In-Pipe Wheel Carriage With Variable Bag for Fail-Safe Retrieval
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing in-pipe moving apparatuses are prone to getting stuck in pipes with bent or branching portions if the drive motor fails, as they rely on friction between wheels and the pipe wall for movement, making it difficult to retrieve the device.
Innovation Solution
The apparatus employs two sets of wheel-based or crawler traveling elements with a variable bag that expands and contracts to adjust its position, allowing it to move freely and be easily removed from the pipe, even if the drive motor fails, by using a combination of driving wheels, linkage links, and springs to maintain contact with the pipe surface.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the drive motor fails while the traveling carriage is in the pipe with driving wheels pressed against the inner wall surface, then the traveling carriage cannot move forward, but it also cannot be retrieved from the pipe
Solution Approach 1:
The traveling element is divided into multiple independent components: a body, multiple traveling units with driving wheels, and retrieval units with retrieval wheels. This segmentation allows different parts to perform different functions - the traveling units provide stable movement through friction with the pipe wall, while the retrieval units can be independently deployed to enable extraction even when the drive system fails.
Solution Approach 2:
The retrieval units act as intermediary components between the traveling carriage and the pipe wall. These units include retrieval wheels that can be pressed against the pipe wall by elastic elements to provide a mechanical advantage for extraction, serving as a mediator that enables retrieval without requiring the drive motor to be functional.
2Reliability
If the drive cylinder continuously presses the driving wheels against the pipe wall to maintain traveling stability, then movement reliability is improved, but energy consumption increases and the risk of getting stuck upon failure increases
Solution Approach 1:
The pressing force applied to the driving wheels is made dynamic rather than continuous. The drive cylinder operates intermittently to maintain sufficient contact between the driving wheels and pipe wall for stable travel, while allowing the force to be reduced or released when not needed. This dynamic adjustment optimizes energy consumption while maintaining traveling reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The pressing force parameter is adjusted based on operational conditions. During normal travel, sufficient force is applied to ensure reliable wheel-to-wall contact. When the drive motor fails, the system can change the parameter by deploying retrieval units with elastic elements that provide additional mechanical force for extraction, changing the force application mode from motor-driven to spring-driven.
3Ease of manufacture
If the traveling carriage uses a simple wheel structure for easy manufacture, then it cannot smoothly navigate bent or branching portions of the pipe
Solution Approach 1:
The traveling element is segmented into multiple traveling units that can be independently positioned and oriented. Each traveling unit includes driving wheels that can contact the pipe wall at different locations, allowing the overall structure to adapt to bent and branching pipe geometries while maintaining a relatively simple individual component design that is easy to manufacture.
Solution Approach 2:
The traveling element utilizes three-dimensional space within the pipe by deploying traveling units at different angular positions around the pipe circumference. This spatial arrangement allows the simple wheel-based structure to navigate complex pipe geometries by distributing contact points across multiple dimensions, effectively transforming a two-dimensional wheel problem into a three-dimensional solution.
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
Enables smooth and free movement within pipes with bent or branching portions and allows for easy retrieval by releasing pressure from the variable bag, reducing the force holding it in place, thus preventing getting stuck.
Implementation Method 1
a variable bag (3) expanded and contracted in accordance with pressure of a supplied fluid
Implementation Method 2
a variable bag expanded and contracted in accordance with pressure of a fluid supplied to the variable bag
Implementation Method 3
the reaction force from the inner wall surface resulting from the rotational force from the upper and lower driving wheels causes the in-pipe traveling carriage to travel in the pipe
Data Source
AI summary
An in-pipe moving apparatus that can freely and smoothly move in a pipe having a bent portion and a branching portion, is not stuck in the pipe even if a drive motor of a movement mechanism fails or otherwise experiences a problem, and can be readily taken out of the pipe. The in-pipe moving apparatus includes two sets of wheel-based traveling elements (2A) and (2B), which each have two driving wheels (8A) and (8B) linearly arranged, and a variable bag, which is expanded and contracted in accordance with the pressure of a fluid supplied to the variable bag, and the two sets of wheel-based traveling elements (2A) and (2B) are so disposed as to sandwich the variable bag (3) and are fixed to the outer surface of the variable bag (3).