Continuous Pipe String Assembly With Synchronized Rollers
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The traditional method of assembling pipes for fluid and electrical conduits is inefficient, prone to accidents, and results in high costs and long production times due to manual handling, imprecise machinery, and exposure to adverse conditions, leading to quality issues and safety risks.
Innovation Solution
A process that automates the assembly and transportation of pipe strings using synchronized driving rollers and electrical hoists, allowing for precise alignment and movement of pipe sections without human interference, reducing handling and exposure to hazardous conditions, and enabling continuous production with reduced operational time.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If manual handling and traditional machinery are used for pipe assembly, then equipment simplicity is maintained, but production time increases and safety risks arise
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual mechanical handling with an automated system comprising synchronized driving rollers, electrical hoists, and computer-controlled positioning mechanisms. This substitution eliminates manual labor while achieving precise pipe alignment and movement, directly resolving the contradiction between productivity improvement and equipment complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables self-aligned pipe assembly through synchronized roller mechanisms that automatically position pipe sections without manual intervention. The automated hoisting and positioning systems perform functions that would otherwise require skilled operators, improving productivity while maintaining controlled complexity through automation.
2Manufacturing precision
If manual alignment and positioning methods are used, then equipment simplicity is maintained, but manufacturing precision deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces manual alignment methods with computer-controlled positioning systems that use sensors, feedback mechanisms, and automated adjustment devices. This enables precise pipe section alignment and welding position control, achieving high manufacturing precision while managing system complexity through automation and control systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates feedback mechanisms that continuously monitor pipe position and alignment, automatically adjusting parameters to maintain precision. This feedback control enables high manufacturing precision while managing the complexity of the positioning system through intelligent control algorithms.
3Reliability
If traditional spot pulling and mechanical excavators are used for pipe displacement, then equipment simplicity is maintained, but reliability deteriorates due to coating damage and ovalization
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces traditional spot pulling and mechanical excavator methods with a controlled system of driving rollers and electrical hoists. This substitution eliminates the harmful effects of conventional methods (coating damage, ovalization) while maintaining manageable system complexity through standardized automated components.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces intermediate supporting rollers and controlled lifting mechanisms that act as mediators between pipe sections during assembly and displacement. These intermediaries distribute loads evenly and prevent direct contact that could cause damage, improving reliability while managing system complexity through standardized components.
4Productivity
If continuous automated assembly is implemented, then productivity increases, but the area of construction site increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent arranges the automated assembly system in a linear configuration along the pipe string direction, utilizing the length dimension rather than expanding horizontally. This dimensional arrangement enables continuous automated assembly while minimizing the footprint of the construction site, resolving the contradiction between productivity and site area.
Solution Approach 2:
The system divides the assembly process into discrete segments (individual pipe sections) that are assembled sequentially in a continuous flow. This segmentation enables high productivity through automated sequential assembly while confining operations to a compact linear space, reducing the overall construction site area required.
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
This solution significantly reduces production time, enhances safety, and improves the quality of welds, while minimizing costs and risks, enabling the efficient construction of longer pipe strings with greater reliability and faster vessel loading.
Implementation Method 1
a first line of motorized rollers transporting the string of pipes from the first production line to a central area of pipe storage
Implementation Method 2
two electrical hoists for lifting and lowering the pipe string
Data Source
AI summary
A process for the manufacture, assembly and continuous construction of tubular sections made of steel or polymer in individual pipelines with gradual movement that is designed to mechanize and automate a process substantially eliminating or mitigating existing inefficiencies and risks, considerably reducing the time vessels need to be moored at piers while paying extremely expensive daily rates, increasing the quality of welds, inspections and the entire process. The process including inside the manufactured unit one or more weld cabins and a series of support devices with synchronized driven and free wheels that carry the pipe segments while simultaneously enabling movement of the entire stalk without external interference, following the joining of several pipe segments (welded together), of variable length, in which the embodiments provided in the present invention enable each stalk to be approximately 1.2 km long or longer.