TRENCH CUTTER AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING A CUT TRENCH IN THE SOIL

Abstract

The invention relates to a trench cutter and a method for producing a cut trench in the soil having a cutter frame, at least one pair of cutting wheels which are supported and driven in a rotatable manner on a lower end of the cutter frame, wherein each cutting wheel has a plurality of cutting teeth along its outer circumference, and a supply and/or discharge means for supplying or discharging a cutting liquid to or from the cut trench in the region of the cutting wheels. According to the invention provision is made in that spaced from the supply and/or discharge means a cleaning device is provided for cleaning the cutting wheels during the cutting operation with a cleaning fluid and in that the cleaning device has a plurality of cleaning nozzles which are directed onto the outer circumference of at least one cutting wheel and designed to inject the cleaning fluid to loosen adhering soil material.

Claims

1.-14. (canceled)

15. A trench cutter for producing a cut trench in the soil having a cutter frame, at least one pair of cutting wheels which are supported and driven in a rotatable manner on a lower end of the cutter frame, wherein each cutting wheel has a plurality of cutting teeth along its outer circumference, and a supply and/or discharge means for supplying or discharging a cutting liquid to or from the cut trench in the region of the cutting wheels, wherein spaced from the supply and/or discharge means a cleaning device is provided for cleaning the cutting wheels during the cutting operation with a cleaning fluid and wherein the cleaning device has a plurality of cleaning nozzles which are directed onto the outer circumference of at least one cutting wheel and designed to inject the cleaning fluid to loosen adhering soil material, wherein on the cutter frame reamer plates are arranged for scraping off adhering soil material from the cutting wheels, and the cleaning nozzles are integrated into the reamer plates or fixed close thereto.

16. The trench cutter according to claim 15, wherein two pairs of cutting wheels are provided and the supply and/or discharge means is arranged in a center between the two cutting wheels.

17. The trench cutter according to claim 15, wherein the cleaning nozzles are supported in an adjustable manner.

18. The trench cutter according to claim 15, wherein the cleaning device has nozzle rails, wherein one nozzle rail is in each case arranged along the outer circumference of each cutting wheel and runs approximately parallel to the axis of rotation of the cutting wheel.

19. The trench cutter according to claim 18, wherein on the nozzle rail bar-shaped cleaning nozzles are fixed, the cutting teeth on a cutting wheel are arranged in annular cutting tooth rows which, by forming annular spaces, are spaced axially from each other, and the bar-shaped cleaning nozzles protrude into the annular spaces.

20. The trench cutter according to claim 18, wherein the nozzle rails are connected via supply lines to at least one injection pump, with which the cleaning fluid can be injected under pressure.

21. The trench cutter according to claim 20, wherein a control means is provided, with which the injection pressure and/or an injection quantity of the cleaning fluid can be set.

22. The trench cutter according to claim 15, wherein the cleaning fluid corresponds to the cutting liquid.

23. The trench cutter according to claim 15, wherein the supply means has a supply pump for supplying the cutting liquid, wherein by way of the cutting wheels the cutting liquid and the cleaning fluid are mixed in the cut trench with cut-off soil material to a hardenable suspension.

24. The trench cutter according to claim 15, wherein the discharge means has a suction pump, with which cutting liquid with the cleaning fluid and cut-off soil material, is sucked out of the cut trench.

25. The trench cutter according to claim 15, wherein on an upper end of the cutter frame a rope or a rod is fixed, with which the trench cutter is suspended and vertically adjustable on a carrier implement.

26. A method for cutting a cut trench in the soil with a trench cutter according to claim 15, wherein the cutting wheels are driven in a rotating manner and the trench cutter is sunk into the soil and soil material is cut off, wherein the cut trench is produced in the soil, and that during the cutting a cleaning fluid is sprayed via a cleaning device onto the outer circumference of the cutting wheels, wherein soil material adhering to the cutting wheels is loosened, wherein adhering soil material is scraped off from the cutting wheels by reamer plates which are arranged on the cutter frame, and the cleaning fluid is sprayed onto the outer circumference of the cutting wheels by means of cleaning nozzles which are integrated into the reamer plates or fixed close thereto.

Description

[0026] The invention is described in greater detail hereinafter by way of a preferred embodiment illustrated schematically in the Figures, wherein show:

[0027] FIG. 1 a perspective view of a lower part of a trench cutter according to the invention with the cutting wheels;

[0028] FIG. 2 a front view of the trench cutter of FIG. 1;

[0029] FIG. 3 a side view of the trench cutter of FIGS. 1 and 2;

[0030] FIG. 4 a view of the trench cutter of FIGS. 1 to 3 from below; and

[0031] FIG. 5 a perspective view of a part of the cleaning device for the cutting wheels.

[0032] A trench cutter 10 according to the invention with a cutter frame 12 is shown in different views in FIGS. 1 to 4. On a lower end of the cutter frame 12, only shown partially, on a first gear plate 11a first cutting wheels 14 are arranged pairwise in a rotatable manner about a joint axis of rotation and on a second gear plate 11b a pair of second cutting wheels 15 are jointly supported in a rotatable manner about another axis of rotation. The cutting wheels 14, 15 each have a drum-shaped hub 17, on the outer circumference of which a plurality of cutting teeth 20 with cutting tooth holders 18 are fixed. The cutting teeth 20 are supported in a releasable manner in the cutting tooth holders 18. The cutting tooth holders 18 with the cutting teeth 20 are arranged along the outer circumference of each of the cutting wheels 14, 15 in annular cutting tooth rows 22, as can be taken from the illustration of FIGS. 3 and 4. The individual cutting tooth rows 22 are spaced axially from each other so that annular spaces 24 are formed between them.

[0033] During the cutting operation, in particular when cutting off cohesive soil such as clay, soil materials can adhere to the cutting teeth 20, the cutting tooth holders 18 and in the spaces 24 between the cutting teeth 20 or the cutting tooth holders 18. To remove adhering soil material plate-shaped reamer plates 50 are mounted on the underside of the cutter frame 12, which engage in a comb-like manner into the annular spaces 24 between the cutting teeth 20 in order to mechanically scrape off adhering soil material. The reamer plates 50 are fixed on both sides of a central discharge means 30 that is designed to suck off cutting liquid from the cut trench produced. The discharge means 30 has a suction box 32 which extends parallel to the axes of rotation and tapers in the downward direction. On its underside the suction box 32 is provided with a plurality of suction openings 34, as can be taken from the illustration of FIG. 3.

[0034] The trench cutter 10 illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 4 is designed to carry out a cutting method, in which the stripped soil material is sucked off together with surrounding stabilizing or cutting liquid from the operating region of the cutting wheels 14, 15 and is conveyed above ground. Alternatively, instead of the discharge means 30 a corresponding supply means 30 can also be provided, through which cutting liquid is supplied to the region between the cutting wheels 14, 15. Such a trench cutter 10 would be designed to carry out a cutting method, in which the stripped soil material, together with the cutting liquid, is mixed in-situ in the cut trench to a suspension that preferably hardens after removal of the trench cutter 10 from the cut trench and thereby hardens into a diaphragm wall segment or a diaphragm wall panel for a diaphragm wall.

[0035] According to the invention, spaced from both sides of the discharge means 30 a cleaning device 40 with cleaning nozzles 46 is arranged that are directed onto the outer circumference of the cutting wheels 14, 15. A part of the cleaning device 40 is shown in an enlarged illustration in FIG. 5. The cleaning device 40 has two bracket-like holding frames 41, of which one holding frame 41 is shown in FIG. 5. At the lower end of the U-shaped holding frame 41 a nozzle rail 42 is fixed in each case which is spaced from the discharge means 30 and directed parallel to the axes of rotation of the cutting wheels 14, 15. The two nozzle rails 42 of two cutting wheels 14, 15 lying opposite in each case are connected via a supply line 44, only illustrated partially, to a non-depicted supply pump. Via the supply pump a cleaning fluid, in particular a liquid, can be supplied under pressure via the supply lines 44 to the nozzle rails 42.

[0036] On an underside of the nozzle rails 42 bar-shaped cleaning nozzles 46 are fixed that are adjustable by way of clamping nuts 48. Through the clamping nuts 48 the cleaning nozzles 46 can be released and altered at least in some regions in their orientation and in this way set to the respective arrangement of cutting teeth 20 on the cutting wheels 14, 15. The cleaning nozzles 46 have nozzle openings, from which the cleaning fluid emerges under pressure in order that soil material adhering to the cutting teeth 20 and the cutting tooth holders 18 is loosened during the cutting operation. The cleaning nozzles 46 engage in a comb-like manner into the annular spaces 24.

[0037] The supply pump for injecting the cleaning fluid into the cleaning nozzles 46 can preferably be arranged on the cutter frame 12 of the trench cutter 10. By preference, the cutting liquid present in the cut trench can be used as cleaning fluid.

[0038] By way of the described trench cutter 10 according to the invention the previously described method for producing a cut trench in the soil can be carried out, wherein during the cutting operation with rotating cutting wheels 14, 15 adhering soil material can be loosened from the cutting wheels 14, 15 by the cleaning device 40.