| 摘要 |
PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a tunnel excavator which singly carries out continuous and efficient excavation of a shaft having a predetermined depth and an adit extending from the shaft. SOLUTION: The tunnel excavator is formed of an excavator body, a cutter head, and two sets of mutually parallel gripper shoes. The cutter head is arranged at a front end of the excavator body and has a diameter larger than that of the excavator body. The gripper shoes are arranged immediately behind the cutter head in a radially expandable/contractible manner, and press-fitted to excavated wall surfaces on four sides of the periphery of the excavator body, which allows the excavator body to be supported by the excavated wall surfaces while cave-in of the excavated wall surfaces is prevented. Then one set of the gripper shoes are rendered turnable about an axis that is orthogonal to an axial center of the excavator body, and by contracting the other set of the gripper shoes inward from the excavated wall surfaces, the excavator body is bent in a predetermined direction along the axis. At this time one set of the gripper shoes are kept out of the way of rotation of the cutter head. COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI |
