Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
ED/HL 25645 ~ 3~
Method_and ap~aratus for with rock mining.
The present invention is related to rock mining particularly raise
mining.
Recently a new method for mining has appeared that partlcularly
a:Lms at making it more profitable to make use of ore bodies of limited
extension. This method is called "Alimak Raise Mining", or "Raise Mining'. By
means of a conventional raise lift equipment a number of pilot drifts are drivenmainly in the main direction of the ore body, that in many cases in practice canbe greatly inclining. An example of a modern Eorm of such equipment appears fromthe French patent application 8105110 in the name of the same applicants.
Ring drilling or fan shaped drilling into the walls oE the raise is
thereafter carried through. After loading the drill holes, blasting is carried
through successively beginning Erom the lower end oE the pilot drift and
continuing upwardly. Also the drilling and loading works are carried through
Erom a raise lift platEorm while using the guide mounted during the raise
driving.
The location and mutual distance of the pilot drifts is chosen while
taking into consideration the Eorm and thickness of the ore layer and the
longest necessary drill hole depth, so that drilling can be carried through
preferably only in the ore body proper with the least possible necessary number
of drill holes in order to obtain effective winning of the ore body without any
appreciable intermixing of unusuable material into the excavated ore At
excavation an area of a certain thickness is left between the raise drifts in
order to prevent collapse of the mine.
In order to minimize the number of necessary drill holes it has become an
aspiration to use increasingly larger drill diameters. The limlt Eor this
development is determined by the load:lng capacity oE the raise mining equipmentfrom which driving shall be carried through, sLnce larger dr:Lll diameters lmplyan increased weight of the necessary equLpment, drill steels inclusive.
One ob~ect of the present invention i8 to make possible an appreciable
increase of the weight of the drill equipment while maintainlng conventional
dimensioning of the drift mining equipment, the guide sections inclusive.
According to the invention this object has been attained by means of a
method Eor rock mining, particularly raise mining, comprising driving a drift
with great extension in upwards direction, attaching a guide along one wall of
the drift, drilling in the walls of the shaft by means of drill equipment
carried by a drill platform movable along the guide, and loading, characterized
~.
by carrying through manual manipulation in connection with the drilling and
loading steps, such as operation of the drill equipment and loading of drill
holes from an operator's platform separated from the drlll platform and movable
along the guide independently of said drill platEorm and by separate drive
means.
Also according to the invention the said object has been attained by a
rock mining equipment, e.g for raise mining, said equipment including drill
equipment for drilling in a rock wall with great extension ln upwards direction,particularly the walls of a pilot drlft in connection with raise mining, and an
operator's and service platEorm which is movable along a guide which extends
upwardly along said rock wall, particularly is attached to one of the walls of
said pilot drift, characterized in that said drill equipment is carried by a
cable driven platform comprising means for guiding said cable driven platform
along the guide, said cable driven platform being movable along said guide
independently oE the operator's and service platform, which has separate drlve
means.
By the invention the weight of the desired drill equipm~nt is thus only
restricted by the dimensioning of the cable drive, since the guide only has to
take up the forces required for guiding the cable operated platform in the
direction of the drift. ~11 manual work, such as change of drill steels,
operation of the drill machines, loading of drill holes and the like is carried
through from the operator's and service platform and it can also be used Eor
transports to and from the work site. The operator's and service platform can beof a conventional raise liEt type, only modified to be adapted to the purpose
intended.
The invention also makes possible improvement of the working conditions
at the working site sine the operator's and service platform can easily be
provided with a sound isolated cabin which is Eurthermore protected with respectto vibrations occurring during the drLlling, since the drLll equlpment and
operator's platforms are separated Erom each other.
The invention will now be described more closely below with reference to
an embodiment shown on the attached drawings, on which
Fig. 1 schematically illustrates a raise mining equipment according to
the invention located in a raise shown in longitudinal section,
Fig. 2 shows a side view in an enlarged scale of the cable operated
platform included in Fig. 1, and
Fig. 3 shows a plan view of the platform according to Fig. 2.
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In Fig. 1 the walls in a steeply incllning raise are designated 2. On the
hanging wall a guide 4 is attached. The guide 4 is composed of a plurality of
sections Eollowing upon each other and connected by means of screw joints, not
shown. Each guide section is attached to the rock wall by means of attaching
irons, not shown, and furthermore each sectlon by means of i~s lower end rests
on the upper end of the guide section next below. Each guide section is
composed of a guide element 6 proper in the form oE a beam with a tooth or pin
rack, and tube conduits indicated at 8. These tube conduits are intended for
transporting drive fluids, such as air and water, on the one hznd to a raise
driving equipment, not shown, by means of which the raise has been driven while
successively mounting the guide 4, on the other hand to the e~uipment shown on
the attached drawings and described more closely below. The equipment used for
raise driving can be of an entirely conventional kind, and e.g. of the type
described in the above mentioned French patent application 81 05 110.
The equipment shown on the attached drawings includes two main portions,
viz. one operator's and service unit generally designated 10 and a drill
equipment unit generally designated 12.
In the embodiment shown the unit 10 is a convent:Lonal raise lift only
schematically illustrated. It includes a working platEorm 14 and a lift cage 16,which are attached to a frame work indicated at 18. The working platform 14 ls
swingably attached to the framework 18 in a way not shown, and settable to a
horizontal position independently of the inclination of the drift by means of a
set means in the form of telescoped support legs 20. The lift cage 16 is
lntended for personnel transportation to the working site in the raise and has adoor, not shown, in its upper portion to admit ascension to the
platform 14. A drive machinery for the movement of the unlt 10 along the guide 4is indicated at 22. The raise lift 10 can e.g. be of the type Alimak STH-5L,
which is well known to the man of the art, and thereLore need not be descrlbed
further here.
The unit 12 Lncludes a platEorm portLon 24 carried by a framework. The
framework includes a longitudinal frame yortion 26 extending transerversely to
the plane oE the platform 24. From the ends of the frame portion 26 upper and
lower struts 23 and 30 respectively5 extend towards the platform for supportingthe same. At each end the frame portlon 26 also carries a yoke shaped member 32.At each member 32 the yoke shanks carry guide wheels 34, which bear on both
sides of the guide 6 and thereby serve to guide the unit 12 along said guide.
On its Lower side, the platform 24 carries two shaft attachments 38 via a
turntable 36 equipped with a graduated arc. Between the attachments 38 a drill
J~i~i6
boom 40 is swingably carried on a shaft indicated at 42. A hydraulic cylinder 44acts between the turntable 36 and an attachment 46 on the drill boom 40 By
means of the hydraulic cylinder 44 the drill boom 40 can be swung about the
shaft 42, as indicated by means of clash and dot lines 47 in Fig. 2. At its lower
end the drill boom 40 carries a guide rall 50 swingably about a shaft 48, said
guide rail 50 carrying and serving as a guide for a drill feeder beam 52. By
means of a hydraulic cylinder 54 acting between the drill boom 40 and the guide
rail 50, the guide rail 50 can be swung about the shaft 48j which extends
perpendicularly to the shaft 42. For longitudinal shifting of the drill feeder
beam 52 in the guide rail 50 serves a hydraulic cylinder 56 acting between thesetwo elements. The drill feeder beam 52 in a conventional way carries a hydraulicdrill machine 58, the dril,l steel of which is indicated at 60. The drill feederbeam 52 furthermore has a front rock support 61 and a rear support cylinder 62,
by means of which the beam 52 can be fixed against the walls of the drift in
operation. The drill equlpment 50, 52, 56, 58, 60 can be of a conventional type.Thus, the drill machine 58 can e.g. be of the type Alimak AD 160.
On its top side the platform 24 carries a power unit 63 including a
hydraulic pump and an electric drive motor therefor. The power unit 63, which isused for operating the drill equipment 40 - 60, as well as other hydraulically
powered equipment, can be of a conventional kind. Arl example of this is an
equipment of the type Alimak PEA 45. At 64 a ~otor is indicated for rotating thedrill boom 40 via a gear~ not shown, cooperating wlth the turntable 36. Also
the motor 64 can be a hydraulic motor powered from the power unit 63. The
platform 24 furthermore carries a hydraulic oll tank 66 with accessories.
Three hydraulic support legs 68 are likewise powered from the drive unit
63. These support legs are attached to the platform 24 near its periphery and
are intended for engagement with the drift walls 2 for aiding in supporting the
platform when the drill equipment is in operation.
On its top side the platform 24 furthermore carries a cable windlass 70
intended for lifting the unit 12 along the raise, gulded by the guide 6. A
cable from the windlass 70, said cable being indicated at 72, is attached to theupper end of the raise, e.g. where the raise meets a transport drift. The cable
windlass 70 can be of a conventional design that is easily perceived by the man
of the art and need therefore not be described more closely here.
An example of a windlass usable in practice L~ one of the type Alimak
HPG.
A segment shaped portion 74 of the platform 12 is hingedly arranged to be
settable to a horizontal position irrespective of the inclination o the ralse.
3~
The portion 74 can thereby serve as a service platEorm for the equipment locatedon top of the platform. The platform portion 74 can be reached from the
underside by means of a door 76.
The equipment lO, 12 described above can be used for raise mlning of the
kind mentioned by way of introduction. The drill equipment 40 - 60 is operated
by an operator located on the platform 14. For thls purpose the drill boom 40
carries a valve unlt 78, which is pivotally journalled about an axis indicated
at 80 for operation from an optional side. This is indicated in Fig. 2 in that
the valve unit 70 is shown with dashed lines in two positions. In a container 82the platform 14 carries extension rods 84 which are likewise mounted and
demounted by the operator on the platform 14 during the course of the drilling
work. Besides serving as a platform for the operator at operation of the
equip~nent of the unit 12, the platEorm 14 is also intended to be used for hole
loading works and for transport to and from the unit 12 of men and material.
The drill boom 40 is~ as has appeared from the above, on the one hand
pivotable about an axis perpendicular to the platform 24 by means of the
turntable 36, on the other hand it is pivotable on the shaft 42 in the way
indicated in Figure 22. Hereby corresponding setting possibilities for the drillEeeder beam 52 are obtained, i.e. it can be pivoted 360 around the axis oE
the turntable and at the same time be swung relatively to this axis about the
plvot shaEt 42. In Fig. 2 the shaft attachment 38, and thereby the drill boom 48and the feeder beam 52, are shown pivoted 90 with respect to their positions
in Fig. 1. Further setting possibilities for the drill feeder beam 52 are
offered by the cylinders 54 and 56.
The arrangement according to the invention is, of course, not restricted
to the embodiment described above and shown on the drawings but can be modified
within the scope of the claims. The cable drive for the platform 24 can thus be
realized by means of a remotely located cable windlass instead of the one
located on the platform 24. Thus, the cable can be attached to the platform led
via a pulley attached to the upper end oE the ra-Lse to a cable wLndlass locatedin the upper transport drLEt.
The drill equipment need not be of the hydraulic type.
The platform 24 can carry further drill equipments In a way that is
easily conceived by the man of the art this could e.g. be carr:Led through either
by two drill equipmen~s 40 - 60 located side by side or in that a drill boom,
similar to the drlll boom 40, is arranged to carry at its lower end two units
50- 60 located side by side. It is also conceivable to arrange more drill
equipments carried by the platform 24 on different levels, as seen in the
direction of the raise.
~ ~35~6
There is, of course, neither any restriction with respect to the location
of the guide 4. Instead o:E being attached to the h~nging wall it can also be
attached to the foot wall, if this should be considered su:Ltable.
As a security the unit 12 should be suitably equipped with a catch
apparatus for braking the platform to the guide i:E the windlass should fail.
Furthermore there can be arranged a locking ~eans to secure that the platform
does not come too close to the unit 10.
