The present invention relates to a suction pipe for suction dredgers with mechanical feeder and cutter means adapted to handle the material dredged. Suction dredgers of this type are adopted in large numbers to condition the beds of lakes and stream courses. It is already known in the art to associate mechanical feeder and cutter means with the suction pipes for dredging purposes.
It is likewise known in the art that these feeder means as such impose a load torque on the suction pipe which the pipe would pass on to the bottom of the dredge vessel so that suction pipe and vessel bottom must be of greater size than otherwise required.
On the other hand there are deadcycle times involved in the process for sucking material from below the water surface for suction dredgers and other hydraulic conveyors whenever larger size rocks are caught in front of the suction pipe, and in general wherever rock and clay material is to be handled.
It is a purpose therefore of hydraulic bottom rippers or dredgers and stone crushers to excavate rocks and clay formations directly in front of the suction pipe and at the same time crush larger size rocks so that they conveniently can be conveyed through the suction pipe. Equipment of this type is also known as cutters.
The dredgers on the market at present are called cutter-head dredgers because their cutter equipment is adapted to rip the bottom by rotational movement in front of or adjacent the suction pipe. Their general drawback resides in that resultant load torques are transferred either upon the suction pipe proper or, by means of a lattice construction, upon the dredge vessel.