Shield tunneling system capable of electromagnetically detecting and displaying conditions of ground therearound

• US 4,774,470 A
• Filed: 03/31/1986
• Issued: 09/27/1988
• Est. Priority Date: 09/19/1985
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Company Limited (Mitsui E&S Holdings Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Company Limited (Mitsui E&S Holdings Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Ezawa, Kazuaki, Takigawa, Takamura
• Primary Examiner(s): Strecker, Gerard R.
• Application Number:
  US06/846,238
• Time in Patent Office: 911 Days
• Field of Search: 324/337, 324/338, 324/219-221, 324/58 B, 324/58.5 B, 175/40, 175/50, 299/1, 342/118, 342/458
• US Class Current: 324/337
• CPC Class Codes: E21C 39/00 Devices for testing in situ the hardness or other properties of minerals, e.g. for giving information as to the selection of suitable mining tools
• CPC Class Codes: E21D 9/003 Arrangement of measuring or indicating devices for use during driving of tunnels, e.g. for guiding machines
• CPC Class Codes: E21D 9/093 Control of the driving shield , e.g. of the hydraulic advancing cylinders arrangement of measuring or indicating devices for use during driving of tunnels E21D9/003
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/88 Radar or analogous systems specially adapted for specific applications electromagnetic prospecting or detecting of objects, e.g. near-field detection, G01V3/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01V 3/30 operating with electromagnetic waves

Abstract

In a shield machine, there are provided an electromagnetic wave transmitting and receiving unit mounted on the top of the shield machine for radiating electromagnetic impulse wave toward an underground and for receiving the electromagnetic wave reflected from the underground, and a position sensor for collecting an information regarding the position of the electromagnetic wave transmitter and receiver unit. Data processing unit is provided for processing the signals from transmitter/receiver and the position sensor and sent through a transmission line. The data processing unit continuously displays the condition of the underground at the cutting face.

Claims

1. A shield tunneling system capable of electromagnetically detecting and displaying conditions of ground therearound comprising:

a shield tunneling machine provided with a rotary cutter head disposed at a front end thereof and rotating about an axis directed in a forwarding direction of said shield tunneling machine for excavating the ground therebefore to construct a tunnel, and a skin plate connected to said rotary cutter head for covering a space formed between said cutter head and a front end of shield segments which are progressively constructed on an inner surface of the tunnel excavated;

an electromagnetic wave transmitter/receiver mounted on an outside portion of said shield tunnelling machine for radiating an electromagnetic impulse toward the ground near said cutter head and for receiving the electromagnetic impulse reflected from the ground;

a position sensor mounted on said shield tunneling machine for detecting a distance by which said electromagnetic transitter/receiver moves from a reference point in a predetermined reference direction in said tunnel and outputting a sampling pulse signal representing a sampling time at which the electromagnetic impulse reflected from the ground is to be sampled;

a signal pre-processor located inside of said shield tunneling machine and connected with said electromagnetic wave transmitter/receiver and said position sensor for sampling the electromagnetic impulse reflected from the ground in response to said sampling pulse signal outputted from said position sensor and performing a pre-processing including noise reduction and smoothing of the reflected impulse to output a signal representing the condition of the ground from which the electromagnetic impulse is reflected at said sampling time; and

a data processor located inside or outside of the tunnel and operably connected to said signal pre-processor by a communication cable, for processing the pre-processed signal from said signal pre-processor, and displaying continuously and in real time a two-dimensional graph representing a vertical cross-sectional view of the ground near the cutter head.

2. The shield tunneling system according to claim 1 wherein said electromagnetic transmitter/receiver is mounted in a recessed casing on said outside portion of said shield tunneling machine and further including a layer of electromagnetic wave absorbing material positioned on a bottom surface of the casing.

3. The shield tunneling system according to claim 1, wherein the signal pre-processor comprises a cable.

4. The device according to claim 3, wherein the cable comprises an optical fiber.

6. The shield tunneling system according to claim 1, wherein said shield tunneling machine is equipped with jack means having a front portion fixed to said skin plate and a rear portion not fixed, a distance between the front and rear portions being variable, said jack means causing said shield tunneling machine to move when said jack means extends while the rear portion thereof is maintained in contact with the front end of said shield segments, said electromagnetic wave transmitter/receiver are mounted on said skin plate, said position sensor is connected to said jack means so as to output a signal representing the distance between the front and rear portions of said jack means for detecting the traveling distance of said shield tunneling machine, and said data processor comprises means for displaying continuously in real time a two-dimensional graph representing the vertical cross-sectional view of the ground near the cutting face along the advancing direction of said shield tunneling machine.

7. The shield tunneling system according to claim 1, wherein said electromagnetic wave transmitter/receiver is mounted on a front surface or a periphery of said rotary cutter head, said position sensor is connected to said shaft of said rotary cutter head to output a signal representing a rotation angle of said electromagnetic wave transmitter/receiver, and said data processor comprises means for displaying continuously in real time a two-dimensional graph representing the vertical cross-sectional view of the ground near the cutting face along the periphery of said rotary cutter head.

8. The shield tunneling system according to claim 6 or 7 wherein said electromagnetic wave transmitter/receiver is disposed in a recessed casing in the outside portion of said shield tunneling machine, and said recessed casing is filled with substance which does not absorb electromagnetic energy, a surface of the substance being flat with an outer surface of said recessed casing.

5. The shield tunneling system according to calim 1, wherein the data processor comprises a computer, display, a printer, external memory and a keyboard.