Hydrojet cable maintenance robot

Abstract

The application discloses a jet flow type submarine cable maintenance robot, which comprises a shell, a float and a pressure pump arranged in the shell, the output ends of the pressure pump are connected with the input ends of propelling nozzles and dredging nozzles respectively, and the input end of the pressure pump is connected with the output end of a water suction pipe, wherein the output ends of the propelling nozzles are uniformly distributed on the upper and lower end faces of the shell and the outer circumferential side of the shell, the output end of at least one dredging nozzle is fixed on the outer side face of the shell, the input end of the water suction pipe is fixed outward on the upper end face of the shell, and the output ends of the propelling nozzles and the dredging nozzles are respectively provided with independent pressure regulating valves. The jet flow type submarine cable maintenance robot has the beneficial effects that the pressure pump and the corresponding pressure regulating valves are used for respectively driving the propelling nozzles and the dredging nozzles to spray water flow with controllable flow, the robot can be controlled to carry out vector propulsion and clean the cover on the surface of the submarine cable, irreversible damage to marine organisms and seabed geological environment can be avoided, and the submarine cable can not be damaged.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of submarine cable maintenance equipment, in particular to a jet flow type submarine cable maintenance robot. BACKGROUND

[0002] The power of various offshore renewable energy power generation platforms needs to be transmitted to the shore through submarine cables. In some sea areas with coral geology, it is not possible to bury submarine cables due to ecological and environmental reasons, and exposed submarine cables are easily affected by marine organisms, environmental corrosion and other complex factors. At the same time, exposed submarine cables are affected by submarine currents all year round, and the outer sheath of the submarine cable body is easily rubbed against the seabed, causing the outer sheath to wear out or even the submarine cable sheath structure to be damaged. Regular inspection and maintenance of submarine cables by underwater robots has become an important work in the use of exposed submarine cables.

[0003] Currently, submarine cable maintenance robots face two problems in work, first, the robot itself needs to be stabilized in the possible high-speed current, and second, the originally exposed submarine cable is covered by marine organisms or other foreign matter due to various reasons, causing the robot to be unable to directly capture images or collect data of the submarine cable during work.

[0004] To solve the above first problem, the propulsion system of the underwater robot usually adopts a vector propulsion arrangement of a propeller propulsion system, such as the cable remote control underwater robot for submarine cable inspection system and operation method disclosed in CN109616956A. This system is convenient to operate and has strong maneuverability, but the propeller is a rotating machine, which is easy to entangle with marine organisms and can cause irreversible damage to the marine environment.

[0005] To solve the above second problem, the underwater robot usually uses a flexible gripper to grab the submarine cable to prevent the submarine cable from being further covered by marine organisms, and finally uses a camera to check the status of the submarine cable, such as the submarine multi-task simulation system, device and method disclosed in CN114927016A, and the ratchet self-locking submarine cable lifting mechanical gripper disclosed in CN112045706A. However, the traction force generated by the flexible gripper will directly act on a certain section of the submarine cable, and when the state of the submarine cable is unknown, this operation may exacerbate the damage to the submarine cable. SUMMARY

[0006] To solve the above problems, the present application proposes a jet flow type submarine cable maintenance robot, which aims to solve the problems of the propeller propulsion system being easy to entangle with marine organisms and the flexible gripper being easy to exacerbate the damage to the submarine cable.

[0007] To solve the above technical problems, the technical solutions of the present application are as follows:

[0008] A kind of jet submarine cable maintenance robot, including shell, the inside of the shell is provided with float and pressure pump, the output of the pressure pump is connected with the input of propelling nozzle and dredging nozzle respectively, the input of the pressure pump is connected with the output of suction pipe, wherein, the output of multiple propelling nozzle is evenly distributed in the upper and lower end surface of the shell and the outer circumferential side of the shell, the output of at least one dredging nozzle is fixed on the outer side of the shell, the input of the suction pipe is fixed towards the upper end surface of the shell, and the output of the propelling nozzle and the dredging nozzle is equipped with independent pressure regulating valve.

[0009] In some embodiments, the output of the pressure pump is provided with a pressure regulating valve.

[0010] In some embodiments, the input of the suction pipe is provided with a filter screen.

[0011] In some embodiments, the output of the dredging nozzle is installed with a diffusion-proof cover.

[0012] In some embodiments, the output end of the dredging nozzle is vertically bent downwards to form a bending portion.

[0013] In some embodiments, the diffusion-proof cover is installed on the circumferential side of the bending portion.

[0014] In some embodiments, the lower end surface of the shell is provided with a rubber cushion.

[0015] In some embodiments, the upper end surface edge of the shell is provided with an illumination unit, and the outer side of the shell is provided with a camera unit.

[0016] In some embodiments, the outer side of the shell is provided with a detection unit.

[0017] In some embodiments, the power input and control end of the pressure pump are connected with the power output and control end of the sea surface ship through cable joint.

[0018] The beneficial effects of the present application are: by setting float and pressure pump inside the shell, the float is used to provide certain buoyancy for the shell, and the pressure pump and the corresponding pressure regulating valve are used to drive the propelling nozzle and the dredging nozzle to spray controllable flow of water flow, which can control the robot to carry out vector propulsion and clean the cover on the surface of submarine cable, so that in the process of robot vector propulsion and jet cleaning, irreversible damage to marine life and seabed geological environment will not be caused, and submarine cable will not be damaged. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0019] Figure 1 The structural schematic diagram of the jet submarine cable maintenance robot disclosed in the embodiments of the present application is shown in the figure.

[0020] Wherein: 1 - shell, 2 - pressure pump, 3 - water suction pipe, 4 - pressure regulating valve, 5 - propulsion nozzle, 6 - dredging nozzle, 7 - anti-diffusion cover, 8 - rubber cushion, 9 - lighting unit, 10 - camera unit, 11 - detection unit, 12 - float, 13 - cable joint. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0021] In order to make the purpose, technical scheme and advantages of the present application more clear and explicit, the content of the present application will be further described in detail below in combination with the drawings and specific embodiments. It can be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain the present application, but not to limit the present application. In addition, it should be noted that only the parts related to the present application are shown in the drawings for the convenience of description, but not all the contents.

[0022] The present embodiment proposes a jet flow type submarine cable maintenance robot, by setting a float 12 and a pressure pump 2 inside the shell 1, the float 12 is used to provide a certain buoyancy for the shell 1, and the pressure pump 2 and the corresponding pressure regulating valve 4 are used to drive the propulsion nozzles 5 and the dredging nozzles 6 to spray controllable flow of water flow respectively, which can control the robot to carry out vector propulsion and clean the cover on the surface of the submarine cable, so that in the process of vector propulsion and jet flow cleaning of the robot, irreversible damage to marine life and seabed geological environment will not be caused, and the submarine cable will not be damaged.

[0023] As shown in Figure 1 The jet flow type submarine cable maintenance robot includes a shell 1, the inside of the shell 1 is provided with a float 12 and a pressure pump 2, the output end of the pressure pump 2 is connected with the input end of the propulsion nozzles 5 and the dredging nozzles 6 respectively, and the input end of the pressure pump 2 is connected with the output end of the water suction pipe 3, wherein the output ends of the plurality of propulsion nozzles 5 are uniformly distributed on the upper and lower end faces of the shell 1 and the outer peripheral side of the shell 1, the output end of at least one dredging nozzle 6 is fixed on the outer side face of the shell 1, the input end of the water suction pipe 3 is fixed outward on the upper end face of the shell 1, and the output ends of the propulsion nozzles 5 and the dredging nozzles 6 are respectively provided with independent pressure regulating valves 4.

[0024] In the present embodiment, since the propulsion nozzles 5 are arranged on the upper and lower end faces of the shell 1 and the outer peripheral side of the shell 1, the flow of each propulsion nozzle 5 can be controlled by the corresponding pressure regulating valve 4, the pressure of each nozzle jet flow can be controlled to adjust the direction of the resultant force, and finally the vector propulsion is realized, which is very convenient to operate. In addition, the number of the dredging nozzles 6 is not limited, and they should be fixed as much as possible on the lower part of the side wall of the shell 1, and the corresponding pressure regulating valves 4 of the dredging nozzles 6 can be adjusted according to the actual environment, so as to control the high pressure jet flow pressure of the dredging nozzles 6, so as to avoid irreversible damage to marine life and seabed geological environment in the process of cleaning the submarine cable.

[0025] In an alternative embodiment, the output end of the pressure pump 2 is also provided with a pressure regulating valve 4, which is a total valve, and its on-off state directly affects the output of the other pressure regulating valves 4.

[0026] The input end of the water suction pipe 3 is located above the housing 1, so that the seabed silt can be avoided during the operation of the pressure pump 2. In a preferred embodiment, the input end of the water suction pipe 3 is provided with a filter screen, which further reduces the probability of the water suction pipe 3 sucking in the seabed silt, and avoids damaging the pressure pump 2.

[0027] In an alternative embodiment, the output end of the dredging nozzle 6 is provided with a diffusion-proof cover 7. The diffusion-proof cover 7 is preferably made of high-strength corrosion-resistant rubber, and is preferably in the shape of a hemispherical shell, which can prevent the seabed sediment from splashing and interfering with the view of the camera or the detection operation. In some examples, the diffusion-proof cover 7 is a detachable component, and the appropriate size and fastener can be selected according to the actual situation of the dredging nozzle 6. The fastener can be a clamp.

[0028] In yet another alternative embodiment, the output end of the dredging nozzle 6 is bent vertically downward to form a bent portion, so that the jet flow is sprayed vertically downward as much as possible. The diffusion-proof cover 7 is installed on the circumferential side of the bent portion. Obviously, the end face of the diffusion-proof cover 7 should be horizontally arranged to match the bending angle of the bent portion, so as to obtain the best diffusion-proof effect.

[0029] More preferably, the lower end face of the housing 1 is provided with a rubber cushion 8. In one example, the rubber cushion 8 is in the shape of a sheet, which is fixed to the four corners of the lower end face of the housing 1, and is used when the robot lands on the seabed and performs fixed-point operation. The rubber cushion 8 can play a buffering role during landing, so as to avoid damaging the seabed geology and ecological environment.

[0030] In the present embodiment, the upper end face of the housing 1 is provided with a lighting unit 9, and the outer side face of the housing 1 is provided with a camera unit 10. The outer side face of the housing 1 is also provided with a detection unit 11.

[0031] The power input end and control end of the pressure pump 2 are connected to the power output end and control end of the ship on the sea surface through a cable joint 13. In the present embodiment, the power input end and control end of the lighting unit 9, the camera unit 10 and the detection unit 11 can also be connected to the power output end and control end of the ship on the sea surface through the cable joint 13. Therefore, all the controlled parts of the robot can be connected to the ship on the sea surface through the cable, and the power supply and bidirectional signal transmission can be provided by the ship, so as to reduce the overall weight of the robot and improve the stability.

[0032] The above examples are only for illustrating the technical concept and characteristics of the present application, and the purpose is to enable those skilled in the art to understand the present application and to implement it, and cannot limit the protection scope of the present application. Any equivalent changes or modifications made according to the essence of the present application should be covered within the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A jet-type submarine cable maintenance robot, comprising a shell, characterized in that, The shell contains a float and a pressure pump. The output of the pressure pump is connected to the input of both the propulsion nozzle and the dredging nozzle. The input of the pressure pump is connected to the output of the suction pipe. The outputs of multiple propulsion nozzles are distributed on the upper and lower surfaces and the outer periphery of the shell. At least one output of the dredging nozzle is fixed to the outer surface of the shell. The input of the suction pipe is fixed outwards to the upper surface of the shell. Both the propulsion nozzle and the dredging nozzle have independent pressure regulating valves at their outputs. The pressure pump has a pressure regulating valve at its output. The suction pipe has a filter screen at its input. The dredging nozzle has an anti-diffusion cover at its output. The output end of the dredging nozzle is bent vertically downwards to form a bend. The anti-diffusion cover is installed around the bend. A rubber pad is provided on the lower surface of the shell.

2. The jet-type submarine cable maintenance robot as described in claim 1, characterized in that, An illumination unit is provided on the upper edge of the outer casing, and a camera unit is provided on the outer side of the outer casing.

3. The jet-type submarine cable maintenance robot as described in claim 1, characterized in that, A detection unit is provided on the outer surface of the outer casing.

4. The jet-type submarine cable maintenance robot as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The power input and control terminals of the pressure pump are connected to the power output and control terminals of the ship at sea via cable connectors.

Images