US 12,435,629 B2
Tunnel excavation device
Naoki Sekiyama, Tokyo (JP); Taku Arakawa, Tokyo (JP); Hiroshi Asano, Tokyo (JP); Shinichi Terada, Tokyo (JP); and Eiichi Morioka, Tokyo (JP)
Assigned to KOMATSU LTD., Tokyo (JP)
Appl. No. 17/909,848
Filed by KOMATSU LTD., Tokyo (JP)
PCT Filed Feb. 26, 2021, PCT No. PCT/JP2021/007234
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Sep. 7, 2022,
PCT Pub. No. WO2021/192806, PCT Pub. Date Sep. 30, 2021.
Claims priority of application No. 2020-058000 (JP), filed on Mar. 27, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2024/0200448 A1, Jun. 20, 2024
Int. Cl. E21D 9/10 (2006.01); E21D 9/06 (2006.01); E21D 9/11 (2006.01)
CPC E21D 9/06 (2013.01) [E21D 9/112 (2013.01); E21D 9/10 (2013.01)] 19 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A tunnel excavation device comprising:
a front body section including a cutter head including a plurality of cutters, a cutter head support section supporting the cutter head, and a collapsing section provided to an outer circumference of the front body section, the collapsing section being configured to be collapsed toward an inside; and
a rear body section including a gripper section for obtaining a reaction force when excavating, the rear body section being disposed to a rear of the front body section,
the collapsing section including a circumferential edge plate disposed on a circumferential edge of the cutter head,
the circumferential edge plate being coupled to a side surface of the cutter head in a collapsible manner via a coupling section, and
the circumferential edge plate being collapsible by rotating about the coupling section from a first position in which the circumferential edge plate protrudes outwardly from the side surface of the cutter head to a second position in which the circumferential edge plate is disposed further inward than the side surface of the cutter head.