Abstract
The invention relates to a device for bending pipes, in particular coated pipes, in a preferred manner insulated pipes and/or pipes that are coated with PU foam/PUR rigid foam, for pipelines, said device having a basic body which can be positioned in the pipe and on which a running gear unit is provided for movement in the pipe and having at least three contact elements for producing a contact with an inside wall of the pipe for introducing a bending force, wherein at least two contact elements are provided on one side of the basic body on the ends of the basic body, and at least one contact element is arranged on the opposite side of the basic body, and wherein at least one of the contact elements is provided so as to be movable in relation to the basic body in the direction of the inside wall of the pipe by means of a force-introducing element. In addition the invention relates to a method for bending such pipes.
Claims
1. A device for bending pipes, including coated pipes, including insulated pipes and pipes that are coated with at least one of PU foam and PUR rigid foam, for pipelines, said device having a basic body, which can be positioned in the pipe and on which a running gear unit produces movement in the pipe, said running gear unit comprising a running gear unit basic body which is rotatable in relation to the basic body, wherein the running gear unit comprises a front and a rear running gear unit and the rotational axes of the running gear unit bodies of the running gear units extend coaxially, wherein the rotational axis is situated above a center of gravity of at least one of the device and of the running gear unit, and wherein the running gear unit is arranged in such a manner on the basic body that the basic body is rotatable in relation to the running gear unit and wherein the direction of rotation is substantially perpendicular with reference to the direction of travel, and having at least first, second, and third contact elements for producing a contact with an inside wall of the pipe for introducing a bending force, wherein at least two contact elements are provided on one side of the basic body on the ends of the basic body, and at least one contact element is arranged on the opposite side of the basic body, and wherein the first contact element is provided so as to be movable in relation to the basic body in the direction of the inside wall of the pipe by means of a force-introducing element, the force-introducing element is arranged substantially horizontally with the force introduced horizontally, and a path-diverting element is configured to allow the horizontally introduced force to produce a substantially vertical movement of the first contact element toward the inside wall of the pipe.
2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the second contact element is movable in relation to the basic body in the direction of the inside wall of the pipe by means of a force-introducing element and wherein the third contact element is provided on the basic body on the opposite side to the second contact element, integral with the second contact element which extends up to the end of the basic body on which the second contact element is arranged.
3. The device according to claim 1, wherein the path-diverting element comprises a wedge-shaped element and an element, which corresponds to the wedge-shaped element on the movable contact element and is movable on the wedge-shaped element.
4. The device according to claim 1, wherein the first contact element is movably connected to the basic body by means of a connecting element which is pivotally and rotatably mounted on the contact element by at least one of a cantilever arm or a steel cable, and the connecting element is pivotally and rotatably mounted on the basic body, with at least one return element, including a spring element, provided between the first contact element and the basic body.
5. The device according to claim 1, wherein on one side of the force-introducing element opposite the path-diverting element, on the force-introducing element and on the basic body, a pressing face is configured as an abutment for applying force, wherein the pressing faces come into contact when force is introduced, and the force-introducing element includes a hydraulic cylinder.
6. The device according to claim 1, wherein the running gear unit comprises a running body, which comprises wheels for advancing the device in the pipe and which is movable in relation to the running gear unit basic body to the rotational axis of the running gear unit basic body, by means of at least one hydraulic cylinder.
Description
(1) The invention is explained in more detail below by way of several exemplary embodiments by way of a drawing, in which:
(2) FIG. 1 shows a three-dimensional representation of a first embodiment of a device according to the invention,
(3) FIG. 2 shows an alternative view to FIG. 1,
(4) FIG. 3 shows a part sectioned view of FIG. 1,
(5) FIG. 4 shows a view of FIG. 1 sectioned in the longitudinal direction,
(6) FIG. 5 shows a view of a detail of the front running gear unit of FIG. 1,
(7) FIG. 6 shows a three-dimensional representation of a second embodiment of a device according to the invention,
(8) FIG. 7 shows a view of a detail of FIG. 6 with a contact element extended,
(9) FIG. 8 shows a view of FIG. 6 sectioned in the longitudinal direction,
(10) FIG. 9 shows a view of a detail of the front running gear unit of FIG. 6,
(11) FIG. 10 shows a bending operation with a device according to FIG. 6,
(12) FIG. 11 shows a three-dimensional representation of a third embodiment of a device according to the invention and
(13) FIG. 12 shows a view of FIG. 11 sectioned in the longitudinal direction.
(14) FIGS. 1 to 5 show a first embodiment of a bending device 10 according to the invention. The bending device 10 comprises a basic body 11, on the front and rear end of which in each case a running gear unit 12 is arranged. Two contact elements 13, 14 are provided on the top surface 16 of the basic body 11. The bottom surface 17 of the basic body 11 comprises a bend 18. A contact element 15 is provided centrally on the bottom surface 17. The contact element 13 is realized so as to be movable in the direction of movement A. In order to be able to carry out said movement, the contact element comprises a cantilever arm 19 which connects the contact element 13 to the basic body 11 by means of a pivot point 20. The cantilever arm 19 is connected by means of a second pivot point 21. A path-diverting element 22, which is connected to a force-introducing element 23, is provided below the contact element 13. The force-introducing element 23 is a hydraulic cylinder. The hydraulic cylinder 23 comprises a piston rod 24. Said piston rod is connected to a wedge 27 by means of a pin connection 26 on its side remote from the cylinder chamber 25. The wedge 27 comprises a wedge face 28 on which a second wedge 29 is moveably arranged. The wedge 29 is connected so as to be rotatable to a carrier 30 on which the contact element 13 is arranged. A base 32 is arranged in the interior of the basic body 11. The hydraulic cylinder 23 comprises a bottom cylinder eye 33. Said eye is connected to the basic body 11 by means of a pin connection 34. The cylinder eye 33 comprises an outside face 35. The base 32 comprises a corresponding inside face 36. Between the pin connection 34 and the cylinder eye 33 there is play such that when the hydraulic cylinder 23 is extended, the force is transmitted onto the inside face 36 of the base 32 by means of the outside face 35 on the side of the hydraulic cylinder remote from the contact cylinder 13. The contact element 14 and the contact element 15 are in each case arranged fixedly, but changeably, on the basic body 11.
(15) The running gear unit 12 is realized as follows in this embodiment. A receiving element 38 is arranged on the end face 37 of the basic body 11. A pivot element 39 is rotatably mounted on the receiving element 38. A hinged element 40 is rotatably arranged on the pivot element 39. A hydraulic motor 41, which is connected to a drive shaft 43 by means of a drive pinion 42, is arranged inside the hinged element 40. The drive shaft 43 communicates with the drive wheels 44. The bending device 10 is moved into and out of the pipe by means of the drive wheels 44. It is possible 39 to raise the running gear unit 12 by means of the pivot element 39 such that the contact element 15 comes into contact with the inside wall 102 of the pipe 100 and the drive wheels 44 come off the inside wall 102 of the pipe 100.
(16) FIGS. 6 to 9 show a second embodiment of the bending device 10 according to the invention. A running gear unit 12 is arranged in each case on the front and rear end of the basic body 11. A contact element 13 and a contact element 14 are situated in each case on the front and rear end of the top surface 16. A contact element 15 is fixedly arranged in the center of the bottom surface 17. The bottom surface 17 comprises a bend 18 in the front portion of the running gear unit 12. The front contact element 13 and the rear contact element 14 are connected together by means of two cables 45 as path-limiters and guide means. The design of the path-diverting element 22 and of the force-introducing element 23 corresponds to the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 7, the contact element 13 is additionally connected to the basic body 11 by means of spring elements 46. The spring elements 46 serve for the purpose of conveying the contact element 13 into its original position again when the hydraulic cylinder 23 is retracted. The front running gear unit 12 comprises a shaft 47, which is arranged on the end face 37 of the basic body 11 in the longitudinal direction of the basic body 11. A sleeve 48 is arranged, rotatably mounted, around the shaft 47. A carrier element 49 is arranged fixedly on the sleeve 48. A hinged element 50 is arranged on the carrier element 49 by means of cantilever arms 51. The hinged element 50 comprises a receiving means 52 for wheels 53. By means of hydraulic cylinders 54, which are connected to the carrier element 49 and the hinged element 50, it is possible to raise the hinged elements such that the wheels 53 are moved away from the inside wall of the pipe, as a result of which the bottom contact element 15 comes to rest on the inside wall of the pipe. In order to have sufficient bending space, the hinged elements 50 are raised by means of the hydraulic cylinders 54 until a sufficient spacing is created between the running gear unit 12 and the inside wall 102 of the pipe such that the pipe 100 is able to be bent upward in a corresponding manner by the desired bend angle.
(17) FIG. 10 shows the use of the bending operation 10 according to a second embodiment when bending a pipe 100. The pipe 100 is composed of a pipeline pipe 103 and a coating 101, for example made of PUR rigid foam. The bending device 10 is moved into the pipe 100. A region 104 of the pipe 100 which has already been bent is shown. The running gear unit 12 of the bending device 10 is retracted such that the contact element 15 comes into contact with the inside wall 102 of the pipeline pipe 103. The contact element 13 is extended by means of the hydraulic cylinder 23 and the path-diverting element 22 by the wedge 27 being moved by the piston rod 24 of the hydraulic cylinder and at the same time the wedge 29 on the wedge face 28 of the wedge 27 being moved upward until the contact element 13 contacts the inside wall 102. As a result of continuing the movement of the piston rod 24, the contact element 13 is then pressed against the inside wall 1012 of the pipe 100 and the pipeline pipe 103 of the pipe 100 experiences a bend. In order to develop said bend in a permanent manner, the elastic deformation of the pipe has first of all to be overcome. Plastic deformation of the pipe then takes place such that a corresponding deformation is carried out. After completion of the bending step, when the corresponding bend angle has been obtained, the piston rod 24 is retracted by means of the hydraulic cylinder, as a result of which the wedge 29 is able to be moved downward from the wedge face 28. As the contact face 13 is prevented by means of the cable 45 from movement other than back into the basic body 11, the contact element 13 is moved back into its original position by means the spring elements 46. The elastic portion of the bending operation is recorded and taken into consideration for precision purposes when controlling the bending.
(18) The running gear unit 12 is then extended again and the bending device 10 can be moved out of the pipe up to the next bending location at which the next bending increment can then be carried out in a corresponding manner.
(19) A third embodiment of the bending device 10 according to the invention is shown in FIGS. 11 and 12. Running gear units 12, which are designed as the running gear unit part 12 of the second embodiment which is situated in the region of the contact element 13, are arranged on both ends of the basic body 11. The contact element 13 is once again arranged so as to be movable by means of a corresponding path-diverting element 22 and a force-introducing element 23. Guide cantilever arms 55 are arranged between the contact element 13 and the basic body 11. The bottom contact element 15 extends along a straight portion of the basic body 11 from the start of the curved portion of the basic body 11 toward the end of the basic body 11, on which the contact element 14 is arranged. The contact element 15, in this case, is arranged fixedly on the bottom surface 17 over the entire length of the straight portion. In this embodiment, the contact element 14 can be moved away from the basic body 11 in the direction of movement C. A hydraulic cylinder 56, which is connected to a sliding element 57 on which wedges 58 are arranged, is provided for this purpose. The contact element 14 is arranged on a carrier element 59. Wedges 60, which are arranged so as to be displaceable on a wedge face 61 of the wedges 58, are arranged on the bottom surface of the carrier element 59. If the hydraulic cylinder 56 is extended, the wedges 58 are moved in relation to the wedges 60 such that the wedges 60 are displaced along the wedge faces 61 in the direction of movement C such that the contact element 14 is moved against the inside wall 102 of the pipe 100. The contact element 14 is extended until it contacts the inner wall 102. As a result, the end of the bending device 10, which points to the part of the pipe 100 which has not yet been bent, is wedged inside the pipeline pipe 103 and as a result is locked. The contact element 13 is then extended by means of the hydraulic cylinder 23 and the path-diverting element 22 in the direction of movement A until the contact element 13 reaches the inside wall 102 of the pipeline pipe 102 and contacts the same. The pipe is then bent as described beforehand.
(20) TABLE-US-00001 List of references 10 Bending device 11 Basic body 12 Running gear unit 13 Contact element 14 Contact element 15 Contact element 16 Top surface 17 Bottom surface 18 Bend 19 Cantilever arm 20 Pivot point 21 Pivot point 22 Path-diverting element 23 Force-introducing element/hydraulic cylinder 24 Piston rod 25 Cylinder chamber 26 Pin connection 27 Wedge 28 Wedge face 29 Wedge 30 Carrier 31 Interior 32 Base 33 Cylinder chamber 34 Pin connection 35 Outside face 36 Inside face 37 End face 38 Receiving element 39 Pivot element 40 Hinged element 41 Hydraulic motor 42 Drive pinion 43 Drive shaft 44 Drive wheel 45 Cable 46 Spring element 47 Shaft 48 Sleeve 49 Carrier element 50 Hinged element 51 Cantilever arm 52 Receiving means 53 Wheel 54 Hydraulic cylinder 55 Guide cantilever arm 56 Hydraulic cylinder 57 Sliding element 58 Wedge 59 Carrier element 60 Wedge 61 Wedge face 100 Pipe 101 Coating 102 Inside wall 103 Pipeline pipe 104 Bent region A Direction of movement B Direction of movement C Direction of movement
