Underwater live plugging and unplugging sealing structure

Abstract

In an underwater live plugging and unplugging sealing structure of the present invention, the socket includes three layers of seals: the first layer of seal is a jack seal made of an expandable colloid, which can expand outward when the pin is inserted from the opening of the jack, and tightly holds the pin to isolate it from the outside. The second layer of seal is connected by a leather bag between the jack seal and the plug seal, and is filled with insulating oil inside; the water pressure outside the leather bag squeezes the jack seal, making it firmly seal the jack, and at the same time, the plug seal is also squeezed to be tightly sealed. The third layer of seal is the plug seal, and the spring connected to it can tightly fix it to the fastener of the plug seal when the pin is not inserted into the plug seal, ensuring isolation from the external seawater. The external structure of the present invention is simple, the price is suitable, the operation is convenient, and the sealing performance can adapt to the harsh underwater environment and meet the needs of underwater live plugging and unplugging operations.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an underwater live plugging and unplugging sealing structure. Background Art

[0002] Each underwater connector needs to use a strict and safe sealing structure to enable safe operation underwater. At present, there are almost no underwater connectors in China, especially in key fields such as offshore oil. The main reason is that the sealing structure for underwater plugging and unplugging is difficult to meet the requirements of underwater live plugging and unplugging. There are similar underwater connectors abroad with reliable sealing performance, but their structures are complex and the prices are high. Therefore, a simple, safe and reliable structure is needed to meet the needs of domestic equipment.

[0003] The problems to be solved are summarized as follows: 1. The outer shape structure cannot be too large or too heavy, because being too large or too heavy not only uses more materials and is expensive, but also is bulky and inconvenient to operate; 2. Sealing performance, for live plugging and unplugging, the sealing performance must be reliable, because it is used for underwater operation. If the sealing is not good, under the action of water pressure, it is necessary to prevent seawater from seeping in as the connector is inserted, which may cause electric leakage or short circuit, and this is an extremely serious matter. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The underwater live plugging and unplugging sealing structure provided by the present invention has a suitable outer shape structure, reasonable price, convenient operation and reliable sealing performance, and can solve the problems existing in the prior art.

[0005] To achieve the above object, the technical solution of the present invention is to provide an underwater live plugging and unplugging sealing structure, which includes a socket and a plug that are adaptively connected;

[0006] The plug includes a plug housing and pins located therein;

[0007] The socket includes a socket housing, and therein houses a jack structure, a jack seal, a bladder, a plug seal, a plug seal fastener, and a spring;

[0008] The jack structure includes a plurality of conductors, one end of each conductor passes through the rear part of the socket housing and is correspondingly connected to one end of the jack in the jack seal; the other end of the jack forms an opening for the pin to be inserted;

[0009] A bladder is arranged outside the jack seal, one end of which is connected to the rear part of the socket housing, and the other end is connected to the plug seal; the inside of the bladder is filled with insulating oil, and a spring is arranged outside; one end of the spring is connected to the plug seal;

[0010] The plug seal fastener surrounds the plug seal and is located between the plug seal and the inner wall of the socket housing.

[0011] Optionally, the jack seal is an expandable colloidal seal.

[0012] Optionally, the inside of the bellows between the jack seal and the plug seal is filled with insulating oil; the pressure of the insulating oil is balanced with the water pressure outside the bellows;

[0013] The water pressure outside the bellows squeezes the plug seal, and through the deformable bellows and the filled insulating oil, squeezes the jack seal.

[0014] Optionally, the plug seal has a conical structure.

[0015] Optionally, before the pin inserts into the opening of the jack, the pin inserts into the plug seal and dips into the insulating oil; when the pin inserts into the plug seal, it pushes the plug seal to compress the spring, creating space for the jack seal to expand outwards; when the pin is pulled out of the plug seal, the spring pushes outwards against the plug seal until the spring abuts against the plug seal fastener.

[0016] Optionally, when the pin inserts into the jack seal, the jack seal expands outwards, and based on the pressure of the insulating oil, the jack seal seals the pin.

[0017] Optionally, when the plug housing inserts into the socket housing, the guiding groove provided on the plug housing aligns with the locking bolt provided on the inner wall of the front part of the socket housing; the plug housing and the socket housing are locked by rotating the plug housing.

[0018] Optionally, the plug housing and the socket housing respectively have a cylindrical outer shape structure.

[0019] Optionally, each conductor of the jack structure is coated with an insulating outer layer at least in the part located between the rear part of the socket housing and the jack seal.

[0020] The underwater live plugging and unplugging sealing structure of the present invention has the following beneficial technical effects:

[0021] 1. Simple, light and small in volume, it can be widely used in underwater plugs and underwater equipment;

[0022] 2. Good sealing performance and high safety level;

[0023] 3. Solve the pattern of the underwater plug being monopolized by foreign products;

[0024] 4. Appropriate price. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0025] Figure 1 is a cross-sectional view of the jack structure;

[0026] Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of the socket;

[0027] Figure 3It is a cross-sectional view of the plug;

[0028] Figure 4 It is a cross-sectional view when the plug and socket are mated in the sealing structure of the present invention. Detailed implementation manners

[0029] Refer to Figures 1-4 As shown, the underwater live plugging and unplugging sealing structure of the present invention includes a matching socket ( Figure 2 ) and a plug ( Figure 3 ). The overall outer shape structure is generally cylindrical. Because it has to bear the action of water pressure during underwater operation, when the radial cross-section is circular, the maximum pressure can be borne by the minimum structure.

[0030] The plug includes a plug housing 7 and pins 6 located therein. The socket includes a socket housing 1, which mainly houses a jack structure, a jack seal 2, a bladder 3, a plug seal 4, a plug seal fastener 5, and a spring 10 inside.

[0031] The jack structure (see Figure 1 ) includes a plurality of conductors that pass through the rear part of the socket housing 1 at one end and are correspondingly connected to the jacks 12 in the jack seal 2. An insulating outer layer 11 is coated on each conductor, at least on the part between the rear part of the socket housing 1 and the jack seal 2.

[0032] A bladder 3 is arranged outside the jack seal 2. One end of it is connected to the rear part of the socket housing 1, and the other end is connected to the plug seal 4. The bladder 3 is filled with insulating oil 9 inside and a spring 10 is arranged outside. One end of this spring 10 is connected to the plug seal 4.

[0033] The plug seal fastener 5 surrounds the plug seal 4 and is located between the plug seal 4 and the front part of the main body of the socket housing 1. The main body of the socket housing 1 has an extension section before the plug seal 4, and a locking bolt 8 is arranged on the inner wall to fix the plug housing 7 inserted into the socket housing 1.

[0034] The socket includes a total of three layers of seals: The first layer of seal is the jack seal 2, which is made of a special material formed by high-temperature curing of an expandable colloid material. When the pin 6 is inserted from the jack opening, the colloid seal can expand outwards and can tightly hold the pin 6 to isolate it from the outside.

[0035] The second layer of seal is that the bladder 3 between the jack seal 2 and the plug seal 4 is filled with insulating oil 9; the bladder 3 is externally squeezed by the water pressure to squeeze the jack seal 2 to firmly seal the jack 12, and at the same time it also squeezes the plug seal 4, so that the plug seal 4 is tightly sealed under extrusion.

[0036] The third layer of seal is the plug seal 4. The spring 10 connected to the plug seal 4 can, when the pin 6 is not inserted, apply a force to firmly fix it to the fastener of the plug seal 4 to achieve sealing, ensuring isolation from the external seawater and forming the third seal. With the above three-seal structure, the present invention is sufficient to adapt to the harsh underwater environment and meet the requirements of live plugging and unplugging operations.

[0037] First, the bladder 3 is filled with insulating oil 9. When it is placed in water, the bladder 3 deforms under the action of external water pressure, making the pressure of the internal insulating oil 9 equal to and balanced with the external water pressure. When the pin 6 is inserted forward, first, the guide groove of the plug housing 7 needs to align with the locking bolt 8 of the socket to be inserted. Then, the pin 6 is inserted into the plug seal 4. The plug seal 4 compresses the spring 10 backward to create space for the jack seal 2 to expand outward. At the same time, the conical surface of the plug seal 4 is affected by the water pressure, making the seal firmly seal the pin 6. Then, the pin 6 enters the internally filled insulating oil 9, which can ensure the safety and reliability of power use. The pin 6 is further inserted into the jack seal 2, and the jack seal 2 expands outward. Due to the pressure of the outer layer by the insulating oil 9, the jack seal 2 tightly seals the pin 6. After that, by rotating the plug housing 7, the plug housing 7 can be locked with the socket housing 1 without worrying about detachment.

[0038] When the pin 6 is pulled out, the pressure of the insulating oil 9 acts on the outer layer of the jack seal 2 to keep it tightly sealed, ensuring that the insulating oil 9 cannot enter. Then, when the pin 6 is pulled out of the plug seal 4, the spring 10 will push the plug seal 4 outward until it reaches the plug seal fastener 5. Due to the conical surface structure of the plug seal 4, when the pin 6 is pulled out, the plug seal 4 will be tightly closed due to the action of the fastener, and at the same time, the pressure of the insulating oil 9 prevents external seawater from entering, thus playing a role of triple-seal protection.

[0039] Figure 1 The length of a + b + c is equal to the safety creepage distance (a and c correspond to the distances at both ends of the jack 12, and b corresponds to the distance between the two jacks 12). This length can ensure the safety of the energized jacks. Under the condition that the creepage distance remains unchanged, by increasing the lengths of a and c and reducing the length of b, the outer shape volume of the material of the jack seal 2 can be reduced, thereby reducing the volume of the entire socket.

[0040] Although the content of the present invention has been described in detail through the above preferred embodiments, it should be recognized that the above description should not be considered as a limitation of the present invention. After those skilled in the art have read the above content, various modifications and substitutions to the present invention will be obvious. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention should be defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. An underwater live plugging and unplugging sealing structure, characterized in that, It includes a socket and a plug with an adaptive connection; The plug includes a plug housing (7) and pins (6) located therein; The socket includes a socket housing (1) which houses a jack structure, a jack seal (2), a flexible bladder (3), a plug seal (4), a plug seal fastener (5), and a spring inside; The jack structure includes several conductors. One end of each conductor passes through the rear of the socket housing (1) and is correspondingly connected to one end of the jack (12) in the jack seal (2); the other end of the jack (12) forms an opening for the pin (6) to insert; A flexible bladder (3) is arranged outside the jack seal (2). One end of it is connected to the rear of the socket housing (1), and the other end is connected to the plug seal (4); the inside of the flexible bladder (3) is filled with insulating oil (9), and the pressure of the insulating oil (9) is balanced with the water pressure outside the flexible bladder (3); a spring is arranged outside the flexible bladder (3), and one end of the spring is connected to the plug seal (4); The plug seal fastener (5) surrounds the plug seal (4) and is located between the plug seal (4) and the inner wall of the socket housing (1); the jack seal (2) is an expandable colloidal seal; When the pin (6) is not inserted, the acting force of the spring makes the plug seal (4) tightly fixed to the plug seal fastener (5) for sealing to isolate seawater; the water pressure outside the flexible bladder (3) also squeezes the plug seal (4) to make the plug seal (4) sealed by extrusion; Before the pin (6) inserts into the opening of the jack (12), the pin (6) inserts into the plug seal (4) and immerses in the insulating oil (9); when the pin (6) inserts into the plug seal (4), it pushes the plug seal (4) to compress the spring, creating a space for the jack seal (2) to expand outwards; the plug seal (4) has a conical surface structure, and the conical surface is acted upon by the water pressure to make the plug seal (4) seal the pin (6); When the pin (6) inserts into the jack seal (2), the jack seal (2) expands outwards and tightly holds the pin (6) to insulate it from the outside, and based on the pressure of the insulating oil (9), the jack seal (2) seals the pin (6); When the pin (6) is pulled out, the water pressure outside the flexible bladder (3) also squeezes the jack seal (2) through the deformable flexible bladder (3) and the filled insulating oil (9) to seal the jack (12) so that the insulating oil (9) cannot enter; When the pin (6) pulls out of the plug seal (4), the spring pushes the plug seal (4) outwards until it abuts against the plug seal fastener (5), and the conical surface structure of the plug seal (4) is sealed through the plug seal fastener (5), and the pressure of the insulating oil (9) prevents external seawater from entering.

2. The underwater live plugging and unplugging sealing structure according to claim 1, characterized in that When the plug housing (7) inserts into the socket housing (1), the guiding groove provided on the plug housing (7) aligns with the locking bolt (8) provided on the inner wall of the front part of the socket housing (1); The plug housing (7) is locked with the socket housing (1) by rotating the plug housing (7).

3. The underwater live plugging and unplugging sealing structure according to claim 1, characterized in that the plug housing (7) and the socket housing (1) respectively have a cylindrical outer shape structure.

4. The underwater live plugging and unplugging sealing structure according to claim 1, characterized in that each conductor of the jack structure is coated with an insulating outer layer (11) at least in the part located between the rear part of the socket housing (1) and the jack seal (2).

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