Spiral driving pipeline inspection robot

Abstract

The invention provides a spiral driving pipeline inspection robot, which belongs to the technical field of robots and comprises a main support frame, two driving joints, an identification module, a storage box and two flexible universal joints, the two driving joints are installed at the two ends of the main supporting frame and used for providing driving force and supporting. The recognition module is fixed to the front end of the main supporting frame and used for recognizing the environment in the pipeline. The storage box is located between the two driving joints, and a memory and a main control board are arranged in the storage box; the two flexible universal joints are connected with the storage box and the two driving joints correspondingly and used for transmitting torque and preventing the robot from rotating. According to the pipeline robot, advancing is achieved through spiral driving, advancing and retreating of the robot are achieved only through two motors, and the number of the motors of the pipeline robot is greatly reduced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of robots, and in particular to a spiral-driven pipeline inspection robot. Background Art

[0002] With the sharp increase in the demand for safety monitoring of small-diameter pipelines in fields such as fine chemical industry, pharmaceuticals, and nuclear power, traditional manual inspection and fixed equipment are difficult to meet the requirements due to low efficiency, high risk, and easy damage to pipeline integrity. Existing small-diameter inspection robots generally have poor pipe diameter adaptability (the wheel set is prone to detachment or jamming) and weak obstacle-crossing ability (unable to pass through a 5-mm obstacle or a right-angle bend). In view of the above pain points, the present invention fills the technical gap in automated inspection of this special pipe diameter range by innovatively designing a flexible drive system with dynamically adjustable wheelbase to achieve stable movement of the robot within the pipe diameter, defect identification, and adaptability to complex working conditions. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The present invention provides a spiral-driven pipeline inspection robot to solve the defects of pipeline inspection robots in the prior art, achieve stable movement and defect identification of special small-diameter pipelines, adapt to complex working conditions, and complete automated inspection work.

[0004] The present invention provides a spiral-driven pipeline inspection robot, including: a main support frame, two drive sections, an identification module, a storage box, and two flexible universal joints; the two drive sections are installed at both ends of the main support frame for providing driving force and support; the identification module is fixed at the front end of the main support frame for identifying the internal environment of the pipeline; the storage box is located between the two drive sections and internally provided with a memory and a main control board; the two flexible universal joints are respectively connected to the storage box and the two drive sections for transmitting torque and preventing the robot from rotating.

[0005] According to the spiral-driven pipeline inspection robot provided by the present invention, the drive section includes a drive module and a guiding module; the drive module provides power for the robot through spiral movement; the guiding module provides a guiding function and an anti-torsion function when the drive module drives the robot to move; the drive module and the guiding module are fixed on the same axis.

[0006] A spiral-driven pipeline inspection robot provided by the present invention, wherein the driving module includes a hollow torque motor, a driving roller, a driving parallel rod, a pin shaft, a driving support seat, a driving driven rod, a driving synchronizing ring and a first tension spring; the driving roller is installed on the driving support seat at an angle with the axis direction of the robot, and the two driving parallel rods, the driving support seat and the driving support frame together form a parallelogram; the four driving driven rods are evenly distributed around the main support frame, one end of the driving driven rod is hinged to a rotating shaft of the parallelogram, and the other end of the driving driven rod is hinged to the driving synchronizing ring, and with the driving support seat as the frame, a crank-slider mechanism is formed together; wherein one end of the first tension spring is connected to the driving support seat, and the other end is connected to the driving synchronizing ring.

[0007] A spiral-driven pipeline inspection robot provided by the present invention, wherein the guiding module includes: a guiding roller, a guiding main rod, a guiding driven rod, a guiding synchronizing ring, a second tension spring, a guiding support ring and a first fixing bolt. Among them, the guiding synchronizing ring, one guiding main rod, one guiding driven rod and the guiding support ring form a crank-slider mechanism; the four crank-slider mechanisms are evenly distributed around the main support frame, and the four guiding rollers are respectively installed on the four guiding main rods. One end of the second tension spring is connected to the guiding synchronizing ring, and the other end is connected to the main support frame. The main support frame is fixed to the stator part of the hollow torque motor through the first fixing bolt.

[0008] A spiral-driven pipeline inspection robot provided by the present invention, wherein the driving support seat is fixed to the rotor of the hollow torque motor, and the driving roller forms an angle with the pipeline axis. When the motor rotates, an axial driving force and a reverse torque are generated.

[0009] A spiral-driven pipeline inspection robot provided by the present invention, wherein the driving modules of the two driving sections have the same rotational speed and opposite rotational directions, and the generated torques cancel each other out.

[0010] A spiral-driven pipeline inspection robot provided by the present invention, wherein the flexible universal joint includes a second fixing bolt, a first rotating member, a second rotating member, a third fixing bolt, a first connecting head, a second connecting head, a compression spring and a retaining ring bearing; the first rotating member and the second rotating member are fitted together to form a joint head of the flexible universal joint, the first connecting head and the second connecting head form a connecting rod of the flexible universal joint, the cylindrical end of the main support frame or the cylindrical end of the storage box is inserted between the first rotating member and the second rotating member, and the three are fixed together through the second fixing bolt. The two compression springs are pressed between the two joint heads of the flexible universal joint, and the two joint heads are orthogonally connected to the connecting rod through the third fixing bolt, and a retaining ring bearing is installed at the connection.

[0011] According to a spiral-driven pipeline inspection robot provided by the present invention, the main support frame is divided into two parts along the axial direction, the middle contact part is serrated, one end of the two parts is fixed by a fixing ring through a fourth fixing bolt, and the other end is connected and fixed to the flexible universal joint.

[0012] According to a spiral-driven pipeline inspection robot provided by the present invention, the recognition module can recognize and record the situation inside the pipeline and save the recorded video into the memory.

[0013] According to a spiral-driven pipeline inspection robot provided by the present invention, the recognition module includes a camera and a sensor, which are used to collect images or environmental data inside the pipeline.

[0014] The spiral-driven pipeline inspection robot provided by the present invention advances by using spiral drive, and only two motors are used to realize the forward and backward movement of the robot, greatly reducing the number of motors of the pipeline robot. The drive module adopts a parallelogram four-bar mechanism, which ensures that the drive roller is always in contact with the pipe wall, enabling the pipeline inspection robot to adapt to the change of pipe diameter while maintaining sufficient friction. It has a high degree of light weight, and the overall weight does not exceed 1 kg, and it can adapt to many working scenarios. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application or the prior art, the following will briefly introduce the drawings required for use in the description of the embodiments or the prior art. Obviously, the following drawings are only some embodiments of the present application. For those skilled in the art, without creative efforts, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings.

[0016] Figure 1 is an isometric view of the spiral-driven pipeline inspection robot provided by the present invention; Figure 2 is an isometric view of the drive section provided by the present invention; Figure 3 is a top view of the drive section provided by the present invention; Figure 4 is an isometric view of the flexible universal joint provided by the present invention; Figure 5 is a top view of the flexible universal joint provided by the present invention; Figure 6 is a structural schematic diagram of the main support frame provided by the present invention.

[0017] Reference numerals: 100, main support frame; 110, fixing ring; 120, fourth fixing bolt; 200, drive section; 210. Driving module; 211. Hollow torque motor; 212. Driving roller; 213. Driving parallel rod; 214. Pin shaft; 215. Driving support seat; 216. Driving driven rod; 217. Driving synchronizing ring; 218. First tension spring; 220. Guiding module; 221. Guiding roller; 222. Guiding main rod; 223. Guiding driven rod; 224. Guiding synchronizing ring; 225. Second tension spring; 226. Guiding support ring; 227. First fixing bolt; 300. Identification module; 400. Storage box; 500. Flexible universal joint; 510. Second fixing bolt; 520. First rotating part; 530. Second rotating part; 540. Third fixing bolt; 550. First connecting head; 560. Second connecting head; 570. Compression spring; 580. Flange bearing. Detailed implementation manners

[0018] To make the objectives, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention clearer, the technical solutions in the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in the present invention. Apparently, the described embodiments are some but not all of the embodiments of the present invention. All other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments in the present invention without any creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0019] In the description of the present invention, it should be understood that the terms "first" and "second" are only used for descriptive purposes and cannot be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the indicated technical features. Thus, the features defined with "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of the described features. In the description of the present invention, "a plurality of" means two or more unless otherwise specifically defined.

[0020] In the description of the present invention, it should be understood that the orientation or positional relationships indicated by orientation words such as "front, back, up, down, left, right", "lateral, vertical, perpendicular, horizontal" and "top, bottom" are usually based on Figure 1 the orientation and position when the spiral drive pipeline inspection robot shown is placed normally, and are only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description. Without contrary explanations, these orientation words do not indicate and imply that the indicated device or element must have a specific orientation or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and thus cannot be construed as limiting the protection scope of the present invention; the orientation words "inside and outside" refer to the inside and outside relative to the contour of each component itself.

[0021] It should be noted that, without conflict, the embodiments in the present invention and the features in the embodiments can be combined with each other.

[0022] The present invention provides a spiral-driven pipeline inspection robot. Refer to Figure 1 , which includes: a main support frame 100, two driving sections 200, an identification module 300, a storage box 400, and two flexible universal joints 500; the two driving sections 200 are installed at both ends of the main support frame 100, and are used to provide the power for the forward and backward movement of the pipeline inspection robot and support the entire pipeline inspection robot; the identification module 300 is fixed at the front end of the main support frame 100 and is used to identify the internal environment of the pipeline; the storage box 400 is located between the two driving sections 200, and a memory and a main control board are provided inside; the two flexible universal joints 500 are respectively connected to the storage box 400 and the two driving sections 200, and are used to act as the connection between the two driving sections 200 and the storage box 400, provide support for the storage box 400, and transmit torque and prevent the robot from rotating.

[0023] In one embodiment, the driving section 200 includes a driving module 210 and a guiding module 220; the driving module 210 provides power for the robot through spiral motion; the guiding module 220 provides a guiding function and an anti-torsion function when the driving module 210 drives the robot to move; the driving module 210 and the guiding module 220 are fixed on the same axis and can adapt to the change of the pipeline diameter from 80 mm to 100 mm.

[0024] In one embodiment, refer to Figures 2-3 , the driving module 210 includes a hollow torque motor 211, a driving roller 212, driving parallel bars 213, a pin shaft 214, a driving support seat 215, a driving driven bar 216, a driving synchronous ring 217, and a first tension spring 218; the driving roller 212 is installed on the driving support seat 215 at an angle with the axis direction of the robot, and the two driving parallel bars 213, the driving support seat 215, and the driving support frame together form a parallelogram; the four driving driven bars 216 are evenly distributed around the main support frame 100, one end of the driving driven bar 216 is hinged to a rotating shaft of the parallelogram, and the other end of the driving driven bar 216 is hinged to the driving synchronous ring 217, and with the driving support seat 215 as the frame, a crank-slider mechanism is formed together; wherein one end of the first tension spring 218 is connected to the driving support seat 215, and the other end is connected to the driving synchronous ring 217.

[0025] Eight driving parallel rods 213 and four driving support frames with the driving support base 215 as the frame form four four-bar parallelogram mechanisms evenly arranged around the main support frame 100. One end of the four driving driven rods 216 is connected in series with the above four four-bar parallelogram mechanisms, and the other end is connected to the driving synchronizing ring 217 to ensure the synchronous movement of the four four-bar parallelogram mechanisms. One end of the first tension spring 218 is connected to the driving support base 215, and the other end is connected to the driving synchronizing ring 217 to provide elastic tension for the above-mentioned parallelograms and ensure that the driving rollers 212 fixed on the driving support frames are always in contact with the pipe wall. The driving support base 215 is connected to the rotor of the hollow torque motor 211 by bolts. Since there is an angular difference between the driving rollers 212 and the pipe axis direction, when the motor rotor rotates, the driving rollers 212 generate a driving force in the pipe axis direction and a torque around the pipe axis direction due to the friction with the pipe wall. However, since the pipe inspection robot has two driving sections 200, that is, two driving modules 210, their rotation speeds are the same but the directions are opposite, and the generated torques are basically cancelled out. If there is any torque that is not completely cancelled out due to other reasons, it will be cancelled out by the guiding module 220.

[0026] In one embodiment, referring to Figures 2-3 , the guiding module 220 includes: guiding rollers 221, guiding main rods 222, guiding driven rods 223, guiding synchronizing ring 224, second tension spring 225, guiding support ring 226 and first fixing bolts 227. Among them, the guiding synchronizing ring 224, one guiding main rod 222, one guiding driven rod 223 and the guiding support ring 226 form a crank-slider mechanism; the four crank-slider mechanisms are evenly distributed around the main support frame 100. The four guiding rollers 221 are respectively installed on the four guiding main rods 222. One end of the second tension spring 225 is connected to the guiding synchronizing ring 224, and the other end is connected to the main support frame 100. The main support frame 100 is fixed to the stator part of the hollow torque motor 211 through the first fixing bolts 227.

[0027] The four guiding main rods 222, four guiding driven rods 223 and the guiding synchronizing ring 224 form four evenly distributed and synchronously moving crank-slider mechanisms around the main support frame 100 with the guiding support ring 226 as the frame. One end of the second tension spring 225 is fixed to the main support frame 100, and the other end is fixed to the guiding synchronizing ring 224 to provide elastic tension for the above-mentioned crank-slider mechanism and ensure that the driving rollers 212 installed on the guiding main rods 222 are always in contact with the pipe wall. The torque generated by the driving rollers 212 is basically cancelled out by the driving section 200. If there is any torque that is not completely cancelled out due to other reasons, it will be cancelled out by the guiding rollers 221 of the guiding module 220.

[0028] In one embodiment, the driving support base 215 is fixed to the rotor of the hollow torque motor 211, the driving roller 212 forms an angle with the pipeline axis, and axial driving force and reverse torque are generated when the motor rotates. The driving modules 210 of the two driving joints 200 have the same rotational speed and opposite rotational directions, and the generated torques cancel each other out.

[0029] In one embodiment, referring to Figures 4-5 , the flexible universal joint 500 includes a second fixing bolt 510, a first rotating member 520, a second rotating member 530, a third fixing bolt 540, a first connecting head 550, a second connecting head 560, a compression spring 570 and a flanged bearing 580; the first rotating member 520 and the second rotating member 530 are fitted together to form a joint head of the flexible universal joint 500, the first connecting head 550 and the second connecting head 560 form a connecting rod of the flexible universal joint 500, the cylindrical end of the main support frame 100 or the cylindrical end of the storage box 400 is inserted between the first rotating member 520 and the second rotating member 530, and the three are fixed together by the second fixing bolt 510. Two compression springs 570 are pressed between the two joint heads of the flexible universal joint 500, and the two joint heads are orthogonally connected to the connecting rod by the third fixing bolt 540, and a flanged bearing 580 is installed at the connection to reduce the friction at the connection.

[0030] The first rotating member 520 and the second rotating member 530 are fitted together to form a joint head, and the joint head is fixed to the main support frame 100 by the second fixing bolt 510 and fixes the two parts of the main support frame 100 together. The first connecting head 550 and the second connecting head 560 form a connecting rod, and the two joint heads are connected to the connecting rod by the third fixing bolt 540, and a flanged bearing 580 is installed at the connection to reduce the friction at the connection. A compression spring 570 is installed inside the entire flexible universal joint 500, and both ends of the compression spring 570 are pressed against the two joint heads respectively to limit their positions, playing a role of providing flexible support for the entire flexible universal joint 500.

[0031] In one embodiment, referring to Figure 6 , the main support frame 100 is divided into two parts along the axial direction, the middle contact part is serrated, one end of the two parts is fixed by the fixing ring 110 through the fourth fixing bolt 120, and the other end is connected and fixed to the flexible universal joint 500.

[0032] The middle contact part is serrated to prevent the two parts of the main support frame 100 from sliding relative to each other.

[0033] In one embodiment, the identification module 300 can identify and record the situation inside the pipeline and save the recorded video to the memory. The identification module 300 includes a camera and a sensor for collecting images or environmental data inside the pipeline.

[0034] The recognition module 300 is installed on the main support frame 100, and the memory is installed in the storage box 400. Both ends of the storage box 400 are respectively connected to the joint heads of two flexible universal joints 500, which also plays a role in transmitting the front and rear torques to ensure that the pipeline inspection robot does not rotate by itself.

[0035] Different from general pipeline robots, it uses spiral drive to move forward, and only uses two motors to realize the forward and backward movement of the robot, greatly reducing the number of motors of the pipeline robot. The drive module adopts a parallelogram four-bar mechanism, which ensures that the drive roller is always in contact with the pipe wall, enabling the pipeline inspection robot to adapt to the change of pipe diameter while maintaining sufficient friction. It has a high degree of lightweight, and the overall weight does not exceed 1 kg, which can adapt to many working scenarios. The combination of the flexible universal joint and the compression spring enables the pipeline inspection robot to transmit the front and rear torques while having the ability to bend. The drive mode is friction speed control. Thanks to the development of the servo motor closed-loop control technology at the present stage, it can achieve relatively high-precision speed control.

[0036] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, rather than to limit them; although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that they can still modify the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments, or perform equivalent replacements for some of the technical features; and these modifications or replacements do not make the essence of the corresponding technical solutions deviate from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

1. A spiral-driven pipeline inspection robot, characterized in that, Comprising: A main support frame, two drive sections, an identification module, a storage box, and two flexible universal joints; The drive section is installed at one end of the main support frame for providing driving force and support; The identification module is fixed to the front end of the main support frame for identifying the environment inside the pipeline; The storage box is located between the two drive sections, and a memory and a main control board are provided inside; The two flexible universal joints respectively connect the storage box and the two drive sections for transmitting torque and preventing the robot from rotating self; 2. The spiral-driven pipeline inspection robot according to claim 1, characterized in that The drive section includes a drive module and a guiding module; The drive module provides power for the robot through spiral motion; The guiding module provides a guiding function and an anti-torsion function when the drive module drives the robot to move; The drive module and the guiding module are fixed on the same axis; 3. The screw-driven pipeline inspection robot according to claim 2, wherein The drive module includes a hollow torque motor, a drive roller, drive parallel rods, a pin shaft, a drive support seat, a drive driven rod, a drive synchronizing ring, and a first tension spring; The drive roller is installed on the drive support seat at an angle with the axis direction of the robot, and the two drive parallel rods, the drive support seat, and the drive support frame together form a parallelogram; The four drive driven rods are evenly distributed around the main support frame. One end of the drive driven rod is hinged to a rotating shaft of the parallelogram, and the other end of the drive driven rod is hinged to the drive synchronizing ring. Taking the drive support seat as a frame, they together form a crank-slider mechanism; Wherein one end of the first tension spring is connected to the drive support seat, and the other end is connected to the drive synchronizing ring; 4. The spiral drive pipeline inspection robot according to claim 3, wherein, The guiding module includes: a guiding roller, a guiding main rod, a guiding driven rod, a guiding synchronizing ring, a second tension spring, a guiding support ring, and a first fixing bolt. Among them, the guiding synchronizing ring, a guiding main rod, a guiding driven rod, and the guiding support ring form a crank-slider mechanism; The four crank-sliders are evenly distributed around the main support frame. The four guiding rollers are respectively installed on the four guiding main rods. One end of the second tension spring is connected to the guiding synchronizing ring, and the other end is connected to the main support frame. The main support frame is fixed to the stator part of the hollow torque motor through the first fixing bolt; 5. The screw-driven pipeline inspection robot according to claim 4, characterized in that, The drive support seat is fixed to the rotor of the hollow torque motor. The drive roller forms an angle with the pipeline axis. When the motor rotates, an axial driving force and a reverse torque are generated; 6. The spiral drive pipeline inspection robot according to claim 5, characterized in that, The drive modules of the two drive sections have the same rotational speed and opposite rotation directions, and the generated torques cancel each other out; 7. The spiral drive pipeline inspection robot according to claim 1, characterized in that The flexible universal joint includes a second fixing bolt, a first rotating member, a second rotating member, a third fixing bolt, a first connector, a second connector, a compression spring, and a retaining ring bearing; The first rotating member and the second rotating member are fitted together to form a joint head of the flexible universal joint. The first connecting head and the second connecting head form a connecting rod of the flexible universal joint. The cylindrical end of the main support frame or the cylindrical end of the storage box is inserted between the first rotating member and the second rotating member, and the three are fixed together by the second fixing bolt. Two compression springs are pressed between the two joint heads of the flexible universal joint. The two joint heads are orthogonally connected to the connecting rod by the third fixing bolt, and a retaining ring bearing is installed at the connection.

8. The screw-driven pipeline inspection robot according to claim 1, wherein the main support frame is divided into two parts along the axial direction, the middle contact part is serrated, one end of the two parts is fixed by a fixing ring through a fourth fixing bolt, and the other end is fixedly connected to the flexible universal joint.

9. The screw-driven pipeline inspection robot according to claim 1, wherein the recognition module can recognize and record the situation inside the pipeline and save the recorded video in the memory.

10. The screw-driven pipeline inspection robot according to claim 9, wherein the recognition module comprises a camera and a sensor for collecting images or environmental data inside the pipeline.

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