A vertical shaft tunneling machine and its synchronous rotary muck removal device

Abstract

This invention discloses a synchronous rotary muck removal device, relating to the field of tunneling machine technology. It includes a cutterhead rotatably mounted at the bottom of the shaft of a vertical shaft tunneling machine, a rear support system mounted at the top of the shaft, a muck collection system mounted on the shaft, and a chain bucket conveyor built into the shaft. The bottom end of the chain bucket conveyor is installed inside the cutterhead and extends beyond the bottom surface of the cutterhead. The top end of the chain bucket conveyor is rotatably connected to the rear support system. The muck collection system is used to collect the muck dumped by the buckets on the chain bucket conveyor as they turn from the top. This synchronous rotary muck removal device improves the vertical muck removal efficiency of deep shafts, while also improving the uniformity of muck collection and preventing muck accumulation in localized areas at the working face. This invention also discloses a vertical shaft tunneling machine, whose beneficial effects are as described above.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of tunneling machine technology, and particularly to a synchronous rotary muck removal device. This invention also relates to a vertical shaft tunneling machine. Background Technology

[0002] A tunnel boring machine (TBM) is a machine used to excavate tunnels in flat ground. There are many types of TBMs, such as TBMs (Tunnel Boring Machines), shield tunneling machines, and shaft boring machines.

[0003] Shaft construction equipment is a key factor in the rapid and efficient formation of shafts. Currently, the main methods for shaft excavation include drill-and-blast and drilling. Compared with traditional shaft excavation methods, shaft tunneling machines (MTMs) have significant advantages in terms of shaft completion speed, safety, and economy, especially in the field of deep shafts. However, to date, there is no relatively mature set of MTM construction equipment, mainly because the problem of vertical muck removal during shaft construction has not been fully solved. Therefore, designing a mature vertical muck removal structure system for MTM construction has become an urgent problem to be solved.

[0004] In existing technologies, excavated soil from the shaft face is typically collected using a threaded conveyor, then transferred to a relay transport mechanism above the cutterhead, and finally vertically lifted to the ground using equipment such as buckets and cranes. This vertical excavation method involves a complex intermediate process, a long transport flow, and a variety of equipment, resulting in low transport efficiency and complex transport device structures. For vertical excavation in deep shafts, more efficient transport devices need to be developed.

[0005] Therefore, how to improve the vertical slag removal efficiency of deep shafts is a technical problem faced by those skilled in the art. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The purpose of this invention is to provide a synchronous rotary slag removal device that can improve the vertical slag removal efficiency of deep shafts. Another purpose of this invention is to provide a shaft boring machine.

[0007] To solve the above-mentioned technical problems, the present invention provides a synchronous rotary slag discharge device, including a cutterhead rotatably mounted at the bottom of the shaft of a shaft boring machine, a rear support system mounted at the top of the shaft, a slag collection system mounted on the shaft, and a chain bucket conveyor built into the shaft. The bottom end of the chain bucket conveyor is installed inside the cutterhead and extends to the outside of the bottom surface of the cutterhead, and the top end of the chain bucket conveyor is rotatably connected to the rear support system. The slag collection system is used to collect the slag dumped by the buckets on the chain bucket conveyor as they turn from the top.

[0008] Preferably, the bottom end of the chain bucket conveyor is positioned opposite to the central axis of the cutter head.

[0009] Preferably, the chain bucket conveyor is installed at an angle within the machine body.

[0010] Preferably, the length direction of the chain bucket conveyor forms an angle of 3 to 5° with the central axis of the cutter head.

[0011] Preferably, it also includes a support platform connected to the top of the chain bucket conveyor, the top surface of which is rotatably connected to the rear supporting system.

[0012] Preferably, the system further includes a rotary joint assembly disposed on the rear supporting system, wherein the top surface of the support platform is rotatably connected to the rotating end of the rotary joint assembly; and a supply pipeline is connected between the rotating end of the rotary joint assembly and the chain bucket conveyor.

[0013] Preferably, the rotary joint assembly includes an outer sleeve fixed to the rear supporting system and a rotating mandrel rotatably disposed in the outer sleeve, the bottom end of the rotating mandrel being connected to the top surface of the support platform.

[0014] Preferably, the bottom end of the rotating mandrel is fitted with an adapter flange, and the adapter flange has a plurality of long sliding holes extending radially along the rotating mandrel. A plurality of drive levers inserted into the long sliding holes are connected to the top surface of the support platform.

[0015] Preferably, a drive shaft is connected to the top surface of the support platform, and the top end of the drive shaft is connected to the bottom end of the rotating spindle.

[0016] The present invention also provides a shaft boring machine, including a machine body and a synchronous rotary muck removal device disposed on the machine body, wherein the synchronous rotary muck removal device is specifically the synchronous rotary muck removal device described in any of the above claims.

[0017] The synchronous rotary slag discharge device provided by this invention mainly includes a cutterhead, a rear support system, a slag collection system, and a bucket chain conveyor. The cutterhead is located at the bottom (or front) of the shaft boring machine and is rotatably connected to the machine body. It rotates under the drive of the main drive on the machine body to excavate the working face at the bottom of the shaft. The rear support system is located on the machine body, specifically at the top (or rear) of the machine body, and mainly provides supporting components and supports the top of the bucket chain conveyor. The slag collection system is located on the machine body, generally in the middle area of ​​the machine body, and is mainly used to collect the slag transported by the bucket chain conveyor. The chain bucket conveyor is the core component, installed inside the machine body's internal cavity. It has a relatively large height (or length) dimension, enabling long-distance transport of excavated soil from deep wells. Simultaneously, the bottom end of the chain bucket conveyor is inserted into the cutterhead, connected to it, and extends beyond the bottom surface of the cutterhead, directly contacting the working face at the bottom of the shaft. This allows the buckets, which circulate around the sprockets on the chain bucket conveyor, to collect the broken excavated soil at the working face and continuously transport it upwards until the buckets turn downwards at the top of the chain bucket conveyor, dumping the excavated soil into the slag collection system for centralized discharge. The top of the chain bucket conveyor is rotatably connected to the downstream supporting system, ensuring that when the cutterhead rotates and feeds, causing the bottom end of the chain bucket conveyor to rotate synchronously, the top end of the chain bucket conveyor also rotates synchronously. In other words, the entire chain bucket conveyor rotates synchronously with the cutterhead inside the machine body. Thus, during the synchronous rotation of the bucket conveyor and the cutterhead, the buckets can collect the excavated soil from the working face in different circumferential directions. Since the working face is inverted conical, the excavated soil, after being broken, gathers towards the bottom center along all radial directions. Therefore, different buckets can collect the excavated soil generated in different directions, improving the efficiency and uniformity of excavated soil collection and preventing the excavated soil from accumulating in local directions on the working face. On the other hand, the excavated soil collected by the buckets is directly lifted upwards by the chain of the bucket conveyor until it reaches the top, where it is dumped into the slag collection system for centralized processing due to the reversing motion. There is no need for other transfer processes or the installation of other intermediate transfer equipment. The excavated soil transportation process is very short, thus improving the vertical slag discharge efficiency of deep shafts. Attached Figure Description

[0018] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on the provided drawings without creative effort.

[0019] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of a specific embodiment of the present invention.

[0020] Figure 2 for Figure 1 A partial structural diagram.

[0021] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the connection structure between the rotary joint assembly, the adapter flange, and the drive lever.

[0022] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of another specific embodiment of the present invention.

[0023] in, Figure 1 — Figure 4 middle:

[0024] Machine body—1, cutter head—2, rear supporting system—3, slag collection system—4, chain bucket conveyor—5, support platform—6, rotary joint assembly—7, adapter flange—8, drive lever—9, drive shaft—10, main drive—11, support system—12.

[0025] Outer sleeve—71, rotating mandrel—72, long sliding hole—81. Detailed Implementation

[0026] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0027] Please refer to Figure 1 , Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of a specific embodiment of the present invention.

[0028] In one specific embodiment of the present invention, the synchronous rotary slag discharge device mainly includes a cutter head 2, a rear supporting system 3, a slag collection system 4, and a chain bucket conveyor 5.

[0029] The cutterhead 2 is located at the bottom (or front) of the shaft boring machine body 1 and is rotatably connected to the body 1. It can rotate under the drive of the main drive 11 on the body 1 to excavate the face at the bottom of the shaft.

[0030] The rear supporting system 3 is installed on the machine body 1, specifically at the top (or rear) of the machine body 1. It is mainly used to provide supporting components and to provide support for the top of the chain bucket conveyor 5.

[0031] The slag collection system 4 is installed on the machine body 1, usually in the middle area of ​​the machine body 1, and is mainly used to collect the slag conveyed by the chain bucket conveyor 5.

[0032] The chain bucket conveyor 5 is the core component, installed inside the cavity of the machine body 1. It has a relatively large height (or length) dimension, enabling long-distance transport of excavated soil from deep wells. Simultaneously, the bottom end of the chain bucket conveyor 5 is inserted into the cutterhead 2, connected to it, and extends beyond its bottom surface to directly contact the working face at the bottom of the shaft. This allows the buckets on the chain bucket conveyor 5, which rotate around the sprocket, to collect the broken excavated soil at the working face and continuously transport it upwards until the buckets turn downwards at the top of the chain bucket conveyor 5, dumping the excavated soil into the slag collection system 4 for centralized discharge. The top end of the chain bucket conveyor 5 is rotatably connected to the rear supporting system 3, ensuring that when the cutterhead 2 rotates and feeds, causing the bottom end of the chain bucket conveyor 5 to rotate synchronously, the top end of the chain bucket conveyor 5 also rotates synchronously. In other words, the entire chain bucket conveyor 5 rotates synchronously with the cutterhead 2 inside the machine body 1.

[0033] Thus, during the synchronous rotation of the chain bucket conveyor 5 and the cutterhead 2, on the one hand, the bucket can collect the slag and soil on the face of the tunnel in different circumferential directions. Since the face of the tunnel is inverted cone shape, the slag and soil are crushed and simultaneously gather towards the bottom center along all radial directions. Therefore, different buckets can collect the slag and soil generated in different directions, improving the efficiency and uniformity of slag and soil collection, and preventing the slag and soil from accumulating in local directions on the face of the tunnel. On the other hand, the slag and soil collected by the bucket is directly lifted upward by the chain of the chain bucket conveyor 5 until it is transported to the top and dumped into the slag collection system 4 for centralized processing due to the reversing motion. There is no need for other transfer processes or the installation of other intermediate transfer equipment. The slag and soil transportation process is very short, thus improving the vertical slag discharge efficiency of deep shafts.

[0034] In one optional embodiment of the bucket chain conveyor 5, the bucket chain conveyor 5 mainly includes a drive motor, a transmission sprocket, a chain, and a bucket, etc., as can be referred to in the prior art bucket chain conveyor 5. The drive motor is usually located at the top of the bucket chain conveyor 5, mainly used to drive the transmission sprocket to rotate. There are generally two transmission sprockets, one at the bottom and one at the top. The bottom transmission sprocket is installed inside the cutter head 2, and the chain is looped between the two transmission sprockets, enabling cyclic reciprocating motion. The bucket is fixed to the chain and moves synchronously with the chain. When the bucket reaches the bottom, it collects the excavated soil from the working face and, as the chain rises, transports the excavated soil upwards until it reaches the top transmission sprocket. At this point, the bucket reverses direction and gradually descends, tilting downwards and dumping the excavated soil into the excavation collection system 4.

[0035] To minimize interference between the installation of the bucket chain conveyor 5 and the cutterhead 2 on the cutting rollers and their crushing effect on the tunnel face, in this embodiment, the bottom end of the bucket chain conveyor 5 is positioned off-center from the central axis of the cutterhead 2. That is, the bottom end of the bucket chain conveyor 5 is not connected to the center of the cutterhead 2, but rather to an eccentric position at a certain distance. With this arrangement, the bottom end of the bucket chain conveyor 5 avoids the center of the cutterhead 2, allowing the cutting rollers to be installed normally at the center of the cutterhead 2, thus achieving crushing at the center of the tunnel face. While cutting rollers cannot be installed at the eccentric position, they can still be installed at other positions on the circumference of the eccentric position. When the cutterhead 2 rotates, these cutting rollers feed circumferentially, still crushing at the eccentric position and ensuring full-face tunneling.

[0036] Furthermore, to accommodate the eccentric connection between the bottom end of the bucket chain conveyor 5 and the cutter head 2, in this embodiment, the bucket chain conveyor 5 is specifically installed at an angle within the machine body 1. That is, the bucket chain conveyor 5 is not installed vertically within the machine body 1, but rather its length direction forms a certain angle with the cutter head 2 or the central axis of the machine body 1. Specifically, this angle is within the range of 3 to 5°, such as 4°.

[0037] like Figure 2 As shown, Figure 2 for Figure 1 A partial structural diagram.

[0038] To facilitate the rotational connection between the top of the bucket chain conveyor 5 and the rear supporting system 3, a support platform 6 is added in this embodiment. Specifically, the support platform 6 is connected to the top of the bucket chain conveyor 5, and the top surface of the support platform 6 is rotatably connected to the rear supporting system 3. This provides stable support for the top of the bucket chain conveyor 5 and ensures that the support platform 6 and the top of the bucket chain conveyor 5 can rotate synchronously relative to the rear supporting system 3.

[0039] Furthermore, to facilitate the rotational connection between the support platform 6 and the rear supporting system 3, a rotary joint assembly 7 is added in this embodiment. Specifically, the rotary joint assembly 7 is mounted on the rear supporting system 3 and connected to components such as the mounting bracket of the rear supporting system 3. The rotary joint assembly 7 has a rotating end with a degree of freedom of rotational movement. Simultaneously, the bottom end of the rotating end is connected to the top surface of the support platform 6, thereby enabling motion transmission. The rotational motion of the chain bucket conveyor 5 is transmitted through the support platform to the rotating end of the rotary joint assembly 7, driving the rotating end to rotate.

[0040] Furthermore, the chain bucket conveyor 5 typically consumes electrical energy and hydraulic oil during operation. To ensure its long-term stable operation, it is usually necessary to connect supply lines, such as cables and oil lines, to the chain bucket conveyor 5. Considering that the chain bucket conveyor 5 is always in a state of synchronous rotation with the cutter head 2 during operation, to prevent the supply lines from gradually getting tangled on the chain bucket conveyor 5 and causing pulling or breakage, in this embodiment, one end of the supply line is fixed to the rotating end of the rotary joint assembly 7, while the other end of the supply line is connected to the corresponding joint of the chain bucket conveyor 5. With this configuration, when the chain bucket conveyor 5 rotates, the rotating end of the rotary joint assembly 7 also rotates synchronously, thus driving the supply line to rotate synchronously. Therefore, the supply line and the chain bucket conveyor 5 remain relatively stationary, avoiding tangling and winding of the supply line.

[0041] like Figure 3 As shown, Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the connection structure between the rotary joint assembly 7, the adapter flange 8, and the drive lever 9.

[0042] In one alternative embodiment of the rotary joint assembly 7, the rotary joint assembly 7 mainly includes an outer sleeve 71 and a rotating spindle 72. The outer sleeve 71 is fixed to the rear supporting system 3, while the rotating spindle 72 is the rotating end of the rotary joint assembly 7, specifically installed inside the outer sleeve 71 and maintaining rotational freedom. Simultaneously, the bottom end of the rotating spindle 72 extends beyond the bottom end of the outer sleeve 71 and is connected to the top surface of the support platform 6.

[0043] Furthermore, to facilitate the power connection between the rotating spindle 72 of the rotary joint assembly 7 and the support platform 6, an adapter flange 8 and a drive lever 9 are added in this embodiment.

[0044] The adapter flange 8 is fitted onto the bottom end of the rotating spindle 72 of the rotary joint assembly 7, enabling it to rotate synchronously with the spindle. Simultaneously, the adapter flange 8 has several elongated sliding holes 81, such as 2 to 4, all extending radially along the rotating spindle 72.

[0045] The drive lever 9 is connected to the top surface of the support platform 6 and has a certain extension length (height). Multiple levers can usually be set at the same time, and the top of each drive lever 9 is inserted into the corresponding long sliding hole 81 to form a sliding connection with the long sliding hole 81.

[0046] With this configuration, when the support platform 6 rotates, it drives each drive lever 9 to rotate synchronously. The abutment force of the drive lever 9 against the wall of the long sliding hole 81 generates a rotational torque on the transition flange 8, thereby driving the transition flange 8 and the rotating spindle 72 to rotate synchronously. Furthermore, since the drive lever 9 is not directly connected to the long sliding hole 81, and the diameter of the drive lever 9 is slightly smaller than the diameter of the long sliding hole 81 (for example, 2% to 5% smaller), when the vibration energy generated by the chain bucket conveyor 5 during rotation is transmitted to the support platform 6, the drive lever 9 will experience a certain degree of uncontrollable, irregular oscillation. At this time, the drive lever 9 can displace and oscillate along its length within the long sliding hole 81 to dissipate some of the vibration energy and prevent all the vibration energy from being transmitted to the rotating spindle 72. In addition, the wall of the long sliding hole 81 can also absorb some of the vibration energy from the drive lever 9 through elastic deformation.

[0047] like Figure 4 As shown, Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of another specific embodiment of the present invention.

[0048] In another embodiment, to facilitate the power connection between the rotating spindle 72 of the rotary joint assembly 7 and the support platform 6, a transmission shaft 10 is added in this embodiment to replace the adapter flange 8 and drive lever 9 in the aforementioned embodiments.

[0049] The drive shaft 10 is erected on the top surface of the support platform 6, and its top end is connected to the bottom end of the rotating spindle 72, thus achieving a simple and convenient rotational connection between the support platform 6 and the rotary joint assembly 7. Generally, the drive shaft 10 and the rotating spindle 72 can be connected via a universal coupling. Furthermore, the drive shaft 10 is specifically a nested telescopic shaft structure, which can appropriately extend the connection length to maintain a stable connection with the rotating spindle 72 when the support system 12 on the machine body 1 changes steps to proceed to the next excavation stage. As for the aforementioned drive lever 9, only an appropriate extension of its length is needed.

[0050] This embodiment also provides a shaft tunneling machine, which mainly includes a machine body 1 and a synchronous rotary muck removal device installed on the machine body 1. The specific contents of the synchronous rotary muck removal device are the same as those mentioned above, and will not be repeated here.

[0051] The above description of the disclosed embodiments enables those skilled in the art to make or use the invention. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be implemented in other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Therefore, the invention is not to be limited to the embodiments shown herein, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A synchronous rotary slag discharge device, comprising a cutterhead (2) rotatably mounted at the bottom end of the body (1) of a shaft boring machine, and a rear supporting system (3) mounted at the top end of the body (1), characterized in that, It also includes a slag collection system (4) installed on the machine body (1) and a chain bucket conveyor (5) built into the machine body (1). The bottom end of the chain bucket conveyor (5) is installed inside the cutter head (2) and extends to the outside of the bottom surface of the cutter head (2). The top end of the chain bucket conveyor (5) is rotatably connected to the rear supporting system (3). The slag collection system (4) is used to collect the slag dumped by the buckets on the chain bucket conveyor (5) after turning from the top. The bottom end of the chain bucket conveyor (5) is connected to the cutter head (2) at a position that is off-center from the central axis of the cutter head (2); It also includes a support platform (6) connected to the top of the chain bucket conveyor (5), the top surface of which is rotatably connected to the rear supporting system (3); It also includes a rotary joint assembly (7) installed on the rear supporting system (3), the top surface of the support platform (6) being rotatably connected to the rotating end of the rotary joint assembly (7); a supply pipeline is connected between the rotating end of the rotary joint assembly (7) and the chain bucket conveyor (5); The rotary joint assembly (7) includes an outer sleeve (71) fixed on the rear supporting system (3) and a rotating spindle (72) rotatably disposed in the outer sleeve (71), the bottom end of the rotating spindle (72) being connected to the top surface of the support platform (6); The bottom end of the rotating spindle (72) is fitted with a transition flange (8), and the transition flange (8) is provided with a number of long sliding holes (81) extending radially along the rotating spindle (72). The top surface of the support platform (6) is connected with a number of drive levers (9) inserted into the long sliding holes (81). The diameter of the drive lever (9) is 2% to 5% smaller than the diameter of the long sliding hole (81).

2. The synchronous rotary slag discharge device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The chain bucket conveyor (5) is installed at an angle inside the machine body (1).

3. The synchronous rotary slag discharge device according to claim 2, characterized in that, The length direction of the chain bucket conveyor (5) forms an angle of 3 to 5° with the central axis of the cutter head (2).

4. A shaft boring machine, comprising a machine body (1) and a synchronous rotary muck discharge device disposed on the machine body (1), characterized in that, The synchronous rotary slag discharge device is specifically the synchronous rotary slag discharge device as described in any one of claims 1-3.

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