Cable crawling underwater inspection and cleaning robot

A robot for cleaning and/or inspecting interiors of fluid containing hollow objects comprising:

• a robot housing for carrying cleaning and/or inspection tools;
• drive means in said housing for engaging and advancing said robot along a cable disposed within a fluid containing hollow object to be cleaned and/or inspected;
• guidance means to guide said robot through a hollow object to be inspected and/or cleaned as said robot advances along a cable to which it is engaged;
• and,
• a turbine and generator pair attached to said housing to extract energy from a flow of fluid in a hollow object to be inspected and/or cleaned and convert said energy to electricity for use in powering said robot.

A robot for cleaning and/or inspecting interiors of fluid containing hollow objects comprising:

• a robot housing for carrying cleaning and/or inspection tools;
• drive means in said housing for engaging and advancing said robot along a cable disposed within a fluid containing hollow object to be cleaned and/or inspected;
• said drive means comprising:
• a) a frame;
• b) a first drive shaft mounted in said frame having a first end and a second end;
• c) a drive pulley attached to said first end of said first drive shaft for engaging a cable;
• d) means to rotate said first drive shaft and said drive pulley;
• e) first and second sheaves attached by means of a pivot to said frame having first and second idle pulleys, respectively, mounted thereon, said sheaves being positionable in a first, nonoperational position in which a cable can be placed between said drive pulley and said pivot, and in a second, operational position in which said first and second idle pulleys coact with said drive pulley to pinch a cable between said idle pulleys and said drive pulley.
• f) a second drive shaft mounted in said frame having first and second ends, said second drive shaft also being rotatable by said means to rotate;
• g) a pinch roller attached to said first end of said second drive shaft and positioned to coact with said first and second idle pulleys and cause a cable to be pinched between said pinch roller and said idle pulleys;
• and,
• guidance means to guide said robot through a hollow object to be inspected and/or cleaned as said robot advances along a cable to which it is engaged.

A robot for cleaning and/or inspecting interiors of fluid containing hollow objects comprising:

• a robot housing for carrying cleaning and/or inspection tools;
• drive means in said housing for engaging and advancing said robot along a cable disposed within a fluid containing hollow object to be cleaned and/or inspected;
• guidance means to guide said robot through a hollow object to be inspected and/or cleaned as said robot advances along a cable to which it is engaged, said guidance means comprising a plurality of V-shaped legs attached to said robot housing, each said pair of V-shaped legs having a pair of free ends and roller means disposed at said free ends for engaging the inner surfaces of a hollow object to be inspected and/or cleaned;
• and,
• a plurality of retractable legs disposed within said housing which can be extended to engage the inner surfaces of a hollow object to be inspected and/or cleaned for anchoring said robot within a hollow object to be inspected or cleaned during a cleaning operation.

A method for cleaning obstructions from an interior wall of a water flow carrying pipe comprising the steps of:

• a) positioning a cable within a water carrying pipe to be cleaned;
• b) propelling a cable crawling robot along said cable into said water carrying pipe, said robot including a housing for carrying cleaning and/or inspection tools;
• c) employing a plurality of adjustable guidance fins spaced on an outer surface of said robot housing to steer said robot laterally within the pipe to be cleaned to enable a close inspection of the pipe to be conducted;
• d) anchoring said robot within said pipe if obstructions are found located within said pipe;
• and,
• e) cleaning the obstructions out of said pipe with said cleaning tools.