METHOD AND DEVICE FOR CONTROL OF IN-LINE UNIT Russian patent published in 2014 - IPC F17D5/00 

FIELD: machine building.

SUBSTANCE: method implies remote control of an in-line unit by means of control commands via two control channels: a low-frequency electromagnetic channel and a radio channel of VHF band, the low-frequency electromagnetic signals are transmitted and received with the help of transmitter-receiver equipment installed inside and outside the pipeline, and the signals sent by the VHF radio channel are transmitted and received with the help of transmitter-receiver equipment installed inside the pipeline and used as a waveguide, along with the installation of one set of the VHF transmitter-receiver equipment on the in-line unit. The device comprises three sets of VHF transmitter-receiver equipment and four sets of low-frequency transmitter-receiver equipment, the VHF transmitter-receiver equipment sets are installed as follows: one set - in the beginning and one set at the end inside the controlled section of a main pipeline, and one set - on the in-line unit. The set of low-frequency transmitter-receiver equipment and the set of VHF transmitter-receiver equipment installed in the beginning and at the end inside the controlled main pipeline section are joined pairwise into combined transceivers mounted, for example, in a pig launcher and a pig catcher, and a shaper of a combined transceiver provides for the conversion of a signal from the low-frequency signal structure into the VHF signal structure.

EFFECT: usage of the proposed method and device to control in-line units allows for the prompt interference in the operating process of the units' movement in the main pipeline, for the change of operation modes in case of emergencies, and for obtaining of actual information on the coordinates of the unit's low-frequency transmitter-receiver equipment set.

3 cl, 4 dwg