Apparatus for lining a tunnel

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a method and apparatus for lining a tunnel and is particularly useful in lining a tunnel which has been bored by a tunneling machine.

Most present methods of lining tunnels are expensive and represent about half the cost of a finished tunnel. Heretofore, tunnels for some purposes such as water and sewer lines have been made by digging up the ground, laying a performed pipe and covering the pipe. This necessitates that city streets be dug up causing inconvenience and often great expense. Presently there are available tunneling machine which can bore through hard rock without blasting. With this type of machine and with blasting techniques, present methods require tunnel crews to install large steel plate linings or use forms and then pour concrete linings. These methods of lining a tunnel can be slow and in areas where there is a large in-flow of water, the amount of time it takes to line a tunnel becomes important.

SUMMARY

It is therefore the principal object of this invention to provide a tunnel lining machine which will reduce the total cost of a completed tunnel.

It is another object of this invention to provide apparatus for lining a tunnel which is substantially automated.

In general, these objects are carried out by providing apparatus for lining a tunnel of substantially circular cross-apparatus for niilng a tunnel of substantially circular cross-section which includes means for supporting a coil of strip material. There are means for forming the strip material so that its length has a radius of curvature greater than the radius of curvature of the tunnel and means for removing the material from the coil, passing it through the forming means and placing the formed material within the tunnel in a substantially continuous helical path. The method includes providing a strip of structural material, forming the material so that its length has a radius of curvature greater than the radius of curvature of the tunnel and placing the formed strip of material withing the tunnel in a substantially continuous helical path to form the lining.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The foregoing and other objects will become apparent from the following description and drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a tunnel lining machine in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken on the lines 2—2 of FIG. 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows; 5 FIG. 3 is a substantially diagrammatic view of one modification of this invention;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the embodiment of FIG. 3 with parts being broken away;

FIG. 5 is a substantially diagrammatic view of a sec10 ond modification of this invention; and

FIG. 6 is a section view of the modification of FIG. 5 in an enlarged scale and taken on the lines 6—6 of FIG. 5.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED , - EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the numeral designates a tunnel which has already been bored by a suitable tunneling machine or any conventional apparatus which may, if desired, be operating at the same time as the present in20 vention in advance of the tunnel liner. A complete lining is generally indicated by the numeral 2. The lining 2 is formed of a continuous helical path of a strip material. The strip material 3 may be any structural material such as a suitable thickness steel. The strip material 3 may be 25 supplied to the tunnel liner in the form of a coil generally indicated at 4. A spare coil 5 may be mounted on the machine by means of a support pin 25.

The tunnel lining machine of this invention is generally indicated at 10 and includes a barrel section 11 which is 30 closed at the forward end by a cover plate 12 and open at the rear end. The barrel section is provided with an internal gear section indicated at 13. A plurality of roller bearings 14 are mounted on bearing supports 15 around the outside of the barrel section. These roller bearings 35 bear against the already formed tunnel lining 2 and allow the barrel section to freely rotate within the tunnel in proper spacial relation to the tunnel wall.

The rear of the tunnel liner 10 includes a support or advancing section 20. The support section has been indi⁴⁰ cated as a heavy tubular section which is provided with at least one leveling jack or anchoring cylinder 21. Each leveling cylinder 21 has a hydraulically actuated piston 22 slidingly mounted therein. Piston rods 23 are connected to the pistons 22 and supporting feet or anchoring pads 24 ^4& are connected to the outside end of the rods 23. Suitable hydraulic piping (not shown) is used to raise and lower the pistons 22 and thus the pads 24. The pads 24 anchor the support section 20 in place against rotative and longi₅θ tudinal movement and level the support section 20 relative to the barrel section 11 and, in turn, level the entire machine. A coil support pin 25 extends through the advancing section 20, the barrel section 11, and is secured to the cover plate 12. The coil 4 is rotatively mounted on ₅₃ this pin adjacent the end cover 12 and at the rear of the machine, the spare coil 5 is slidably mounted on the pin 25. A removable support 26 is provided at the rear of pin 25.

A plurality of motors 30 are secured to the forward 60 ^en? °^{f the su}PP°^rt section 20. The motors may be any suitable type such as electric or fluid pressure driven. These motors have a drive shaft 31 with spur gears 32 mounted thereon. The spur gears include teeth 33 which engage the teeth on the gear section 13 of the barrel section 11. When the motors are operating and the spur gears 32 rotate, the barrel section 11 rotates about the suport section 20 similar to a ring gear in a planetary gear system when the planet gears are fixed.

Forming pins indicated at 40, 41 and 42 are secured to the cover plate 12 within the barrel section. The strip ^7υ material is threaded through the forming pins 40, 41 and 42. The end plate 12 is also provided with guide pins 43 and 44 and the side of the barrel section 11 is provided

3,508,317 ³ with a guide slot 45. If desired, other forming means may be used. As the barrel section 11 is rotated, the material 3 is peeled off the coil 4 through the forming pins 40, 41 and 42 and guide pins 43 and 44 to be formed so that the length of the material has a radius of curvature greater than the radius of curvature of the tunnel. With this new radius of curvature, the material is fed through the guide slot 45 and is automatically placed against the inside of the tunnel.

Since the strip material 3 has a radius of curvature greater than the radius of curvature of the tunnel, the lining will act like an internally wound spring with a net radial outward force due to the forming of the strip material. Due to the outwardly directed force of the material, the strip material will remain in place and help hold back the rock formation and provide a secure tunnel.

The windings are placed against the tunnel wall so that as the lining is formed, the strip 3 is in a continuous helical path. As the motors 30 operate and the spur gears rotate and engage the gear section 13, the barrel section 11 is rotated and the strip material is peeled off, one winding of strip material is completed around the complete circumference of the tunnel and the second winding is begun. Since the windings are at an angle, the edge of the second winding will abut against the edge of the first winding. Since the barrel section is rotating and the windings are abutting against each other, a reaction force will be developed which advances the barrel section 11 through the tunnel. The support section is anchored so that the barrel section 11 moves relative to the support section 20. The barrel section 11 is advanced until the spur gears 32 are almost to the rear edge of the gear section 13. At this point, the motors 30 should be stopped so that the barrel section 11 stops rotating. The support section 20 is then advanced so that the spur gears 32 are moved to the forward end of the gear section 13.

The means for advancing the support section 20 includes an advancing plate generally indicated at 50 which is secured to the inside of the barrel section by a bearing 51. The bearing 51 permits relative rotative movement between the barrel section 11 and the plate 50 but prevents relative longitudinal movement between them. Advancing cylinders 53 are secured to the support section 20. There are advance pistons slidably mounted within the cylinders 53 and connected to plate 50. This cylinder-piston arrangement is fluid pressure actuated. Fluid under pressure is supplied to one side or the other of the piston 54 by suitable piping (not shown) to pull the support section 20 towards the barrel section 11 or push the barrel section away from the support section. When the barrel section 11 has advanced relative to the support section as far as is practical, the jacks or leveling pads 24 are released to permit the support section to be advanced. In some applications it may be desirable to use a retractable roller on the bottom pad 24 to permit the support section and motor means to be advanced more easily. Fluid under pressure is applied to the cylinders 53 and the pistons 54 are retracted. Since the windings abut against each other, the barrel section cannot move backward. This produces a reaction force which allows the support section to be pulled forward into the barrel section and the spur gears 32 are moved to the forward end of the gear section 13. The pads 24 are set, anchoring the support section 20 and the tunnel liner is now ready to begin operation again. The cylinders 53 may be vented so that as the barrel section is rotated, it will be free to advance relative to the support section 20. If desired, the barrel section’s advance may be aided by applying pressure to the cylinders 53 to push the pistons 54 outward. Since the support section 20 is anchored, the barrel section 11 will be pushed forward.

When the coil 4 has run out, the machine is stopped. The spare coil 5 is then slid up the pin 25 to replace the coil 3. The material is threaded through the forming pins 40, 41 and 42 and welded or otherwise secured to the end of the strip 3 which is already a part of the lining. Operation of the machine can then begin again.

In a tunnel it often occurs that the rock has faults which allow the seepage of water and falling of the rock. In these locations, it may be desirable to weld each winding together. For this purpose a welding head has been provided and is shown schematically at 35. The welding head is placed on the outside of the barrel section so that as a winding is formed, it is welded to the adjacent winding. This increases the strength of the complete liner and prevents leakage through the seams in the liner. Where the rock is particularly weak, it may be desirable to add supporting braces within the completed liner. In normal practice, however, these additional steps are not considered to be essential. Where the tunnel is in an area of water in-flow, it may be desirable to provide a pressure seal around the barrel section to prevent leakage into the lined portion of the tunnel.

MODIFICATIONS

FIGS. 3 and 4 show one possible modification of the present invention. With this modification, the barrel section is indicated at 111 and the support section at 120. These features are essentially the same as in the preferred embodiment indicated in FIG. 1. In this modification, however, the single coil of material has been replaced by four coils indicated at 104, 105, 106 and 107 to provide four strips of material 100,101,102 and 103 which move through guide slots 145, 146, 147 and 148, respectively. The material is formed by either the guide slots or some other suitable means so that it has a radius of curvature greater than the radius of curvature of the tunnel. If more than one coil is used, the pitch at which the strip material is applied to the tunnel must be increased. The increased pitch allows the barrel section to advance a distance equal to the width of the strip material times the number of coils for each revolution of the barrel section.

By using this modification, the section 120 can be used to remove muck and cuttings from the tunnel boring machine which may be operating in advance of the tunnel liner.

A second modification is shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. In this modification, the barrel section is indicated at 211 with the tunnel lining already laid indicated at 202. The barrel section rotates on an axis 246. There is a single coil of material 204 which is offset from the center of the rotation 246. This coil allows the strip of material 203 to pass through a plurality of corrugation rollers. These corrugation rollers include a plurality of rollers 207 mounted on an axle 209 and rollers mounted on 210. These corrugation rollers form ribs 205 and troughs 206 before the strip material 203 passes through the guide slot 245. The use of corrugations in the material increases the strentgh qualities of the tunnel lining and allows the use of a thinner gage material. The corrugation rollers also serve to form the strip material to the proper radius of curvature. Although the use of corrugation rollers has been shown with the coil of material offset from the center of the barrel section, it is equally well adapted for use with the embodiment of FIG. 1.

Although but three embodiments has been shown, it is intended that the foregoing be merely a description of preferred embodiments. It is intended that the invention be limited by only that which is within the scope of the appended claims.