line to transmit an angle value. In order to keep the axis of the angle sensing head 10 and the pipeline 61 substantially parallel, preferably, a plurality of elastic pivot arms 14 can be disposed on the inner walls of the pipeline 61 to support the inner wall of the pipeline 61. Preferably, the roller 15 is respectively disposed on each of the elastic pivot arms 14 to make the movement of the angle sensing head 10 smooth.

The signal strip 20 can be covered by a signal line 21 with one or more layers of low friction coefficient material 22, such as engineering plastic (nylon) or Teflon, to reduce its pushing angle in the pipeline 61. The resistance of the head 10 is sensed.

The pipeline run explorer provided by the present invention has at least the following advantages as compared with the aforementioned related US patents:

1. The structure is simple, and it is cheap.

2. Pipes with small apertures can be explored and cannot be replaced by the aforementioned related US patents.

The detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention is intended to be illustrative of the preferred embodiments of the present invention. In the scope of the patent in this case.

10‧‧‧Angular sensor head

11‧‧‧Shell

12‧‧‧Battery

13‧‧‧Microgravity angle sensing element

14‧‧‧Flexible pivot arm

15‧‧‧Roller

20‧‧‧Cross

21‧‧‧ signal line

22‧‧‧Low friction coefficient material layer

30‧‧‧through feed controller

31‧‧‧Sucker

32‧‧‧ airway

33‧‧‧Feed institutions

40‧‧‧Control unit

41‧‧‧Signal Processor

42‧‧‧ display

43‧‧‧Storage device

50‧‧‧vacuum pump

60‧‧‧The surface of the shelter

61‧‧‧ pipeline

△S‧‧‧feed length

331‧‧‧Stepper motor

332‧‧‧friction wheel or compression wheel

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a pipe run explorer of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an embodiment of the pipe run probe of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing an angle sensing head of an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a schematic view showing the angle indication mode of the present invention.

10‧‧‧Angular sensor head

20‧‧‧Cross

30‧‧‧through feed controller

31‧‧‧Sucker

40‧‧‧Control unit

41‧‧‧Signal Processor

42‧‧‧ display

43‧‧‧Storage device

50‧‧‧vacuum pump

60‧‧‧The surface of the shelter

61‧‧‧ pipeline

Claims (13)

A pipeline running explorer includes: an angle sensing head for advancing along a pipeline to generate a plurality of feed lengths, and transmitting a set of angle values at each feed length, characterized by the angle The sensing head includes: a microgravity angle sensing component for continuously sensing the length direction of the angle sensing head and generating a set of angle values for each feeding length; a battery providing power to the microgravity angle a sensing component; and a housing for receiving the microgravity angle sensing component and the battery; a signal strip-containing strip, the end is electrically connected to the angle sensing head; and a feedthrough control And a control unit, wherein the signal line is connected to the angle sensing head for receiving and combining the angle value and the feed length to be one Path information. The pipeline running explorer shown in claim 1 is characterized in that the two ends of the casing are respectively connected with a plurality of elastic pivot arms for contacting the inner wall of the pipeline. For example, the pipeline running explorer shown in the first aspect of the patent application, wherein the ends of the plurality of elastic pivot arms are respectively connected with a roller, so that the movement of the angle sensing head in the pipeline is smooth. The pipeline trending explorer as shown in claim 1 , wherein the set of angle values comprises: an angle value representing a projection of the length direction of the angle sensing head in an xy plane and an x-axis of the xy plane An angle; and an angle value representing an angle between a length direction of the angle sensing head and the xy plane. The pipeline running probe shown in claim 1 is characterized in that the signal line-containing strip comprises a signal line and a low friction coefficient material layer. The pipeline running explorer shown in claim 5, wherein the low friction coefficient material layer comprises an engineering plastic layer. A pipe run explorer as shown in claim 5, wherein the low coefficient of friction material layer comprises a layer of Teflon material. The pipeline running explorer shown in claim 1 is characterized in that the through-feed controller is provided with a plurality of suction cups, a plurality of air passages and at least one feeding mechanism. The pipeline running explorer shown in claim 8 is characterized in that the vacuum pump continuously removes the air in the suction cup through the air passage, so that the through-feed controller can be sucked into a shelter. surface. A pipe run explorer as shown in claim 1 wherein the control unit includes a signal processor to receive the feed length and the set of angle values. A pipeline run explorer as shown in claim 10, wherein the signal processor comprises an 8051 microchip. A pipe run explorer as shown in claim 10, wherein the control unit comprises a display. The pipeline running explorer shown in claim 10, wherein the control unit comprises a storage device for storing the feed length and the set of angle values.