Cable treatment equipment for cable bolts

Abstract

A cable handling device (1) for an underground mining drill (2), wherein the cable handling device (1) includes a first feeding assembly (3), the first feeding assembly including a cable bending guide (4) and a first feeding device (5), the first feeding device being configured to receive a cable (6), grip the cable (6) and feed the cable (6) in a first direction (D1) into the cable bending guide (4), wherein the cable bending guide (4) is configured to guide the cable (6) along an arcuate path such that the cable (6) exits the cable bending guide (4) in a second direction (D2), the second direction (D2) being offset from the first direction (D1) by a predetermined angle.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a ground reinforcement system, and more particularly to improvements related to a drilling rig system for drilling boreholes and inserting anchor cables into the drilled boreholes. Background Art

[0002] In tunneling operations such as mining, the roof and walls of the tunnel are typically reinforced or supported to prevent the collapse of the roof and walls, which in some cases can result in significant loss of life and machinery. To reinforce the roof and walls, many types of reinforcement methods and facilities have been developed. One such method is to use anchor bolts of various shapes and sizes, which are inserted into corresponding boreholes and anchored by mechanical expansion or the use of grout / grease. Anchor cables, meshing, etc. are laid between the ends of those anchor bolts to support the roof or wall.

[0003] Another method is to insert steel cables, etc. into the boreholes as reinforcement for fixed rigid elongate anchor bolts or as a primary support measure. In this method, a miner inserts a first set of grout or bonding material, etc., then forces the anchor cable into the borehole, and when in place and pre-tensioned, a second set of grout, bonding material, etc. is inserted into the borehole and around the anchor cable to ensure that the anchor cable is firmly fixed and anchored to the surrounding rock. Hardening materials, drive heads, etc. can also be added to the front end or first end of the anchor cable to assist in driving the anchor cable into the borehole. When installing the anchor cable into the borehole, significant manual handling by the miner is required to push the anchor cable into the borehole. The relative stiffness of the anchor cable and the heavy weight of the anchor cable mean that manual handling is very difficult, time-consuming and prone to causing injury to the miner. Also, in some cases, the manual application involved in pushing the anchor cable into the borehole can result in the anchor cable not fully penetrating the borehole, which may lead to unsatisfactory anchoring on the mine roof or wall.

[0004] AU2010200388A1 relates to a technique for alleviating such anchor cable handling problems by providing an anchor cable feeder having a roller-based drive system. The rollers are movable to accommodate different diameter anchor cables.

[0005] However, the disadvantage of this equipment is that a significant amount of manual handling of the anchor cable is still required to get it into the drilled borehole.

[0006] Another feeding device is shown in PCT / FI98 / 00338. The feeding device is for feeding embossed anchor wires rather than anchor cables and has movable rollers for feeding the anchor wires. The movable rollers are biased against the anchor wires by a loading device, enabling the use of different types of anchor wires having different diameters.

[0007] US9815660B2 discloses a cable anchor feeding device which is designed to be mounted on the top of a drilling rig to feed a cable anchor rod into a borehole. The cable anchor feeding device includes a transmission to be coupled to the drill bit of the drilling rig, wherein the transmission transmits power from the drill bit to one or more drive wheels of the cable anchor feeding device when the drill bit rotates. A drawback of such a cable anchor feeding device is that it increases the height on the top of the drilling rig. Sometimes, the mine gallery in which the drilling rig operates is very small, such that the cable anchor feeding device will not be suitable for the gallery.

[0008] Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an improved device to facilitate the safe and rapid installation of cable anchors, regardless of the gallery size. Summary of the Invention

[0009] According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, the above object is achieved by a cable anchor handling device for an underground mining drilling rig as described in appended independent claim 1. The cable anchor handling device includes a first feeding assembly, which includes a cable anchor bending guide and a first feeding device. The first feeding device is configured to receive a cable anchor, grip the cable anchor and feed the cable anchor in a first direction into the cable anchor bending guide. The cable anchor bending guide is configured to guide the cable anchor along an arcuate path such that the cable anchor exits the cable anchor bending guide in a second direction, the second direction being offset from the first direction by a predetermined angle, such as 90 degrees ± 10 degrees.

[0010] The cable anchor bending guide may include an arcuate tube to guide the cable anchor from the first feeding device along the arcuate path through the arcuate tube. Alternatively, the cable anchor bending guide (4) may include a plurality of guide wheels arranged along the arcuate path to guide the cable anchor along the arcuate path.

[0011] In use, the first feeding device receives the free end of a nearby cable anchor reel or other cable anchor storage device. Then, the first feeding device feeds the cable anchor through the cable anchor bending guide, which gradually bends the cable anchor such that the cable anchor exits the cable anchor bending guide in a second direction offset from the first direction by a predetermined angle. Thereby, the free end of the cable anchor can be easily moved from the cable anchor reel (or other cable anchor storage device) and then automatically redirected to a second direction selected based on the task at hand. Typically, the second direction is parallel to the drilling direction of the drilling rig, such that the cable anchor can then be moved into the drilled borehole without any substantial further bending. The arcuate tube provides a robust and simple device to bend / redirect the cable anchor as the cable anchor is further fed into the arcuate tube by the first feeding device.

[0012] The first feeding device can be configured to receive the cable anchor horizontally, or in a direction within ±30 degrees from the horizontal plane, or in a direction within ±45 degrees from the horizontal plane. By configuring the first feeding device such that it can receive the cable anchor substantially horizontally, the free end of the cable anchor can be easily manually moved from a nearby cable anchor reel (or other cable anchor storage device) and directly into the first feeding device without manually bending the cable anchor.

[0013] The cable anchor handling device may further include a second feeding assembly, which includes a second feeding device movably suspended on a suspension mechanism, and the suspension mechanism is configured such that the second feeding device can move back and forth between a first position and a second position. The first position is for receiving the cable anchor leaving the cable anchor bending guide in a second direction, and the second position is transverse to the first position with respect to the second direction. The second feeding assembly receives the free end of the cable anchor from the cable anchor bending guide, and then moves the free end of the cable anchor so that the cable anchor is aligned with the drilling axis of the drill. Once the cable anchor is in the second position, the cable anchor can be further processed by the drill or the second feeding assembly and fed into the drilled hole. In summary, the system enables the cable anchor to be automatically processed from the first feeding device and enter the hole, so as to reduce the need for human operators, thereby improving the overall safety of the cable anchor bolting operation.

[0014] The suspension mechanism may include a plurality of arms hingedly connected to each other such that the second feeding device can move within a first plane. Each hinge connection is provided with a corresponding drive device to rotate the arms relative to each other, thereby controlling the position of the second feeding device within the first plane.

[0015] The plurality of hingedly connected arms rotate relative to each other by a motor, thereby controlling the position of the second feeding assembly within the first plane so that the cable anchor can be moved by the suspension mechanism to be aligned with the drill without manual work.

[0016] The suspension mechanism can be configured such that the first plane is orthogonal to the second direction.

[0017] By aligning the movement of the suspension mechanism with the first feeding assembly so that the first plane is orthogonal to the second direction, the cable anchor can move perpendicular to the second direction, that is, move laterally a short distance until the cable anchor is aligned with the drilling axis of the drill. This lateral / transverse movement of the cable anchor into the second position means that the cable anchor handling device can be positioned next to the drill, which means that the height of the drill is not affected by the cable anchor handling device.

[0018] The second feed assembly may include a gripping claw configured to move back and forth between a closed position for gripping the cable anchor and an open position in which the cable anchor can be laterally removed from the gripping claw. The gripping claw is provided with a motorized feed wheel to optionally hold or feed the cable anchor through the gripping claw in the closed position.

[0019] The motorized gripping claw allows the second feed assembly to engage and disengage the cable anchor without having to feed the end of the cable anchor through the feed assembly. This in turn enables the second feed assembly to move out of the path of any mechanism of the drill rig, such that the drill rig can operate as normal to feed the cable anchor into the drilled borehole. Thus, the cable anchor handling device of the present invention is suitable for retrofitting to an existing drill rig without reducing the drilling stroke of the drill rig for the drilling process. The motorized drive wheel enables the second feed assembly to control the position of the cable anchor in the borehole and feed the cable anchor into the borehole without relying on any other feed device. This allows the tail of the cable anchor to be fed to a position where the tail of the cable anchor can be connected to the drill bit and ultimately fed into the borehole by the drill rig for rotation by the drill rig.

[0020] The radius of curvature of the cable anchor bender can be selected to be large enough such that the cable anchor does not plastically deform when being fed through the arcuate tube. By constructing the arcuate tube in this way, plastic deformation of the cable anchor is alleviated, which in turn enables the cable anchor leaving the cable anchor bender to continue to move straight in the second direction as more and more of the cable anchor is fed through.

[0021] A second aspect of the present disclosure relates to a drill rig system including both an underground mining drill rig and the above-described cable anchor handling device.

[0022] The drill rig system including the cable anchor feeding device allows the operator to easily unwind the cable anchor from a nearby cable anchor reel (or other cable anchor storage device) and easily move the cable anchor into the first feed assembly. Then, the cable anchor handling device automatically moves the cable anchor to a second position within the drill rig, where the drill rig handles the further movement of the cable anchor for feeding into the drilled borehole.

[0023] The cable anchor handling device (1) can be configured such that the second direction (D2) deviates from the borehole direction (D3) of the drill rig (2) by no more than ±10 degrees, or such that the second direction is parallel to the borehole direction of the drill rig.

[0024] By making the second direction parallel to the borehole direction of the drill rig, only lateral translation of the free end of the cable anchor is required without the need for rotation. This simplifies the design of the suspension mechanism as the suspension mechanism does not need to rotate or bend the cable anchor to align the cable anchor with the borehole direction.

[0025] The suspension mechanism can be configured such that the second feeding device is aligned with the drilling axis of the drill rig in the second position. In other words, the second position can be such that the cable anchor held by the second feeding device in the second position can be moved straight by the second feeding device into the drill hole.

[0026] A third aspect of the present disclosure relates to a mining machine comprising a drill rig system as described above, wherein the mining machine can be a cutting machine provided with a rock bolter, a mobile rock bolter, a rock bolting vehicle, a continuous miner or a roadheader.

[0027] A fourth aspect of the present disclosure relates to a method of installing a cable anchor using a drill rig system as described above. The method comprises the following steps:

[0028] · Moving the free end of the cable anchor into the first cable anchor feeding device,

[0029] · Operating the first feeding device to feed the cable anchor through the cable anchor bending guide and into the second feeding device,

[0030] · Operating the suspension mechanism to move the second feeding device to its second position,

[0031] · Operating the second feeding device to feed the cable anchor into the drill hole until the tail of the cable anchor can be attached to the drill bit of the drill rig,

[0032] · Disconnecting the second feeding device from the cable anchor,

[0033] · Operating the suspension mechanism to move the second feeding device out of the path of the drill bit,

[0034] · Attaching the tail of the cable anchor to the drill bit, and

[0035] · Operating the drill bit of the drill rig to further insert the cable anchor into the drill hole and rotate the cable anchor. Description of the Drawings

[0036] Figure 1 A platform is shown comprising a drill rig and a cable anchor handling device according to a first embodiment, wherein the cable anchor is fed from a ground position by a first feeding assembly.

[0037] Figure 2 Shown is Figure 1 the platform, however, the cable anchor is further fed by a second feeding device and into the drill hole.

[0038] Figures 3 - 6 Various views of the second feeding device are shown.

[0039]

[0040] Detailed Description

[0041] The cable anchor handling device 1 according to the first embodiment will be described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings. The cable anchor handling device 1 is used together with a drill 2, such as Figures 1 to 2 the drill shown in. The cable anchor handling device 1 may be sold separately or may be sold together with the drill 2 as a drill 2 system. The drill 2 system may be integrated with a mining machine or provided as a separately sold system for use with any suitable haulage equipment. Below, the description will first focus on describing the handling device itself, although the accompanying drawings show the cable anchor handling device 1 together with the drill 2.

[0042] As Figures 1 to 2 shown in, the cable anchor handling device 1 includes a first feeding assembly 3, which includes a cable anchor bending guide 4 and a first feeding device 5. The first feeding device 5 is configured to receive a cable anchor 6, grip the cable anchor 6, and feed the cable anchor 6 in a first direction D1 into the cable anchor bending guide. The first feeding device 5 is provided with opposing wheels configured to receive the cable anchor 6 therebetween to frictionally engage the cable anchor 6, wherein at least one of the wheels is operatively connected to a drive means, such as an electric motor. In other embodiments, some other suitable drive means may be provided instead of the motorized wheels, such as a pair of movable gripping jaws configured to alternately grip and move the cable anchor 6. Here, the first feeding device is configured to receive the cable anchor horizontally, but in other embodiments, the first feeding device may be selected to be in any other suitable direction, such as at ±30 or ±45 degrees to the horizontal plane.

[0043] The cable anchor bending guide 4 is configured to guide the cable anchor 6 along an arcuate path such that the cable anchor 6 exits the cable anchor bending guide 4 in a second direction D2, the second direction D2 being offset from the first direction D1 by a predetermined angle. The cable anchor bending guide 4 includes an arcuate tube 10 to guide the cable anchor 6 from the first feeding device 5 along the arcuate path through the arcuate tube 10. In other embodiments, some other suitable means for guiding the cable anchor 6 while bending it to follow the arcuate path may be provided instead of the arcuate tube 10, such as successive pairs of opposing wheels arranged along the arcuate path and configured to guide the cable anchor 6 therebetween.

[0044] The cable anchor handling device 1 further includes a second feeding assembly 7, which includes a second feeding device 8 suspended in a movable manner on a suspension mechanism 9.

[0045] The suspension mechanism 9 is configured such that the second feeding device 8 can move back and forth between a first position P1 and a second position P2, the first position P1 being at Figure 1shown for receiving the cable anchor that leaves the cable anchor bending guide 4 in a second direction D2, the second position P2 being in Figure 2 shown, the cable anchor 6 can be fed from the second position P2 into the borehole. The second position P2 is generally transverse to the first position P1 with respect to the second direction D2. By moving the second feeding device 8 transversely to the second direction D2, the second feeding device 8 and thus the cable anchor 6 can be moved laterally into the drill rig 2, between the retracted drill bit and the outer part of the drill rig 2. Starting from this position, the cable anchor 6 can be fed into the borehole by the second feeding device 8. Thus, the lateral movement of the second feeding device 8 allows the use of the second feeding device 8 without increasing the height of the drill rig 2, because it allows the second feeding device 8 to operate along the length of the drill rig 2 from an intermediate position and move laterally back to the first position P1 and thus out of the path of the drill bit of the drill rig 2, thereby still allowing the drill bit to operate over its full stroke.

[0046] In this embodiment, the second position P2 is a position in which the second feeding device 8 holds the cable anchor 6 aligned with the borehole axis of the drill rig 2. However, alternatively, the second position P2 may be slightly different in other embodiments, as long as the second feeding assembly 7 is capable of feeding the cable anchor 6 into the opening of the borehole and further into the borehole when in the second position P2.

[0047] The suspension mechanism 9 includes a plurality of arms that are hingedly connected to each other such that the second feeding device 8 can move in a first plane. Each hinge connection is provided with a corresponding drive device to rotate the arms relative to each other, thereby controlling the position of the second feeding device 8 in the first plane.

[0048] The second feeding assembly 7 includes a gripping claw 11 that is configured to move back and forth between a closed position for gripping the cable anchor 6 and an open position in which the cable anchor 6 is laterally removed from the gripping claw 11. The gripping claw 11 is provided with a motorized feeding wheel 12 to optionally hold or feed the cable anchor 6 by the gripping claw 11 in the closed position. In other embodiments, instead of the gripping claw 11, the second feeding assembly 7 may have any other suitable feeding mechanism.

[0049] As Figures 1 to 2 shown, the cable anchor feeding device is used with the drill rig 2, and these can be provided together as a drill rig system. The cable anchor handling device 1 of the drill rig system is generally configured such that the second direction D2 is parallel to the borehole direction D3 of the drill rig 2, as Figure 2As shown. Generally, the drilling direction is close to vertical, such as vertical ±10 degrees. In other embodiments, the second direction may deviate from the drilling direction by some angle, for example, not more than ±10 degrees relative to the drilling direction. The suspension mechanism 9 is configured to move the cable anchor 6 by translating laterally from the first position P1 so that it aligns with the drilling axis of the drill rig 2 in the second position P2. However, if the second direction D2 is not parallel to the drilling axis of the drill rig 2 in some other embodiments, the suspension mechanism 9 may alternatively be configured to both translate and rotate the cable anchor 6 when moving to the second position P2 so as to thereby align the cable anchor 6 with the drilling direction D3.

[0050] In Figures 3 to 6 various views of the second feeding device 7 are shown. The suspension mechanism 9 includes an articulated arm having a plurality of segments that are connected by rotatable hinges / joints. The relative rotation between the segments of the articulated arm is achieved by providing a suitable drive device (such as a stepper motor). The second feeding device 8 is provided with two jaws that form a gripping claw 11. Each jaw is provided with a feeding wheel 12 such that the cable anchor can be gripped between the feeding wheels 12 by closing the jaws / gripping claw 11. An actuator 13 is provided for controlling the opening / closing of the gripping claw 11, as best shown in comparison Figure 3 and Figure 5 The gripping claw 11 is configured to receive the cable anchor in the central through-channel 15 when the gripping claw 11 is open and retain the cable anchor in the central through-channel 15 when the gripping claw 11 is closed. The second feeding device is provided with guiding sieves 14 at each end of the central through-channel 15 to guide the cable anchor towards the central through-channel 15. Thus, as the cable anchor is first fed by the first feeding device into the second feeding device, the guiding sieve 14 facing the cable anchor bending guide 4 guides the front end portion of the cable anchor 6 into the central through-channel 15.

[0051] The drill rig system can be operated using the following method. The method includes the following steps:

[0052] · Move the free end of the cable anchor 6 into the first cable anchor feeding device,

[0053] · Operate the first feeding device 5 to feed the cable anchor 6 through the cable anchor bending guide 4 and into the second feeding device 8,

[0054] · Operate the suspension mechanism 9 to move the second feeding device 8 to its second position P2,

[0055] · Operate the second feeding device 8 to feed the cable anchor 6 into the drill hole until the tail of the cable anchor 6 can be attached to the drill bit of the drill rig 2,

[0056] · Disconnect the second feeding device 8 from the cable anchor 6,

[0057] · Operate the suspension mechanism 9 to move the second feeding device 8 out of the path of the drill bit,

[0058] · Attach the tail of the cable anchor 6 to the drill bit, and operate the drill bit of the drill rig 2 to further insert the cable anchor 6 into the borehole and rotate the cable anchor 6.

[0059] Alternatively, both the second feeding device 8 and the first feeding device 5 can be operated simultaneously, so that the cable anchor 6 can be easily moved into the borehole. When moving the second feeding device 8 out of the path of the drill bit, the second feeding device 8 usually moves to the first position P1, but alternatively, other positions can be used.

Claims

1. A drilling rig system includes a cable handling device (1) and a drilling rig (2), and the drilling rig (2) includes a drilling axis. Wherein, The cable handling device (1) includes a first feeding assembly (3), and the first feeding assembly (3) includes a cable bending guide (4) and a first feeding device (5). The first feeding device (5) is configured to receive a cable (6), grip the cable (6), and feed the cable (6) in a first direction (D1) into the cable bending guide (4). Wherein, the cable bending guide (4) is configured to guide the cable (6) along an arcuate path such that the cable (6) exits the cable bending guide (4) in a second direction (D2), and the second direction (D2) is offset from the first direction (D1) by a predetermined angle (A). The cable handling device (1) further includes a second feeding assembly (7), and the second feeding assembly (7) includes a second feeding device (8) suspended in a movable manner on a suspension mechanism (9). The suspension mechanism is configured such that the second feeding device (8) can move back and forth between a first position (P1) and a second position (P2). The first position is for receiving the cable (6) that exits the cable bending guide (4) in the second direction (D2), and the second position is laterally offset from the first position (P1) with respect to the second direction (D2). Wherein, the second feeding assembly is configured to receive the free end of the cable from the cable bending guide and move the free end of the cable to the second position such that the cable is aligned with the drilling axis of the drilling rig. Characterized in that, the second feeding assembly (7) includes gripping claws (11), and the gripping claws are configured to be able to move back and forth between a closed position and an open position. The closed position is for gripping the cable (6), and in the open position, the cable (6) can be laterally removed from the gripping claws (11). Wherein, the gripping claws (11) are provided with a motorized feeding wheel (12), and the feeding wheel (12) is used to optionally hold or feed the cable (6) through the gripping claws (11) in the closed position.

2. The drilling rig system according to claim 1, Wherein, The cable bending guide (4) includes an arcuate tube (10) for guiding the cable (6) from the first feeding device (5) along the arcuate path through the arcuate tube (10), or wherein the cable bending guide (4) includes a plurality of guide wheels arranged along the arcuate path for guiding the cable along the arcuate path.

3. The drilling rig system according to any one of claims 1-2, Wherein, The first feeding device (5) is configured to horizontally receive the cable.

4. The drilling rig system according to any one of claims 1-2, Wherein, The suspension mechanism (9) includes a plurality of arms which are articulated to each other such that the second feeding device (8) can move within a first plane (PL1), wherein each articulation joint is provided with a corresponding drive device to rotate the arms relative to each other, thereby controlling the position of the second feeding device (8) within the first plane (PL1).

5. The drilling rig system according to claim 4, wherein, the suspension mechanism (9) is configured such that the first plane (PL1) is orthogonal to the second direction (D2).

6. The drilling rig system according to claim 2, wherein, the radius of curvature of the cable bender is selected to be large enough such that the cable does not plastically deform when being fed through the arcuate tube.

7. The drilling rig system according to any one of claims 1-2, wherein, the cable handling device (1) is configured such that the second direction (D2) deviates from the drilling direction (D3) of the drilling rig (2) by no more than ±10 degrees.

8. The drilling rig system according to any one of claims 1-2, wherein, the cable handling device (1) is configured such that the second direction (D2) is parallel to the drilling direction (D3) of the drilling rig (2).

9. The drilling rig system according to any one of claims 1-2, wherein, the suspension mechanism (9) is configured such that the second feeding device (8) is aligned with the drilling axis of the drilling rig (2) at the second position (P2).

10. The drilling rig system according to any one of claims 1-2, wherein, the first feeding device (5) is configured to receive the cable in a direction within ±30 degrees from the horizontal plane.

11. The drilling rig system according to any one of claims 1-2, wherein, the first feeding device (5) is configured to receive the cable in a direction within ±45 degrees from the horizontal plane.

12. A mining machine comprising the drilling rig system according to any one of claims 1-11, wherein, the mining machine is a cutting machine equipped with a rock bolter, a mobile rock bolter, a rock bolter truck, a continuous miner or a roadheader.

13. A method of installing a cable bolt using the drilling rig system according to any one of claims 1 and 4-6, the method comprising the following steps: ● Moving the free end of the cable into the first feeding device, ● Operating the first feeding device to feed the cable through the cable bender (4) and into the second feeding device (8), ● Operating the suspension mechanism (9) to move the second feeding device (8) to the second position of the second feeding device (8), ● Operating the second feeding device (8) to feed the cable into the borehole until the tail of the cable can be attached to the drill bit of the drilling rig (2), ● Disconnecting the second feeding device (8) from the cable, ● Operating the suspension mechanism (9) to move the second feeding device (8) out of the path of the drill bit, · Attaching the tail of the cable to the drill bit, and ·Operate the drill bit of the drill rig (2) to further insert the cable anchor into the borehole and rotate the cable anchor.

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