GEAR FOR UNDERGROUND LAYING OF PIPE-LINES Russian patent published in 2000 - IPC

FIELD: underground laying of pipe-lines, cutting of curvilinear headings of small diameter. SUBSTANCE: gear for underground laying of pipe-lines includes power unit, minishield with blade section, skirt and feed and control hydraulic cylinders interacting with sections of support lining. Width of section of support lining is chosen depending on diametrical dimension of working space for specified position of operator with due account of his anthropometric data from relationship b≤1/2K_sm(D_hc+1,5h_c-I_b), where K_sm - 1.2-2.2 is factor of stroke margin of hydraulic cylinders; D_hc is diameter of hydraulic cylinders; h_c is diametrical dimension of working space for specified position of operator with due account of his anthropometric data; I_b is length of blade section. EFFECT: increased maneuverability of shield when driving small diameter tunnels, simplified design and enhanced reliability of gear. 2 dwg