Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02276220 1999-06-23
P13870 .USA
-2-
DRILL RIG
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a drill rig and, more particularly, a drill rig
which is
particularly, although not exclusively, suitable for use in drilling blast
holes in the
development end of a tunnel in an underground mining operation.
BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION
In the drilling of such blast holes it is important that the axes of the holes
extend
in the correct direction and that the holes are drilled in a predetermined
pattern.
The holes near the side edges of the tunnel and at the roof and hanging walls
need to be drilled at an incline to the general grade or axial direction of
the tunnel
itself in order to ensure that sufficient rock is broken out to maintain the
required
cross-sectional dimensions of the tunnel.
It is accordingly necessary to align a drill correctly both with regard to
inclination
relative to the grade in the vertical direction as well as in the horizontal
direction in
order that the tunnel follow the required direction.
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
It is the object of this invention to provide a drill rig which greatly
facilitates the
drilling of a series of blast holes in their correct relative positions, as
well as their
1 s correct inclinations both in the horizontal and vertical direction.
CA 02276220 1999-06-23
-3-
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with this invention there is provided a drill rig comprising an
upper
and a lower frame assembly wherein the lower frame assembly is adapted to
support the drill rig during use as well as during transport and the upper
frame
assembly supports a drill boom and associated drill and carriage assembly, the
s drill rig being characterised in that the lower frame assembly and upper
frame
assembly are interconnected by elongate supports pivotally interconnected
intermediate their ends to divide each support into a foremost limb and a
rear-most limb wherein at least the operatively upper and rear-most support
limb
is shorter than the operatively upper and foremost support limb, the
arrangement
1 o being adapted to automatically adjust the inclination of the drill boom to
the grade
as the upper frame assembly is raised and lowered relative to the lower frame
assembly.
Further features of the invention provide for the forward ends of the elongate
supports to be movable along part of the length of the upper and lower frames
~ s respectively; for the lower frame to have a series of stop positions co-
operating
with the associated end of the co-operant support, the stop positions
corresponding to desired heights of holes to be drilled by the drill rig; and
for a
single hydraulic piston and cylinder assembly to be coupled between the lower
frame assembly and the lower end region of the lower rear-most limb of the
20 supports.
Still further features of the invention provide for the lower frame assembly
to have
a single pair of supporting rail wheels intermediate its ends; for both the
forward
and rearward ends of the lower frame assembly to have adjustable jacks for
supporting the lower frame on a foot wall in adjustable manner; and for at
least
25 the upper, and optionally also the lower frame assembly to have laterally
extendible outrigger arms for locking against the side walls during drilling
operations.
Preferably, the upper frame assembly of this invention includes a transversely
extending track made to a required profile and substantially supporting the
drill
30 boom assembly with a rearward guide co-operating with a guide formation on
the
rear end of the drill boom assembly whereby the drill boom assembly can be
moved laterally with a drill parallel to the grade in the central region and
at or
towards the extremities with the drill being inclined somewhat outwardly from
the
CA 02276220 1999-06-23
-4-
grade in plan view, in which case the track preferably includes a rack
co-operating with a pinion associated with the drill boom so that rotation,
say by
means of a crank, of the pinion can be employed to move the drill boom
laterally
along the length of the track from one side of the upper frame to the other.
In order that the above and other features of the invention may be more fully
understood one embodiment thereof will now be described with reference to the
accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In the drawings:-
FIG.1 is a side elevation showing a drill rig according to the invention in a
1 o vertically extended position;
FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the area indicated by circle "A" in Figure 1;
and,
FIG.3 is a plan view of the rig.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION WITH REFERENCE TO THE DRAWINGS
In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings a drill rig
generally
indicated by numeral (1) comprises an upper frame (2) and a lower frame (3).
The lower frame (3) has a single roughly centrally disposed spaced pair of
rail
wheels (4) whereby it can be moved around and each end of the lower frame has
screw threaded jacking arrangements (5) and (6) at the rear and front thereof
respectively. The upper frame (2) supports above it a drill boom (7) carrying
a
carriage (8) with a drill (9) thereon slung underneath the boom (7). The boom
is
actually supported on a transverse track (10) (see Figure 2) carried by the
upper
frame (2) in a manner which will be described hereinafter.
The upper frame (2) and lower frame (3) are interconnected by two elongate
supports (11 ) and (12) pivotally connected together by means of a pivot (13)
intermediate their ends. The one elongate support has its lower end (14)
attached to the lower one end of the rear of the lower frame by a pivot (15)
and
its upper end (16) is pivotally connected to a slide (not shown) confined to
CA 02276220 1999-06-23
-5-
longitudinal movement along a tipped groove (17) extending along the forward
portion of the upper frame (2).
The upper end (18) of the other elongate support is pivotally attached to the
rear
end of the upper frame by a pivot (19) and its lower end (20) is similarly
slidable
s along an inwardly tipped guide (21 ) which forms the forward portion of the
lower
frame and in fact carries at its forward end the forward screw threaded jack
(6).
The lower end (20) of the latter elongate support (11 ) has a formation
adapted to
co-operate with notches (22) spaced apart along the length of a gauge member
(23) extending parallel to the guide (21 ). The gauge member has notches on
two
opposite edges and is rotatable about its own axis to direct one edge or the
other
upwardly. Also it can be rotated to an intermediate position in which no
notches
are directed upwardly for co-operation with the lower end of the support (11 )
in
which case the drill rig can be totally collapsed to bring the upper and lower
frame substantially together for transport or storage purposes.
The positioning of the pivot along the lengths of the two supports (11 ) and
(12),
and the respective lengths from the pivot to their extremities, is arranged
such
that when the drill rod (24) itself is located centrally and on the grade of
the
tunnel being developed the central region holes can be drilled in the exact
direction of the tunnel. As the upper frame is raised or lowered the drill rod
will
2o become increasingly more inclined towards the hanging or foot wall, as the
case
may be, until at the extremities the drill rod is directed at the exact
desired
inclination for the upper-most and lower-most holes respectively. The former
position is illustrated in Figure 1.
The notches in the gauge member (23) are arranged such that they determine
fixed elevations of the upper frame relative to the lower frame which
correspond
to the desired positions of holes to be drilled in a standard pattern for the
tunnel
development. Accordingly once the rig has been set up no measuring or
marking of a development face is necessary only adjustment of the height
according to the notches in the gauge member (23).
3o Regarding the lateral positioning of the drill and drill boom the
transverse, roughly
horizontal track (10) follows a substantially straight path across the central
region
(25) of the upper frame and has a rearwardly deflected end region (26) on each
side. The central region enables holes to be drilled in the face in vertical
planes
parallel to the development grade. However the end regions (26) cause the
drill
CA 02276220 1999-06-23
-6-
rod (24) to be directed laterally outwardly at an inclination to the side
walls of the
tunnel for the same purpose of breaking out rock in a manner resulting in a
straight rock wall being developed. In this case fixed lateral positions of
holes to
be drilled are determined by a series of spaced holes (27) in the track which
are
s to be aligned with a hole associated with the boom, and a pin can be placed
through the aligned holes to lock the boom in position for drilling a
particular
hole. This determines all the lateral positions at which holes are to be
drilled in
the predetermined pattern and, once more, no measuring is necessary on site.
In order to stabilise the boom its rear end is provided with a slotted slider
member (28) movable along a transverse rail (29) of the rear of the upper
frame
assembly.
In order to employ the drill rig of this invention the rig can be wheeled
along a rail
even of a temporary and undulating nature as is often the case in development
regions of tunnels and because it only has two wheels it can be swivelled
15 sideways to greatly facilitate its setting up. It is then raised and
supported on its
screw threaded jacks in the correct orientation so that in the central
position the
drill rod will extend along the grade in the centre of the tunnel. The rig can
then
be locked in position by means of laterally extending outrigger jacks (30) and
an
entire set of holes can be drilled simply by moving the drill boom laterally
along
2o the track, stopping it at each hole in the track and then moving the upper
frame
up and down through the various vertical positions determined by the notches
in
the gauge member (23).
Movement of the boom along the track is achieved by means of a pinion gear
(31 ) engaging a rack (32) extending along the length of the track. Rotation
of the
z5 pinion gear is effected by a crank (33) operable at the rear of the rig.
It will be understood that numerous variations may be made to the embodiment
of the invention described above without departing from the scope of this
invention.
