Hydraulic and earth engineering – Subterranean or submarine pipe or cable laying – retrieving,... – By means advancing along terrain and guiding pipe or cable...
Patent
1995-02-15
1998-01-13
Graysay, Tamara L.
Hydraulic and earth engineering
Subterranean or submarine pipe or cable laying, retrieving,...
By means advancing along terrain and guiding pipe or cable...
405174, 405154, 4147454, 4147979, E02F 510, F16L 1036
Patent
active
057071756
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to excavating and pipe laying machines of the kind which comprise a vehicle carrying excavating means which is used to dig a trench into which individual lengths of pipe are laid, joins between the pipe lengths being made by forcing the latest laid pipe length into the mouth of the previously laid pipe length.
Machines of this type are described in German Specification DE 3914736. In practice using machines of this type at present individual pipe lengths are lowered by crane into the trench through a pipe box carried by the vehicle immediately behind the excavating means. The pipe box extends down to the bottom of the trench and provides an enclosure within which the pipe laying activity can be conducted without risk of the walls of the trench falling in this zone. One or more hydraulic rams acting through cables are used to push the latest laid pipe length into the mouth of the preceding one to form a joint, the pipe lengths exiting from the pipe box through an aperture at the lower rear of the box.
Whilst machines of this type are able to lay pipe lengths at an increased rate in comparison to previous systems we have appreciated that the full potential of machines of this kind is not yet being realised. In particular, the operation of lowering individual pipe lengths through the pipe box to the bottom of the trench for laying necessitates the halting of the excavating machine for the loading of each individual pipe length. Also, lowering each pipe length down the entire the depth of the pipe box entails a risk of damage to the pipe length due to collisions between the pipe length and the pipe box walls.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a pipe laying machine comprising a vehicle carrying excavating means for excavating a trench, a pipe laying box behind said excavating means which in use is positioned in the excavated trench, means in said pipe laying box for pressing a length of pipe positioned in use at the bottom of said box into connection with an immediately previously laid pipe length, and means in said pipe laying box for holding a supply of lengths of pipe and releasing said lengths one by one into the bottom of said box for laying.
Thus according to the invention the pipe laying box is converted into a magazine containing a number of lengths of pipe ready for laying which are released one by one as required into the pipe laying location at the bottom of the pipe laying box. Because pipe lengths can be added to the top of the pipe laying box to be supported by the pipe lengths already in the magazine so that they do no longer have to be lowered through the depth of the pipe laying box, the task of loading pipe lengths is much easier and can be conducted much more rapidly, typically whilst the excavating vehicle is moving and working. The risk of damage to the pipe lengths is reduced. Furthermore, if plastics pipe lengths are used they can be loaded into the top of the magazine manually without the need for a crane which would not be possible if they had to be lowered to the bottom of the pipe box and correctly positioned one by one. Alternatively, pipe lengths may be added to the content of the magazine by a conveyor system.
Preferably, the pipe holding and releasing means comprises means defining a "ready to release" position for a lowermost pipe length in said supply of lengths of pipe, which means is moveable between a first position in which the lowermost pipe length is receivable into said ready to release position and a second position in which the pipe length in said ready to release position is released to be laid and the next pipe length in said supply is held up from moving into said ready to release position.
Returning the pipe holding and releasing means to the first position thereof will result in the next pipe length in the supply coming into the ready to release position but being prevented from carrying on down into the pipe laying position.
A suitable pipe holding and releasing means may comprise on one or each side of a path of passage for
REFERENCES:
patent: 1463561 (1923-07-01), Sommer
patent: 3421609 (1969-01-01), Schmunk
patent: 3514962 (1970-06-01), Poole
patent: 3831388 (1974-08-01), Wells
patent: 4111374 (1978-09-01), Mackaness
patent: 4363594 (1982-12-01), Morin
patent: 4714381 (1987-12-01), Hatch
Graysay Tamara L.
J. Mastenbroek & Company Limited
Lagman Frederick L.
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