DUAL ELECTROHYDRAULIC VEHICLE FOR TUNNELLING AND ROOF REINFORCEMENT

Abstract

The present invention develops a dual electrohydraulic vehicle for development of tunnels and roof fortification, comprising both a front face drilling unit and a roof support and fortification unit. Furthermore, the electrohydraulic vehicle is composed of a front chassis consisting of a pair of wheels, positioning cylinders, an operator's cab and two telescopic arms mounted on such chassis and a rear chassis located behind the front chassis according to the direction of movement and consisting of a pair of wheels, positioning cylinders, two electrohydraulic units also called Power pack, an electric cable reel and a diesel engine, wherein both chassis are articulated to each other, of the jumbo type, by means of a vertical axle. This electro-hydraulic vehicle may also include a cartridge launcher tube and a semi-automatic bolt feeding system.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

A dual electro-hydraulic vehicle, capable of performing tunnel development and roof fortification work; applicable in underground mining. The self-propelled vehicle consists of a front chassis with two wheels and a rear chassis with two wheels, which are linked together by a central joint.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

State of the Art

The present utility model is related to electro-hydraulic vehicles that perform mineral exploitation works in the mining sector. It is important to take into consideration that this equipment performs a series of processes in a cyclical manner known as the mining cycle, which are described below:

It starts with Process 1 related to the development of the tunnel, using electro-hydraulic front face drilling vehicles—FIG. 1, FIG. 2 and FIG. 6—which are responsible for drilling horizontally into the rock in the direction desired by geology area in charge of the mine.

Continuing with Process 2 within this cycle is the so-called blasting activity; in this process the dynamite is loaded and installed in the holes made by the electro-hydraulic front face drilling vehicles (Process 1). The next step after installation is the detonation of the dynamite, thus ending the blasting process.

Process 2 is the hauling of rocks outside the tunnel. This can be done by a low profile front loader called Scoop and a mining truck. Once the working area is cleared and cleaned, Process 4 called roof support—FIG. 3, FIG. 4 and FIG. 7—is started using a fourth model of electro-hydraulic vehicles with the necessary accessories to fortify the tunnel roofs; with this last process the mining cycle is complete.

Having described the mining stages, it is clear that several electro-hydraulic vehicles are required; where at least one electro-hydraulic vehicle is needed for the front face drilling and another for the roof fortification stage, increasing the amount of equipment according to the size of the tunnel section. As more vehicles become part of the mining site fleet, the transfer time, inventory costs, maintenance costs, labor costs and related indirect costs will increase. In addition, the mining process times are increased with the movement of all related vehicles within the mining cycle. Therefore, the less equipment working in the mining cycle, the shorter the mining time will be, making it more productive.

As background of electro-hydraulic vehicles performing work in underground mining and tunnel development, front face drilling vehicles are known to exist as demonstrated in the patent EP0203907 entitled “Drill wagon for drilling excavation and rockbolt holes”. In the same line, some models can be found in the current market such as Troidon 66 manufacturer Resemin), Boomer S1D (manufacturer Atlas Copco) and Axera DD310 manufacturer Sandvik). However, these machines only have the capacity to perform the front face drilling stage which has been described as process 1 of the mining cycle.

On the other hand, it is known that there are other electro-hydraulic vehicles with the capacity to develop the process of roof fortification or support described as process 4 in the mining cycle. There is a patent U.S. Pat. No. 4,229,124 entitled “Automatic Roof Bolting system for mines”, which refers to a jumbo model that has an OEM design and is used specifically for roof fortification or support. In the market, the most accepted brands of this type of equipment are the manufacturers Bolter 88 (manufacturer Resemin), Boltec H235 (manufacturer Atlas Copco), Robolt SD310 (manufacturer Sandvik), which, like the mentioned patent, can only be used in the support stage.

Finally, it is necessary to point out that in underground mining the types of electro-hydraulic drilling and roof fortification vehicles are known as “Jumbos”. An example of this is patent CA2879241 A1, entitled “Drill positioning system for jumbo carrier unit”. In the claims we will use this term for a better description.

DESCRIPTION OF THE UTILITY MODEL

To solve the problems mentioned above, the present utility model has been devised, consisting of a single dual electro-hydraulic vehicle capable of performing both the front face drilling process—FIG. 1—and the roof fortification process—FIG. 3—for application in construction and underground mining.

The vehicle that is the subject of the invention consists of a heavy-duty articulated chassis (30), 4WD, self-propelled with a diesel engine (36), with oscillating front and rear axles, two telescopic arms, the first one capable of performing the front face drilling process (31) comprising a beam, which can be simple or telescopic (32), wherein the simple beam, consists of a single beam having the necessary dimensions to 10-, 12-, 14- or 16-foot drill rods according to the client's needs, while the telescopic beam consists of two parallel and aligned beams, assembled on top of each other, having the property of extending and contracting which allows for different length dimensions making possible to use different lengths of drilling rods. This system works in a horizontal position and has a parallelism system, which allows that when lifting or lowering the arm, the guide beam (32) and the hydraulic drill (33) mounted on it, not to lose the horizontal position. The second arm (34) s responsible for carrying out the mechanized fortification of the roof (FIG. 3), having two parallel beams and two hydraulic drills, the first hydraulic drill being used to mechanize the drilling and the second drill being used to insert the bolt or anchor in the hole previously mechanized by the first drill. A pivoting support, which is regulated so that, when pivoting, both drills and the cartridge launcher tube are concentric. A cartridge launcher tube that is a complement to the process, the application of which is to inject resin and cement cartridges into the previously mechanized hole; after that, the helical type anchor bolt is inserted. In addition, it has a semiautomatic bolt feeding system (40) that makes the work of roof support and rock fortification safer and faster, avoiding the operator to manually feed the equipment with bolts to perform the support. Both telescopic arms are installed on the front of the chassis—FIG. 8.

Through this utility model, the problems or difficulties mentioned in the state of the art are solved, such as reducing the fleet of electro-hydraulic vehicles involved in the mining cycle (specifically, in the process 1 of tunnel development and the process 4 of support and fortification of roofs in underground mining or civil construction), which would reduce the costs of inventory for spare parts, maintenance costs of equipment, maintenance and operating labor, among other indirect costs. In addition, production times for the mining cycle will be improved by using and moving a single piece of equipment for both tunnel development and roof fortification instead of using a different piece of equipment for each process.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

In order to facilitate the understanding of the characteristics of the invention, a set of drawings is attached to the present descriptive report, in which the following has been represented for illustrative and not restrictive purposes:

FIG. 1 shows an electro-hydraulic front face drilling vehicle, in proper working position (jacks extended) performing the front face drilling stage to continue the advance and development of the tunnel (indicated as Process 1 within the mining cycle—FIG. 5). The vehicle is a front face drilling vehicle of the Resemin brand and model Troidon 55.

FIG. 2 shows an electro-hydraulic tunnel development vehicle, also called a jumbo front face drilling vehicle. This vehicle consists of a front chassis and a rear chassis, linked together by a central joint. There is a telescopic arm (12) On the front chassis which is used to move and position the beam (13) either simple or telescopic to perform the front face drilling operation, this must always maintain the horizontal position. The beam is used to advance the hydraulic drill (14) when drilling. In the rear chassis there is the diesel engine (15) and the transmission box, having the function of moving the equipment; an electro-hydraulic unit (16) also known as Power Pack, which is driven by electric energy from the mine or worksite, transmitted to the equipment by means of the electric cable reel (17).

FIG. 3 shows an electro-hydraulic bolter vehicle, in proper working position, performing the work of roof fortification or also called rock support within a mining tunnel (Process 4 within the mining cycle—FIG. 5). It can be observed that previously the roof of the tunnel has been supported with helical bolts and continues with the advance every 1.2 meters. For this case; this vehicle is a Resemin Bolter model 88.

FIG. 4 shows an electro-hydraulic vehicle for roof fortification in tunnels. This vehicle consists of a front chassis and a rear chassis, linked together by a central joint. On the front chassis it has an extendable telescopic arm (21), with a bolting column, composed by two guide beams (22) having the function of guiding and advancing the drilling and bolting, on each beam, it has a hydraulic drill (23), to make the holes and another one for bolting: in parallel it has a cartridge launcher tube. Also in the lower part of the chassis it has two front wheels (24) for moving the equipment. In the rear chassis, there is the diesel engine (25), coupled to the transmission box (26) which is in charge of transmitting the power to the front and rear differentials and these to the respective wheels to provide displacement to the equipment. It also has an electro-hydraulic unit (27), which is composed of an electric motor and an axial piston pump, also called Power Pack, which is fed by electric energy from the mine that is sent through the cable reel (28).

FIG. 5 shows the mining cycle, specifying 4 main processes. Process 1 is the development of the tunnel front, which as a first step is the drilling of the rock, for this work the front face drilling electrohydraulic vehicles are used. The Process 2 is the blasting; this is a work of installation of the dynamite in the holes made by the front face drilling equipment. Process 3 is the hauling or cleaning process, where the rocks resulting from the blasting are dragged to the outside of the tunnel, and Process 4 is the fortification of the roof and support, which consists of placing anchor bolts on the tunnel roofs to prevent the collapse, or fall of rocks where the electro-hydraulic vehicles of support and roof fortification work.

According to the previous explanation, in the world market 2 vehicles are used, one for each process (front face drilling and development of the tunnel and roof fortification) so the reason for this invention is to present in only one vehicle the application of both processes.

FIG. 6 shows the electro-hydraulic vehicle subject of the invention, exposing in this figure one of the two telescopic boom arms extended to the upper right side and with the front (42) and rear (43) positioning cylinders extended in working position; which is in charge of the front face drilling process and tunnel development.

FIG. 7 shows the electro-hydraulic vehicle subject of the invention, with one of the two telescopic booms in the working position and showing the reach and working area depending on the size of the bolt to be used. The equipment can be available for 7-, 8-, 10-foot bolts. This process is called rock fortification or roof support.

FIG. 8 shows the electro-hydraulic vehicle subject of the invention, consisting of two chassis, which are articulated with each other by means of a vertical axle (30). On the front chassis, there are two Boom arms, the first telescopic Boom arm for the front face drilling application (31), having two guide beams (32) in a telescopic way, in charge of advancing the drill (33). On the other hand, there is the Boom arm or bolting turret (34), having two parallel guide beams that advance the drilling and bolting equipment (35), it also contains a canopy type operators cab (41) protecting the operator from possible rock falls and equipment overturning. On the rear chassis, there is the diesel engine (3$) with the function of moving the equipment to the work site, the equipment has R20 wheels and rim (37), ideal for avoiding unevenness and obstructions in the work site. It also has an electric cable reel (38) and a water reel (39).

FIG. 9 shows the electro-hydraulic vehicle subject of the invention as in image 6, with a 3D view.

Claims

1. A dual electrohydraulic vehicle with the capacity to perform the development of tunnels or front face drilling works as well as to perform roof fortification works, CHARACTERIZED IN THAT it includes

a front face drilling unit which consists of a telescopic arm (31), a simple or telescopic beam (32), where the simple beam consists of a single having the necessary dimensions to use 10-, 12-, 14- or 16-foot drill rods and the telescopic beam consists of two beams assembled on top of each other with the ability to expand and contract, and a hydraulic drill (33) which moves along the beam (32) when the front-end is drilled; and

a roof support and fortification unit consisting of a second telescopic arm (34), two guide beams (44) arranged in parallel where the first one supports and moves the drilling equipment capable of performing mechanized drilling and the second guide beam supports and moves the bolting equipment in charge of inserting a bolt in the previously mechanized hole.

2. The dual electrohydraulic vehicle of claim 1, characterized in that it comprises wherein both chassis are articulated to each other, of the jumbo type, by means of a vertical axle (30).

a front chassis, wherein the front chassis consists of a pair of wheels (37), positioning cylinders (42), an operator's cab (41), a telescopic arm capable of performing front face drilling or tunneling works (31), and a telescopic arm capable of performing roof support and fortification (34), mounted on that chassis; and

a rear chassis located to the rear of the front chassis according to the direction of movement, where the rear chassis is made up of a pair of wheels (37), positioning cylinders (43), two electro-hydraulic units also called power packs, an electric cable reel (38), and a diesel engine (36) for moving the vehicle,

3. The dual electro-hydraulic vehicle of claim 1, characterized in that the fortification and support unit contains a cartridge launcher tube, whose function is to inject a resin and cement cartridge into the previously drilled hole, and then insert a bolt.

4. The dual electro-hydraulic vehicle of claim 1, characterized in that the fortification and support unit contains a semi-automatic bolt feeding system (40) as well, which automates the operators process of inserting one bolt per working cycle.