Cylindrical Maintenance Device with Rotating Arms
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current maintenance and repair devices for reactor internal structures in reactor pressure vessels are inadequate for efficiently maintaining and repairing cylindrical structures, particularly the outer and inner surfaces of cylindrical components like pipes, due to their complexity, size, and inability to adapt to varying diameters and shapes.
Innovation Solution
A preventive maintenance/repair device with a holding mechanism featuring separable arms, guide rollers, and a traveling mechanism that allows circumferential movement along the outer surface of cylindrical structures, equipped with maintenance/repair mechanisms such as ultrasonic flaw-detecting probes, cameras, or polishing jigs, enabling secure attachment and precise movement for inspection and repair.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If conventional maintenance devices are used for cylindrical structures, then they can perform basic maintenance functions, but they cannot adapt to different diameters and shapes, and their operation is difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The device employs a dynamic arm structure where the second arm can rotate relative to the first arm, and the third arm can rotate relative to the second arm. This multi-degree-of-freedom rotational capability allows the maintenance device to adapt to cylindrical structures of various diameters and shapes while maintaining ease of operation through controlled mechanical movement.
Solution Approach 2:
The maintenance device is divided into multiple segmented arms (first arm, second arm, third arm) that can independently rotate and position themselves. This segmentation enables the device to conform to different cylindrical geometries while keeping each segment manageable in size and easy to operate.
2Manufacturing precision
If a complex maintenance device structure is used to achieve precise movement, then maintenance precision improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The device achieves precise positioning through a hierarchical rotational system where the first arm rotates about a vertical axis, the second arm rotates about a horizontal axis, and the third arm provides final positioning rotation. This dynamic multi-axis rotation system delivers manufacturing precision equivalent to complex fixed structures but with greater operational flexibility and reduced overall complexity.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the maintenance device is designed to move along the cylindrical surface, then it can access different positions, but the mechanism becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The device achieves movement along the cylindrical surface through a compact three-arm rotational mechanism. The first arm provides circumferential positioning, the second arm adjusts radial distance, and the third arm enables longitudinal movement. This dynamic arm system replaces more complex track or rail mechanisms, reducing overall mechanism complexity while maintaining full accessibility to different positions on the cylindrical structure.
Data Source
AI summary
A preventive maintenance/repair device 10 of the present invention includes: a device body 11, and holding mechanisms 13a and 13b connected to the device body 11, the holding mechanisms 13a and 13b being configured to hold the device body 11 on an outer circumferential surface of a cylindrical structure 19. Further, the device body 11 is equipped with a traveling and driving part configured to be circumferentially movable along the outer circumferential surface of the cylindrical structure 19. Furthermore, each of the holding mechanisms 13a and 13b is equipped with a maintenance/repair mechanism 16 configured to maintain and repair the cylindrical structure 19.