METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING AN UNDERGROUND TUNNEL

Abstract: A method of an apparatus for providing a continuous underground tunnel utilizes an elongate boring device (14) including a forward facing off-axis high pressure fluid jet (36) which is roated about the axis (63) of the device (14) while the latter is urged forward through the soil, thereby to cause the device (14) to bore a tunnel through the soil as it moves forward. The boring device (14) is steered by modulating the speed and/or the direction of rotation of the off-axis fluid jet (36) in a way which depends upon the desired direction to be taken by the boring device (14) within the soil The pitch angle of the boring device (14), as defined by its axis (63), is monitored relative to a horizontal ground plane, independent of the roll position of the device (14). The roll angle of the boring device (14) and the position of its off-axis jet (36) are simultaneously monitored thereby to monitor the precise rotational position of the jet (36) relative to its roll position.

Description: The invention relates to a method of and apparatus for providing an underground tunnel, and in particular for steering a boring device as it moves through the soil while, at the same time, monitoring the pitch and roll angles of the boring device. Attention is directed to co-pending Application No. (Attorney reference 30501) which discloses a method of and apparatus for providing a continuous underground tunnel using an elongate boring device having a forward facing, off-axis high pressure fluid jet which is rotated about the axis of the device while the latter is urged forward through the soil. The boring device enters the soil at one point and then follows a specific path, which may be specifically or generally predetermined, before exiting the soil at a second spaced point. At this latter point, a cable or cables, conduit or pipe such as utility cables, telephone lines and/or the like to be installed in the tunnel is coupled to the boring device which is then pulled back through the tunnel with the cables or the like following behind. According to the invention there is provided an apparatus for providing a continuous underground tunnel, characterised by an elongate boring device having a central axis and an axially extending main body, a forward boring head coaxial with and rotatably mounted on said main body, and a nozzle on said boring head in a forward facing position off axis with respect to said boring device; means for supplying fluid under pressure to said nozzle thereby to produce a pressurized fluid jet at the output of said nozzle in a direction forward of and off axis with respect to said boring device, said jet being sufficiently strong to bore through soil; means for urging said boring device forward as said jet is being produced whereby to cause said boring device to move forward into the area being bored out by said jet; and means for rotating said boring head and nozzle about said axis. Also according to the invention there is provided a method of providing a continuous underground tunnel, characterised by the steps of providing an elongate boring device having a central axis and including an axially extending main body, and a nozzle on said boring head in a forward facing position off axis with respect to said boring device; supplying fluid under pressure to said nozzle thereby to produce a pressurized fluid jet at the output of said nozzle in a direction forward of and off axis with respect to said boring device, said jet being sufficiently strong to bore through soil; urging said boring device forward as said jet is being produced thereby to cause said boring device to move forward into the area being bored out by said jet; and rotating said boring head and nozzle about said axis in a first way for causing said boring device to move forward along a straight path, and in a second way for causing said boring device to move forward along a particular curved path that depends upon the way in which said boring head is rotated. As will be described in more detail hereinafter, the method and apparatus for providing a continuous underground tunnel disclosed herein utilize an elongate boring device having a central axis and including an axially extending main body, a forward boring head coaxially positioned with and rotatably mounted on the main body, and a nozzle on the boring head in a forward facing position, off-axis with respect to the device. Means are provided for supplying fluid under pressure to the nozzle, thereby to produce a pressurized fluid jet at the output of the nozzle in a direction forward of and off-axis with respect to the device. This jet is made sufficiently strong to bore through the soil. At the same time, the boring device is urged forward by means of, for example, a continuous conduit, thereby to cause the device to continuously move forward into the area being bored out by the jet. As the boring device is urged forward and bores through the soil, its boring head and nozzle are rotated about its axis in either a first way for causing the device to move forward along a straight line path or in a second way for causing the device to move forward along a particular curved path depending upon the way in which the boring head is rotated. Specifical­ ly, when it is desirable to cause the boring device to move along a straight line path, its boring head is rotated at a constant speed around its axis and when it is necessary to turn the device, its boring head is rotated about its axis such that the fluid jet spends more time along a particular segment of its rotating path than along the rest of its path of movement. The particular segment of this rotating path along which the jet spends most of its time determines the particular curved path to be taken by the device. As the boring device is steered through the soil, it should be apparent that it is important to continuously monitor its position and orientation including specifical­ ly its pitch and roll angles and the exact position of its cutting jets relative to a fixed reference. As will be described in more detail hereinafter, the pitch angle of the boring device is monitored relative to a horizontal ground plane and independent of its roll position. At the same time, its roll position is monitored relative to a reference roll position and the rotational position of one of its cutting jets is monitored relative to the same reference roll position. In this way, movement of the cutting jets can be monitored so that they can be appro­ priately modulated in order to steer the boring device. The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the drawings, in which:- Figure 1 is a diagrammatic illustration, in perspective view, of an apparatus for providing a continuous underground tunnel between first and second spaced-apart points, as described in the previously noted copending application; Figure 2 is a perspective view of a boring device forming part of the apparatus of Figure 1; Figures 3A, 3B and 3C diagrammatically illustrate how the boring device of Figure 2 makes turns in the soil as it bores there through; Figure 4 is a diagrammatic illustration of features of the boring device illustrated in Figure 2; Figures 5A, 5B, and 5C diagrammatically illustrate how the device of Figure 4 is steered; Figures 6 and 7A, 7B diagrammatically illustrate means for monitoring the roll angle of the boring device illustrated in Figure 4; Figure 8 is in part a perspective view, and in part a diagrammatic illustration of means for monitoring the movement of the cutting jets of the device of Figure 2; Figure 9 is, in part, a diagrammatic illustration of an arrangement for monitoring the pitch angle of the boring device of Figure 4; Figure 10 is a side elevational view of an assembly which forms part of the arrangement of Figure 9 for monitoring the pitch angle of the device illustrated in Figure 4 independent of its roll angle; Figure 11 is a side elevational view of the assembly illustrated in Figure 10; Figure 12 is a longitudinal sectional view of a boring device; and Figure 13 is a side sectional view of a boring head which forms part of the boring device illustrated in Figure 12. Referring now to the drawings, wherein like components are designated by like reference numerals throughout the various figures, attention is first directed to Figure 1 which diagrammatically illustrates an apparatus for providing a continuous underground tunnel between a first entry point and a second, spaced exit point. The apparatus which is described in more detail in the previously noted copending application is generally indicated at 10 and the tunnel is shown partially finished at 12. The apparatus includes a boring device 14, a thrust conduit 16, a reel support assembly 18, and a thrust assembly 20. Both the reel assembly 18 and thrust assembly 20 are supported on a trailer, generally indicated at 22, which also supports a seat 24 for an operator and a control panel with manual controls (not shown). Still referring to Figure 1, tunnel 12 is provided in the following manner. Trailer 22 is positioned relatively close to the the starting point of the tunnel and an entry opening is manually provided for containing a curved launching tube 26, as shown. The thrust conduit 16 is initially wound around a reel 28 which forms part of overall reel assembly 18. The forwardmost end of the thrust conduit is connected to the back end of boring device 14 and the latter is manually positioned within the entry of launch tube 26. Thereafter, a boring arrangement forming part of device 14 is activated, while at the same time, thrust assembly 20 acts on conduit 16 for thrusting the conduit forward along its axis in the direction of the boring device. Thus, as the device 14 bores through the soil it is literally pushed forward by the thrust conduit until the boring device reaches its destination. Turning to Figure 2, the boring device 14 is shown in more detail. As seen there, this device includes an elongate main body 30 and a separate boring head 32 mounted to the body for rotation about the axis of the latter, as will be described in more detail hereinafter. A motor which will also be described in more detail hereinafter is contained within body 30 for rotating the boring head and the latter is provided with a plurality of nozzles 34 which face forward but which are positioned off-center with respect to the axis of the boring device, again as will be de­ scribed in more detail hereinafter. A source of pressur­ ized cutting fluid comprising, for example water and clay particles, is directed to nozzles 34 through a cooperating high pressure fluid line in order to produces off center cutting jets 36. A source of cutting fluid is generally between the source and nozzles is diagrammatically illus­ trated at 40. As described in the copending application, this high pressure line extends from source 38 to boring head 32 through thrust conduit 16. In order for device 14 to bore through the soil and provide tunnel 12 or uniform diameter along a straight path, cutting jets 36 are activated while boring head 32 is rotated about the axis of the boring devices at a sufficiently high speed to bore out an opening slightly larger than the diameter of the boring device as the latter is urged forward by thrust conduit 16. This presup­ poses (1) that the pressure of each jet is constant, (2) that the boring head is rotated at a constant speed, (3) that the boring device is urged forward at a constant velocity, and (4) that the soil is of uniform compactness. Under these conditions, boring device 14 will produce a straight tunnel 12 of uniform diameter. The actual diametric size of tunnel 12 depends upon a number of factors including how strong the jets are and their angles of offset, how fast or slow the boring device is moved through the soil, how fast the boring head is rotated and the characteristics of the soil or sediment. The tunnel is preferably only sufficiently larger than the boring device to allow the spoils to be forced back behind it and out of the tunnel through the tunnels entry end. In this regard, a supply of air under pressure which is generally indicted at 42 in Figure 1 may be connected to one or more air nozzles 44 on boring head 32 (see Figure 2) by means of a cooperating air pressure line 46 to produce one or more air jets 48 at the front and/or rear end of the boring device. These air jets when utilized aid in forcing the spoils back out of tunnel 12. Air line 46 and a power line 50 for bringing power to the motor in boring device 14 for rotating boring head 32 and also for bringing power to certain control mechanism within the boring head to be described hereinafter may be contained within thrust conduit 16 along with cutting fluid line 40. The discussion provided immediately above assumed among other things that boring device 14 is caused to move through the soil along a straight line path. So long as that is the case, it is merely necessary to rotate this boring head 32 at a constant speed in order to maintain its straight line movement assuming jet line pressure is maintained constant and that the soil extending entirely around the bore head is of uniform compactness. This is best exemplified in Figure 3A which diagrammatically illustrates the boring device 14 as it provides a straight tunnel 52. This is accomplished because the cutting jets 36 cut away the soil in front of the device uniformly around its boring head. As it does so, the boring device is continuously urged forward into the cut away in front of it, which cut away is generally indicated at 54a. It is desirable to be able to cause the boring device 14 to follow a non-linear path. One way that this has been accomplished in the past has been to physically turn the boring head of the device off axis with respect to its main body. This has been found to be difficult to do and not always reliable, particularly in relatively compact soil. Steering is accomplished without turning the head off axis at all. Rather, as will be described immediately below, the axial rotation of boring head 32 is modulated in a con­ trolled way so that the cutting jets spend more time along a particular segment of their rotating paths than on the rest of their paths of movement, depending upon the particular path to be taken by the overall device. This is exemplified in Figures 3B and 3C. As seen there, rotation of boring head 32 is modulated in a way which causes the cutting jets to spend more time along a verti­ cally downward segment of their rotational paths. this causes more of the soil in that direction to be cut away than along the rest of the circumference around the boring head. Thus, the cut away at the head of tunnel 52 in Figures 3B and 3C take on the downward orientation, first gradually as illustrated at 54b in Figure 3B and then more acutely as shown at 54c in Figure 3C. At the same time, the overall boring device is being urged forward by means of conduit 16. As a result, the boring device is turned downward into the cut away and eventually turns with it. Assuming it is desirable merely to make a downward, 90 ° turn, once cut away 54c is formed, uniform rotation of the boring head would be resumed in order to form a downwardly extending, straight tunnel section. Turning now to Figures 4 and 5A-C, attention is directed to the way in which boring head 32 is modulated rotationally in order to turn the overall device. To this end, only certain components of boring device 14 are illustrated in Figure 4, they include its main body 30, its boring head 32 and cutting jet nozzles 34, a variable speed, reversible DC motor 56 and a planetary gear box 58 which couples motor 56 to boring head 32 for driving the latter. The motor is powered and controlled by an exter­ nal source, as previously indicated, and by suitable control means which may be located in an overall process control panel 60 illustrated in Figure 1 through power line 50. As shown in Figure 4, boring head 32 includes a rearwardly extending stem 62 which defines its axis of rotation coaxial with the elongation axis of the boring device and which is rotatably connected to the output shaft of motor 56 through planetary gear box 58. In this way, a variable speed, reversible motor is able to rotate boring head 32, either clockwise or counterclockwise, about the axis of stem 62 and therefore about the elonga­ tion axis 63 of the boring device at varying speeds. As a result, the nozzles 34 and their associates cutting jets 36 which are located off axis with respect to elongation axis 63 may be rotated clockwise or counterclockwise about elongation axis 63 at varying speeds. This is best illustrated in Figures 5A, 5B and 5C where one of the cutting jets 34 and its associated path of movement are illustrated diagrammatically by means of a number of arrows. Figure 5A diagrammatically illustrates a path of movement of the cutting jet when the boring head is rotated in the same direction, for example counterclock­ wise, at a constant speed. Under these circumstances, the boring device will follow a straight line path. In Figure 5B, the cutting jet is shown spending more time along a right hand segment of its path in order to cause the boring device to turn to the right. Figure 5C diagram­ matically illustrates the cutting jet spending more time along an upper segment of its path so as to cause the device to turn upward. There are different ways to modulate boring head 32 in order to cause the boring device to make a turn. It can be rotated at a constant speed but reciprocated back and forth through the pre­ ferred segment, as illustrated by the plurality of adja­ cent arrows in Figure 5B; it can be moved in the same direction but slower through the preferred segment as illustrated diagrammatically by the enlarged arrow in Figure 5C; or a combination of both of these latter approaches can be used. In any of these cases, it is only necessary to control motor 56 through, for example, controls at panel 60 to accomplish the desired end. Obviously, one primary reason to steer boring device 14 in a controlled manner is to cause it to follow a particular, predetermined path of movement through the ground. In order to do this, it is critical to monitor the position and orientation of the boring device generally and the position of the cutting jets in particular relative to a fixed reference, for example the ground plane. This includes the pitch angle of the boring device independent of its roll angle, its roll angle relative to a given reference and the positions of its cutting jets with respect to its roll angle. All of these orientation aspects of the boring device are monitored as will be described in detail hereinafter. In addition, the depth of the boring device can be monitored by suitable known means and its position along its path of movement is the subject of copending (Application No. (Attorney reference 30502) Turning now to Figure 6, attention is directed to an arrangement 64 which is designed to monitor the roll angle of the boring device, that is, its angular position with respect to elongation axis 63, relative to a reference roll position. As illustrated in Figure 6, arrangement 64 includes a cylindrical support housing 66 and an electri­ cal resistor element 68 mounted concentrically about an inner surface of the housing, as shown. This resistor element forms part of an overall potentiometer which also includes a brush or contact member 70 extending radially from and mounted to a support arm 72. The support arm extends coaxially through housing 66 and the latter is supported for 360° rotation, both clockwise and counterclockwise, about the support arm by suitable end bearings 74. The support arm is biased vertically down­ ward in the gravitational direction by means of a weight 76 connected to the support arm by a rigid rod 78 and connector 80 so as to hang freely, as shown. In that way, brush 70 is biased in the vertically downward direction shown and the support arm will not rotate about its own axis. Figure 7 schematically illustrates the electrical equiva­ lent of resistor element 68 and brush 70 along with a power supply 82 and either a current meter 84 (Figure 7A) or a volt meter 86 (figure 7B). Note that the free ends of the resistor 68 are connected through cooperating terminals 87 to opposite sides of the power supply which is externally located, for example at control panel 60. Electrical leads between these terminals and the power supply can be contained within thrust conduit 16. Having described arrangement 64 both structurally and electrically, attention is now directed to the way in which it functions to monitor the roll position of boring device 14. At the outset, it should be noted that ar­ rangement 64 is mounted in the boring device's main body 30 such that support arm 72 is parallel with and prefera­ bly coaxial with elongation axis 63 of the device such that as the boring device rolls about its elongation axis support housing 66 rotates with it. With this in mind, it will first be assumed that Figure 6 illustrates arrange­ ment 64 with the boring device in its reference roll position. Under these circumstances, brush 70 contacts resistor element 68 at a point centrally between terminals 86. This, in turn, results in a particular reference current or voltage which may be calibrated at control panel 60 to indicate the reference position. As the boring device moves in one direction about its elongation axis, for example clockwise, support housing 66 rolls with it causing resistor element 68 to rotate clockwise rela­ tive to brush 70, thereby increasing or decreasing the amount of resistance in the circuit of Figure 7. When the boring device rolls in the opposite direction the opposite occurs. In otherwords, the resistance in the circuit of Figure 7 increases and decreases with the roll angle of the boring device relative to its reference position. As illustrated in Figure 6, there is one point when brush 70 looses complete contact with the resistor element, specifically between the terminals 86 and therefore at that point an open circuit occurs between the terminal and the current goes to zero. In the particular embodiment illustrated in Figure 6, this represents approximately a 180° roll angle with respect to the reference position. The reason that it is important to be able to monitor the roll angle of boring device 14 relative to a given refer­ ence position is so that the cutting jets 36 can be monitored relative to the reference position. Figure 8 illustrates an arrangement 90 for accomplishing this. Arrangement 90 includes Hall effect sensors 92 which are supported concentrically around an end section 94 of boring head stem 62 by suitable means not shown in Figure 8. These eight Hall effect sensors define 16 sensing positions a,b, c, and so on. A magnet 96 is fixedly mounted on stem section 94 so as to rotate with the latter as the boring head is rotated about the elongation axis 63 of the boring device in the manner described previously. As seen in Figure 8, magnet 96 is positioned in alignment with one of the nozzles 34, for example nozzle 34a. At the same time, the magnet is positioned in sufficiently close proximity to the Hall effect sensors and the latter form part of a readily providable circuit which detects the exact position of magnet 96 with respect to the various Hall effect sensing points a, b and so on by producing corresponding discrete signals. This latter circuitry may be provided on board the boring device, that is, within its main body 30 and powered by an external source through thrust conduit 16 or it may be located, for example, at panel 60. Having described arrangement 90, attention is now directed to the way in which it functions to continuously monitor the position of the cutting jets relative to a reference position. To this end, let it be assumed that the roll position of the boring device is initially in its refer­ ence position illustrated in Figure 6 and that boring head 32 is in the position illustrated in Figure 8. Under these circumstances, previously described arrangement 64 would indicated that main body 30 is in its reference position and this would, in turn, determine the various positions of Hall effect sensors 92. At the same time, arrangement 90 would indicate the position of cutting jet nozzle 34a with respect to the Hall effect sensors by the position of magnet 96 and therefore this information can be combined by readily providable circuitry to monitor the position of nozzle 34a with respect to the roll angle reference position. As a result, even if the boring device's main body rolls and causes the Hall sensors to roll with it, the cutting jet nozzle 34a can always be located relative to the initial reference roll position and therefore the positions of all the cutting jets can be accurately monitored. This, in turn, allows the cutting jets to be accurately modulated to steer the boring device. Turning now to Figure 9, attention is directed to an arrangement 100 for monitoring the pitch angle of boring device 14, independent of its roll angle. This arrangement will first be described electrically, as follows. An AC reference source 102, externally located with respect to boring head 14, is connected to the opposite inputs of a differential amplifier 103 through a voltage divider consisting of variable resistors 104 and 106, and fixed resistors 400 and 401. The output of differential ampli­ fier 103 is fed to processing circuitry 107 which is connected at its output to a suitable indicating or recording device 108. The amount of resistance in each of the resistors 104 and 106 depends directly upon the pitch angle of boring device 14, independently of its roll angle. When the boring device is perfectly horizontal so as to display a pitch angle of zero, the two resistors are equal and balanced. Thus, the voltage across the two from power supply 102 is divided equally and the output from differential amplifier 103 is zero. As a result, the processing circuitry 107 responds to this output to cause device 108 to indicated a pitch angle of zero. If the pitch angle goes positive, that is, if the head of the boring device moves upward relative to its back end, one of the resistors increases in resistance relative to the other. This results in an imbalance across the inputs to the differential amplifier which, in turn, is reflected at its output. Processing circuitry 107 responds to this output signal to drive device 108 so that the latter indicates the precise pitch angle of the boring device. As will be seen directly below, arrange­ ment 100 functions in this manner independent of the roll position of the boring device. In other words, if the boring device is in its reference roll position or another roll position, arrangement 100 will accurately sense its pitch angle. Turning to Figure 10 and 11 attention is directed to an assembly 110 which provides adjustable resistors 104 and 106 forming part of arrangement 100. Assembly 110 is comprised of an open ended dielectric cylindrical tube 112 which is comprised of two separate sections and which is closed at its opposite ends by electrically conductive end caps 114 and 116. These end caps have internal surfaces 114a and 116a, respectively, in direct communication with the interior of tube 112. A third electrically conduc­ tive, annular member is disposed around tube 112 and separates the latter into its two sections which are indicated at 120 and 122. These sections and member 118 cooperate with one another so that the annular segment 118a of member 118 is direct communication with the interior of the tube, as illustrated in Figure 10. Still referring to Figure 10 in conjunction with Figure 9, it should be noted first that reference source 102 is connected to the variable resistors 104 and 106 through a terminal T1 and the inputs of differential amplifier 104 are connected to opposite ends of the resistors through terminals T2 and T3. Resistors 400 and 401 as shown in Figure 9 are of equal value, their nominal value is 10,000 ohm, roughly equal to 104 and 106. Electrically conduc­ tive member 118 functions as the terminal T1 while electrically conductive end caps 114 and 116 serve as terminals T2 and T3. The tube 112 is partially filled with electrolytic solution 124, for example sodium chlo­ ride. As illustrated in Figure 10, the electrolytic solution is always in contact with member 118, that is, terminal T1. At the same time, the solution covers a certain surface area of each of the surfaces 114a and 116a, that is, the surfaces forming part of terminals T2 and T3. The assembly 110 is fixedly positioned within the main body 30 of boring device 14 such that the axis of tube 112 is parallel with the boring devices' elongation axis 63. The remaining components making up arrangement 100, except for the power supply and indicator 108, are preferably positioned on board the boring device. The power supply and indicator may be located in control panel 60 and connect with the rest of the circuitry through thrust cable 16. Having described arrangement 100 and its assembly 110 electrically and structurally, attention is now directed to the way in which assembly 110 functions as variable resistors 104 and 106 to monitor the pitch angle of the boring device independent of its roll angle. Assuming first that the boring device is perfectly horizontal and thus defines a pitch angle of zero, it should be noted that the electrolytic solution 124 is level across the entire tube 112. As a result, it engages equal surface areas along surfaces 114a and 116a. As a result, the solution defines paths of equal conductivity (and resis­ tivity) between these surfaces and member 118. this corresponds electrically to the situation where resistors 104 and 106 are of equal resistance. Note that this is true regardless of the roll position of the boring device, that is, electrolytic solution 124 will remain level regardless of the boring device's roll angle and therefore will provide equal resistance between the end caps 114 116 and member 118. If the pitch angle changes, the tube 112 will change with it causing more of the electrolytic solution to cover one of the surfaces 114a, or 116a than the other. As a result, the path of conductivity between the surface covered by more of the solution and member 118 will be greater than the conductivity between the surface covered by less of the solution and member 118. This corresponds to a greater amount of resistance between these latter members than the former ones. Again, it should be clear that this is independent of the boring device's roll position. Turning now to Figure 12, an actual working embodiment of boring device 14 is shown including a number of features including, for example, the way in which cutting fluid reaches nozzles 34 and the way in which the boring head 32 sits within main body 30. This figure also illustrates motor 56 and planetary gear box 58 within main body 30 and a coupling member 94′ which serves to disengagably couple stem 62 to the planetary gear box and which also functions as the previously described stem section 94. Located behind the DC motor is a box 130 which is designed to contain arrangement 64 and assembly 110 as well as their associated on-board circuitry de­ scribed above. The array of Hall effect sensors 92 are shown mounted to and in front of gear box 58. An actual working embodiment of the boring head 32 including its stem 62 is illustrated by itself in Figure 13.

Claims: 1. An apparatus for providing a continuous underground tunnel, characterised by an elongate boring device (14) having a central axis (63) and an axially extending main body (30), a forward boring head (32) coaxial with and rotatably mounted on said main body (30), and a nozzle (34) on said boring head (32) in a forward facing position off axis with respect to said boring device (14); means (38, 40) for supplying fluid under pressure to said nozzle (34) thereby to produce a pressurized fluid jet (36) at the output of said nozzle (34) in a direction forward of and off axis with respect to said boring device (14), said jet (36) being sufficiently strong to bore through soil; means (16) for urging said boring device (14) forward as said jet (36) is being produced thereby to cause said boring device (14) to move forward into the area being bored out by said jet (36); and means (56, 58, 60) for rotating said boring head (32) and nozzle (34) about said axis (63). 2. An apparatus according to Claim 1, characterised in that said means (56, 58, 60) for rotating said boring head (32) rotates said head (32) at a constant speed around said axis (63) when said boring device (14) is to move along a straight path and rotates said head (32) around said axis (63) such that said fluid jet (36) spends more time along a particular segment of its rotating path than on the rest of its path when said boring device (14) is to move along a curved path. 3. An apparatus according to Claim 2, characterised in that said means for rotating said boring head (32) includes a motor (56) connected with said boring head (32) and means (60) for modulating the speed of said motor (56) and therefore the speed of said boring head (32) depending upon the path to be taken by said boring device (14). 4. An apparatus according to Claim 3, characterised in that said motor (56) is a reversible motor, said means for modulating the speed of said motor (56) and boring head (32) including means for modulating the direction of rotation of said motor (56) and boring head (32) depending upon the path to be taken by said boring device (14). 5. An apparatus according to any preceding claim, characterised by means (100) for monitoring the pitch angle defined by said axis (63) relative to a horizontal ground plane when said boring device (14) is in the ground, independent of the roll position of said boring device (14). 6. An apparatus according to any preceding claim, characterised by means (64) for monitoring the roll angle of said boring device (14) relative to a reference roll position, and means (94) for monitoring the rotational position of said fluid jet (36) relative to a given reference thereby to be able to determine the rotational position of said jet (36) relative to said reference roll position. 7. An apparatus for providing a continuous underground tunnel, characterised by an elongate boring device (14) having a forward facing off-axis high pressure fluid jet (36) which is rotated about the axis (63) of said boring device (14) while said boring device (14) is urged forward through the soil thereby to cause said boring device (14) to move forward while boring a tunnel in the soil as it does so, and means (60, 56, 58) for modulating the speed and/or the direction of rotation of said fluid jet (36) depending upon the desired direction to be taken by said boring device (14) as it moves forward through the soil. 8. An apparatus according to Claim 7, characterised by means (100) for monitoring the pitch angle defined by said axis (63) relative to a horizontal ground plane when said boring device (14) is in the ground, independent of the roll position of said boring device (14). 9. An apparatus according to claim 7 or Claim 8, characterised by means (64) for monitoring the roll angle of said boring device (14) relative to a reference roll position, and means (90) for monitoring the rotational position of said fluid jet (36) relative to a given reference thereby to be able to determine the rotational position of said jet (36) relative to said reference roll position. 10. An arrangement for monitoring the pitch angle defined by the axis (63) of an elongate device (14) relative to a horizontal ground plane, independent of the roll position of said device (14), characterised by a sensor (110) carried by said device (14) for producing signals corresponding to the pitch of said device (14) independent of its roll position, and means (103, 107, 108) for detecting and processing said signals, said sensor (110) including a closed, hollow tubular container (112) having its axis positioned parallel with said axis (63) of said device (14) and defining a co-axially extending internal chambing having opposite ends, electrical circuit means including first and second contact means (114, 116) located within and at the opposite ends of said chamber and a third contact means (118) located within and extending around said chamber (112) at a point intermediate its opposite ends, and an electrolytic solution (124) partially filling said chamber (112) so as to make contact with all three of said contact means (117, 116, 118), the extent of contact being made by said solution (124) with said first and second contact means (114, 116) depending on the pitch angle of said device (14) but independent of its roll position, and said signals depending upon the extent of contact being made by said solution (124) with said first and second contact means (114, 116). 11. An arrangement according to Claim 10, characterised in that said first and second contact means (114, 116) include electrically conductive first and second face plates (114, 116) facing one another at opposite ends of said chamber (112), and said third contact means (118) includes a ring shaped contact (118) such that said first and third contact means (114, 118) and said electrolytic solution (124) therebetween produce a first signal, and said second and third contact means (116, 118) and said electroytic solution (124) therebetween produce a second signal, the strength of said first and second signals being proportional to the surface area of each of said first and second face plates (114, 116), respectively, covered by said electrolytic solution (124). 12. An arrangement according to Claim 10 or Claim 11, characterised by means (64) for monitoring the roll angle of said device (14) relative to a reference roll position, said roll angle monitoring means (64) including a potentiometer having an annular resistance element (68) mounted on said device (14) in coaxial relationship with said axis (63), a wiper arm (70) connected with said resistance element (68) such that the latter is rotatable about its own axis relative to the wiper arm (70), and means (76) for biasing said wiper arm (70). 13. An apparatus for providing an underground tunnel by means of an elongate boring device (14) which is caused to move through the soil underground, characterised in that said boring device (14) has a central axis (63) and includes an axially extending main body (30), a forward boring head (32) coaxially positioned with and rotatably mounted on said main body (30), and a nozzle (34) on said boring head (32) in a forward facing position off-axis with respect to said boring device (14), there being means (64) for monitoring the roll angle of said boring device (14) relative to a reference roll position, and means (90) for monitoring the rotational position of said nozzle (34) relative to a given reference thereby to be able to determine the rotational position of said nozzle (34) relative to said reference roll position. 14. An apparatus according to Claim 13, characterised by means (100) for monitoring the pitch angle defined by said axis (63) of said boring device (14) relative to a horizontal ground plane when said boring device (14) is in the ground, independent of the roll position of said boring device (14). 15. An apparatus according to Claim 13 or Claim 14, characterised in that said roll angle monitoring means (64) includes a potentiometer having an annular resistance element (68) mounted on said boring device (14) in coaxial relationship with said axis (63), a wiper arm (70) connected with said resistance element (68) such that the latter is rotatable about its own axis relative to said wiper arm (70), and means (76) for biasing said wiper arm (70). 16. An apparatus according to any one of Claims 13 to 15, characterised in that said means (90) for monitoring the rotational position of said nozzle (34) includes a magnetic circuit including a first circuit component made up of a series of circumferentially spaced-apart Hall effect sensors (92) defining a circle and fixedly mounted to and coaxially with said main body (30) and a second circuit component including a single magnet (96) mounted on said boring head (320. 17. A method of providing a continuous underground tunnel, characterised by the steps of providing an elongate boring device (14) having a central axis (63) and including an axially extending main body (30), a forward boring head (32) coaxially positioned with and rotatably mounted on said main body (30), and a nozzle (34) on said boring head (37) in a forward facing position off axis with respect to said boring device (14); supplying fluid under pressure to said nozzle (34) thereby to produce a pressurized fluid jet (36) at the output of said nozzle (34) in a direction forward of and off axis with respect to said boring device (14), said jet (36) being sufficiently strong to bore through soil; urging said boring device (14) forward as said jet (36) is being produced thereby to cause said boring device (14) to move forward into the area being bored out by said jet; (36) and rotating said boring head (32) and nozzle (34) about said axis (63) in a first way for causing said boring device (14) to move forward along a straight path, and in a second way for causing said boring device (14) to move forward along a particular curved path that depends upon the way in which said boring head (14) is rotated. 18. A method according to Claim 17, characterised in that said boring head (32) is rotated in said one way so as to rotate said head (32) at a constant speed around said axis (63)and said boring head (32) is rotated in said second way so as to rotate said head (32) around said axis (63) such that said fluid jet (36) spends more time along a particular segment of its rotating path than on the rest of its path of movement so that said particular segment of said rotating path determines the particular curved path taken by said boring device (14). 19. A method according to Claim 17 or 18, characterised by the step of monitoring the pitch angle defined by said axis (63) relative to a horizontal ground plane when said boring device (14) is in the ground, independent of the roll position of said boring device (14). 20. A method according to any one of claims 17 to 19, characterised by the steps of monitoring the roll angle of said boring device (14) relative to a reference roll position, and monitoring the rotational position of said fluid jet (36) relative to a given reference thereby to be able to determine the rotational position of said jet (36) relative to said reference roll position. 21. A method of providing a continuous underground tunnel by means of an elongate boring device (14) including a forward facing off-axis high pressure fluid jet (36) which is rotated about the axis of said boring device (14) while the latter is urged forward through the soil thereby to cause said boring device (14) to move forward while boring a tunnel in the soil as it does so, characterised by the step of modulating the speed and/or the direction of rotation of said fluid jet (36) depending upon the desired direction to be taken by said boring device (14) as it moves forward through the soil. 22. A method of providing an underground tunnel by means of an elongate boring device (14) which is caused to move through the soil underground, characterised by the step of monitoring the pitch angle defined by the axis (63) of said boring device (14) relative to a horizontal ground plane, independent of the roll position of said boring device (14).

Inventors: BAKER, GLEN, CHAU, ALBERT W., MERCER, JOHN E.
Applicants: FLOWMOLE CORPORATION
Application year: 1987
Main classification: E21C25
IPC codes: E21B7, E21D9, E21B47