Articulated Pipe Splitter Assembly for Non-Linear Pipe Bursting
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current pipe bursting methods face challenges when navigating tight bends and non-linear pipe sections, leading to increased labor and costs due to the need for expensive hardened steel pipe splitters and the risk of pneumatic hammers wandering out of the pipe, requiring additional extraction efforts.
Innovation Solution
A pipe splitting assembly with a pneumatic hammer and articulated hammer nose assembly that includes a rotatable joint and cutter, allowing the pneumatic hammer to guide through non-linear pipes while transmitting both compressive and percussive forces to the cutter, preventing wandering and facilitating efficient pipe splitting.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a pneumatic hammer is used to split pipe, then the pipe splitting efficiency is improved, but the pneumatic hammer may wander out of the pipe and become lodged in the surrounding soil
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a guide assembly as an intermediary component between the pneumatic hammer and the pipe wall. This guide assembly includes a guide body with a guide surface that contacts the pipe wall, providing a mediating mechanism that directs the hammer's percussive forces along the pipe's curvature and prevents the hammer from wandering out of the pipe.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent addresses the guidance problem by adding a spatial dimension through the guide assembly's ability to navigate curved paths. The guide body is designed to follow the pipe's curvature, transforming the hammer's linear percussive motion into a path that conforms to the pipe's three-dimensional geometry, thereby maintaining contact and preventing lateral displacement.
2Adaptability or versatility
If hardened steel pipe splitters are used to navigate tight bends, then the ability to navigate non-linear pipes is improved, but the cost and device complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the pipe splitting system into separate functional components: a pneumatic hammer for providing percussive force, a guide assembly for navigation, and a cutter assembly for splitting. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently, with the guide assembly handling the complex navigation task rather than requiring the entire splitter to be constructed from expensive hardened steel.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide assembly is designed with dynamic characteristics that allow it to adapt to the pipe's curvature. The guide body can follow the pipe's bends and curves, providing real-time guidance to the hammer and cutter assemblies, thereby enabling navigation of non-linear pipes without requiring the entire system to be rigid and over-engineered.
3Speed
If percussive forces are applied to split pipe, then the pipe splitting speed is improved, but the pipe splitter may become embedded in the surrounding soil requiring extraction
Solution Approach 1:
The guide assembly serves as an intermediary that mediates between the high-speed percussive forces and the pipe wall. By providing continuous guidance and contact with the pipe's inner surface, it ensures that the percussive energy is directed along the pipe's path rather than allowing lateral displacement that would cause embedding in the surrounding soil.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide assembly provides continuous feedback to the hammer and cutter assemblies by maintaining contact with the pipe wall. This contact allows the guide body to sense the pipe's curvature and position, effectively guiding the cutting action along the correct path and preventing deviation that would lead to embedding in the surrounding material.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution enables efficient splitting of non-linear pipes with reduced labor and costs by maintaining continuous surface contact and guiding the pneumatic hammer through non-linear sections, preventing lodging and enhancing the reliability of the pipe splitting process.
Implementation Method 1
transmitting percussive forces from the pneumatic hammer through the rotatable joint to the pipe splitting cutter
Implementation Method 2
transmitting compressive forces from the pneumatic hammer through the rotatable joint to the pipe splitting cutter
Implementation Method 3
The pipe splitting cutter is rotated into different angles relative to the pneumatic hammer as the pipe splitting cutter enters non-linear portions of the pipe
Data Source
AI summary
A pipe splitting assembly includes an articulating hammer nose assembly having a pipe splitting cutter and a rotatable joint coupled with the pipe splitting cutter. A pneumatic hammer is distal to the articulating hammer nose assembly, The pneumatic hammer is configured to drive the articulating hammer nose assembly proximally away from the pneumatic hammer. The rotatable joint is coupled between the pipe splitting cutter and the pneumatic hammer, and the articulating hammer nose assembly is rotatable into one or more angles relative to the pneumatic hammer through the rotatable joint. A cable coupling is interposed between the pneumatic hammer and the articulated hammer nose assembly. The cable coupling is configured to attach a cable to the pipe splitting assembly. The cable coupling and the rotatable joint are configured to transmit to the pipe splitting cutter a compression force from the cable coupling and dynamic percussive forces from the pneumatic hammer.