Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 03096766 2020-10-02
Dual Electrohydraulic Vehicle for Tunnel Development and Roof Fortification
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 - Figure 1, Figure 2 and Figure 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 3 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 - Figure 3, Figure 4 and Figure 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.
Date Recue/Date Received 2020-10-02
CA 03096766 2020-10-02
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 US4229124 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 Al, 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 - Figure 1 - and the roof fortification process - Figure 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 use 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) is
responsible for carrying out the mechanized fortification of the roof (figure
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 - Figure 8.
Date Recue/Date Received 2020-10-02
CA 03096766 2020-10-02
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:
FIGURE 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 -
Figure 5). The
vehicle is a front face drilling vehicle of the Resemin brand and model
Troidon 55.
FIGURE 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).
FIGURE 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 - Figure 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.
FIGURE 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
Date Recue/Date Received 2020-10-02
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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).
FIGURE 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.
FIGURE 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.
FIGURE 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.
FIGURE 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 operator's cab (41) protecting the operator from possible rock
falls and
equipment overturning. On the rear chassis, there is the diesel engine (36)
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).
FIGURE 9 shows the electro-hydraulic vehicle subject of the invention as in
image 6, with a
3D view.
Date Recue/Date Received 2020-10-02
