Trench cutting apparatus and method
AssigneeRoyal IHC Limited
InventorJonathan Ralph Manchester
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A trench cutting apparatus and method, the apparatus comprising a central support element comprising at least one jetting outlet and a cutting element configured to be driven around the central support element. The trench cutting apparatus is configured to be operable in a mechanical cutting mode in which the cutting element is driven around the central support element to cut material forward of the trench cutting apparatus, and a jet cutting mode in which a pump is activated to eject fluid from the at least one jetting outlet to fluidize or cut material forward of the trench cutting apparatus.
Claims19
A trench cutting apparatus comprising:
- a central support element comprising at least one jetting outlet;
- and
- a cutting element configured to be driven around the central support element;
- wherein the trench cutting apparatus is operable in a mechanical cutting mode in which the cutting element is driven around the central support element to cut material in front of the trench cutting apparatus in the direction of travel, and a jet cutting mode in which a pump is activated to eject fluid from the at least one jetting outlet to fluidize or cut material in front of the trench cutting apparatus in the direction of travel, wherein in the jet cutting mode a position of the cutting element is fixed relative to the central support element such that movement of the cutting element around the central support element is prevented.
A method of cutting a trench comprising:
- cutting the trench with a trench cutting apparatus configured to operate in a mechanical cutting mode and a jet cutting mode, wherein the apparatus comprises a central support element comprising at least one jetting outlet and a cutting element configured to be driven around the central support element;
- operating the trench cutting apparatus in at least one of the mechanical cutting mode in which the cutting element is driven around the central support element to cut material in front of the trench cutting apparatus in the direction of travel and the jet cutting mode in which a pump is activated to eject fluid from the at least one jetting outlet to fluidize or cut material in front of the trench cutting apparatus in the direction of travel;
- fixing a position of the cutting element with respect to the central support element during the jet cutting mode such that movement of the cutting element around the central support element is prevented.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.