US3232670A - Tunnel-boring rotary head with adjustably mounted gauge cutters - Google Patents

Description

1966 R. J. ROBBINS ETAL 3,232,670

TUNNEL-BORING ROTARY HEAD WITH ADJUSTABLY MOUNTEDGAUGE CUTTERS 2 Sheets-Shee t iled Aug. '7, 1964 DOUGLAS F. WINBERG INVENTOR.

- RICHARD J. ROBBINS ATTORNEYS Feb 1956 R. J. ROBBINS ETAL 3,232,670

TUNNEL-BORING ROTARY HEAD WITH ADJUSTABLY MOUNTED GAUGE CUTTERS Filed Aug. 7, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Q! Egg; a; v- V RICHARD J. ROBBINS DOUGLAS F. WINBERG INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS United States Patent Office 3,232,670 Patented Feb. 1, 1966 3,232,670 TUNNEL-BORING ROTARY HEAD WITH ADJUST- ABLY MOUNTED GAUGE CUTTERS Richard J. Robbins, Seattle, and Douglas F. Wiuberg,

Bellevue, Wash, assignors to James S. Robbins &

Associates, Inc., Seattle, Wash., a corporation of Washington Filed Aug. 7, 1964, Ser. No. 388,089 15 Claims. (Cl. 29956) The present application is a continuation-in-part of copending application Serial No. 259,275, filed February 18, 1963, now abandoned.

This invention relates generally to that type of machine which bores tunnels of a relatively large diameter in a manner such that the machine itself travels progressively into the ground strata being bored as its large rotary head cuts a passage in the rock, and relates more particularly to the manner of mounting special cutters which are carried by the head at the perimeter thereof to perform a cutting operation upon rock proximal to the side Wall of the tunnel which is being bored.

Several co-pending patent applications also relate to the above-named boring machine. One of these, entitled, Head Structure for Rock Drilling Machine, Serial No. 203,846, filed June 20, 1962, pertains to much the same type of rotary head which carries the present cutter mountings. It is believed clarity in an understanding of the features to which the present application is particuarly directed will be advanced by here cursorily describing the general nature of the boring machine and somewhat more specifically the structure and operation of the machines rotary head.

The machine provides a relatively large body portion having a diameter moderately less than the tunnel which is to be bored, and desirably has a length greater than its diameter. There are mounted on the body of this machine a plurality of shoes arranged to be pressed outwardly so as to grip the side wall of the tunnel. By retracting one pair of diametrically opposed shoes from the tunnel wall, moving this pair of shoes forward, and then again pressing the latter shoes outwardly to take a new grip on the turmel wall, the machine is able to walk along the length of the tunnel.

Mounted at the front of the body for rotary motion about the longitudinal axis of the machine is a large circular head, having a front plate which faces the end wall of the tunnel from which the rock is being cut. This head is powered for rotary motion and also for progressive axial motion in the intervals between the steps of said walking travel. The head carries a plurality of outrigger bucket members which are or may be evenly spaced along the circumference of the head. Cutters are mounted on the front face plate and also on the outrigger bucket members. As the head rotates and at the same time advances, the bucket members follow a spiral path along the circumference of the end wall of the tunnel and act to scoop up rock and other debris cut by the cutters from such end wall. The buckets carry the debris to the top of the machine. Here the contents of the buckets discharge by gravity onto an endless conveyor which carries the debris to the rear of the machine.

Each of said cutters has a freely rotating wheel bevelled to form a circumferential cutting edge. The axis of rotation of each wheel of the several cutters which are mounted on the face plate, and in some machines some of the cutters carried by the bucket members, intersects the axis of rotation of the head at a point located slightly to the front of the face plate. These cutters are spaced both radially and circumferentially with respect to the heads rotary axis and are commonly termed the forward facing cutters. As the head rotates and the ma chine pushes forward from its shoe mounts to give the rotating head its progressive axial motion, the circumferential cutting edge of each of these forward facing wheels bears against the end face of the tunnel, and by virtue of the combined forcesthrust and rotationcuts one of a plurality of concentric closely-spaced circular kerfs therein.

While most of the cutters are of said forward facing type, there are other cutters which perform a gauge function and are known by this term. The gauge cutters are carried by the outrigger bucket members to occupy outer positions relative to the rotary head. They have their cutting edges directed forwardly and outwardly at various angles to shape the side walls of the tunnel by cutting kerfs in the circumferential corner of the tunnel, namely where the side and end walls of the tunnel meet. The plane in which the cutting edge of the outermost of these gauge cutters lies is placed almost normal to the rotary axis of the head, with only a slight forward cant, so that as the machine advances it cuts a generally helical kerf in the tunnel side wall.

As each cutter deepens its kerf by chipping away relatively small pieces of adjacent rock, the side faces of the bevelled wheel press in wedge-like fashion into the walls of the kerf to fracture the rock along planes reaching from each kerf into the rock. Since, as hereinbefore stated, the cutters which form adjacent kerfs are spaced circumferentially as well as radially with respect to one another, any given portion of the rock between such adjacent kerfs is pressed only by a single cutter at any one time so that the fracturing action is passed into the rock portion first from the kerf on one side thereof and then from the kerf on the other side. This causes pieces of rock to be broken free from the end wall of the tunnel, which pieces fall to the floor of the tunnel to be scooped up by the buckets and dumped onto the conveyor for delivery to the rear of the advancing machine.

Not only does the resistance of the rock to cutting abrade or wear away the cutter portions which contact the rock, but the cutters are severely stressed by the various thrust loads exerted by the rock surfaces which define the kerf. Thus one of the problems to be solved in devising the cutters and their associated support structure is that of constructing the same with sufiicient ruggedness and durability to be able to stand up under such conditions. Even then, the cutters must have periodic maintenance, which is accomplished by backing off the machine from the tunnel end wall a distance suificient to permit access by a mechanic to the front of the machine for replacement of parts that are damaged or unduly worn. However, even with the machine backed off, the proximity of outermost gauge cutters to the side wall of the tunnel has made servicing of these particular cutters relatively difficult.

Follow-up work in a tunnel being bored is considerably less difiicult if the cut given to the cylindnically curved side wall of the tunnel is within reason-ably close tolerances. Since it is not always possible to determine beforehand (because of the nature of the rock encountered,

etc.) what the precise location of the cutters should be to form the tunnel side wall within such tolerances, and since it may be necessary, on occasion, to reinforce a section of wall and consequently expand the diameter of the tunnel by an amount sufiicient to accept a wall-reinforcing sleeve, the ability to adjust the gauge cutters to modify the tunnel diameter as the head works any given section of the tunnel is highly desirable.

It is with the foregoing problems in mind that the apparatus of the present invention has been devised, the general object of the invention being to provide for a boring machine of the type described a new and improved mounting for the gauge cutters, and especially one enabling the cutters to be easily backed away from the side wall of the tunnel to give uninhibited access to the cutters when servicing is required, and one which also permits the gauge cutters to be set in selected radially adjusted workingposition-s so that a change in the diameter of the tunnel may be readily obtained.

Other more particular objects and advantages of the invention will, with the foregoing, appear and be understood in the course of the following description and claims, the invention consisting in the novel construction and in the adaptation and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view illustrating the rotary head of a tunnel-boring machine, equipped with gauge cutter mountings constructed to embody preferred teachings of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary longitudinal vertical sectional view on the jogged section line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary transverse vertical sectional view drawn to an enlarged scale online 33 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary longitudinal vertical sectional view drawn to a yet larger scale on jogged line 4-4 of 'FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is an enlargedecale fragmentary sectional view on line 5-5 of FIG. 3 to detail one of two removable pins employed to set the gauge cutters in a selected one of several radially adjusted positions.

Referring to said drawings, the numeral generally designates a head member which is journaled for rotation on the front end of the main frame or body 11 of the machine. The bearing therefor provides an inner race '12 fixed to the head and an outer race '13 fixed to the main frame. The inner race functions as a bull gear, being formed about its inner perimeter with internal teeth. Motor-driven pinions (not shown) mesh the bull gear at spaced intervals of the circumference to drive the head in its rotary motion. Wall-engaging shoes 14 are carried for radial-motion by the main frame, occupying circumferentially spaced positions immediately to the rear of the rotary head, and operatively connected with these shoes for extending and retracting the same to and from the normal Working positions in which the same are illustrated in FIG. 2 are hydraulic jacks 15. These shoes slide along the Wall as the machines main frame advances. While unimportant to an understanding of the present invention, the exact manner in which the machine is or may be operated and a structure suitable to perform 'such operation is fully described in the aforesaid copending application for Letters Patent filed February 18, 1963, Serial Number 259,275.

The head extends forwardly beyond the shoes 14, giving much the appearance of a cylindrical nose with its diameter considerably less than the diameter of the tunnel and with theperipheral wall 16 concentric to the rotary axis of the head. The face wall 17 of the head is or may be moderately crowned and has adoor 18 in its center through which access to the front of the head is provided when servicing of the cutters is required. As hereinbefore pointed out, the cutters provided are of both the forward facing and gauge type, and in each instance are carried by mounting blocks. The cutters each desirably have a non-rotary axle on which the bevelled cut- .ting wheel is journaled for free rotation, and the mounting blocks therefor desirably are of the split type each providing boltably connected base end cap components clamping the ends of an axle therebetween. It will be apparent that this described type of mounting permits wheel-and-axle replacements to be easily and quickly applied to the head of the machine simply by seating the ends of the axle in the saddle notches of a blocks base component, and applying the cap component to clamp the replacement in place.

The mounting blocks 20 for the forward facing cutters are rigidly secured, preferably by welding, to the rotary head. Some of the gauge cutters have their mounting blocks, as 21, rigidly secured either to the rotary head or to outrigger buckets, as 22, which are themselves rigidly secured to the head. Others of the gauge cutters have their mountingblocks 19 hingedly supported so that the cutters can be swung inwardly and outwardly into positions radially adjusted relative to the head. The hinge attachment may be from the base component of the block directly with the head or with an outrigger bucket which is fixed to the head, an arrangement which was shown and described in our above-identified application Serial Number 259,275, or from head to an outrigger bucket having the base component of the block rigidly secured thereto. The machine is here shown with this latter type of hinge attachment.

The hinged buckets are denoted by 23 and 24, the distinction being that thebuckets 23 carry the mounting for only a single gauge cutter while mountings for two gauge cutters are carried by the buckets 24. These buckets are shown as being four in number located at quarter-circle intervals of the circumference, alternating to have a pair of diametrically oppositelydisposed buckets 23 and a pair of diametrically oppositely disposed buckets 24.Pockets 25 are provided in thewall 16 of the head to receive the buckets, such pockets being open both to the exterior and to the interior of the head.

Each of thebuckets 22, 23 and 24 is a fabricated structure having its parts joined by welding, and has the shape, more or less, of a hollow rectangular prism. An open ing is provided in the leading end wall and in the bottom wall of each bucket. Said term leading, and the term trailing whichwill also be employed, are referenced to the positions occupied when the bucket is turning with the head in the rotary motion of the latter. Openings formed in thewall 16 of the head, mid-way or approximately midway between the pockets 2'5 and, like said pockets, leading to the interior of the head, each register with the bottom opening of a respective one of the fixed buckets 22'.

Said opening in the leading wall of each bucket produces a mouth through which debris, scooped up from the floor. of the tunnel as the bucket turns with the head, is delivered to the interior of the bucket for discharge through the opening which is provided'in the bottom wall.. This discharge takes place only as the bucket, upon reaching a position at the top of the head, is brought mto register with achute 26 carried by the main frame of the machine as a stationary part thereof. The dumped debris falls onto the upper run of a power-drivenendless conveyor belt 27. The scoop action is performed by alip 28 extending beyond the plane of the ingress mouth as a forwardly biased'prolongation of the outer portion of the buckets front wall 34i In the instance of the hinged buckets 23'and 24, rearwardly extendingflanges 30 are produced by prolonging the two end walls, namely'the leadingwall 31 and the trailingwall 32. (Jo-axial pins 33 hingedly connect the inner end of these flanges to the end walls of arespective pocket 25 for radial swing motion of the concerned bucket about a transverse axis normal to a radial plane bisecting the concerned pocket. The interior profile of the front wall of the pocket is arcuate, developed about the hinge pins as a center, and a slot, shown as full-width, is provided in such wall. The front wall 34'of the concerned bucket has a moderately close mating fit. A pair of transversely spacedears 35 extend through said slot from the bucket. Awrist pin 36 occupies the space between the ears, being connected for rocker motion thereto, and at its center connects by apivot pin 37 with the forked outer end of atoggle arm 38. The inner end of the toggle arm is attached by a ball-joint connection 40 to aring 41.

It will be understood that a respective toggle arm is provided for each of the several hingedbuckets 23 and 24, and that thering 41 is common to all four crank arms. The ring is fitted upon anannular neck 42 of the rotary head for reciprocal turning motion relative to said head about the rotary center of the latter as an axis. A double-actinghydraulic jack 43 connects at one end with the'ring and at the other end with the head to provide a power medium for turning the ring.

Ends walls 31 and 32 of each hinged bucket are bored on coinciding axes to provide a plurality ofholes 43, shown as three in number and spaced at predetermined equidistant intervals along an arc having the hinge axis as its center. By turning the ring 41 a selective co-axial pair of these holes can be brought into register with a co-axial pair ofholes 44 bored in the end walls of the concerned pocket. T-headedpins 45 secured bybolts 46 anchor the hinged buckets in the selected position.

When employing the center hole of the set of threeholes 43, the buckets are so disposed that the gauge cutters cut a tunnel of the precise diameter for which the machine has been designed. Should it be found necessary or desirable in the course of boring a tunnel to introduce a liner to a particular section, a procedure most usually resulting from evidence of wall-slufiing, the operator need only remove the anchor pins, turn the regulatingring 41 to bring the inner pair of holes into register with theholes 44, and re-insert the anchor pins, whereupon the gauge cutters are extended radially outwardly in the degree necessary to produce a tunnel of the greater diameter necessary to accommodate the liner. Such liner is shown in phantom in FIG. 2 and designated by the letter S. By moving the hinged buckets to their inner position, the gauge cutters are backed away from the sur rounding wall of the tunnel. The machine is at such time also backed off from the front wall of the tunnel, allowing an operator to open thedoor 18 and pass through the opening in order to work from a position at the front of the machine. The gauge cutters, having been retracted, give the operator easy access so that the bolts holding the caps of the mounting blocks can be quickly removed and the cutterswheels and axles-lifted from the base components of the blocks either to be bodily replaced or serviced.

It will be noted in FIG. 2 that we have shown the outer wall of the bucket as having an opening through which dirt and rock particles may pass from the underside of the gauge cutter wheel into the hollow center of the bucket. This is highly advantageous as a means of clearing the cutter. While it would appear from this view that the base of the mounting block is a part of the bucket, the two are made integral only by reason of a weld connection.

It is thought that the invention will have been clearly understood from the foregoing description. No limitations are to be implied therefrom, it being our intention that the language of the hereto annexed claims will be given the broadest interpretation which the same fairly admits.

What we claim is:

1. In a tunnel-boring machine: a non-rotary frame adapted to be advanced in a direction endwise to the tunnel being bored, a rotary head supported by the frame at the front end thereof and providing -a front face, cutter means carried upon the front face of the head which by rotation and advance of the head act to remove ground strata from the end wall of the tunnel by forming concentric spaced kenfs therein and fracturing the ground strata between said kerfs, cutter means for removing ground strata near the peripheral corner of the tunnel where said end wall meets the side wall, said last-named cutter means comprising at least one freely rotating bevelled gauge-cutting wheel providing a cutting edge which is adapted to be directed outwardly toward the side wall, a member on which said bevelled wheel is mounted and so hingedly attached to the head that the wheel can be adjustably swung in a direction which is generally radial to the rotary axis of the head between retracted and extended positions the latter of which places said cutting edge of the wheel in operating relation to said corner ground strata, the swing axis about which the mounting member is hinged being located substantially closer to the cut prescribed by the fully extended wheel than to the rotary axis of the head.

2. A tunnel-boring machine according to claim I having means for releasably setting the mounting member in at least said extended position into which the same may be swung.

3. A tunnel-boring machine according to claim I having power means operatively interconnected with the mounting member for moving the bevelled wheel in said adjusting swing motion.

4. A machine according toclaim 3 in which the power means is comprised of a hydraulic jack.

5. A tunnel-boring machine according to claim 1 having means for releasably setting the mounting member in at least the outer of said selective positions into which the same may be swung, said setting means comprising a pin insertable through holes which are brought into registration when the member is placed in said outer position.

6. A tunnel-boring machine according toclaim 5 in which the mounting member has a split block carried thereby comprised of cap and base components, and wherein the cutting wheel is carried for rotation by an axle which is removably clamped between said cap and base components.

7. A tunnel-boring machine according to claim 1 wherein the mounting member for the bevelled wheel comprises an outrigger scoop bucket, the scoop bucket having a throat into which debris is scooped as the head rotates and leading to a delivery opening through which the collected debris is dumped at a given point in each rotation of the head, direct access being provided to said throat from the underside of the cutting wheel.

8. A tunnel-boring machine according to claim 7 in which the head has a plurality of said hinged scoop buckets located on the perimeter at spaced intervals of the circumference.

9. A tunnel-boring machine according to claim 7, the head having a plurality of said scoop buckets located on the perimeter at spaced intervals of the circumference of the head, and power means operatively interconnected with the several scoop. buckets for moving the gauge cutters in said swing motion and causing the cutters to move in concert.

10. In a tunnel-boring machine, in combination with a non-rotary frame adapted to be advanced in a direction endwise to the tunnel being bored, and a rotary head supported by the frame at the front end thereof, means for removing ground strata near the corner of the tunnel where the side Wall meets the end wall thereof comprising a plurality of mounting members hingedly connected to the head along the periphery at spaced intervals of the circumference and each supporting a rotary bevelled gauge-cutting wheel having its cutting edge directed outwardly toward the side wall, the hinge connections of said several mounting members adjustably supporting the cutting wheels for swing movement of the cutting edges thereof either outwardly from or inwardly toward the rotary axis of the head about a respective axis fixed with respect to the head and normal to a plane which is generally radial to the head.

11. A tunnel-boring machine according to claim 10 having power means for swinging the cutters in their ad justing movement.

12. A tunnel-b0ring machine according toclaim 10 in which each bevelled wheel is carried for (free rotation upon an axle, each scoop bucket which carries a bevelled wheel hawng the base component of a split mounting block rigidly attached thereto, each axle with a cutting wheel thereon being secured in place upon the respective mounting block by clamping the ends of the axle between said base component and a cap complement therefor.

13. In a tunnel-boring machine, in. combination with a non-rotary frame adapted to be advanced in a direc tion 'endwise to the tunnel being bored, and a rotary head supported by the frame at the 'front end thereof, means for removing ground strata near the corner of the tunnel where the side wall meets the end wall thereof comprising a plurality of cutters hingedly connected to the head along the periphery at spaced intervals of the circumference and each providing a rotary bevelled cutting Wheel having a cutting edge which is directed'outwardly toward the side wall, the hinge connections of-said several cutters adjustably supporting the cutters for swing movement of the cutting edges thereof either outwardly from or inwardly toward the rotary axis of the head about a respective axis spaced from the side wall of'the tunnel being bored at distance which is less than the distance to which such axis is spaced from the rotary axis of the head.

14. In a tunnel-boring machine, in'cornbination with a non-rotary frame adapted to be advanced in a direction endwise to the tunnel being bored, and a rotary head supported by the frame at the front end thereof, means for removing ground strata near the corner of the tunnel where the side wall meets the end wall thereof comprising a plurality of-cutters hingedly connected to the head along the periphery at spaced intervals of the circumference and each providing a cut-tingedge which is directed outwardly toward the side wall, the hinge connections of said several cutters supporting the cutters for swing movement of the cutting edges thereof either'outwardly from or inwardly toward the rotary axis of the head, and means operatively interconnected with the several hingedly mounted cutters for swinging the several cuttersi-n concert, said means comprising a ring mounted upon the head for turning motion about the rotary axis of the head and respective toggle arms connecting said ring with the several cutters.

15. A tunnel-boring machine according to claim 14 having a double-acting hydraulic jack for turning the ring attached at one end to the head andat the other end to the ring.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,462,997 7/1923 Anderson 299-61 X 1,517,802 12/ 1924 Sheen 299-61 2,745,650 5/1956 Smith 299 2,750,176 6/1956 Cartlidge 299-80 2,756,036 7/1956 McIntyre 29956 X 2,801,094 7/1957 Ball 299-80 2,879,049 3/ 1959 Poundstone 299-80 2,898,742 8/1959 Robbins 29958 X 2,937,859 5/1960 Jackson 299-80 2,946,578 7/1960 De Sma'ele -62 2,988,348 6/ 1961 Robbins 299-86 X 2,998,964 9/1961 Morlan 29961 X 3,035,822 5/ 1962 Lundguistet al 299-61 3,139,148 6/1964 Robbins 299-86 X CHARLES "E, OCONNELL, Primary Examiner. "BENJAMINHERSH, Examiner,

Claims (1)

10. IN A TUNNEL-BORING MACHINE, IN COMBINATION WITH A NON-ROTARY FRAME ADAPTED TO BE ADVANCED IN A DIRECTION ENDWISE TO THE TUNNEL BEING BORED, AND A ROTARY HEAD SUPPORTED BY THE FRAME AT THE FRONT END THEREOF, MEANS FOR REMOVING GROUND STRATA NEAR THE CORNER OF THE TUNNEL WHERE THE SIDE WALL MEETS THE END WALL THEREOF COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF MOUNTING MEMBERS HINGEDLY CONNECTED TO THE HEAD ALONG THE PERIPHERY AT SPACED INTERVALS OF THE CIRCUMFERENCE AND EACH SUPPORTING A ROTARY BEVELLED GUAGE-CUTTING WHEEL HAVING ITS CUTTING EDGE DIRECTED OUT-

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