JPS6258203B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a device for attaching a signal line to a long linear object such as a communication or power cable or a pipeline for oil or gas transportation.

In recent years, long wire objects such as communication and power cables, pipelines for transporting oil and gas, etc. have been laid over longer distances, and many cables and pipelines are being installed on the ocean floor and riverbeds. It has started to be installed. For this reason, it is necessary to establish technology for monitoring and inspecting the installation conditions of these cables and pipelines underwater, repair technology in the event of a breakdown or accident, and technology for protecting the cables after repair. Intensive research and development is underway.

By the way, in order to carry out inspection, repair, protection work, etc. of these cables and pipelines, we need technology to find out where the cables and pipelines are laid, and equipment for inspection and repair on the cables and pipelines. Tracking technology for cables and pipelines is required to move the cables and pipelines along them accurately, and especially when the cables and pipelines are laid in the open ocean and deep under the sea, extremely advanced technology is required. I need.

There are a few ways to search for or track cables or pipelines, but one of the most effective methods is to attach another conductor to the cable or pipeline and use the magnetic field generated when direct or alternating current is passed through it. It is possible to use it as a signal source.

An object of the present invention is to provide a search signal line attaching device for attaching a signal line that generates a signal to a cable or pipeline in order to facilitate the search and tracking of long linear objects such as cables or pipelines. do. The configuration of the present invention that achieves such an object includes a fitting mechanism that is fitted to a long linear object to which a search signal line is attached so as to be movable in relative movement, and a fitting mechanism that is attached to this fitting mechanism so that the fitting mechanism can be moved relative to the long linear object. The present invention is characterized by comprising a storage mechanism that stores the signal line so that it can be fed out at a time, and an attachment mechanism that attaches and fixes the signal line that has been fed out to the elongated linear object.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory diagram of the search signal line attachment device of the present invention, and is a cable 2 laid along the seabed 1.
The figure shows a signal line attaching device 3 (hereinafter referred to as the attaching device) fitted to the main ship 4 being supplied with power by the control cable 5 from the mother ship 4 and attaching a signal line 6 to the cable while traveling in the direction of arrow I. There is. The attachment device 3 includes a self-propelled mechanism 7, a signal line 6, a signal line storage mechanism 8, a signal line payout mechanism 9, and a signal line attachment mechanism 10.
Consists of. As shown in the figure, the signal wire 6 is attached by fitting the attaching device 3 to the cable 2 immediately before the completion of the laying work or during repair, for example when a part of the cable 2 is on the mother ship 4, and attaching the signal wire 6. After attaching a buoy 11 to one end and floating it on the sea, the cable 2 and attached machine 3 are lowered to the seabed at the same time. In particular, the signal line 6 is attached to the cable 2 while connecting the signal line 6 and the cable 2 at fixed distances by a coupling device 13. In addition, 12 in the figure is a roller for lowering the contact resistance between the attachment device 3 and the seabed surface 1. This attached signal line 6 uses an insulated wire, but the terminal part of the signal line 6 stored in the storage mechanism 8 is stripped of insulation and exposed under the sea, so that the signal line 6 is connected to the cable for the required distance. After attaching the attached device 3 to the seabed, by applying a voltage between the signal line terminal connected to the buoy 11 and the seawater, a current can freely flow through the signal line 6. The cable can be searched and tracked using the magnetic field generated by the cable as a signal. Note that this attachment device 3 will be unnecessary after the attachment of the signal line 6 is finished, so either leave it at the final point where the attachment of the signal line 6 is finished, or
After cutting off the terminal, it was recovered on board.

Next, each mechanism of the search signal line attaching device will be specifically explained. FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the attachment device 3 of the present invention. The attached device 3 includes an external housing 14, an electric motor 15 and a drive wheel 16 that constitute a self-propelled mechanism, a cable support section 17, and a signal line storage mechanism and signal line feeding mechanism 1.
8. Consists of an internal casing 20, which is a signal line attachment mechanism 10, and the like. In this embodiment, as a method of fitting the attachment device 3 to the cable 2, a method is used in which the cable 2 is passed through the internal housing 20 of the attachment device 3.

Various methods can be considered to obtain forward driving force for the relative movement of the attached machine 3, but in this example, electric power is supplied to the electric motor 15 from the ship (not shown in the figure) via the control cable 5, and the electric motor 15 is rotationally driven. The force is transmitted through a bevel gear 22 fixed to one end of the shaft 21 to a bevel gear 24 fixed to a drive shaft 23 in a direction perpendicular to the shaft 21.
A drive wheel 16 attached to the cable 2 is rotated, and the attached machine 3 is moved forward using the frictional force between the drive wheel 16 and the cable 2. 26 and 27 are wheels made of the same material as the drive wheel 16, and the drive wheel 16 and these wheels 26 and 27 press the cable from three radial directions toward the center, so that the cable 2 is pushed into the internal housing 20. be located in the center of In addition, there are three pieces 1 for positioning the cable 2 in the center of the attached machine 3.
A pair of wheels (hereinafter referred to as cable support 17) is also arranged at the other end of attachment device 3 (not visible in the figure due to external housing 14).

Although there are various methods of attaching a signal line to the cable and coupling them together, this example uses a method of winding the signal line 6 around the cable 2 as shown in the figure. That is, as the attachment device 3 moves forward, the internal casing 20
The signal line 6 is rotated from the signal line storage/signal line feeding mechanism 18 attached to the internal housing 20.
, and wrap it around cable 2 one after another. Next, details of the mechanism for attaching this signal line will be explained. Gears 28 and 29 are fitted to the outer periphery of both ends of the internal housing 20, and each of these gears 28 and 29 is a gear fixed to a shaft 31 that is supported by a bearing 30 fixed to the external housing 14. 34 and 35 and gears 32 and 33 fixed to both ends of the electric motor 15 mesh with two gears (not shown) to support the internal housing 20 from three radial directions and position it at the center of the external housing 14. . Therefore, the rotational driving force of the electric motor 15 is transmitted to the drive wheel 16 described above, and at the same time, the rotational driving force of the electric motor 15 is transmitted to the gears 28 and 29 of the internal housing 20.
is transmitted to rotate the internal casing 20.

The signal line 6 is fed out by a signal line storage/signal line feeding mechanism 18 on a shaft 36 which is rotatably supported by a bracket fixed to the end of the internal housing 20.
The wire windings 37 are fitted with appropriate tightness, and as the inner casing 20 rotates, the wire windings 37 are pulled by the signal wires 6 and rotate by the required amount, and the signal wires 6 are drawn out one after another. and is wound around cable 2. The pitch of the signal wire 6 to be wound can be freely adjusted by appropriately selecting the gear ratio of the drive wheel 16 and the gear ratio of the internal casing 20.

In the embodiments of the attachment device described above, it is a prerequisite that the cable, pipeline, etc. to which the signal line is attached has a certain thickness. However, for example, in a submarine cable system, repeater amplifiers (hereinafter referred to as repeaters) are inserted at certain intervals, and the diameter of these repeaters is generally thicker than that of the submarine cable. and
Even if such a part exists, it is necessary to attach a signal line. Therefore, FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of the attaching device 3 which can attach signal lines to cables or pipelines having irregular thicknesses as described above. FIG. 3a is an overall schematic diagram of the attachment device. The structure of the main parts of the attached device 3 is almost the same as the embodiment shown in FIG. The difference from the previous embodiments is that the cable support portion 17 is made larger so that it can pass through, and the structure of the cable support portion 17 is adaptable to changes in thickness. Therefore, the structure of this cable support portion 17 will be explained with reference to FIGS. 3a, b, and c. Figure 3b
is a view of the cable support part 17 in FIG.
It is shown in the fitted state. Flexible joints 39 are provided at both ends of the shafts of the drive wheel 16 and wheels 26 and 27 for supporting the cable 2, and the flexible joints 39
Telescopic shafts 40 that are freely extendable and retractable are connected to each other through these, and the ends of the telescopic shafts 40 are rotatably supported by the internal housing 20 . The driving force is transmitted to the drive wheel 16 in the following order: bevel gear 22 → bevel gear 24 → flexible joint 39 → telescopic shaft 40 → flexible joint 39 → drive wheel 16. Therefore, the driving wheel 16 and the wheels 26, 27 are movable in the directions of the arrows in FIG. 3b, so that even if the cable 2 becomes thicker, each wheel can move radially outward to cope with the increase in thickness. Figure 3c shows the device 3 attached to a large diameter part such as the repeater 41.
This figure shows the state in which they are fitted. In this case, the driving wheel 16 and the wheels 26, 27 are connected to the telescopic shaft 40.
It moves outward while extending and firmly supports the repeater 41 while giving forward driving force to the attached device 3. Note that the attached device illustrated in FIG. 3 can be used in locations other than underwater.

FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of the attached device 3, in which figure a shows a three-dimensional view, figure b shows a plan view, and figure c shows a modified example of the drive mechanism. In this example, the screw 4 driven by the electric motor 15 is used as a method of obtaining the forward driving force of the attached machine 3.
2 is used. An electric motor 15 fixed to a frame 43 drives a gear 47 attached to a drum 46 by a gear 45 attached to its shaft 44 to drive a gear 47 attached to a drum 46.
Rotate 6. The drum 46 has a signal line storage mechanism/feeding mechanism 18 inside, and the wound signal line 6
However, as the attached machine 3 moves forward, the hole 4 of the drum 46
Figure c is a three-dimensional view of the wire winding 37 constituting the signal line storage mechanism/feeding mechanism 18. This wire winding 37 is provided within the drum 46 in a direction perpendicular to the cable 2, and both ends are rotatably supported by brackets. The attached device 3 shown in this embodiment has a connection part 4
By removing the part 9, it can be divided into two parts, upper and lower, and the attachment device 3 can be fitted even in the middle of the cable 2. In this case, the portion below the connecting portion 49 of the attached device 3 in a divided state is shown in FIG. 4d. In this attached machine 3, the drum 46
The gear 47 provided on its outer periphery also has a split structure, and can be split or fixed at the connecting portion 49. Note that rollers 12 are attached to the frame 43 to reduce resistance when the attached machine 3 contacts the seabed.

The attached device shown in Fig. 4e uses the drum 46 that incorporates the signal line storage mechanism/signal line feeding mechanism 18 explained in Figs. 4a and b, but its drive mechanism is different, and It does not utilize the frictional force between the screw and the screw, but uses a screw. Further, the electric motor 15 and the drum 46 constituting the drive mechanism are connected by an electromagnet 50 that is excited by the current supplied to the electric motor 15, and a gear 45 connected to the electric motor 15 is connected to the electric motor 15 and the drum 46. The gear 47 of the drum 46 is driven to rotate the drum 46 and move the screw 42 forward. According to this method, after the signal line 6 has been attached, the electric motor 15 can be recovered on board the ship by cutting off the current supplied to the electric motor 15. Furthermore, by providing the electromagnet 50 on the motor 15 side and providing another power supply cable within the control cable 5 of the motor 15, work efficiency is further improved.

FIG. 5 shows another embodiment of the attachment device 3 using a method of obtaining forward driving force by a screw 42, in which figure a is an overall view, and figures b and c are internal signal lines 6 of the attachment device 3.
Figure d, which explains the storage and extraction of the liquid, is another embodiment of this system with a different driving method. In this method, as shown in figure a, the signal line 6 is wound around the cable 2 while the cable 2 is fitted into the center of the cylindrical casing 51 and the cylindrical casing is moved forward by the screw 42. be. 52
It is installed for the purpose of reducing the resistance when the attached device 3 is grounded. Figure b is a diagram illustrating how the signal line 6 is stored inside the cylindrical casing 51 and how the signal line is wound around the cable 2 in figure a. The signal line is formed into a dense coil with a radius R inside the casing 51, and the coil and the cylindrical casing 5
1 and a binder 53 made of soft resin or the like.
The coil of the signal line is fixed inside the cylindrical casing 51. Therefore, as the cylindrical housing 51 moves forward, the coiled signal wires 6 unravel one after another from the ends and cling to the cable 2. Furthermore, if the radius R of the coil is made larger than the radius of the repeater, even if there is a repeater in the middle of the cable, the wire can be wound over the repeater. Figure d shows another embodiment of this method, in which the coil of the signal line 6 exposed in water is advanced by a screw 42. In this example, after the signal lines have been attached, the drive mechanism consisting of the electric motor 15 and screw 42 can be recovered on board the ship.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating another embodiment of the attachment device 3. This method is the same as the method explained in FIG. 5a as a driving method for the attached device, but the method of attaching the signal line 6 to the cable 2 is different from all the previous embodiments. That is, in the previous embodiments, the signal line 6 was attached and connected to the cable by wrapping the signal line 6 around the cable 2, but in this embodiment, the signal line 6 is attached to the cable 2 in a straight line. The cable 2 and the signal line 6 are coupled by a coupling device 13. As the coupling device 13, for example, a plastic ring bent at the connecting portion 13a may be used, and the plastic ring may be used to hold the long linear object. Figure b shows the state of the signal line 6 before being stored inside the cylindrical housing 51. The coupling device 13 is placed in the middle of the signal line arranged in a zigzag pattern, and the signal line and the coupling device 13 are fixed. It shows a dense bundle in the direction of . Figure c shows the cable 2 covered with the bundle of signal wires shown in figure b and its surface coated with a binder 53 made of soft resin. Figure d is a front view of the state shown in figure c with the cylindrical housing 51 covered. In this method, when the attachment device 3 moves forward, the bundle of signal wires 6 is unraveled in order from the end, and the coupling device 13 presses the signal wires 6 to the cable 2 at regular intervals, so that the straight signal wires 6 are attached to the cable 2. go. e
The figure shows another embodiment of this method in which a bundle consisting of a signal line 6 and a coupling device 13 exposed underwater is connected to a screw 42.
3 is a front view of the attachment device 3 that is advanced by the
In this example as well, after the signal line 6 has been attached, the drive mechanism consisting of the electric motor 15 and the screw 42 can be recovered on board the ship.

In the embodiments of the attachment device described so far, the attachment device is self-propelled underwater to attach the signal line, but it is also possible to use a method in which the attachment device is towed by a ship or the like. However, in this case, the feeding mechanism 9 for the signal line 6 is configured as follows. For example, in the attached machine 3 equipped with the drive wheel 16 shown in FIG.
is towed, the drive wheel 16 rotates, and this rotational force is transmitted through the shaft 21 to the gear 2 on the internal casing.
8 and 29, the internal casing rotates, and the signal line feeding mechanism 18 rotates around the cable 2 to attach the signal line 6. Therefore, the driving electric motor 1
5 is not necessary, and it is sufficient if the shaft 21 and gears 28 and 29 are provided. Further, in the embodiment of FIG. 4 which uses screws 42 instead of drive wheels, the screws 42 are rotated by being towed in the same way, and the signal line 6 is attached.

Also, in the previous examples, when attaching a signal line to a cable, we explained a method in which the attaching machine moves on the cable and attaches the signal line, but conversely, the attaching machine is stopped and the cable is moved. It is also possible to attach signal lines to the cable.
FIG. 7 shows an example of how to use the device of the present invention for attaching a signal line by moving the cable side, and shows the attached device with the cable fitted on the mother ship 4 or the support ship 54 during cable laying. 3, the cable 2 is fed out from the cable drum 55 of the mother ship, and as it passes through the attachment machine, a signal line is attached, and the cables with the signal line attached are successively laid on the seabed. Note that 56 indicates a cable engine.

As described above in detail with the embodiments, according to the present invention, it is possible to easily and reliably attach a search signal line to a long linear object such as a cable or pipeline laid on the ocean floor or riverbed. can. Therefore, it can greatly contribute to improving the reliability and maintainability of cable and pipeline systems, and can significantly shorten the time required for maintenance, repair, and other construction work.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory diagram showing a search signal line attaching device of the present invention in a state fitted to a submarine cable, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the search signal line attaching device of the present invention, and FIG. 3a , b, c apply to other embodiments, and a
4 is a schematic plan view, b and c are cross-sectional views showing how the cable is supported, and FIGS. 4 a, b, c, d, and e show other embodiments, a is a perspective view, and b is a schematic plan view , c is an enlarged perspective view of a part of figure b, d is a perspective view showing the lower part when the attached device is divided into two parts, e
are perspective views with different drive mechanisms, Figure 5a,
b, c, and d relate to other embodiments, a is an external perspective view, b is an explanatory diagram showing the storage state of the signal line, and c is b
Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view of the cable seen from the right angle direction, d is a perspective view of a case where the drive mechanism is different, Figure 6 a, b, c,
d and e are other embodiments in which the signal line attachment mechanism is different; a is a schematic perspective view of the whole; b and c are explanatory views of the storage state of the signal line; d is a cross section of c as seen from the right angle direction of the cable. Figures 1 and 5e are cross-sectional views for explaining cases where the drive mechanism is different, and Figure 7 is an explanatory view for an example of the use of the device of the present invention. In the drawing, 2 is a cable, 3 is a search signal line attachment device (attachment machine), 4 is a mother ship, 5 is a control cable, 6
is a signal line, 7 is a drive mechanism, 8 is a signal line storage mechanism, 9 is a signal line payout mechanism, 10 is a signal line attachment mechanism, 13 is a coupling device, 15 is an electric motor, 16 is a drive wheel, 17 is a cable A support part, 18 is a signal line storage mechanism and a signal line feeding mechanism, 26 and 27 are wheels,
41 is a repeater, 46 is a drum, 49 is a connection part, 5
0 is an electromagnet, 51 is a cylindrical housing, and 53 is a binder.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A fitting mechanism that fits relatively movably into a long linear object to which a search signal line is attached, and a fitting mechanism that is attached to this fitting mechanism and stores the signal line so that it can be drawn out by relative movement of the fitting mechanism. A search signal line attachment device comprising: a storage mechanism for attaching and fixing the drawn-out signal line to the elongated linear object;