Cutter replacement robot and its adaptive cutter system for tunnel boring machine

A cutter replacement robot and its adaptive cutter system for tunnel boring machine, wherein the cutter replacement robot and its adaptive cutter system for tunnel boring machine include a cutter change robot mechanism scheme, three types of new TBM cutter system and robot motion analysis;

• I. cutter replacement robot mechanism
• the cutter replacement robot is mainly composed of two parts:
• a body of the cutter replacement robot (1-1) and an end-effector of the cutter replacement robot (1-2);
• the body of the cutter replacement robot (1-1) is responsible for adjusting the position of the cutter center point and receiving the weight and the external load of the end-effector;
• the end-effector of the cutter replacement robot (1-2) is responsible for adjusting its posture and disassembling and assembling the cutter;
• (1) body of the cutter replacement robot
• the body of cutter replacement robot of TBM is mainly composed of main body of the scissor lift (2-1), guide rail (2-2), slide block of guide rail (2-3), big arm of the robot (2-4), sliding base of the robot (2-5) and fixed base of the robot (2-6);
• the fixed base of the robot (2-6) and the sliding base of the robot (2-5) constitute first mobile joint of the robot, and the big arm of the robot (2-4) and the sliding base of the robot (2-5) constitute second mobile joint of the robot, these two mobile joints constitute first degree of freedom of the cutter replacement robot;
• the slide block of guide rail (2-3) and the big arm of the robot (2-4) constitute third joint which is second degree of freedom of the cutter replacement robot;
• the guide rail (2-2) and the slide block of guide rail (2-3) constitute fourth joint of the robot;
• the main body of the scissor lift (2-1) and the guide rail (2-2) constitute fifth joint of the cutter replacement robot;
• the fourth joint and the fifth joint constitute third degree of freedom of the cutter replacement robot;
• (2) end-effector of the cutter replacement robot
• end-effector of the cutter replacement robot of TBM machine includes substrate of the end actuator (5-1), cutter grab device (5-2), screw bolts device (5-3), attitude adjustment device (5-4) and telescopic device (5-5);
• the substrate of the end actuator (5-1) is mainly used for installation and connection, on which threaded holes are connected with linear guide rail (10-1) and telescopic hydraulic cylinder (10-2) through threads to provide the installation carrier for the end-effector;
• the cutter grasping device (5-2) includes hydraulic cylinder for driving claw (6-1), connection joint between claw and hydraulic cylinder (6-2), claw movable part (6-3), claw fixing part (6-4) and connecting flange between claw and reducer (6-5);
• the hydraulic cylinder for driving claw (6-1) provides power for the claw movable part (6-3) tension;
• one end of the hydraulic cylinder for driving claw (6-1) is connected with reducer mounting plate (6-9) through hinging;
• the push rod of the hydraulic cylinder for driving claw (6-1) is connected with the connection joint between claw and hydraulic cylinder (6-2) through threads;
• the connection joint between claw and hydraulic cylinder (6-2) is connected with the claw movable part (6-3) through articulation;
• the claw movable part (6-3) and the claw fixing part (6-4) are connected by articulation;
• the claw fixing part (6-4) is connected with reducer housing cover (6-6) through the connecting flange between claw and reducer (6-5) to achieve the fixing of the cutter grab device (5-2);
• the screw bolts device (5-3) comprises a reducer housing cover (6-6), a reducer housing (6-7), a reducer (6-8), a reducer mounting plate (6-9), a hydraulic motor (6-10), a reducer pinion (7-3), a large gear of the reducer (7-2), a reducer large gear installation plate (7-1), an inner hexagonal sleeve (8-1), cross-shaft universal coupling (8-2) and a transmission shaft (8-3);
• the hydraulic motor (6-10) provides power for screw, and is fixed with the reducer mounting plate (6-9) through threaded connection;
• the reducer (6-8) makes the power of the hydraulic motor (6-10) to reduce speed and increase torsion by connecting threads with the reducer mounting plate (6-9);
• the reducer large gear installation plate (7-1) connects the reducer (6-8) with the large gear of the reducer (7-2) through screw to realize motion transmission;
• the reducer housing (6-7) is fixed with the reducer (6-8) through screw, providing installation space for the reducer pinion (7-3), the large gear of the reducer (7-2) and the transmission shaft (8-3);
• the reducer housing cover (6-6) and the reducer housing (6-7) form a closed space through screw connection, which is convenient for gear protection and lubrication;
• the inner contour shape of the inner hexagonal sleeve (8-1) is hexagonal, and is connected with the transmission shaft (8-3) through the cross-shaft universal coupling (8-2);
• the cross-shaft universal coupling (8-2) realizes the pitch and deflection of the inner hexagonal sleeve (8-1);
• pitch and deflection of the inner hexagonal sleeve (8-1) are used to compensate position;
• the transmission shaft (8-3) is used to transfer motion through spline and the reducer pinion (7-3);
• the attitude adjustment device (5-4) includes a steering hydraulic cylinder support hinge (9-1), an steering hydraulic cylinder (9-2) and a hydraulic cylinder joint (9-3);
• the steering hydraulic cylinder support hinge (9-1) is mounted on the base of reducer support (10-3) by screws to provide a mounting base for the steering hydraulic cylinder (9-2);
• the steering hydraulic cylinder (9-2) provides power for the adjustment action of the end-effector;
• the steering hydraulic cylinder (9-2) is articulated with the steering hydraulic cylinder support hinge (9-1), and push rod of the steering hydraulic cylinder (9-2) is connected to the hydraulic cylinder joint (9-3) through the thread;
• the hydraulic cylinder joint (9-3) is connected with the reducer mounting plate (6-9) through the pin shaft, and drives the cutter grab device (5-2) and the screw bolts device (5-3) to rotate the shaft to realize the fine tuning of the end-effector;
• the telescopic device (5-5) comprises a linear guide rail (10-1), a telescopic hydraulic cylinder (10-2), a reducer support (10-3), a telescopic hydraulic cylinder outlet joint (10-4), a reducer support mounting seat (10-5) and a reducer support slipper (10-6), the linear guide rail (10-1) is fixed on the substrate of the end actuator (5-1) by screw;
• the reducer support slipper (10-6) is matched with the linear guide rail (10-1) to realize load-bearing and guidance;
• the telescopic hydraulic cylinder (10-2) provides power for the telescopic motion of end-effector;
• the cylinder block of the telescopic hydraulic cylinder (10-2) is fixed on the substrate of the end actuator (5-1) by screw;
• the push rod of the telescopic hydraulic cylinder (10-2) is connected with the telescopic hydraulic cylinder outlet joint (10-4) through the thread;
• the bottom of reducer support (10-3) is connected with the reducer support slipper (10-6) through the reducer support mounting seat (10-5);
• the upper part of the reducer support (10-3) and the reducer housing (6-7) form a rotating pair;
• the telescopic hydraulic cylinder outlet joint (10-4) is fixed on the lower surface of the reducer support (10-3) by screw, which drives the reducer support (10-3) to move in a straight line and further drives the hob grab device (5-2), the screw bolts device (5-3) and the attitude adjustment device (5-4) moving in a straight line;
• II. new TBM cutter systems
• the new TBM cutter system scheme 1
• the first integrated full-face rock TBM cutter holder is mainly composed of four components:
• cutter clamping mechanism (11-1), cutter box (11-2), cutter (11-3) and cutter gripper (11-4);
• the cutter clamping mechanism (11-1) is mainly composed of screw (12-1), axle sleeve (12-2), shifting fork (12-3), clamping block (12-4), clamping block slider (12-5), cutter fixed frame (12-6), pin shaft (12-7), tapered roller bearing (12-8) and spin axis clamping block and shifting fork (12-9);
• the screw (12-1) has a stepped section;
• the screw (12-1) can be rotated around itself by two tapered roller bearings (12-8), and the screw (12-1) passes through the threaded hole of the shifting fork (12-3) to drive the shifting fork (12-3) to move up and down;
• the upper end of the screw (12-1) is axially positioned by the axle sleeve (12-2);
• the middle of the shifting fork (12-3) is machined with a vertical threaded hole, and the square cavity is machined on both sides;
• the square cavity of the shifting fork (12-3) matches with the clamping block (12-4) which are connected by two spin axis clamping block and shifting fork (12-9);
• the clamping block (12-4) is installed in the square groove of the cutter fixed frame (12-6) through the pin shaft (12-7);
• the clamping block slider (12-5) is fixed on the square groove of the cutter fixed frame (12-6) by four screws;
• the upper surface of the clamping block slider (12-5) is an arc groove, and the first clamping block (12-4) can slide along the arcuate groove of the clamping block slider (12-5);
• the cutter shaft of the cutter (11-3) is fixed between the two cutter fixed frame (12-6) by screws;
• the cutter box (11-2) is mainly composed of two cutter box welding section (13-1) and two cutter box side panel (13-2);
• the cutter box welding section (13-1) reduces the processing difficulty of the cutter box side panel (13-2), and at the same time acts as the function of connection;
• the inside of the cutter box side panel (13-2) is provided with slot matched with clamping block (13-3) and a profile matching with cutter fixed frame (12-6);
• the contour of the slot matched with clamping block (13-3) is matched with the card edge profile of the first clamping block (12-4), so that the slot matched with clamping block (13-3) can be well positioned while receiving a large impact load from the cutter;
• the cutter box (11-2) is welded to the cutter head during the operation of the full-face tunnel boring machine;
• the cutter gripper (11-4) is used to connect the two cutter fixed frames (12-6), and at the same time, the robot is convenient to take the cutter out of the cutter box;
• III. motion analysis of cutter replacement robot for the TBM
• aiming at the joint working space of the TBM cutter head from the horizontal narrow space to the vertical narrow space, the pole type TBM cutter replacement robot is designed, so that the working range of the cutter replacement robot can be adapted to the internal space of the TBM cutter head.