Pipe mapping probe apparatus for searching pipe route position

• US 9,921,123 B2
• Filed: 11/01/2015
• Issued: 03/20/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 03/27/2015
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Water Resources Engineering Corporation (Compound of a Temple Labor Cloth Fund), Water Resources Facilties & Maintenace Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Water Resources Facilties & Maintenace Co., Ltd.
• Inventors: Kim, Jin Won, Seok, Young Soo, Lee, Kyung Sob, Lee, Se Wan, Kim, Dong Hyun, Oh, Kyung Seok, Lee, Yong Gun, Oh, Jung Hun, Jin, Gwang Ho, Koo, Ja Yong, Hyun, In Hwan
• Primary Examiner(s): Breene, John
• Assistant Examiner(s): Islam, Mohammad
• Application Number:
  US14/929,379
• Publication Number:
  US 20160282122A1
• Time in Patent Office: 870 Days
• CPC Class Codes: F16L 2201/30 Detecting leaks
• CPC Class Codes: G01M 3/005 using pigs or moles G01M3/246, G01M3/2823 take precedence

Abstract

A Pipe Mapping Probe Apparatus for Searching Pipe Route Position includes: a first disc fitted and fastened on a shaft member thread-fastened to the inner side of a connection shaft at a first side of an internal body of a first pig; a cap coupled to a side of the shaft member outside the first disc; a first pig coupled to the shaft member; elastic members composed of three flexible springs coupled to a second side of an external body of the first pig; a cable that electrically connects a battery, a sensor unit, and a control board of the first pig and an encoder of a second pig, is connected with the battery through a first cable socket coupled to the external body of the first pig, and is connected to an encoder through a second cable socket disposed at the center of the second plate coupled to a first side of the second pig and through an encoder socket on the top of the encoder disposed in an internal body of the second pig; the second pig coupled to second sides of the elastic members at the first side of the second pig and coupled to a second plate, which is coupled to the second cable socket at the center, at the first side; and a second disc disposed on a second side of the external body of the second pig.

Claims

1. A pipe mapping probe apparatus of memorizing position data collected from the pipe mapping probe apparatus tracing a position of a pipeline, the apparatus comprising:

a first disc (120) that is fitted and fastened on a shaft member (110) thread-fastened to the inner side of a connection shaft at a first side of an internal body (140-1) of a first pig (100);

a cap (115) coupled to a side of the shaft member (110) outside the first disc;

the first pig (100) coupled to the shaft member and surrounding a sensor unit coupled to an auto balancing, a control board coupled to the sensor unit, and a battery coupled to the control board;

a first plate (130) that is fastened to a first side of an external body (140) of the first pig (100);

elastic members (300) that are composed of three flexible springs coupled to a second side of the external body (140) of the first pig;

a cable (111) that electrically connects the battery, the sensor unit, and the control board of the first pig (100) and an encoder of a second pig (200), is connected with the battery through a first cable socket coupled to the external body of the first pig, and is connected to the encoder (260) through a second cable socket (280) disposed at the center of a second plate coupled to a first side of the second pig (200) and through an encoder socket (264) on the top of the encoder disposed in an internal body (240-1) of the second pig;

the second pig (200) that is coupled to second sides of the elastic members at the first side of the second pig (200) and coupled to the second plate (230), which is coupled to the second cable socket (280) at the center, at the first side; and

a second disc (220-7) that is disposed on a second side of the external body (240) of the second pig,

wherein the sensor unit is achieved by acceleration sensors and gyro sensors, and

wherein the pipe mapping probe apparatus is achieved by receiving acceleration information and angular information in real time from the acceleration sensors and the gyro sensors on the basis of origin (a start point in the pipeline) and memorizing data (information), and estimating Euler angle (roll and pitch) on the basis of acceleration information and information of acceleration of gravity, and estimating Euler angle (roll, pitch and yaw) on the basis of the angular information created by the gyro sensors and estimating a system modeling on the basis of the Euler angle information and Kalman Filter, and estimating and applying covariance of system noise and covariance of measured noise to determine the ratio of the system noise and the measured noise in a system model, and estimating three-dimensional position information modeling on the basis of the system model, the covariance of the system noise and the covariance of the measured noise, and receiving movement distance information of the mapping probe from the encoder in the mapping probe, and memorizing the movement distance information in memory, and estimating in real time three-dimensional position information of the mapping probe on the basis of a three-dimensional position information model, covariance and real-time movement distance information of the mapping probe, and memorizing the three-dimensional position information in memory.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sensor unit is achieved by three acceleration sensors and three gyro sensors.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the reel is achieved by including a tension adjuster of the reel.

4. A pipe mapping probe apparatus of memorizing position data collected from the pipe mapping probe apparatus tracing a position of a pipeline, the apparatus comprising:

a first disc (120) that is fitted and fastened on a shaft member (110) thread-fastened to the inner side of a connection shaft at a first side of an internal body (140-1) of a first pig (100);

a cap (115) coupled to a side of the shaft member (110) outside the first disc;

the first pig (100) coupled to the shaft member and surrounding a sensor unit coupled to an auto balancing, a control board coupled to the sensor unit, and a battery coupled to the control board;

a first plate (130) that is fastened to a first side of an external body (140) of the first pig (100);

elastic members (300) that are composed of three flexible springs coupled to a second side of the external body (140) of the first pig;

a cable (111) that electrically connects the battery, the sensor unit, and the control board of the first pig (100) and an encoder of a second pig (200), is connected with the battery through a first cable socket coupled to the external body of the first pig, and is connected to the encoder (260) through a second cable socket (280) disposed at the center of a second plate coupled to a first side of the second pig (200) and through an encoder socket (264) on the top of the encoder disposed in an internal body (240-1) of the second pig;

the second pig (200) having the second plate (230), which has a second cable socket (280) on second sides of the elastic members, on a first side, and including therein a reel (220) that winds/releases a steel wire (221-1), a tension adjuster (224) that adjusts rotation of the reel, a first guide (221) that is disposed on the reel and guides the steel wire released, a guide hole (222) that guides the steel wire released from the first guide to the center, a second guide (223) that guides the steel wire released from the guide hole to a steel wire socket (227), an encoder socket (264) through which the cable (111) is inserted for connection with the encoder, an internal body (240-1) of the second pig that accommodates the encoder (260) calculating a movement distance of the mapping probe in a pipeline on the basis of the length of the steel wire (221-1) released from the reel (220) and transmitting information of the movement distance to the control board (160) through a cable, an external body (240) that is disposed outside the internal body (240-1); and

a second disc (220-7) that is disposed on a second side of the external body (240) of the second pig,

wherein the sensor unit is achieved by acceleration sensors and gyro sensors, and

wherein the pipe mapping probe apparatus is achieved by receiving acceleration information and angular information in real time from the acceleration sensors and the gyro sensors on the basis of origin (a start point in the pipeline) and memorizing data (information), and estimating Euler angle (roll and pitch) on the basis of acceleration information and information of acceleration of gravity, and estimating Euler angle (roll, pitch and yaw) on the basis of the angular information created by the gyro sensors and estimating a system modeling on the basis of the Euler angle information and Kalman Filter, and estimating and applying covariance of system noise and covariance of measured noise to determine the ratio of the system noise and the measured noise in a system model, and estimating three-dimensional position information modeling on the basis of the system model, the covariance of the system noise and the covariance of the measured noise, and receiving movement distance information of the mapping probe from the encoder in the mapping probe, and memorizing the movement distance information in memory, and estimating in real time three-dimensional position information of the mapping probe on the basis of a three-dimensional position information model, covariance and real-time movement distance information of the mapping probe, and memorizing the three-dimensional position information in memory.

5. A pipe mapping probe apparatus of memorizing position data collected from the pipe mapping probe apparatus tracing a position of a pipeline, the apparatus comprising:

a first disc (120) that is fitted and fastened on a shaft member (110) thread-fastened to the inner side of a connection shaft at a first side of an internal body (140-1) of a first pig (100);

a cap (115) coupled to a side of the shaft member (110) outside the first disc;

the first pig (100) coupled to the shaft member and having an external body surrounding a sensor unit coupled to an auto balancing, a control board coupled to the sensor unit, and a battery coupled to the control board;

a first plate (130) that is fastened to a first side of an external body (140) of the first pig (100);

elastic members (300) that are composed of three flexible springs coupled to a second side of the external body (140) of the first pig;

a cable (111) that electrically connects the battery, the sensor unit, and the control board of the first pig (100) and an encoder of a second pig (200), is connected with the battery through a first cable socket coupled to the external body of the first pig, and is connected to the encoder (260) through a second cable socket (280) disposed at the center of a second plate coupled to a first side of the second pig (200) and through an encoder socket (264) on the top of the encoder disposed in an internal body (240-1) of the second pig;

the second pig (200) having the second plate (230), which has a second cable socket (280) on second sides of the elastic members, on a first side, and including therein a reel (220) that winds/releases a steel wire (221-1), a tension adjuster (224) that adjusts rotation of the reel, a first guide (221) that is disposed on the reel and guides the steel wire released, a guide hole (222) that guides the steel wire released from the first guide to the center, a second guide (223) that guides the steel wire released from the guide hole to a steel wire socket (227), an encoder socket (264) through which the cable (111) is inserted for connection with the encoder, an internal body (240-1) of the second pig that accommodates the encoder (260) calculating a movement distance of the mapping probe in a pipeline on the basis of the length of the steel wire (221-1) released from the reel (220) and transmitting information of the movement distance to the control board (160) through a cable, an external body (240) that is disposed outside the internal body (240-1); and

a second disc (220-7) that is disposed on a second side of the external body (240) of the second pig,

wherein the pipe mapping probe apparatus is characterized by receiving acceleration information and angular information in real time from acceleration sensors and gyro sensors on the basis of origin (a start point in the pipeline), and memorizing data (information), and estimating Euler angle (roll and pitch) on the basis of acceleration information and information of acceleration of gravity, and estimating Euler angle (roll, pitch and yaw) on the basis of the angular information created by the gyro sensors, and estimating a system modeling on the basis of the Euler angle information and Kalman Filter, and estimating and applying covariance of system noise and covariance of measured noise to determine the ratio of the system noise and the measured noise in a system model, and estimating three-dimensional position information modeling on the basis of the system model, the covariance of the system noise and the covariance of the measured noise, and receiving movement distance information of the mapping probe from the encoder in the mapping probe, and memorizing the movement distance information in memory, and estimating in real time three-dimensional position information of the mapping probe on the basis of a three-dimensional position information model, covariance and real-time movement distance information of the mapping probe, and memorizing the three-dimensional position information in memory.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, the above system model is:

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the above three-dimensional position information model is: