Ground drilling machine and rod exchanger utilized therefor

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a ground drilling machine such as earth drilling (boring) machine for drilling a bore in earth for embedding, without open-cut operation to the earth, gas pipe, electric cable, signal cable sheath tube, fiber cable, water-supply pipe, sewer (sewage) pipe and the like, and a crawler drill for boring an earth to insert an explosive for blasting use, and also relates to a rod exchanger utilized for such ground drilling machine.

2. Prior Art

Prior art provides a crawler drill such as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. SHO 58-189493.

The crawler drill disclosed in this publication is equipped with a freely travelling vehicle body, a frame structure mounted to the vehicle body, a drilling unit movable along the frame structure, a rod having, at its front end, a drill bit and rotated and propelled by this drilling unit and a rod exchanger mounted to the frame structure. The rods are incorporated in the rod exchanger so that the rods are accommodated in turns to the drilling unit to sequentially drill the earth (ground).

This rod exchanger is provided with a main body into which a plurality of rods are accommodated and a rod exchanging unit or section mounted to the main body so as to carry the rods between the main body and the frame structure. The main body of the rod exchanger is mounted to the side surface of the frame structure.

Accordingly, in such crawler drill of the prior art, since the rod exchanger is cantilevered by the frame structure, a large load is applied to the frame structure, so that it is obliged to make the frame structure large and heavy.

Furthermore, in such crawler drill, a large bending load will be applied to the machine body of the rod exchanger, and particularly, a large load will be applied to a portion of the machine body which is mounted to the frame structure. Therefore, it becomes necessary to make the strength of that portion large so as to allow an entire weight of the rod exchanger to be supported, thus making the size and weight of the rod exchanger large and heavy, being disadvantageous.

As mentioned above, large size and heavy weight of the frame structure and the rod exchanger result in large load acting on the vehicle body of the crawler drill, and hence, the vehicle body itself is made large and heavy.

Such defects bring the entire structure of the crawler drill having a large size and heavy weight, and hence, it is difficult to carry out the drilling working by the crawler drill set at a narrow site or portion. The entire height (from the ground surface) of the crawler drill is high, preventing worker's visibility, and moreover, it is difficult for the worker to exchange the rods and carry out the rod propelling operation and, moreover, any safe operation cannot be expected because of high position of the gravity center of the crawler drill.

The body of the rod exchanger is formed with a plurality of rod accommodation (receiving) recesses arranged along a circular locus thereof. The rod exchanging unit is composed of a swingable arm and a pair of claws provided, to be opened or closed, at the front end portion of the arm. A rod accommodated in the recess formed to the rod exchanger body is grasped by the paired claws, and the arm is swung and carried to the frame. When reached to the frame, the rod is released from the claws and the rod is then connected to the drilling unit. According to the manner reverse to that mentioned above, the rod is accommodated in the recess of the rod exchanger body.

In order to carry out the aforementioned operation, it is necessary to secure a large space for the swing motion of the claws in opposite sides of the rod diametral direction at the time when the rod received in the rod accommodation recess is grasped. Therefore, the fact that the large space is required leads to a defect that it is necessary to increase a distance between adjacent two rods accommodated in the recesses of the rod exchanger body, and hence, the number of the rods to be accommodated is reduced.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to substantially eliminate defects or drawbacks encountered in the prior art mentioned above and to provide a ground drilling machine capable of making a frame structure light and compact and a rod exchanger utilized therefor capable of accommodating a lot of rods without increasing an arrangement or location space.

This and other objects can be achieved according to the present invention by providing a ground drilling machine comprising:

a machine body;

a rod propelling device having a frame structure mounted to the machine body;

a rod exchanging device mounted to the frame structure of the rod propelling device; and

a support unit provided for the machine body for supporting the rod exchanging device.

According to this structure, since the rod exchanging device is supported by the machine body, a load to be applied to the frame structure of the rod propelling device can be reduced, so that the frame structure can be made light and compact.

Furthermore, since a large bending load is not applied to the main body portion of the rod exchanging device, the rod exchanging device itself can be made light and compact. Particularly, any large load is not applied to the portion through which the rod exchanging device is mounted to the frame structure, so that this portion can be especially made light and compact.

As mentioned above, the frame structure, the rod exchanging device and the portion through which the rod exchanging device is mounted to the frame structure are all made light and compact, so that the load to be applied to the machine body can be reduced, thus making the machine body compact and light, resulting in the realization of the light and compact entire structure of the ground drilling machine.

Accordingly, the ground drilling machine having a large working capacity can be installed in a narrow working site such as on a sidewalk or a narrow path, thus improving a working efficiency.

Moreover, since the total height of the ground drilling machine can be made low, the visibility of an operator can be improved and the rod exchanging working and rod propelling working can be performed smoothly. Also, the ground drilling machine can have a low center of gravity to be stable.

In a preferred embodiment of the above aspect, the frame structure is movably mounted to the machine body and also the rod exchanging device is movably supported by the support unit also.

According to this structure, the rod exchanging device is moved together with the frame structure, so that the rod propelling device can be easily set to an aimed ground position. Moreover, since the positional relationship between the frame structure and the rod exchanging device is always constant, the rod exchanging working can be done regardless of the position of the frame structure.

Furthermore, the frame structure and the rod exchanging device can be simultaneously moved with respect to the machine body and the support portion of the machine body, respectively, the width of the moving contact portions thereof can be made large, so that the movement thereof can be stably performed and the machine body can be easily and accurately set to the aimed position with less swing motion thereof.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, there is also provided a rod exchanging device, particularly for the ground drilling machine of the aspect mentioned above, comprising:

a main body portion;

a rod accommodation portion mounted to the main body portion for accommodating a plurality of rods with a space from each other; and

a rod exchanging unit provided with a rod grasping device having a grasping portion which is movable between a position inside the main body portion and a position outside the main body portion, the grasping portion being formed with a fixed portion and a movable portion.

According to this structure, the rod can be grasped by both the fixed portion and the movable portion even in a presence of a small space capable of one movable portion being moved near the rod accommodated in the rod accommodation portion, and therefore, the space between the adjacent rods accommodated in the rod accommodation portion can be made small and, hence, a lot of rods can be accommodated.

The rod accommodation portion may provide a disc shaped structure adapted to accommodate a plurality of rods along the circular locus thereof with a space from each other and to be rotatable.

According to this structure, rod accommodation portion can be made rotatable which requires less space for accommodation, thus providing a light and compact rod exchanging device.

The nature and further characteristic features of the present invention will be made more clear from the following descriptions made with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1

is a right side view showing one embodiment of a ground drilling machine according to the present invention;

FIG. 2

is a front view of the ground drilling machine of

FIG. 1

;

FIG. 3

is a plan view of the ground drilling machine of

FIG. 1

;

FIG. 4

is a left side view of the ground drilling machine of

FIG. 1

;

FIG. 5

is a schematic plan view of a support portion (structure) of the ground drilling machine of

FIG. 1

;

FIG. 6

is a left side view of the support structure of

FIG. 5

;

FIG. 7

is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line VII—VII in

FIG. 4

;

FIG. 8

is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line VIII—VIII in

FIG. 4

;

FIG. 9

is a plan view, in an enlarged scale, of a section including a rod wrench and a rod damper of the ground drilling machine of

FIG. 1

;

FIG. 10

is a front view, in an enlarged scale, of a section including the rod wrench and the rod clamper of

FIG. 9

;

FIG. 11

is a sectional view taken along the line XI—XI in

FIG. 9

;

FIG. 12

is a sectional view taken along the line XII—XII in

FIG. 9

;

FIG. 13

is a sectional view taken along the line XIII—XIII in

FIG. 9

;

FIG. 14

is a right side view showing one example of a rod exchanger of the ground drilling machine of

FIG. 1

;

FIG. 15

is a front view of the rod exchanger of

FIG. 14

;

FIG. 16

is a back view of the rod exchanger of

FIG. 14

;

FIG. 17

is a sectional view taken along the line XVII—XVII in

FIG. 14

;

FIG. 18

is a sectional view taken along the line XVIII—XVIII in

FIG. 14

;

FIG. 19

is a sectional view taken along the line XIX—XIX in

FIG. 14

;

FIG. 20

is a right side view, in an enlarged scale, of a rod grasping device of the rod exchanger of

FIG. 14

;

FIG. 21

is an enlarged front view of the rod grasping device of

FIG. 20

; and

FIG. 22

is a front view of another example of a rod exchanger of the ground drilling machine of FIG.

1

.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

One preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described hereunder with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First, with reference to

FIGS. 1

to

3

, a ground drilling machine of the present invention has a machine body

1

to which a pair of travelling bodies

2

are mounted at its both lateral side portions. Each of these travelling bodies

2

are of crawler type structure, but may be composed of wheel type structure. The machine body

1

may be formed as self-propelled type or portable type.

A rod propelling device

3

is mounted to a central position in the width direction of the machine body

1

, i.e., central portion between the paired travelling bodies

2

, to be movable in forward and rearward (longitudinal) direction in an inclined manner such that the front side portion thereof is positioned to be lower than the rear side portion with respect to a horizontal plane.

The rod propelling device

3

is provided with a frame

4

, which may be called hereunder as frame structure

4

, a cradle

5

reciprocally movable along the longitudinal direction of the frame

4

, a motor

6

for rotating a rod mounted to the cradle

5

, an anchor fixing portion

7

mounted to a front lower portion of the frame

4

, a rod wrench

8

mounted to a front upper portion of the frame

4

, a rod damper

9

, and a rod propelling motor

10

disposed to a rear portion of the frame

4

. Thus, the rod propelling device

3

is provided with a mechanism for reciprocally moving the cradle

5

.

This mechanism for reciprocally moving the cradle

5

is provided with a driving (drive) sprocket

11

mounted to a rear portion of the frame

4

, a driven sprocket

12

mounted to a front portion of the frame and a chain stretched around these driving and driven sprockets

11

and

12

.

The driving sprocket

11

is rotated in a reversible manner by means of rod propelling motor

10

, and the chain

13

is connected to the cradle

5

. According to such structure, when the driving sprocket

11

is normally rotated by the rod propelling motor

10

, the cradle

5

is moved forward and then when rotated reversibly, the cradle

5

is moved rearward, thus performing the reciprocal motion.

As shown in

FIGS. 1 and 4

, the machine body

1

is provided with a support portion (structure)

14

for supporting the frame structure

4

of the rod propelling device

3

in an inclined attitude. The support structure

14

is provided, as shown in

FIGS. 5 and 6

, with a plurality of vertical plates

15

and horizontal plates

16

, the latter being inclined so that the front side portion thereof is lower than the rear side portion with respect to the horizontal plane.

A slide surface plate

17

and a lateral pair of side surface guide pieces

18

are disposed to each of front and rear end portions of the horizontal plate

16

. The slide surface plate

17

is formed of a material having a small friction coefficient.

Referring to

FIG. 7

, the frame

4

has a lower surface

4

a

, as viewed, which is rested on the slide surface plate

17

so that the frame

4

is supported by the support structure

14

to be movable in the longitudinal direction thereof. Protruded members

4

c

are formed on lateral side surfaces of the frame

4

so as to be contacted to lower surfaces of the side surface guide pieces

18

to thereby prevent the frame

4

from raising.

A cylinder (or cylinder assembly)

19

for movement is disposed, for example, as shown in

FIG. 1

, between the front side portion of the machine body

1

and the rear side portion of the frame

4

.

When this cylinder

19

is operated to be expanded, the frame

4

is moved rearward, then, the anchor fixing portion

7

is separated from the ground surface, and the rod propelling device

3

takes its non-working position (machine body travelable position) such as shown in FIG.

1

.

On the contrary, when the cylinder

19

is operated to be contracted, the frame is moved forward, then, the anchor fixing portion

7

is contacted to the ground surface, and the rod propelling device

3

takes its working position.

Further, the machine body

1

is provided, at its front one side portion, with an operator's seat

20

, a working machine lever

21

, a travelling lever

22

, a control board

23

and so on as shown in FIG.

1

and FIG.

3

.

With reference to

FIG. 3

, the operator's seat

20

, the travelling lever

22

and the control board

23

are disposed to be movable between a projected position projected from a lateral one side surface of the machine body

1

and an accommodation position having the surface position substantially flash with the above-mentioned lateral one side surface of the machine body

1

.

A lateral pair of outriggers

24

are mounted to lateral side portions of the rear end portion of the machine body

1

.

Further, a rod exchanger (rod exchanging device)

30

is mounted to a portion of the frame

4

opposing to the operator's seat

20

.

The rod exchanger

30

is provided with a body portion

31

into which a plurality of rods are detachably accommodated and a rod exchanging portion

32

at which the rod is received from or transported to the frame

4

. The body portion

31

is detachably mounted to the side surface of the frame

4

.

As shown in

FIGS. 4

,

5

and

6

, a support portion (structure)

33

for supporting the rod exchanger

30

is formed to the vertical plate

15

of the machine body

1

. The support structure

33

has an upper surface

34

inclining in the same direction and at substantially the same angle as those for the horizontal plate

16

, and slide surface plates

35

are attached to the front and rear end side portions of the upper surface

34

of the support structure

33

.

A slide (slidable) frame

36

is mounted to an entire surface of the lower portion of the body portion

31

of the rod exchanger

30

, and this slide frame

36

is rested on a slide surface plate

35

, as shown in

FIG. 7

, so that the body portion

31

is supported by the support structure

33

to be movable in the longitudinal (i.e., forward and rearward) direction. One of these support structure

33

and slide frame

36

may be composed of a roller member.

According to the structure mentioned above, the rod exchanger

30

is supported by the support structure

33

of the machine body

1

through the slide frame

36

to be movable in the longitudinal direction along the support structure

33

together with the frame structure

4

of the rod propelling device

3

.

The respective members or structures mentioned above will be described hereunder more concretely.

With reference to

FIGS. 4 and 8

, the rod rotating motor

6

and a reduction mechanism

40

are fixed to an upright (standing) portion

5

a

of the cradle

5

, and an output side of the rod rotating motor

6

is coupled to a rotation shaft

41

through the reduction mechanism

40

, and the front end portion of the rotation shaft

41

is formed as a screw portion

41

a.

The cradle

5

clamps a lateral pair of guide plates

42

fixed to the upper surface

4

a

of the frame

4

in a slidable manner to be reciprocally movable along the guide plates

42

.

A hose receive member

43

is mounted to a side surface

4

b

of frame

4

on the side of the operator's seat

20

.

As shown in

FIG. 3

, the output side of the rod propelling motor

10

is operatively connected to the driving sprocket

11

.

Furthermore, the rod wrench

8

and the rod damper

9

have substantially the same structure except that the former has a cylinder

59

and the latter instead has a link

60

, the cylinder

59

and the link

60

being mentioned hereunder, and as shown in

FIGS. 9 and 10

, each of the wrench

8

and rod clamper

9

has a structure that a box-shaped body

52

, having an upper opening in cross section, is mounted to be vertically swingable with a pair of hollow pins

53

to a set of brackets

51

of a plate

50

attached to the upper surface

4

d

of the frame

4

, and a rod grasping member

54

is mounted to the body portion

52

.

The rod grasping member

54

is provided, as shown in

FIG. 9

, with a pair of side plates

56

attached, through pin-slot connection, to the body portion

52

to be movable by a predetermined stroke, a stationary grasping portion

55

fixed to the side plates

56

, a movable grasping portion

57

movable along the paired side plates

56

and a cylinder (cylinder assembly)

58

attached to the side plates

56

so as to move the movable grasping portion

57

.

The stationary grasping portion

55

and the movable grasping portion

57

are formed detachably, as shown in

FIG. 11

, with grasping pieces

55

a

and

57

a

, each having a V-shaped section, so as to grasp the rod between these V-shaped portions of the grasping pieces

55

a

and

57

a

. The movable grasping portion

57

has a lower portion to which a movable grasp guide

57

b

is attached. The movable grasping portion

57

projects on the side of the stationary grasping portion

55

over the grasping piece

57

a.

The rod can be inserted into the portion between the stationary grasping portion

55

and the movable grasping portion

57

through a hollow portion

53

a

of the hollow pin

53

.

FIGS. 9 and 10

show a release state in which the grasping state is released and the stationary grasping portion

55

and the movable grasping portion

57

are spaced, and in this state, the respective grasping pieces

55

a

and

57

a

are spaced by a distance through which the rod can be inserted.

In the rod inserted state, when the cylinder

58

is expanded, the movable grasping portion

57

is moved, together with a piston rod

58

of the cylinder

58

, towards the stationary grasping portion

55

till the grasping piece

57

a

of the movable grasping portion

57

abuts against the rod.

Thereafter, when the cylinder

58

is further expanded, a cylinder tube

58

b

is moved, together with the side plates

56

, in a direction reverse to that mentioned above with respect to the piston rod

58

a

because the movable grasping portion

57

now abutting against the rod is not moved further, and as a result, the stationary grasping portion

55

is moved, together with the side plates

56

, towards the movable grasping portion

57

and, then, the grasping piece

55

a

abuts against the rod.

In this manner, the rod is grasped, i.e., clamped, by the grasping pieces

55

a

and

57

a

of the stationary and movable grasping portions

55

and

57

, respectively.

On the contrary, when the cylinder

58

is contacted in the state mentioned above, the respective members and portions mentioned above are moved or operated in the manner reverse to that mentioned above so as to take a grasping release state shown in

FIG. 8

or

9

.

With reference to

FIG. 12

, a cylinder

59

is connected with the body portion

52

of the rod wrench

80

and the frame

4

between them, and when this cylinder

59

is expanded or contracted, the rod wrench

8

is vertically swung in the shown state. The plate

50

is formed with a hole

50

a

so that the side plates

56

do not interfere with the plate

50

at the time when the rod wrench

8

is swung upward.

Referring to

FIG. 10

, a link

60

is connected with the body portion

52

of the rod damper

9

and the frame structure

4

between them so as to fix the rod damper

9

at substantially a horizontal attitude in the shown state.

Further, as shown in

FIG. 13

, the hollow portions

53

a

of the above-mentioned tow-paired hollow pins

53

are arranged to be substantially coaxial so as to provide a state that the rods

62

and

63

can be continuously inserted into the rod grasping portion

54

of the rod wrench

8

and the rod grasping portion

54

of the rod damper

9

.

The plate

50

is mounted with a receiving plate

61

so that the rods can be smoothly inserted into the hollow portions

53

of the hollow pins

53

, respectively.

According to the structures mentioned above, as shown in

FIG. 13

, the preceding rod

62

, for example, the rod

62

having a drill head having an inclined surface at the front end portion thereof and propelled into the ground, is grasped (clamped) by the stationary grasping portion

55

and the movable grasping portion

57

of the rod damper

9

, and then, a male screw portion

63

a

of a succeeding rod

63

connected to the rotation shaft

41

rotated by the motor

6

and propelled by the cradle

5

is forced against a female screw portion

62

a

of the preceding rod

62

to be screwed therein. Thus, the succeeding rod

63

is connected with the preceding rod

62

.

The disconnection of the succeeding rod

63

from the preceding rod

62

is performed as follows. The preceding rod

62

and the succeeding rod

63

can be unscrewed by grasping the preceding rod

62

and the succeeding rod

63

by the rod damper

9

and the rod wrench

8

, respectively and expanding the cylinder

59

so as to swing upward the rod wrench

8

. In succeeding, the succeeding rod

63

is released from the grasp by the rod wrench

8

and rotated by the cradle

5

in the unscrewing direction, so that the succeeding rod

63

is separated from the preceding rod

62

.

Next, the concrete structure or shape of the rod exchanger (rod exchanging device)

30

will be described. Further, although the rod exchanger

30

is mounted to the machine body

1

in a manner inclining with respect to a horizontal plane, this matter will be explained with showing the rod exchanger in a horizontal state.

With reference to

FIGS. 14

,

15

and

16

, a front side plate

70

(lower side plate in an inclining direction) and a rear side plate

71

(upper side plate in the inclining direction), both having approximately rectangular shape, are coupled with an interval by means of a plurality of coupling members in the shape of rods

72

.

A rotation shaft

73

is also supported to be rotatable between the front and rear side plates

70

and

71

, and a plurality of rod accommodation plates

74

are mounted to this rotation shaft

73

with intervals in the longitudinal direction thereof. Each of the rod accommodation plates

74

has a disc shape, as shown in

FIG. 17

, and is formed with a plurality of rod receiving recesses

74

a

at its outer periphery with intervals along the circumferential direction thereof.

A rod support plate

74

b

is attached to the most front side (right side end portion as viewed in

FIG. 14

, for example) of the rotation shaft

73

. This rod support plate

74

b

has a disc shape and contacts a plurality of balls

70

a

arranged to the front side plate

70

and then supports the rods so as not to be moved in the longitudinal direction. The respective rod accommodation plates

74

, each having the structure mentioned above, are rotated together with the rotation shaft

73

which is driven by means of motor

75

.

According to the structure mentioned above, a rod accommodation unit (section) X is constituted by the rotation shaft

73

, the plural rod accommodation plates

74

and the rod support plate

74

b

, and such rod accommodation unit X is rotatable and receives a plurality of rods with spaces along the circular locus.

A pair of rod coming-off prevention plates

76

are arranged to both end sides in the longitudinal direction of the coupling rods

72

.

This rod coming-off prevention plate

76

is formed, as shown in

FIG. 17

, with a substantially circular guide hole

77

concentrical with the rotation shaft

73

, and a ring-shaped space is formed between the guide hole

77

and the outer peripheral portion of the rod accommodation plate

74

.

A rod

78

accommodated in the recess

74

a

of the rod accommodation plate

74

contacts the guide hole

77

so that the rod

78

is not come off at the time when the rod accommodation plate

74

is rotated together with the rotation shaft

73

.

The rod coming-off prevention plate

76

is formed, on its frame side portion, with a cutout opening

79

for transferring the rod. This cutout opening

79

has a dimension, in its rotational direction, larger by a diameter of one rod. A link

80

is attached, to be vertically swingable, to an upper edge portion of the cutout opening

79

and a press piece

81

is attached to this link

80

to be swingable. A pin

80

a

secured to the link

80

is fitted into an arcuate groove

81

a

formed to the press piece

81

to thereby limit or restrict the swingable range of the press piece

81

with respect to the link

80

.

Thus, as mentioned above, this press piece

81

acts to prevent the coming-off of the rod from the cutout opening

79

at the rotating time. At the rod taking-out time, the press piece

81

together with the link

80

is swung by the rod

78

, and at the rod accommodating time, the press piece

81

is swung inward with respect to the link

80

along the pin

80

a.

The aforementioned slide frame

36

is arranged throughout the lower portions of the front side plate

70

, the rear side plate

71

and the rod coming-off prevention plate

76

as best shown in

FIG. 14

, for example.

According to the structure mentioned above, the body portion

31

of the rod exchanger

30

, having a rod accommodating portion which accommodates a plurality of rods along the circular locus with spaces and is rotatable, is formed.

Furthermore, with reference to

FIGS. 15 and 16

, a pair of transverse mounting members

82

are fastened by means of bolts to both end side portions in the longitudinal direction of the opposite side surface

4

b

to the operator's seat

20

, of the frame structure

4

of the rod propelling device

3

.

Each of these transverse mounting members

82

is provided with a recessed portion

82

a

having an upward opening and each of the front and rear side plate

70

and

71

is provided with a circular lower mounting projection

83

at a portion lower than the rotation shaft

73

of the front and rear side plates

70

and

71

. The lower mounting projection

83

is fitted into the upward recessed portion

82

a

and then fixed, to be detachable, to the transverse mounting member

82

by screwing a locking screw

84

throughout the lower mounting projection

83

.

Vertical mounting members

85

are secured to the transverse mounting members

82

, respectively, to thereby constitute a mounting structure.

A bracket

86

formed with recessed portions

86

a

opened upward is fixed to each of the vertical mounting members

85

to a position above the rotation shaft

73

. Furthermore, circular upper mounting projections

87

are formed to the front side plate

70

and the rear side plate

71

, respectively, and the upper mounting projections

87

are fitted into the upward recessed portions

86

a

formed to the bracket

86

.

Further with reference to

FIGS. 14 and 18

, a pair of rod members

88

are secured to intermediate portions in the longitudinal direction of the two connection rods

72

mounted to the upper side portions of the front and rear side plates

70

and

71

, and arms

89

are secured to the respective rod members

89

to be vertically swingable and laterally slidable.

Each of the respective arms

89

usually takes a tilted attitude contacting the connection rod

72

as shown in

FIG. 14

with an image line, and at a time of removing the main body portion

31

of the rod exchanger

30

, takes an obliquely upward attitude as shown in

FIG. 14

with a solid line so as to be lifted upward by means of crane, for example, through a lifting rope

90

or like.

As mentioned above, by connecting the lifting rope

90

to the arm

89

and unscrewing the lateral locking screws

84

, the main body portion

31

of the rod exchanger

30

can be lifted up. Further, the motor

75

is mounted to the transverse mounting member

82

as shown in

FIGS. 14 and 16

, and a gear

75

a

driven by the motor

75

is meshed with a gear

73

a

mounted to the rotation shaft

73

, so that the gear

73

a

is moved upward together with the main body portion

31

to be thereby separated from the gear

75

a.

Further, the main body portion

31

of the rod exchanger

30

can be temporarily attached to the frame structure

4

by lowering the main body portion

31

of the lifted-up rod exchanger

30

and then fitting the upper and lower mounting projections

87

and

83

into the upward recessed portion

86

a

of the bracket

86

and the upward recessed portion

82

a

of the transverse mounting member

82

, respectively.

In this state, the main body portion

31

of the rod exchanger

30

can be attached to the frame structure

4

by screwing the locking screws

84

.

Thus, according to the manner mentioned above, the main body portion

31

of the rod exchanger

30

can be easily attached or detached.

Furthermore, a transverse connection member

91

is secured to the paired vertical mounting members

85

so as to extend therebetween. A pair of brackets

92

are mounted with a space to a surface of the transverse connection member

91

on the side of the frame

4

.

As shown in

FIG. 19

, a transverse shaft

93

is secured to each of these brackets

92

, and each of other brackets

94

is supported to each of these transverse shafts

93

to be swingable. A transverse member

95

is further connected between these brackets

94

, and this transverse member

95

is mounted to be swingable with respect to the transverse connection member

91

.

Furthermore, as shown in

FIG. 18

, a bracket

96

is fixed to a surface, opposite to the side of the frame

4

, of the longitudinally central portion of the transverse connection member

91

, and a cylinder

98

for the swing motion is connected between this bracket

96

and the bracket

97

fixed to the transverse member

95

. Further, a pair of rod grasping devices

100

are mounted to longitudinal both end portions of the transverse member

95

, respectively.

According to the manner mentioned above, a rod exchanging unit (section)

32

is constituted, which will be operated as follows.

The rod grasping devices

100

are swung between a position inside the main body portion

31

of the rod exchanger

30

as shown with the solid line in

FIG. 19 and a

position outside the main body portion

31

(i.e., frame side position) shown with an imaginary line upon the expansion and contraction of the cylinder

98

.

In an arrangement in which each of the rod grasping devices

100

is positioned in the main body portion

31

of the rod exchanger

30

, the grasping portion

101

projects inside the cutout opening

79

of the rod coming-off prevention plate

76

.

On the other hand, in the arrangement in which each of the rod grasping devices

100

is positioned to the frame side position mentioned hereinbefore, the grasping portion

101

accords with the center of the rotation shaft

41

rotated by means of the rod rotating motor

6

.

The concrete structure of the rod grasping device

100

will be described hereunder.

With reference to

FIGS. 20 and 21

, the rod grasping device

100

is provided with a body portion

104

which is formed by connecting lower portions of a pair of side plates

102

through a plate

103

with a space, and an upper portion of the body portion

104

is attached to the transverse member

95

.

The paired side plates

102

have lower end portions to which a fixed portion

105

is mounted.

A movable portion

106

is bent so as to provide substantially a crank-shaped structure, and a claw portion

106

a

is formed to the lower end portion thereof so as to direct transversely. The upper portion of the movable portion

106

is coupled via a pin

108

, to be swingably, to a cylinder

107

for grasping which is mounted to the upper portion of the body portion

104

.

Rollers

109

are mounted to both ends of the pin

108

so as to be slidably fitted into vertically elongated guide slots

110

formed to the paired side plates

102

, so that, upon the expansion or contraction of the grasping cylinder

107

, the pin

108

, i.e., upper portion of the movable claw

106

, is vertically linearly moved along the guide slot

110

. That is, rollers

109

and the guide slots

110

constitute a guide unit (section) for linearly moving the upper portion of the movable portion

106

(i.e., coupling portion between the grasping cylinder

107

and the movable portion

106

).

Furthermore, rollers

111

are mounted to the paired side plates

102

at portions corresponding to intermediate portions in the longitudinal direction of the guide slots

110

. The movable portion

106

is urged upward by means of spring

112

, and an opposite side surface

106

b

to the claw portion

106

a

, of the movable portion

106

contact to the rollers

111

for the movable portion

106

in a slidable manner.

Hereunder, rod grasping operation and releasing operation by means of the rod grasping devices will be described.

At the time when the grasping cylinder

107

is contracted, the movable portion

106

moves upward along the rollers

111

for the movable portion

106

, so that the movable portion

106

is swung downward against the urging force of the spring

112

and the claw portion

106

a

of the movable portion

106

takes the rod grasping position opposing to the fixed portion

105

.

When the grasping cylinder

107

is further contracted from the position mentioned above, the movable portion

106

moves linearly upward towards the fixed portion

105

to thereby take a position shown in

FIG. 21

with the solid line, at which the rod is clamped, i.e., grasped, by the claw portion

106

a

and the fixed portion

105

. At this time, the claw portion

106

a

and the fixed portion

105

form the grasping unit (section) mentioned hereinbefore.

When the grasping cylinder

107

is expanded from the aforementioned state, the movable portion moves down and, then, is swung gradually upward by means of the spring

112

to thereby take the releasing position shown with the imaginary line in FIG.

21

. In this state, the claw portion

106

a

is apart from the fixed portion

105

.

As mentioned above, the movable portion

106

is swung between the grasping position opposing to the fixed portion

105

and the releasing position apart from the fixed portion, so that the grasping and releasing operation for the rod can be performed even with a small space in which the movable portion

106

can be swung therebetween. Accordingly, the circumferential intervals of the recessed portions

74

a

for receiving the rods of the rod accommodation plate

74

can be made small so as to receive the rods as many as possible.

For example, as shown in

FIG. 19

, according to the structure mentioned above, the fixed portion

105

is located above one rod

78

, and the movable portion

106

is swung with the state that the next rod receiving recess

74

a

receives no rod to thereby grasp the rod

78

. Accordingly, a lot of rods

78

can be accommodated.

FIG. 22

represents another example of the rod exchanger

30

, in which the main body portion

31

has a structure capable of accommodating the rods

78

in an superposed state in the vertical direction as viewed.

With reference to this example of the rod exchanger of

FIG. 22

, the rod exchanging section

32

is composed of a movable portion

122

, which is reciprocally movable by an associated operation of a pinion

120

and a rack

121

and a rod receiving member

123

mounted to the movable portion

122

to be swingable. According to this structure, the rod

78

accommodated in the main body portion is received on the rod receiving member

123

by moving the movable portion

122

and then moved to the frame structure

4

by moving the movable portion

122

towards the frame structure

4

.

Further, in this example, the main body portion

31

of the rod exchanger

30

is mounted to the frame structure

4

, and the slide frame

36

contacts the support portion

33

of the machine body

1

to thereby support the rod exchanger

30

by the machine body

1

.

Further, it is to be noted that, in the described embodiment, the present invention will be utilized as a ground drilling machine by propelling under the ground a rod provided with a leading portion having the inclined pressure receiving surface. It may be utilized as a crawler drill by utilizing a rod having a drill bit.

Furthermore, the frame structure may be arranged horizontally or to be vertically swingable in place of the inclined structure. The frame

4

may be fixed without being movable in the longitudinal direction thereof.

Still furthermore, it is further noted that, although the present invention is disclosed as an invention which is applicable to the ground drilling machine and the rod exchanger utilized therefor, the present invention is not limited to such specific embodiment or application, and many other applications will be suggested for those skilled in the art. Furthermore, it will be caused for experts in this art field to make various amendments, modifications and changes in the details of the illustrated and described embodiments so as to be conformed with design or like or with the necessity of the applications. Accordingly, it is reasonable that the present invention is understood by a method coincident with correct meaning or proper aspect of broader scopes of the appended claims.

Number	Name	Date	Kind
3985189	Jahnke et al.	Oct 1976	A
4049065	Walter	Sep 1977	A
4258796	Horning et al.	Mar 1981	A
4897009	Powell	Jan 1990	A
5575344	Wireman	Nov 1996	A

Number	Date	Country
58-189493	Nov 1983	JP
04108992	Apr 1992	JP
04269295	Sep 1992	JP

Ground drilling machine and rod exchanger utilized therefor

Information

Patent Number

Date Filed

Date Issued

Inventors

Original Assignees

Examiners

Agents

CPC

US Classifications

Field of Search

US

International Classifications

Term Extension

Abstract

Description

Claims

Priority Claims (1)

US Referenced Citations (5)

Foreign Referenced Citations (3)