Drilling Drum With Inclined Teeth For Thicker Trenches

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative Solutions
Generate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Current soil mixing tools with long axial drums are prone to jamming, hindering vertical movement and disrupting the drilling and mixing process, especially when dealing with thick trenches filled with dense binder-cement mixtures.

Innovation Solution

The drum design features cutting teeth mounted on inclined supports, allowing for a larger axial offset and reduced vertical resistance, with a smaller drum footprint that promotes vertical movement and efficient mixing, including inclined scraper mechanisms for fluid flow and cleaning.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Length of moving object

If the axial length of the drums is increased to drill thicker trenches, then the borehole thickness capability is improved, but the risk of vertical jamming increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveaxial length of drumsVSAvoidrisk of vertical jamming
Core Design Contradiction:
Length of moving objectVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The cutting teeth are mounted on supports that are inclined relative to the radial direction, causing them to be axially offset from the outer face of the drum. This dimensional repositioning allows the teeth to engage soil at an axial distance beyond the drum's peripheral surface, enabling thicker trench drilling without increasing the drum's axial length, thereby avoiding vertical jamming while maintaining reliability

Inventive Principle:
Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

2Length of moving object

If the axial length of the drums is increased to produce thicker trenches, then the trench thickness capability is improved, but the vertical movement of the tool is hindered

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveaxial length of drumsVSAvoidvertical movement of tool
Core Design Contradiction:
Length of moving objectVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

By inclining the supports relative to the radial direction and positioning cutting teeth axially offset from the drum's outer face, the invention enables the drum to drill thicker trenches without increasing its axial length. The reduced axial length minimizes resistance to vertical movement, allowing the tool to ascend and descend freely in the trench while maintaining the capability to produce thick boreholes

Inventive Principle:
Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

Data Source

PatentEP2369063B1Drilling and mixing tool comprising a drum with separate teeth
Publication Date: 2020.01.08 SOLETANCHE FREYSSINET SAS
  • EP2369063B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP2369063B1 patent drawingFigure 2~3
  • EP2369063B1 patent drawingFigure 3A~4

AI summary

The tool has a mixing assembly constituted of two pairs of rotative coaxial drums (28) arranged on both sides of a support unit. The drums include supports (42', 42'', 42''') equipped with cutting teeth (40', 40'', 40''). One of the supports is inclined at an angle of 10 degree with respect to a plane (P) to axially arrange an exterior face between the one of the teeth and an interior face, so that the tooth is arranged axially beyond the exterior face such that the tool drills and mixes volume of soil that is axially thicker than axial length (L) of a peripheral surface of each drum.