Trench wall apparatus and method for creating a trench in the ground

Abstract

A trench wall apparatus includes a base frame held at its top end by a holding means held by at least one soil excavation means, which is positioned at a bottom end of the base frame. When soil is excavated while forming the trench, the trench wall apparatus is held by a clamping means that includes at least two clamping elements on opposite sides extended laterally by at least one actuating cylinder, whereby at least one part of the trench wall apparatus is clamped in the trench, and a pressing means applies a pressing force on the at least one soil excavation means. The clamping elements and clamping cylinder are positioned on an intermediate frame displaceably mounted along the base frame. The intermediate frame is clamped and fixed to the ground by the clamping means. The base frame having the soil excavation means is pressed downward by the pressing means.

Claims

1. A trench wall apparatus for creating a trench in the ground, the trench wall apparatus comprising: a base frame; at least one soil excavation means, which is positioned at a bottom section of the base frame; a holding means configured to vertically suspend the trench wall apparatus at a top section of the base frame; a clamping means with at least two planar clamping elements disposed on opposite sides of the trench wall apparatus and laterally displaceable, and at least one actuating cylinder, through which the clamping elements are configured to extend laterally against a wall of the trench in order to clamp at least one part of the trench wall apparatus in the trench; and a pressing means configured to apply a pressing force to the at least one soil excavation means, wherein the clamping means with the at least two planar clamping elements and the at least one actuating cylinder are positioned on an intermediate frame, which is mounted along the base frame to a mounting section such that the intermediate frame is displaceable; the pressing means is positioned between the intermediate frame and the base frame and has a plurality of pressing cylinders; the pressing cylinders are arranged in a tilted way toward a vertical plane, whereby the base frame with the soil excavation means is configured for being pressed downward relative to the intermediate frame when actuating the pressing cylinders; and each tilted pressing cylinder is articulated to the base frame on one end and is directly connected to one of the planar clamping elements on an other end.

2. The trench wall apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the intermediate frame is mounted on an external side of the base frame.

3. The trench wall apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the intermediate frame has a base carriage, on which the clamping elements are mounted for being displaced.

4. The trench wall apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the at least one actuating cylinder is a plurality of actuating cylinders that are positioned between the clamping elements and the base carriage.

5. The trench wall apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the at least one actuating cylinder includes first actuating cylinders that are positioned horizontally.

6. The trench wall apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the at least one actuating cylinder includes second actuating cylinders that are tilted toward a horizontal direction.

7. The trench wall apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each clamping element is connected in a displaceable way to a base carriage by at least one pivoted lever.

8. The trench wall apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the at least one soil excavation means has at least one cutting wheel configured as a trench cutter.

9. The trench wall apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the at least one soil excavation means has a grabbing bucket.

10. A method for creating a trench in the ground, the method comprising: providing a trench wall apparatus according to claim 1; holding the top section of the base frame of the trench wall apparatus by the holding means; excavating soil by means of the at least one soil excavation means while forming the trench; clamping at least the intermediate frame in the trench by extending the at least two clamping elements against a wall of the trench by the at least one actuating cylinder; and applying a pressing force to the at least one soil excavation means by the pressing means.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 a perspective view of a scaled-down trench wall apparatus according to the invention;

(2) FIG. 2 a perspective detail view of a clamping means of the trench wall apparatus of FIG. 1;

(3) FIG. 3 a side view of the clamping means of FIG. 2 in a clamping state;

(4) FIG. 4 a side view of the clamping means of FIG. 3 in a clamping state and during generating a downward pressing force;

(5) FIG. 5 an exploded view of the clamping means of the FIGS. 2 to 4;

(6) FIG. 6 another perspective view of the clamping means of the FIGS. 2 to 5, in a partly dismantled state; and

(7) FIG. 7 a perspective view of a modification of the scaled-down trench wall apparatus shown in FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(8) A trench wall apparatus 10 according to the invention according to FIG. 1 is constructed as a trench cutter with a base frame 12 at the bottom end of which two pairs of cutting wheels 22 are attached as a soil excavation means 20. The trench wall apparatus 10 is attached to a mast of a carrier vehicle (not shown) at the top end of the base frame 12 via a holding means 14 that is not shown in more detail, in particular by means of a carrying rope.

(9) The base frame 12 is provided with protruding, plate-shaped guiding elements 13 along its external side, which serve to guide the trench cutter inside the cut trench. In an intermediate area of the base frame 12, in particular in the lower half and near to the soil excavation means 20 on a mounting section 16 is designed a clamping means 50 with two plate-shaped clamping elements 52 on opposite side. The plate-shaped clamping elements 52 essentially extend along the entire longitudinal side or broadside of the trench wall apparatus 10, achieving a support with a large surface area along the wall of the trench being cut. Through the corresponding rotation of the cutting wheels 22, the trench is excavated via hydraulic drives on the base frame 12 that are not shown in more detail. The excavated soil material is pumped away together with a stabilizing suspension, which is supplied to the trench being built itself, via a pumping means (not shown) on the base frame 12 and transported away towards above ground.

(10) During a normal operation, the maximum pressing force of the slurry wall apparatus 10 onto the soil excavation means 20 is given and limited by the weight of the trench wall apparatus 10. A pressing means 30 with pressing cylinders 32 is provided in order to increase a pressing force on the soil excavation means 20, for instance when impacting on harder stony material.

(11) The design and operation made of the clamping means 50 and the pressing means 30 shall be described in greater detail below in connection with the FIGS. 2 to 6.

(12) The clamping means 50 with the two plate-shaped clamping elements 52 is mounted on an intermediate frame 60 with a case-shaped base carriage 62. The base carriage 62 with its rectangular open cross-section is axially mounted onto the box-shaped mounting section 16 of the base frame 12 along a longitudinal axis of the base frame 12. The case-shaped base carriage 62 thus fittingly encloses the rectangular mounting section 16 as shown particularly clearly in the FIGS. 3 and 5.

(13) In order to essentially move the plate-shaped clamping elements 52 horizontally between a retracted resting position and a clamping position shown in the FIGS. 3 and 4, the clamping means 50 has several, preferably four, first actuating cylinders 54. These essentially extend horizontally through recesses in the base carriage 62 and the mounting section 16 between the two clamping elements 52, to which they are flexibly attached. In this way, each of the clamping elements 52 positioned in parallel and opposite serves as an abutment for the other clamping element 52. Preferably, the first horizontal actuating cylinders 54 do not touch the base carriage 62 nor the mounting section 16. The recesses 17 in the mounting section 16 are designed as vertical directed long holes to allow the first actuating cylinders 54 that protrude through them to move vertically.

(14) The clamping elements 52 are each flexibly attached to the base carriage 62 via two pivoted levers 64 positioned parallel to each other. Furthermore, there are respectively arranged two second actuating cylinders 56 for each clamping element 52, which are positioned in a tilted position toward the horizontal. The second actuating cylinders 56 are each articulated to one eye of the clamping element 52 and one eye of the base carriage 62. By actuating the second actuating cylinder 56 an alignment of the plate-shaped clamping elements 52 can be adjusted in deviation to the vertical.

(15) In order to generate a pressing force on the soil excavation means 20, the invention has a pressing means 30 with two hydraulic cylinders 32 per clamping element 52 is provided above the clamping means 30. The pressing cylinders 32 extend from one eye 53 on the top end of the clamping elements 52 as far as a holder 18, which are firmly attached to the base frame 12 of the trench wall apparatus 10.

(16) In the embodiment shown, the cylinder housings 34 of the pressing cylinders 32 are attached to the holder 18, while the respective pistons 36 extend to the clamping elements 52.

(17) In the FIGS. 2 and 3, the clamping means 50 is shown in a clamping state, whereby no additional pressing force is applied to the soil excavation means 20 by the pressing means 30.

(18) Through retracting of the pressing cylinders 32, whereby the pistons 36 are retracted into the cylinder housings 34, the holders 18 and the base frame 12 firmly connected to them are pressed axially downward in regard to the outwardly extended clamping elements 52, which are clamped and thus firmly fixed to the wall of the trench. At the same time, the base frame 12 with its mounting section 16 slides downward relative to the base carriage 62 of the intermediate frame 60, as shown clearly in FIG. 4. This means that, through retracting of the pressing cylinders 32, a pressing force can be applied to the base frame 12 and to the soil excavation means 20 attached to the underside of the base frame 12. At the same time, the base frame 12 can be moved downward in regard to the clamped clamping means 50 and the base carriage 62. In the arrangement according to the invention, the pressing force applied by the pressing cylinders 32 thus adds with the weight of the base frame 12, which remains resting on the soil excavation means 20. According to the invention, a relatively high pressing force can thus be applied to the soil excavation means 20 overall, in particular to the cutting wheels 22.

(19) The recesses 17 in the mounting section 16 are in the form of vertically directed long holes to allow the clamping means 50 to be displaced relative to the base carriage 12 with the mounting section 16. By a corresponding extending of the pressing cylinders 32 back into the position according to FIG. 3, this conversely causes the base frame 12 to lift and slide again in regard to the base carriage 62 of the intermediate frame 60, so that the soil excavation means 20 is then unburdened correspondingly.