US 12,320,461 B2Granted

Stop and go pig

AssigneeRosen IP AG

InventorsMatthias Grote, Ingo Nee

Life of this patent

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Abstract

A pig is provided for use in pipelines filled with a flowing fluid. The pig includes a pig body, a drive element which may be a propeller disposed on said pig body which can be rotated by the flowing fluid. The pig also includes a generator unit connected to the drive element through which a movement of the drive element may be converted into electrical energy, and a locking means through which the position and/or the speed of the pig inside the pipeline may be fixed. The generator unit is designed to operate as a motor through which the drive element may be made to rotate and which is designed to set a speed for the pig that is different from the flow velocity of the flowing fluid inside the pipeline and that the pig is provided with an energy storage unit for electrical energy, which is connected to the generator unit.

Claims19

Dependent claims

A pig for use in pipelines filled with a flowing fluid, the pig comprising:

a pig body,
a drive element, which can be set in rotation by the flowing fluid, disposed on said pig body,
a generator unit connected to the drive element, through which a movement of the drive element may be converted into electrical energy, and
a locking means through which a position and/or a speed of the pig inside a pipeline may be fixed,
wherein the generator unit is located inside the pig body and is also operable as a motor through which the drive element may be made to rotate and which sets the speed for the pig that is different from the flow velocity of the flowing fluid inside the pipeline,
wherein the pig is provided with an energy storage unit for electrical energy, which is connected to the generator unit, and
wherein the drive element is disposed outside the pig body such that the drive element can be set in rotation by the fluid flowing past the outside of the pig body.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 17/613,329Filed 20 May 2020
Priority: DE 10 2019 113 385.820 May 2019
Published: US 2022/0213999 A17 Jul 2022
Granted: 3 Jun 2025
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification24 codes

F16L 55/32
Of the propulsion means, e.g. towed by cables: being self-contained
B08B 9/049
Using cleaning devices introduced into and moved along the pipes: having self-contained propelling means for moving the cleaning devices along the…
B08B 9/051
Having self-contained propelling means for moving the cleaning devices along the pipes , i.e. self-propelled: the cleaning devices having internal…
B08B 9/055
Moved along the pipes by a fluid, e.g. by fluid pressure or by suction: the cleaning devices conforming to, or being conformable to, substantially…