Arrangement for injecting and affixing a reinforcing or anchoring element in a rock wall

Abstract

The present invention relates to an arrangement and to a method for injecting and affixing a reinforcing and / or anchoring element in a rock wall. The arrangement includes means (15; 65) for connection to a reinforcing and / or anchoring element (2; 62), an injection pipe (9) which is connected to the coupling means at a front end facing inwardly in the hole and which includes means (7) for connection to means for supplying injection medium (8). The arrangement also includes a check valve (10) for co-action with the injection medium, and an expandable seal (10; 50; 60). The arrangement is designed as a separate unit that can be loosened from the reinforcing and / or anchoring element upon completion of the injection phase. The method comprises corresponding process steps.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]The present invention relates to an arrangement and a method for affixing reinforcing and / or anchoring elements in rock walls in accordance with the preamble of claim 1 and in accordance with claim 13.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]Work on and in rock walls often results in problems relating to crack formations, the danger of rock slides or rock slips and other hazards that make it necessary to reinforce the rock wall. For example, such problems may occur in the building of tunnels or rock cavities, and may also apply to open-air rock walls in the construction of roads, highways and the like. In such cases reinforcement is most often achieved with the aid of different methods in which reinforcement elements, normally in the form of reinforcing rods or reinforcement rounds or the like anchored in holes drilled in the rock wall. So-called rockbolts and roof bolts are examples of reinforcing and / or anchoring elements.[0003]A well known and simple method of...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0011]The advantage afforded by this arrangement is that solely the end of the reinforcing and / or the anchoring element is exposed within the hole, and no other parts remain. An additional advantage is that it is much simpler to seal-off the remaining hole and the end of the reinforcing and / or the anchoring element than is possible in the case of the earlier known technique, by injecting some type of filler into the hole subsequent to completion of the injection phase. This greatly reduces the risk of corrosion attack. Alternatively, it may be elected not to fill the remaining part of the hole with filler and, instead, obtain the advantage of being able to use the free end of the reinforcing / anchoring element in the hole as an anchorage and securing point for diverse equipment. Examples of such equipment have already been mentioned above.

[0031]Another beneficial feature afforded by the inventive method is that the injection means can be re-used for the injection and anchoring of a new reinforcing and / or anchoring element in the rock wall. This clearly constitutes an economic benefit in comparison with earlier known arrangements of the one-time-use only type.

Problems solved by technology

Work on and in rock walls often results in problems relating to crack formations, the danger of rock slides or rock slips and other hazards that make it necessary to reinforce the rock wall.

For example, such problems may occur in the building of tunnels or rock cavities, and may also apply to open-air rock walls in the construction of roads, highways and the like.

As the cement hardens it will shrink somewhat and because there is no other form of anchorage in the rock wall than that afforded by the adhesion of the cement to the rock face, there is often the danger that the entire cement-“plug”, including the reinforcement element, will loosen and at times even fall out of the hole.

Another problem experienced when working with and in rock walls is that moisture and water may obtain ingress through cracks for instance, which often results in the need to seal such cracks.

When holes are drilled for the reinforcement of rock walls as described above, leakages also often occur as a result of puncturing the natural screen that was present prior to drilling.

However, these sealants are not able to penetrate out into the actual cracks and consequently the leakage problems remain in many instances.

One drawback with this known arrangement is that it cannot be re-used and is therefore expensive.

Another drawback is that there is always a risk of corrosion attack in the space that remains in the lower part of the hole after having removed the seal, nut and washer, despite subsequently filling the space with a filling material, due to the fact that parts of the injection device still remain in the hole.

Images