Flex-Shaft Camera Cable Handling for Coupled Pipe Inspection
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for deploying and retracting cables or hoses into and out of pipes or cavities are cumbersome and difficult, especially when dealing with cables of different dimensions, external surfaces, and flexibilities, and maintaining them together during deployment or retraction is challenging.
Innovation Solution
A cable handling device with a housing, coupling mechanism, and control system that allows for the deployment and retraction of multiple cables or hoses using clips, clamps, and guides, along with remotely controlled clamps, to manage, steer, and protect the cables, and includes a motorized feeder for automatic deployment and retraction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If multiple cables or hoses with different dimensions, external surfaces and flexibilities are handled manually, then deployment and retraction can be performed, but the operation becomes cumbersome and difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple cables and hoses into a single integrated cable assembly with a common outer sheath. This merging approach allows all cables to be handled as one unit rather than individually, significantly improving ease of operation while reducing the complexity of managing multiple separate cables with different properties
Solution Approach 2:
The cable assembly design creates a universal structure that can accommodate multiple different types of cables (power, control, data, camera) within a single standardized interface. This multi-functional approach allows the same handling mechanism to manage all cable types uniformly, resolving the difficulty of dealing with cables of different dimensions and flexibilities
2Stability of the object's composition
If cables or hoses are kept together during deployment or retraction, then they can be managed as a unit, but it becomes extremely difficult to maintain them together
Solution Approach 1:
The cables are merged into a single integrated assembly with a common outer sheath that maintains their relative positions and prevents separation during deployment and retraction. This structural merging ensures cable assembly integrity while making management straightforward through single-unit handling
Solution Approach 2:
Individual cables are nested within the common outer sheath in a hierarchical structure. This nesting arrangement maintains the stability of the cable assembly composition by keeping cables organized and together, while the outer sheath provides a unified interface for easy operation and management
3Reliability
If clips, clamps, and pipe guides are attached along cables to provide management and protection, then cable management and protection improve, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cable management components (clips, clamps, guides) are merged into the integrated cable assembly design from the outset rather than being added separately. This approach provides reliable cable protection and management while reducing overall complexity by coordinating all elements within a unified structure
Solution Approach 2:
The cable assembly incorporates universal management features such as integrated clips and guides that serve multiple functions simultaneously - protecting cables, maintaining their positions, and facilitating deployment. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate specialized components, thereby reducing device complexity while maintaining reliability
Data Source
AI summary
Cable handling devices, methods, and systems for securing and deploying or retracting one or more cables or hoses into or out of a pipe or cavity allowing inspection of the pipe or cavity. In an exemplary embodiment, a hand-held device with a housing for at least partially enclosing one or more cables or hoses, at least one coupling mechanism integrally attached to the housing, and a coupling control for coupling and decoupling the one or more cables or hoses is provided. The cable handling device and the one or more cables or hoses can be coupled and moved together, or decoupled enabling the cable handling device and the one or more cables or hoses to move independently of each other. One or more of the cables may be connected to a camera for facilitating inspection of a pipe or cavity.