ES398394A1 - Automatically self-regulating variable-stroke, variable-rate and quiet-operating pile driver method and system - Google Patents

Abstract

Automatically self-regulating variable-stroke, variable-rate and quiet-operating pile driver method and system are disclosed in which a massive piston weight is bounced upon a cushion of pressure fluid, the pile driver advantageously being adapted for operation in four different modes: (1) only double-acting, (2) single-acting automatically converting to double-acting at maximum stroke travel, (3) only single-acting, (4) pre-stressing plus impacting plus thrusting mode, and (5) pile extraction mode. The prolonged downward push resulting from the pressurized fluid-cushioned bouncing action is more effective than the conventional sharp hammer-type blow resulting from impact of one solid mass against another. When the pile being driven encounters softer strata in the earth, in the single-acting mode, the stroke of the piston weight automatically shortens while the number of bounces per minute automatically increase thus increasing the rate of the quiet powerful bounce thrusts for driving the pile faster, and when harder strata are encountered, the piston weight automatically bounces higher providing a longer stroke with fewer bounces per minute, thus increasing the force of each quiet powerful thrust for overcoming the increased impedance being encountered. In the double-acting mode, when harder strata are encountered, the velocity and stroke length of the piston weight increase automatically to deliver more powerful thrusts. A relatively large number of driving thrusts per minute can be provided in the double-acting mode by changing the head plug mass to shorten the maximum stroke length to increase the frequency of thrusts per minute. By virtue of the pressure fluid bouncing action imparted to the massive piston weight, the noise of metal-to-metal contact blows can be avoided, and in addition a muffler housing surrounding the ports through which the expanded pressure fluid is released muffles the sound of the flow of the fluid, such as air or steam this muffler also serving to separate lubricating oil from the released fluid. A cylinder bottom assembly below the bounce chamber is coupled to the pile being driven to transmit the quiet powerful bounce thrusts to the pile, moving in accordance with the pile motion, and a driving fluid storage chamber and valve mechanism associated with this assembly control the flow of the pressure fluid in an automatically self-regulating manner to seek the most effective driving action from moment-to-moment as the pile encounters different strata. If desired, the bouncing action of the cushion of pressure fluid can be altered to permit the piston weight to strike bottom slightly to provide the driving mode (4) above. A self-contained lubrication system may be actuated by the pressure impulses in the bounce chamber.