JP2015500410A - Trench drilling apparatus and method - Google Patents

Abstract

The trench excavator comprises a main body, grounded conveyor means for attaching the main body and allowing the excavator to traverse along the ground, and at least one subsoil excavation means operable to excavate the trench. . The attitude of the bottom soil excavating means can be adjusted between a first use position for excavating the straight trench portion and a second use position for excavating the curved trench portion. The second use position is selected to minimize the undercut of the trench wall when excavating the curved trench portion. [Selection] Figure 4b

Description

  The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for excavating trenches in the ground, and in particular in a non-limiting sense, on the bottom of the sea, such as the bottom of a sea or a lake. In particular, the present invention relates to an apparatus and method for avoiding or reducing undercutting of a trench when the trench is bent.

  The formation of trenches in the ground is a well-known matter that is typically required to embed gas pipes, water supply / drain pipes, electric wires, communication cables, and the like. Trench drilling, which is typically required for the burial of pipes and cables in a submarine environment, requires equipment that is specifically configured to meet various conditions in the water, such as the properties of the bottom. “Underwater” means the bottom of the sea, the bottom of the lake or the bottom of the river unless there is a special reason.

  Various drilling devices for building trenches are known in the industry. The known excavation devices include bottom soil excavation means composed of plows, jet devices (for underwater) or chain cutters, all of which can form a desired trench. Typically, the bottom soil excavation means is attached to the vehicle body, and the vehicle body can be moved along the ground (eg, the sea floor) by its own power or by external means. For example, a trench excavation vehicle can be towed by a tractor vehicle or a ship on the surface of the water. In general, the body for trench excavation is preferably self-powered. Typically, the trench body is mounted on an endless track.

  This type of trench excavation propulsion device presents a problem when the path of the trench is bent, especially when it is bent with a small radius of curvature. That is, under such circumstances, when the bottom soil excavation means is constituted by a chain cutter or jet means, the trench wall may be undercut outside the curved portion of the trench. As a result, the trench wall becomes unstable. Furthermore, bottom soil excavating means such as chain cutters may be caught or clogged by the trench wall.

  The present invention seeks to alleviate or overcome such problems. In particular, the problem to be solved by the present invention is to propose a trench excavation apparatus and a trench excavation method capable of reducing, minimizing, or avoiding an undercut of a trench wall when the trench is bent. . In this case, it is desirable that the trench wall can be formed at a desired angle, and most preferably substantially perpendicular.

  In a first aspect, the invention comprises a main body, grounded conveyor means for attaching the main body and allowing the excavator to traverse along the ground, and at least one operable to excavate a trench. A bottom soil excavation means, the bottom soil excavation means being adjustable between a first usage posture for excavating the straight trench portion and a second usage posture for excavating the curved trench portion; An excavator is provided wherein the second use orientation is selected to minimize undercutting of the trench wall when excavating the curved trench portion.

  In a preferred embodiment, the bottom soil excavation means is a chain cutter or a jet cutter.

  In a preferred embodiment, the trench excavator further includes a control unit that makes it possible to adjust the attitude of the bottom soil excavating unit under control.

  In a preferred embodiment, the attitude of the bottom soil excavation means is automatically adjusted by the control means in accordance with a required radius of curvature of a trench to be formed.

  In a preferred embodiment, the soil excavation means is a chain cutter, and the chain cutter is movably mounted in an endless loop shape in an operating position, and the excavation teeth excavate the soil. A lower end portion that forms the trench and an upper end portion where the excavating tooth is separated from the bottom soil, and the lower end portion has an outer edge portion and an inner edge portion that respectively define opposing boundaries of the trench that is being formed. Then, the posture of the chain cutter is adjusted so as to displace at least a part of the outer edge portion in the bending direction of the trench.

  Preferably, in these embodiments, the posture of the chain cutter is adjusted by turning the chain cutter around a substantially horizontal axis. This horizontal axis is preferably at least substantially parallel to the direction of movement of the trench excavation axis at any point in time.

  In another preferred embodiment, the bottom soil excavation means is a jet cutter, and the jet cutter excavates the bottom soil by forming a trench along a predetermined direction of action to form a trench in an operating posture. A first portion that is in fluid communication with a second portion that is in fluid communication with a supplied drilling fluid such that the attitude of the jet cutter displaces the direction of action of the drilling fluid toward the direction of curvature of the trench. Adjusted.

  In such other preferred embodiments, the attitude of the jet cutter is adjusted by turning the jet cutter about a substantially horizontal axis. This horizontal axis is preferably at least substantially parallel to the direction of movement of the trench excavation axis at any point in time.

  In a preferred embodiment, the trench excavator further includes an actuator coupled to the excavation means, and the actuator can adjust the attitude of the subsoil excavation means around a substantially horizontal axis.

  Preferably, the posture adjustment of the bottom soil excavation means is performed as the posture adjustment of the main body portion, and the posture of the bottom soil excavation means is fixed with respect to the main body portion.

  Preferably, the posture of the main body can be adjusted by adjusting the distance between one or both of the grounding type conveyor means relative to the main body.

  In a second aspect, the present invention provides a trench excavator having bottom excavation means adjustable between first and second attitudes, and prior to excavating the curved portion of the trench, Adjusting the attitude of the bottom soil excavating means to minimize undercutting of the trench wall of the curved portion.

  In a preferred embodiment of the present invention in the second aspect, the attitude of the bottom soil excavating means is adjusted according to the curvature radius of the trench to be formed.

  Preferably, the attitude of the bottom soil excavating means is adjusted by turning the attitude of the bottom soil excavating means around a substantially horizontal axis. This horizontal axis is preferably at least substantially parallel to the direction of movement of the trench excavation axis at any point in time.

  Preferably, the trench excavator includes a main body portion to which the bottom soil excavating means is attached, and the posture adjustment of the bottom soil excavating means is performed by adjusting the posture of the main body portion.

  In a particularly preferred embodiment, the trench excavator is an excavator according to the first aspect of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
1 is a schematic view of a typical trench excavator. FIG. FIG. 2a is a diagrammatic plan view of a trench and the excavation part of a conventional trench excavator, showing the potential risk of undercutting in the trench wall. FIG. 2b is a plan view similar to FIG. 2a, but shows that undercutting of the trench wall is reduced by the apparatus and method according to the present invention. FIG. 3a is an explanatory view of the trench excavation means as seen from the front, and illustrates an undercut of the trench wall that can occur in the conventional trench excavation technique. FIG. 3b is an explanatory view similar to FIG. 3a, but illustrates that undercut is reduced if the attitude of the trench excavation means is adjusted according to the present invention. 1 is a plan view of an exemplary trench excavation means according to the present invention. 4b is a side view of the trench excavation means of FIG. 4a. FIG. 4b is a perspective view of the trench excavation means of FIGS. 4a and 4b. FIG.

  Referring to the drawings, the present invention focuses on the problem that undercuts are formed on the trench side walls in the bent portion of the trench when the trench is formed using a conventional excavator. In the conventional excavator, the undercut is formed on the outer trench wall, that is, on the wall of the trench bending portion having a larger radius of curvature than the trench wall facing inside.

  FIG. 1 shows an example of a conventional trench excavator 100, which is configured to excavate a trench 102 in the seabed 104 and simultaneously embed a pipeline 106 in the trench 102. For the purpose of avoiding misunderstanding, the excavator according to the present invention can be provided with both a trench forming means and a simultaneous pipeline burying means from the viewpoint of usefulness, but the pipeline burying means itself is the present invention. This is not an essential feature of the excavator. The conventional excavator 100 includes a main body 108 and a grounding type conveyor means 110 configured as an endless joint track. The conveyor means is attached to the main body 108 and moves the excavator 100 along the seabed 104 in the direction of arrow A. It is something to be made. A conventional excavator 100 shown in FIG. 1 includes primary and secondary subsoil excavating means 112 and 114. To avoid misunderstanding, the excavator according to the present invention need not include both primary and secondary subsoil excavation means, but such a configuration may be adopted in useful embodiments. In FIG. 1, the primary bottom soil excavation means 112 is a chain cutter, and the secondary bottom soil excavation means 114 is a jet cutter. The chain cutter 112 includes an endless belt 116 that carries a plurality of subsoil excavation teeth 118. The belt 116 is driven by appropriate driving means to move the excavating teeth 118 along the endless loop, and during the movement, the excavating teeth 118 are brought into contact with the bottom soil to push the bottom soil, thereby forming a trench. The chain cutter 112 is attached so as to be able to turn around the horizontal axis 120 so that the trench excavation depth can be adjusted. The horizontal axis 120 extends across the main body 108, i.e. perpendicular to the direction of travel A of the excavator 100. The jet cutter 114 includes a plurality of discharge ports or nozzles, and ejects a fluid (typically water) under a higher pressure than this to push away the bottom soil.

  FIGS. 2a and 3a and FIGS. 2b and 3b illustrate the formation of an undercut when using a conventional excavator and a technique for avoiding the formation of an undercut using the excavator according to the present invention, respectively. Is. In FIGS. 2a and 2b, the trenches are represented by reference numerals 202A and 202B, respectively. The center line of the trench is represented by reference numerals 240A and 240B. In the right part of FIGS. 2a and 2b, the trenches 202A and 202B are substantially straight, and the problem of undercutting the trench wall does not occur. That is, the direction of the trench wall is substantially vertical and substantially aligned with the side edges of the bottom soil excavating means 200A and 200B. If the soil excavation means is angled with respect to the vertical plane in a specific case (for example when excavating a V-shaped trench), the trench wall follows the orientation of the soil excavation means.

  The trenches 202A and 202B start to bend or curve in the left direction in the figure near the points 230A and 230B, respectively. In FIG. 2a, the positions of the bottom soil excavation means 200A and 200AA shown in the left part of the figure indicate the degree of undercut that can occur in the trench wall. In this case, part of the bottom soil excavation means 200A and 200AA extends beyond the illustrated boundary of the trench. As shown in FIG. 2a (and FIG. 3a), according to the conventional method, the bottom soil excavating means 200A and 200AA are maintained in the vertical direction. In contrast, in FIG. 2b which shows the attitude adjustment according to the invention of the bottom soil excavating means 200B and 200BB, as can be seen from the reference numerals 232B and 234B, undercutting is avoided and a substantially vertical trench wall is formed. The

  The same effect is shown in FIGS. 3a and 3b. In FIG. 3a, when the bottom soil excavation means 200A shown in the diagram is bent, the undercut 232A is formed because the bottom soil excavation means 200A is oriented substantially vertically. In contrast, in FIG. 3b, the bottom soil excavation means 200B according to the present invention does not form such an undercut as indicated by reference numeral 232B.

  FIGS. 4a to 4c show a typical arrangement of a trench excavator 400 according to the present invention, which includes a main body 408 (shown diagrammatically) on which a soil excavation means 412 is mounted. It has been. The body 408 is mounted on an appropriate type of grounded conveyor means (not shown), for example, on an endless track similar to that shown at 110 in FIG.

  The bottom soil excavating means shown in FIGS. 4a to 4c is a chain cutter 412 including a plurality of excavating teeth (not shown in particular), and these excavating teeth are endless in the same manner as described for the chain cutter 112 of FIG. Move along the route. The chain cutter 412 is attached to the main body 408 at the pivot 420. The inclination angle of the chain cutter 412 is controlled by an actuator 452, for example, a fluid actuator attached to the arm 450. With this control, the direction of the chain cutter 412 is adjusted around the pivot 420 to determine the depth of the trench to be excavated.

  As described above, in the present invention, by adjusting the attitude of the bottom soil excavating means, it is possible to minimize or prevent an undercut from being formed on the trench wall when the trench has a non-linear shape. The problem of forming an undercut in the trench wall is particularly noticeable when it is necessary to form a curved portion or a bent portion having a small curvature radius in the trench by a conventional excavator. In order to change the attitude of the bottom soil excavation means 412 in the broadest sense, the lower end portion 412a of the bottom soil excavation means or at least a part thereof is adjusted in the direction of curvature of the trench. That is, when the trench is bent leftward with respect to the excavating direction, the lower end 412a of the bottom soil excavating means 412 is also adjusted leftward, and when the trench is bent rightward, the lower end 412a of the bottom soil excavating means 412 is also adjusted rightward. To do.

  In a preferred embodiment, in order to adjust the attitude of the bottom soil excavation means, the bottom soil excavation means 412 is swung around a horizontal axis, for example, the axis 454 shown in FIGS. 4b and 4c, so that the lower end 412a of the bottom soil excavation means 412 is moved. Move away from the outer trench wall. Preferably, the axis 454 is substantially parallel to the propulsion direction of the excavator 400 and passes substantially through the bottom soil excavating means 412. The turning of the bottom soil excavation means 412 around the axis 454 is indicated by an arrow 454t. Note that the direction of the arrow in the figure has no special meaning. In the preferred operating direction of the bottom soil excavation means 412, the bottom soil excavation means 412 is turned counterclockwise when turning right, and the bottom soil excavation means 412 is turned clockwise when turning left. Let

  The excavator 400 according to the present invention is provided with actuator means for adjusting the attitude of the bottom soil excavating means 412 and this actuator means is represented by reference numeral 456 in FIG. 4a. Suitable actuator means include fluid actuators.

  The excavator 400 according to the present invention most preferably further includes a control unit that controls the attitude of the bottom excavation unit 412 by the actuator 456, for example, an electronic controller. Such control means may be dependent on manual input by the operator, but in a more preferred embodiment, the required attitude of the soil excavation means is at least partially automatically controlled by the control means. For example, the attitude of the bottom soil excavating means 412 can be determined by the control means based on the position information related to the steering system of the excavator 400 and / or the data on the desired curvature of the trench.

  As a further alternative configuration, the attitude of the main body 408 of the excavator 400 to which the bottom soil excavation means 412 is attached can be adjusted to adjust the attitude of the bottom soil excavation means 412. For this purpose, the height of the grounding type conveyor means (for example, endless joint track) with respect to the main body can be adjusted. In other words, the distance of each conveyor means, mainly in the vertical plane, is adjusted so that the conveyor means on one side of the body 408 is more distant from the body 408 than the conveyor means on the opposite side of the body. In this case, the main body 408 needs to be configured to correspond to the horizontal plane and the inclined posture with respect to the soil excavation means. Specifically, when excavating a trench that turns to the left, the right side of the body is relatively high and the left side is low, and vice versa.

  In the above, the details of the present invention have been described with respect to the embodiment in which a chain cutter is used as the bottom soil excavating means. However, the basic principle of the present invention can also be applied to the case of using a jet tool (jet cutter) as the bottom soil excavating means. It is. A jet cutter forms a trench by ejecting one or more jets of a high-pressure cutting fluid (usually water) to displace the bottom soil. The line of action of the cutting fluid jet (that is, the cutting fluid injection direction) is determined by the orientation of at least one nozzle that jets the cutting fluid. The nozzle is typically located at the end of the arm. The present invention assumes that the working line of the cutting fluid jet is determined by adjusting the posture of the arm, and the working line is adjusted so as to substantially coincide with the direction in which the trench is bent or curved. It is.

  Throughout the specification and claims, the terms “comprising” and “including”, as well as variations thereof, such as “including” and “including,” include, but are not limited to Is not intended to exclude other ingredients, additives, ingredients, numbers or processes. Throughout the specification and claims, the singular notation does not exclude the presence of a plurality, unless it is contrary to the nature. In addition, the use of indefinite articles is intended not only for the singular but also for the plural, as long as it is not contrary to the nature.

  Features, numbers, characteristics, chemical components, chemical groups, or chemical groups described in connection with a particular embodiment, embodiment, or example in the present invention described above are not limited to the other implementations of the present invention unless they are contrary to their nature. The present invention can be applied to an aspect, embodiment, or example. All features disclosed in the specification, claims, abstract and drawings, and / or all steps of the methods or processes disclosed therein, are optional unless they are mutually exclusive. Can be combined with each other. The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above. The invention may be extended to any novel combination of features disclosed in the specification, claims, abstract and drawings, and / or method or process steps disclosed therein. Needless to say.

  In connection with the present application, all documents and documents filed prior to or simultaneously with this specification and published for public viewing with this specification and the contents of such documents and documents are Note that is incorporated by reference in

Claims (16)

  An excavation apparatus for excavating a trench, comprising: a main body part; grounded conveyor means for attaching the main body part and allowing the excavation apparatus to traverse along the ground; and at least operable to excavate the trench One bottom soil excavation means, the bottom soil excavation means being adjustable between a first usage posture for excavating the straight trench portion and a second usage posture for excavating the curved trench portion. A drilling rig, wherein the second use orientation is selected to minimize undercutting of the trench wall when drilling the curved trench portion.   The excavation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the bottom soil excavation means is a chain cutter or a jet cutter.   The excavation apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a control unit that enables adjustment of a posture of the bottom soil excavation unit under control.   The excavation apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the attitude of the bottom soil excavation means is automatically adjusted by the control means in accordance with a required curvature radius of a trench to be formed.   The excavation apparatus according to claim 2, 3 or 4, wherein the bottom soil excavation means is a chain cutter, the chain cutter is movably attached in an endless loop shape in an operating posture, and the excavation Teeth have a lower end portion that excavates the bottom soil to form the trench, and an upper end portion that the excavation tooth separates from the bottom soil, and the lower end portion defines an opposing boundary of the trench that is being formed An excavation apparatus having an outer edge portion and an inner edge portion, wherein the posture of the chain cutter is adjusted to displace at least a part of the outer edge portion in a bending direction of the trench.   6. The excavator according to claim 5, wherein the posture of the chain cutter is adjusted by turning the chain cutter around a substantially horizontal axis.   5. The excavation apparatus according to claim 2, 3 or 4, wherein the bottom soil excavation means is a jet cutter, and the jet cutter injects a drilling fluid along a predetermined action direction in an operating posture. A first portion that forms a trench and a second portion that is in fluid communication with the supplied drilling fluid, wherein the attitude of the jet cutter determines the direction of action of the drilling fluid as the bending direction of the trench Drilling rig, adjusted to displace towards   8. The excavator according to claim 7, wherein the attitude of the jet cutter is adjusted by turning the jet cutter around a substantially horizontal axis.   9. The excavation apparatus according to claim 6 or 8, further comprising an actuator coupled to the excavation means, wherein the actuator is capable of adjusting the attitude of the bottom soil excavation means around a substantially horizontal axis. .   The excavation apparatus according to claim 5 or 7, wherein the attitude adjustment of the bottom soil excavation means is performed as the attitude adjustment of the main body portion, and the attitude of the bottom soil excavation means is fixed with respect to the main body portion.   11. The excavator according to claim 10, wherein the posture of the main body is adjustable by adjusting a distance between one or both of the grounded conveyor means with respect to the main body.   An excavation method for excavating a trench, the method comprising providing a trench excavator having bottom soil excavation means adjustable between a first and a second attitude, and prior to excavating the curved portion of the trench Adjusting the attitude of the bottom soil excavation means to minimize undercut of the trench wall of the curved portion.   The excavation method according to claim 12, wherein an attitude of the bottom soil excavation means is adjusted according to a curvature radius of the trench to be formed.   The excavation method according to claim 12 or 13, wherein an attitude of the bottom soil excavation means is adjusted by turning the bottom soil excavation means around a substantially horizontal axis.   The excavation method according to claim 12 or 13, wherein the trench excavator includes a main body portion to which the bottom soil excavation means is attached, and the posture adjustment of the bottom soil excavation means is performed by adjusting the posture of the main body portion. .   The excavation method according to any one of claims 12 to 15, wherein the trench excavation device is the excavation device according to any one of claims 1 to 11.