Apparatus for cleaning and descaling pipe lines
AssigneeThe Walton Mole Company Limited
InventorsDavid R. Thompson, Douglas Walton, Thomas W. Bainbridge, Leslie Tibbels
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The invention comprises a cage mountable on a pipe line and bearing a carriage movable on the cage around the pipe line. The carriage supports an elongate arm to lie in the longitudinal direction of the pipe and has a jet cleaning head reciprocable along the arm to clean the exterior of the pipe line. The cage has driven rollers thereon to drive the cage along the pipe line; and an indexing mechanism is provided to step the carriage around the pipe line.
Claims32
Apparatus for cleaning and descaling the exterior of an elongate cylindrical structure, comprising first means moveably mounted on the exterior of the structure while engaging the exterior of the structure and surrounding the structure, an elongate arm carried by said first means, said elongate arm being orientated to extend longitudinally of the structure, and a carriage supporting a cleaning head for directing a jet of fluid onto the exterior of the structure, said carriage being reciprocable along the arm to execute a plurality of cleaning strokes of the cleaning head.
Apparatus for cleaning and descaling the exterior of an elongate cylindrical structure, comprising first means moveably mounted on the exterior of the structure so as to surround the structure, said first means comprising a structure with roller means which grips the exterior of the structure, an elongate arm carried by said first means and arranged to extend longitudinally of the structure, and a carriage supporting a cleaning head for directing a jet of fluid onto the exterior of the structure, said carriage being reciprocable along the arm to execute a plurality of cleaning strokes of the cleaning head and means for driving the apparatus along said cylindrical structure, said means comprising means for driving said roller means which grips the exterior of said cylindrical structure.
Apparatus for cleaning and descaling the exterior of an elongate cylindrical structure comprising first means mountable on the exterior of the structure so as to surround the structure, an elongate arm carried by said first means oriented to extend longitudinally of the structure, and a carriage supporting a cleaning head for directing a jet of fluid onto the exterior of the structure, said carriage being reciprocable along the arm to execute a plurality of cleaning strokes of the cleaning head, said carriage and a support structure therefor extending around the circumference of said cylindrical structure, the carriage being mounted on the support structure to be moveable on the support structure around the circumference of said cylindrical structure, said carriage comprising a drive wheel to engage on the support structure and rotate the carriage around the support structure, said apparatus also including an indexing mechanism actuable when the cleaning head reaches the end of each cleaning stroke to step the arm and cleaning head a predetermined distance in the circumferential direction of the structure about said first means, said indexing mechanism comprising a pair of slides located to be moved a predetermined distance in response to movement of the reciprocable carriage respectively in the direction of movement of the carriage, a pair of levers, each connected to a respective one of the slides, and a third lever connected to said two levers remotely from the slides, said third lever being pivoted so that movement of either of said two levers of said movement of the respective slide causes the third lever to be rotated about the pivot axis in one direction, said slides being biased so that on completion of said movement they effect a return movement to the return of the third lever by rotation thereof about its pivot axis in the opposite direction:
- the indexing mechanism further comprising means for using the rotation of the third lever in said one direction to effect an indexed movement of the carriage of said first means on the support structure.
Apparatus for cleaning and descaling the exterior of an elongate cylindrical structure when the cylindrical structure is presented in one of a plurality of positions including vertical and horizontal comprising first support means moveably mounted on the exterior of the structure so as to surround the structure, said first support means being provided with roller means mounted thereto which engage the exterior of the cylindrical structure, an elongate arm carried by said first support means extending longitudinally along the cylindrical structure and a carriage supporting a cleaning head moveably mounted on said elongate arm, said cleaning head being adapted to direct a jet of pressurized liquid onto the exterior of the cylindrical structure, said carriage being reciprocable along the arm allowing a plurality of cleaning strokes of the cleaning head and means for driving the apparatus along said cylindrical structure, said driving means comprising means for driving said roller means and moving said first support means along the exterior of said cylindrical structure while the roller means substantially continuously engage the exterior of the cylindrical structure.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.