JPH0547063B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a device created to enable inspection of the inner surface of a penstock installed in a hydroelectric power plant by remote control.

[Prior art]

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram schematically depicting a water-based power plant as an example of a hydroelectric power plant. Upper reservoir 6
1 and the power plant 62 are connected by a penstock 1. 63 is the lower reservoir, 64 is the transformer, 65
is a power transmission line.

The above-mentioned penstock 1 is a huge facility with a diameter of 4 to 5 meters and a length of several hundred to 1,000 meters, although it varies depending on the scale and location conditions of the power plant 62, and is installed on a steep slope. ing. Due to these circumstances,
Inspection of its inner surface is extremely difficult.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

Currently, inspections of penstocks approximately 100 meters in length are carried out by hanging rope ladders during downtime, or
This can be done visually by workers by hanging the gondola, but for penstocks longer than that, inspections are not carried out because there are no suitable inspection tools and it is very dangerous. The reality is that it has not been done.

For this reason, there is a strong need for the development of a device that can unmannedly inspect the inner surface of a penstock that is several hundred to one thousand meters long.

Therefore, a possible method is to mount a television camera on a suitable trolley and suspend this trolley into the penstock.

However, due to the technical difficulties described below, inspection of the inner surface of the penstock using a television camera is not possible.
Not implemented yet.

(b) When trying to supply power to television camera equipment (including zoom-in, swivel equipment, lighting equipment, and color television cameras) with a power cable that is several hundred meters long, a thick cable is required to prevent voltage drop. becomes. A thick cable has a large weight, and if the cable is hung down a slope for several hundred meters, it will break due to its weight. In addition, a cable using wire as a reinforcing material has a huge total weight and diameter, and requires the installation of a large and large-capacity winch means, making it impractical.

(b) If an attempt is made to supply power by mounting a power generator on a television camera mounting trolley, the operation of the television camera will become unstable as the electric output of the power generator does not have a perfect constant voltage characteristic. Inspection accuracy is not good because the image quality deteriorates.

(c) Furthermore, if the cart is lowered into a penstock with a steep slope, the inclination of the engine generator will exceed the permissible inclination angle, and there is a strong possibility that fuel oil or lubricating oil will leak.

(d) The inner surface of the penstock is often coated with a coating to prevent corrosion, but when the metal ropes used for conventional hoisting are moved up and down, they slide on the lower surface of the inner surface of the penstock. There is a risk of damaging the paint film.

(e) Control signals for television cameras, electric rotary tables, etc.
In the prior art, signal cables such as multicore cables and coaxial cables are used singly or in combination to transmit image signals from television cameras.

However, increasing the length of these cables increases the total weight. For this reason, similar to the power cable, reinforcement against its own weight is required, making it difficult to handle the cable, including the hoisting device.

Furthermore, if everything were to be done wirelessly, it would be grounded through underground iron pipes, raising the risk of malfunctions and requiring large-sized transmitting and receiving equipment.

(f) Even if the trolley was lifted to the edge and inspected unmanned, it was difficult to measure and display which location was being photographed.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and has the following features: (i) It does not require a huge winch means for lifting and lowering, and (ii) It allows the television camera to operate stably to obtain high-quality images. (iii) Even when applied to a penstock with a steep slope, there is no risk of trouble occurring in the engine generator; (iv) The inner surface of the penstock can be inspected by remote control using television images. (v) The purpose of the present invention is to provide an inspection device for power plant penstocks that has the function of displaying the location (distance, angle, number of weld lines) of the inspection location, and (v) has no risk of damaging the inner coating of the steel pipes. do.

[Means for solving problems]

The device of the present invention created to achieve the above object consists of (a) a trolley mounted with a television camera and suspended into a penstock, and (b) a motor generator suspended from the framework of the trolley. , a battery mounted on the trolley, and a control unit; (c) a non-metallic rope for lowering and hoisting the trolley into the penstock, and winding and unwinding the non-metallic rope to lift the trolley; (d) an operation panel installed and used near the winch means; (e) a control unit mounted on the truck and the operation panel connected to each other to transmit control signals. and a signal cable for transmitting an image signal; (f) a camera stand supported on a trolley so as to be rotatable around a rotation axis parallel to the center line of the penstock and equipped with a television camera and a lighting device; (g) driving means for rotating the camera stand, and means for detecting the angle of rotation thereof and displaying it on a television screen; (h) means for detecting the travel distance of the trolley and displaying the detected distance on a television screen; (i) The motor generator supplies power to the driving means for rotating the camera stand and the lighting device, and the battery supplies power to the control unit and the television camera. I took it as a thing.

In the present invention, being suspended from the framework of a truck means that it is rotatably supported by a structure provided above the floor of the truck, and is automatically kept horizontal by its own weight. I mean it.

[Function] According to the device configured as described above, (A) power can be supplied to the lighting means that consumes a large amount of power by the motor generator mounted on the trolley, and (B) the on-board battery can be (C) This eliminates the need to connect a power cable to the trolley and allows the use of a single signal cable. (D) Signal cable TV camera operation through,
(E) Clear images, distance from the starting point, and accurate location in the circumferential direction of the steel pipe are being photographed. (F) Non-metallic ropes can be used to prevent damage to the coating on the inner surface of the penstock. There's nothing to do.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory diagram of a state in which the inner surface of a penstock 1 is being inspected by one embodiment of the inspection device according to the present invention, where 1a is an inclined part of the penstock, 1
Similarly, b is the upper horizontal part and the concrete water pipe part.

The apparatus of this embodiment is roughly divided into an unmanned working device section, a connecting section, and a rear support device section.

The above-mentioned unmanned work equipment part is the inclined part 1 of the penstock.
It consists of a trolley 2 suspended in a vehicle, a television camera 3 equipped with an electric zoom lens mounted thereon, a control unit 4, a battery 5, and a motor generator 6.

The motor generator 6 is suspended as will be described later with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, and is always kept in a horizontal position.

The connecting part consists of a non-metallic rope 7 attached to the truck 7 and a signal cable 8 connected to the control unit 4.

As the non-metallic rope 7 of this example, two ropes made of aramid fiber (trade name: Kepler rope), each having a thickness of 12 mm are used.

By using a non-metallic rope in this manner, the weight of the rope to be hoisted can be reduced, and there is no risk of damaging the inner surface coating of the penstock.

Since the signal cable 8 does not have enough strength to suspend its own weight of several hundred meters, it is tied to the non-metallic rope 7 at approximately constant intervals so that it can be easily attached and detached, as shown in the figure. .

The rear support device section is installed in the upper horizontal part 1b of the penstock and consists of a capstan type winch 9 and an operation panel 10.

9a is the capstan winch winding machine, 9b
is also a hoisting machine.

The connecting portion is wound around a non-metallic pulley 11 and wound up, and the signal cable 8 is removed from the non-metallic rope 7 and wound onto a reel attached to the operation panel 10.

Since the above-mentioned removal and installation are carried out by a worker, the signal cable 8 is not necessarily wound up on a reel, but is stacked in a loop (in a so-called coiled state) on the floor in the upper horizontal section 1b. Good too.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the unmanned working device, and FIG. 3 is a side view thereof. FIG. 4 is a side view showing one example in operation.

The television camera device 3 mounted on the trolley 2 has a light 3c and a television camera 3d mounted on a camera stand 3b supported on an electric rotary stand 3a that is detachably attached to the mast 2a of the trolley 2. It has a similar structure.

The above rotating table 3a is connected to a mast 2a as shown in FIG.
The height dimension H can be adjusted by attaching it to the upper end or, as shown in FIG. 4, to the middle of the mast 2a. 3 _a-1 is the rotation center line of the rotary table 3a. The television camera 3d is set to face in a direction perpendicular to the center line 3a _-1 .

The reason why the height dimension H can be adjusted as described above is that (see Fig. 1) the center line 3 _a-1 is
It can be adjusted to match the center line 1a _-1 of the horizontal iron pipe inclined section 1a.

The motor generator 6 is suspended from the truck 2 by a shaft 6a, as shown in FIG.

As a result, even if the truck 2 is tilted as shown in FIG. 4, the motor generator 6 automatically remains horizontal.

2b shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 is a wheel of the truck 2, and 2c is an outrigger type wheel. The details are shown in FIG.

The wheel 2b has a structure in which a wheel 2b _-3 is rotatably attached to an axle 2b _{- 1} fixed to the truck 2 via a bearing 2b-2.

On the other hand, the outrigger 2c has the following structure.

An axle 2 _c-2 is pivotally connected to the truck 2 by a pin 2 _c-2 so as to be tiltable.

A wheel 2 _{c -3 is rotatably attached near the free end of the axle 2 c-} 2. Furthermore, the vicinity of the free end of the axle 2c _-2 is supported by the truck 2 via a shock absorber 2c _-4 .

In this way, by providing the outrigger type wheels 2c, the truck 2 is stably supported on the inner surface of the penstock (see Figure 1), and the truck 2 is lifted and lowered by the capstan type winch 9. edge,
It runs straight parallel to the center line 1a _-1 of the penstock inclined portion 1a, and meandering is prevented.

A pair of small wheels 12 attached to the left and right sides of the center of Figure 3 (in the depth direction of the page in this figure) are equipped with a welding line counter and a rotation distance meter, details of which are shown in Figures 6 and 6. It is shown in Figure 7.

When a trolley is suspended inside a penstock and inspected remotely using a television camera as in the present invention, it is difficult to know where in the penstock the image displayed on the television screen is. Although this is an essential inspection item, it is quite difficult to accurately detect the position of a truck within a long structure of several hundreds to thousands of meters.

Therefore, this embodiment uses a measuring means using a running distance meter (mechanically, an accumulative meter for the number of revolutions) installed on the running wheel, and the displacement of the axle when the running wheel runs over the weld bead of the penstock. This method was also used in combination with a means of detecting the number of passes through the welding point and counting the number of times the welding point was passed.

Odometers have the advantage of being able to accurately measure distances in 0.1 meter increments, but over the course of traveling over a long distance of several hundred meters, there is a cumulative amount of slippage between the inner wall of the penstock and the outer circumference of the wheels. Because it is done,
Unless this is calibrated, the reliability of the measured values cannot be ensured.

On the other hand, penstocks are made by welding several meters of iron pipes together, and the weld locations are accurately measured and recorded. Therefore, when this weld bead is used as a scale for a ruler, the position of the scale is accurate and there is no risk of it shifting. However, the scale is coarse (every few meters), making detailed position measurements impossible.

Therefore, this embodiment is configured to measure the length of fine scales with the odometer provided on the running wheel, and also to calculate the number of times the weld bead passes and calibrate the display of the odometer.

(See FIGS. 6 and 7) 12a is a hard rubber wheel. 12b is a spring, and the above wheel 12
It acts to press a against the inner surface of the penstock. 12
A lever c acts as a lever to amplify the displacement of a step in the welding line, and when there is a step, it rotates, actuates the limit switch 12d, and sends a step detection signal to the control unit. However, in order to prevent erroneous counting due to fittings inside the pipe, etc., the limit switch 12d has a function of emitting a detection signal only when the left and right limit switches 12d are activated simultaneously. 12e is a rotating distance meter type measuring instrument, and its detection signal is sent to the control unit 4 (FIGS. 2 and 3). The number and distance of welding lines are displayed on a television screen (not shown) of an operation panel 10 (FIG. 1), which is a rear support operation device, by signals from the control unit 4.

When inspecting the inner surface of the penstock 1 using the apparatus of this embodiment (Fig. 1), the cart 2 is suspended (or While lifting), the operation panel 10, via the signal cable 8 and the control unit 4, operates the generator 6, turns on the lighting equipment 3c, captures and zooms in the television camera 3d, rotates the electric turntable 3a, and controls the sensor. 12 to count the number of connecting lines and measure the distance from the starting point. The image signal is transmitted from the control unit 4 to the operation panel 1.
0 and recorded on videotape for recording.

During the inspection, a trolley runs on the inner surface of the inclined part 1a of the penstock and stops, and during this time the camera part 3 is moved to the center of rotation axis _3a-
Rotate around ₁ at a constant speed. If necessary, you can stop the rotation and zoom in for more detailed inspection.

FIG. 8 shows an example of a television image, where 41 is an image of a bead and 42 is pitting occurring around the bead.

The number 43 at the bottom left of the screen indicates the direction of camera rotation.
In this example, "360°" is displayed because it is facing straight down.

The number 44 at the bottom right of the screen is the count of the weld bead on the penstock. The bead 41 in this example is the 35th bead from the top, and "No. 35" is displayed.

The number 45 at the top right of the screen represents the distance from the starting point to the screen position (185.8 meters in this example).

In this example, by looking at the bead count display 44 when the welding bead 41 approaches the center of the screen,
A worker can correct the distance meter display 45. When carrying out the present invention, it is also easily possible to have the control unit 4 automatically perform the above correction by applying known techniques.

The light 3c shown in FIGS. 2 to 4 always illuminates the field of view of the television camera 3d. Since this light 3c is supplied with electric power by the motor generator 6, there is no need to supply electric power from outside the truck.

Furthermore, since the television camera 3d is supplied with power by the battery 5, the power supply voltage is stable and good images can be obtained.

The battery 5 of this embodiment is a closed type battery, and is fixedly mounted on the trolley 2. When carrying out the present invention, it is also possible to use a battery that is not of a closed type, but in this case, it is desirable to suspend the battery from the frame of the truck.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, a safety means was constructed near the lower end of the inclined portion 1a of the penstock 1. A scaffolding chain 61 is stretched in the lower horizontal part 1c of the penstock to partition the pipe, and is covered with a safety net and a flameproof sheet 62, and old tires 63 are arranged and mounted on it.

Furthermore, a protective balloon 64 was provided on the upstream side. If you take safety measures like this, in the unlikely event that trolley 2
Even if the loaded object falls, there is no risk of it getting caught in the water turbine equipment installed downstream of the penstock.

In this embodiment, although not shown, a barricade was also built near the front end (downstream side) of the upper horizontal portion 1b of the penstock 1 to prevent equipment and personnel from falling during inspection.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As detailed above, according to the power plant penstock inspection device according to the present invention, (i) there is no need to supply power to equipment mounted on the trolley from outside the trolley; Since there is no need to drag cables, there is no need for huge winches for lifting and lowering, and (ii) since battery power is supplied to the TV camera, the power supply voltage is stable and high-quality images can be obtained. (iii) When inspecting a penstock with a steep slope, there is no risk of troubles caused by the slope (fuel leakage, lubricant oil leakage, etc. from the generator engine). (iv) Since it can be controlled remotely, it does not require a lot of effort. (v) Clear images, the exact position from the starting point, and the angle of the camera's imaging direction are displayed on the screen. This allows for safe, easy and accurate inspections.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a power plant penstock inspection device according to the present invention, and is an overall explanatory diagram depicting a penstock in cross section. FIG. 2 is a front view of the unmanned working device in the above embodiment, FIG. 3 is a side view thereof, and FIG. 4 is a side view of the unmanned working device in a state of use. FIG. 5 is a partial sectional view of the vicinity of the wheel portion of the truck of the above embodiment. Figures 6 and 7 are explanatory diagrams of the weld bead detection means, and Figure 8 is one of the television images.
It is an external view showing an example. FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of the safety means. Figure 10 is a schematic diagram of a water-shipped power plant. 1... Penstock, 2... Trolley, 2a... Mast, 2b
...Wheel, 2c...Outrigger type wheel, 3...TV camera device, 3a...Electric rotating stand, 3...Camera stand,
3c...Light, 3d...TV camera, 4...Control unit, 5...Battery, 6...Motor generator, 6a...Hanging shaft, 7...Nonmetal rope, 8...
Signal cable, 9... Capstan type winch,
10...Operation panel, 11...Pulley, 12...Welding line counter and distance measuring device.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A device for inspecting the inner surface of a penstock in a power plant, which includes: (a) a trolley mounted with a television camera equipped with an electric zoom lens and suspended into the penstock; (b) the trolley (c) A motor generator suspended from the framework, a battery and a control unit mounted on the truck; , a winch means for hoisting and lowering the trolley by unwinding it, (d) an operation panel set outside the inclined part of the penstock, and (e) a control unit mounted on the trolley and the operation panel. (f) a signal cable that is connected to the panel and transmits control signals and image signals; (g) a driving means for rotating the camera stand and a means for detecting the rotation angle and displaying it on a television screen; (h) a distance traveled by the trolley; and means for displaying the detected distance on a television screen; (i) the motor generator supplies power to a driving means for rotating the camera stand and a lighting device; An inspection device for a power plant penstock, characterized in that the battery supplies power to a control unit and a television camera. 2. The power plant penstock inspection device as set forth in claim 1, wherein the truck is equipped with outrigger-shaped auxiliary wheels that project laterally. 3. The above-mentioned running shoe release detection means consists of a wheel that makes contact with the inner surface of the penstock, an odometer attached to the wheel, a lever that supports the axle of the wheel, and a lever that connects the lever to the trolley. A power plant penstock according to claim 1, characterized in that the power plant penstock is equipped with a lever shaft supported so as to be tiltable against the lever, and a limit switch that is opened and closed by the tilting of the lever. inspection equipment. 4. The above-mentioned wheels are respectively provided on the left and right sides of the trolley, and are each equipped with a lever, a lever shaft, and a limit switch, and when both of the limit switches provided on each simultaneously detect the tilting of the lever, The power plant penstock inspection device according to claim 3, wherein a bead detection signal is generated when the wheel passes through a bead of a welded portion of the penstock. 5. The display of the bogie travel distance is expressed by both the distance from the starting point detected by the odometer and the number of times the bead detection signal is detected, and both of the above are included. 5. The power plant penstock inspection device according to claim 4, further comprising means for displaying each of the following on a television screen.