Deep-sea vehicle-mounted weight measuring device, weight measuring method and deep-sea mining production capacity verification method

Abstract

This invention relates to a deep-sea vehicle-mounted weighing device, weighing method, and deep-sea mining capacity verification method, applied to a deep-sea mining vehicle. It includes a mineral storage box with a door on its side wall and a weighing module installed at the bottom. The weighing module comprises an upper cylinder and a lower cylinder coaxially arranged, with a piston cylinder surrounding both cylinders. The upper cylinder has an upper cavity with a load-bearing piston rod slidably connected within it, and the upper cavity is connected to the outside seawater. The lower cylinder has a lower cavity, which is a sealed chamber. The load-bearing piston rod in the upper cylinder is movably connected to the mineral storage box, and the lower cylinder is fixedly connected to the mining vehicle. This invention allows for the weight measurement of minerals collected by the mining vehicle on the seabed, thereby verifying the mining vehicle's capacity during sea trials and advancing the design process of the entire mining system.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of deep-sea mining technology, and in particular to a deep-sea vehicle-mounted weighing device, a weighing method, and a method for verifying deep-sea mining capacity. Background Technology

[0002] Deep-sea mining systems typically include: deep-sea mining vehicles, relay stations, mineral hoisting systems, and surface support vessels. Developing a commercially viable deep-sea polymetallic nodule system is a complex systems engineering project. Deep-sea mining vehicle design technology is a key technology that must be mastered, and the successful completion of individual sea trials of the deep-sea mining vehicle is an important part of the entire system development.

[0003] However, when mining vehicles conduct individual sea trials, they lack a mineral lifting system, making it impossible to lift minerals to the water surface for weighing to calculate the mining vehicle's production capacity. Summary of the Invention

[0004] In response to the shortcomings of the existing production technologies, the applicant provides a reasonably structured deep-sea vehicle-mounted weighing device, weighing method, and deep-sea mining capacity verification method, which can directly measure the mass of collected minerals underwater, thereby enabling the verification of the mining vehicle's capacity during sea trials.

[0005] The technical solution adopted in this invention is as follows:

[0006] A deep-sea vehicle-mounted weighing device, applied to a deep-sea mining vehicle, includes a mineral storage box with a door on its side wall and a weighing module installed at the bottom.

[0007] The weighing module includes an upper cylinder and a lower cylinder arranged coaxially, and a piston cylinder is fitted over the upper cylinder and the lower cylinder.

[0008] The upper cylinder has an upper chamber, within which a load-bearing piston rod is slidably connected, and the upper chamber is connected to the outside seawater.

[0009] The lower cylinder block has a lower cavity, which is a sealed chamber.

[0010] The load-bearing piston rod in the upper cylinder is movably connected to the mineral storage box, while the lower cylinder is fixedly connected to the mining vehicle.

[0011] As a further improvement to the above technical solution:

[0012] The upper cylinder has a channel through which the upper cavity is connected to the outside seawater.

[0013] The lower cylinder, piston cylinder, and load-bearing piston rod form a closed lower cavity.

[0014] Sealing rings are provided between the upper cylinder and the piston cylinder, between the lower cylinder and the piston cylinder, and between the load-bearing piston rod and the piston sleeve.

[0015] The lower cavity has a passage located on the lower cylinder, which is closed by a pressure sensor.

[0016] The bottom wall of the mineral storage tank is sloping, pointing obliquely towards the seabed along the discharge direction; the weighing module is arranged at the top corner of the bottom wall of the mineral storage tank.

[0017] A weighing method using a deep-sea vehicle-mounted weighing device includes the following steps:

[0018] The mining vehicle moves forward, collecting seabed minerals as it goes, while the timer continues to run.

[0019] The collected minerals are temporarily stored in a mineral storage box;

[0020] After the mining vehicle travels a specified distance L, it stops collecting minerals, the vehicle stops moving forward, and the timer stops counting. The mining time measured by the timer at this point is recorded as . t i The ore is weighed, and after the weighing is completed, the box door is opened to discharge the ore.

[0021] After the ore was emptied last time, the mining vehicle was restarted and began moving to mine, weigh, and discharge the ore.

[0022] A method for verifying deep-sea mining productivity using a deep-sea vehicle-mounted weighing method, wherein the formula for calculating mineral weight is as follows:

[0023]

[0024] In the formula,

[0025] For the quality of the mineral storage box;

[0026] The amount of minerals collected;

[0027] It is the acceleration due to gravity;

[0028] , , , The pressure values ​​of the lower cavity measured by the four weighing modules installed at the bottom of the mineral storage box;

[0029] This represents the external seawater pressure value.

[0030] This refers to the contact area between the weighing piston rod and the lower cavity.

[0031] The formula for calculating production capacity is as follows:

[0032]

[0033] t i This refers to the time it takes for the mine cart to travel.

[0034] The beneficial effects of this invention are as follows:

[0035] This invention can measure the quality of minerals collected by mining vehicles on the seabed, thereby verifying the production capacity of mining vehicles in sea trials. This is essential for evaluating the production capacity of mining vehicles in sea trial environments, and can assess whether mining vehicles can meet design specifications and usage requirements, thereby promoting the design process of the entire mining system.

[0036] The weighing module of this invention can measure the mass obtained from each mining operation in a timely manner, facilitating statistical calculations. Furthermore, the weighing and statistical process does not affect mining operations or reduce mining efficiency. This solution is based on a mining vehicle with a mining and ore discharge function. When the mining vehicle stops to discharge ore, the amount of ore mined can be calculated. After summing the quantities and subtracting the gross weight, the mineral content can be obtained through simple division. The calculation process is simple and clear.

[0037] Because the weighing module used in this invention is underwater, it is also affected by seawater pressure. Therefore, the weighing module provided in this invention does not simply use sensors to measure weight, but uses two cylinders in conjunction with a load-bearing piston rod to obtain a chamber connected to seawater and a sealed chamber. By measuring the sum of the seawater pressure and the weight of the mineral in the sealed chamber, the mass obtained in a single mining operation can be determined. The operation is simple, the structure is reliable, and the structural accuracy is not easily reduced due to long-term underwater operation, thus ensuring the accuracy of the measurement. Attached Figure Description

[0038] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the present invention, showing the mining state.

[0039] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the present invention, showing the ore discharge state.

[0040] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the mineral storage box structure of the present invention.

[0041] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a single weighing module of the present invention.

[0042] Figure 5 This is a cross-sectional view of the weighing module of the present invention.

[0043] The components include: 1. mineral storage box; 2. box door; 3. weighing module; 4. mining vehicle body; 5. mining equipment;

[0044] 301. Upper cylinder body; 302. Lower cylinder body; 303. Piston cylinder; 304. Upper cavity; 305. Load-bearing piston rod; 306. Lower cavity; 307. Channel; 308. Sealing ring; 309. Pressure sensor; 310. Upper nut; 311. Lower nut; Detailed Implementation

[0045] The specific embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0046] like Figures 1-5 As shown, the deep-sea vehicle-mounted weighing device of this embodiment is applied to a deep-sea mining vehicle, including a mineral storage box 1, a box door 2 opened on the side wall of the mineral storage box 1, and a weighing module 3 installed at the bottom.

[0047] The weighing module 3 includes an upper cylinder 301 and a lower cylinder 302 coaxially arranged, and a piston cylinder 303 is sleeved on the upper cylinder 301 and the lower cylinder 302.

[0048] The upper cylinder body 301 has an upper cavity 304, within which a load-bearing piston rod 305 is slidably connected, and the upper cavity 304 is in communication with the outside seawater.

[0049] The lower cylinder block 302 has a lower cavity 306, which is a sealed chamber.

[0050] The load-bearing piston rod 305 inside the upper cylinder 301 is movably connected to the mineral storage box 1, and the lower cylinder 302 is fixedly connected to the mining vehicle.

[0051] The upper cylinder 301 has a channel 307, and the upper cavity 304 is connected to the outside seawater through the channel 307.

[0052] The lower cylinder 302, piston cylinder 303, and load-bearing piston rod 305 are closed to form the lower cavity 306.

[0053] A sealing ring 308 is provided between the upper cylinder 301 and the piston cylinder 303, between the lower cylinder 302 and the piston cylinder 303, and between the load-bearing piston rod 305 and the piston sleeve.

[0054] The lower cavity 306 has a passage located on the lower cylinder 302, which is closed by the pressure sensor 309.

[0055] The bottom wall of the mineral storage box 1 is a slope, pointing obliquely towards the seabed along the discharge direction; the weighing module 3 is arranged at the top corner of the bottom wall of the mineral storage box 1.

[0056] The weighing method using the deep-sea vehicle-mounted weighing device of claim 1 in this embodiment includes the following steps:

[0057] The mining vehicle moves forward, collecting seabed minerals as it goes, while the timer continues to run.

[0058] The collected minerals are temporarily stored in mineral storage box 1;

[0059] After the mining vehicle travels a specified distance L, it stops collecting minerals, the vehicle stops moving forward, and the timer stops counting. The mining time measured by the timer at this point is recorded as . t i The ore is weighed, and after the weighing is completed, the box door 2 is opened to discharge the ore;

[0060] After the ore was emptied last time, the mining vehicle was restarted and began moving to mine, weigh, and discharge the ore.

[0061] A method for verifying deep-sea mining productivity using a deep-sea vehicle-mounted weighing method, wherein the formula for calculating mineral content is as follows:

[0062]

[0063] In the formula,

[0064] For the quality of the mineral storage box;

[0065] The amount of minerals collected;

[0066] It is the acceleration due to gravity;

[0067] , , , The pressure values ​​of the lower cavity measured by the four weighing modules installed at the bottom of the mineral storage box;

[0068] This represents the external seawater pressure value.

[0069] This refers to the contact area between the weighing piston rod and the lower cavity.

[0070] The formula for calculating production capacity is as follows:

[0071]

[0072] t i This refers to the time it takes for the mine cart to travel.

[0073] The specific structure and working principle of this invention are as follows:

[0074] like Figure 1 The diagram shows a schematic of the mining vehicle used in this invention. The vehicle is in a mining state, and the ore is extracted using the mining device 5 on the main body 4. Figure 3The material enters the mineral storage tank 1 through the top feed inlet.

[0075] like Figure 2 The diagram shows the process of opening door 2 and discharging minerals from mineral storage box 1 after a mining path has been completed. The weighing module 3 has already measured the amount of minerals before discharging them.

[0076] like Figure 4 and Figure 5 The diagram shown is a schematic diagram and a cross-sectional view of the weighing module 3 of the present invention. The weighing module 3 is installed as shown in the figure. Figure 3 The bottom of the mineral storage box 1 shown is located at the four corners.

[0077] Structural reference of a single weighing module 3 Figure 5 The system includes an upper cylinder 301 and a lower cylinder 302 arranged coaxially. A piston cylinder 303 is fitted onto the outer contour of the upper cylinder 301 and the lower cylinder 302. An upper nut 310 and a lower nut 311 are threadedly fastened to the outer wall of the piston cylinder 303. The upper nut 310 is tightened at the upper cylinder 301, and the lower nut 311 is tightened at the lower cylinder 302, forming a stable outer shell structure.

[0078] The upper cylinder 301 has a through structure; the lower cylinder 302 has a lower cavity 306 and is connected to the outer wall, but a pressure sensor 309 is installed at the connection position of the lower cavity 306 to close the lower cavity 306.

[0079] A load-bearing piston rod 305 is coaxially mounted inside the upper cavity 304 of the upper cylinder 301. The load-bearing piston rod 305 divides the upper cavity 304 into two parts. The upper part of the upper cavity 304 is connected to the outside seawater through the channel 307. The lower part of the upper cavity 304 is enclosed by the load-bearing piston rod 305, the piston cylinder 303, and the lower cylinder 302, forming a sealed space with the lower cavity 306, which is completely located within the outer shell structure. The pressure sensor 309 measures the pressure within this sealed space.

[0080] To ensure a good seal, sealing rings 308 are used to fill the spaces between the lower cylinder 302 and the piston cylinder 303, between the upper cylinder 301 and the piston cylinder 303, and between the piston cylinder 303 and the load-bearing piston rod 305.

[0081] As the mining vehicle moves forward to mine, minerals continuously fall into the mineral storage box 1, and a timer keeps ticking simultaneously. The mining vehicle operates by stopping and discharging minerals after collecting a certain distance, then continuing to collect while moving forward. After the mining vehicle has traveled a designated distance L, the mineral collection device stops collecting, the mining vehicle stops moving, the timer stops ticking, the weighing module 3 measures the amount of minerals in the box, and then the box door 2 is opened to discharge the minerals.

[0082] The mining vehicle continues to move forward and mine. After completing the mining work at a distance of L, it weighs and discharges the ore until the entire expected mining path has been mined.

[0083] During the weighing process, the lower cavity 306 is subjected to seawater pressure transmitted from the weighing piston rod. The seawater pressure is... P i On the other hand, the weighing piston rod is connected to the mineral storage box 1, and the mass of the mineral and the mineral storage box 1... M 1. The quality of the collected minerals m i The compression of the weighing piston rod generates a pressure in the lower cavity 306, the pressure value being... Q i , Q i Measured by pressure sensor 309, P i The pressure was measured directly by a sensor placed in the seawater and installed on a deep-sea mining vehicle.

[0084] Therefore, the mass of the mineral can be calculated using the following formula:

[0085]

[0086] Therefore, the formula for calculating mineral content is as follows:

[0087]

[0088] The production capacity of the mining truck can be calculated using the following formula:

[0089]

[0090] This invention can measure the quality of minerals collected by mining vehicles on the seabed, thereby verifying the production capacity of mining vehicles in sea trials. This is essential for evaluating the production capacity of mining vehicles in sea trial environments, and can assess whether mining vehicles can meet design specifications and usage requirements, thereby promoting the design process of the entire mining system.

[0091] The above description is an explanation of the present invention and not a limitation thereof. The scope of the present invention is defined by the claims. Within the scope of protection of the present invention, any form of modification may be made.

Claims

1. A deep-sea vehicle-mounted weighing device, applied to a deep-sea mining vehicle, characterized in that: It includes a mineral storage box (1), with a door (2) on the side wall and a weighing module (3) installed at the bottom. The weighing module (3) includes an upper cylinder (301) and a lower cylinder (302) coaxially arranged, and a piston cylinder (303) is installed around the upper cylinder (301) and the lower cylinder (302); The upper cylinder (301) has an upper cavity (304), in which a load-bearing piston rod (305) is slidably connected, and the upper cavity (304) is connected to the outside seawater. The lower cylinder (302) has a lower cavity (306), which is a sealed chamber. The lower cavity (306) has a passage located on the lower cylinder (302), which is closed by a pressure sensor (309). The mineral is weighed and the mineral content is obtained by the formula for calculating the mineral content. The load-bearing piston rod (305) inside the upper cylinder (301) is movably connected to the mineral storage box (1), and the lower cylinder (302) is fixedly connected to the mining vehicle.

2. The deep-sea vehicle-mounted weighing device as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The upper cylinder (301) has a channel (307) through which the upper cavity (304) is connected to the outside seawater.

3. The deep-sea vehicle-mounted weighing device as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The lower cylinder (302) is closed with the piston cylinder (303) and the load-bearing piston rod (305) to form the lower cavity (306).

4. The deep-sea vehicle-mounted weighing device as described in claim 3, characterized in that: A sealing ring (308) is provided between the upper cylinder (301) and the piston cylinder (303), between the lower cylinder (302) and the piston cylinder (303), and between the load-bearing piston rod (305) and the piston sleeve.

5. The deep-sea vehicle-mounted weighing device as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The bottom wall of the mineral storage box (1) is a slope, pointing obliquely towards the seabed along the discharge direction; the weighing module (3) is arranged at the top corner of the bottom wall of the mineral storage box (1).

6. A method for measuring weight using the deep-sea vehicle-mounted weighing device according to claim 1, characterized in that, Includes the following steps: The mining vehicle moves forward, collecting seabed minerals as it goes, while the timer continues to run. The collected minerals are temporarily stored in a mineral storage box (1); After the mining vehicle travels a specified distance L, it stops collecting minerals, the vehicle stops moving forward, and the timer stops counting. The mining time measured by the timer at this point is recorded as . t i The minerals were weighed, and after weighing, the box door (2) was opened to discharge the minerals. After the ore was emptied last time, the mining vehicle was restarted and began moving to mine, weigh, and discharge the ore.

7. A method for verifying deep-sea mining production capacity using the deep-sea vehicle-mounted weighing method according to claim 6, characterized in that, The formula for calculating mineral content is as follows: In the formula, For the quality of the mineral storage box; The amount of minerals collected; It is the acceleration due to gravity; , , , The pressure values ​​of the lower cavity measured by the four weighing modules installed at the bottom of the mineral storage box; This represents the external seawater pressure value. This refers to the contact area between the weighing piston rod and the lower cavity.

8. The deep-sea mining capacity verification method based on the deep-sea vehicle-mounted weighing method as described in claim 7, characterized in that, The formula for calculating production capacity is as follows: t i This refers to the time it takes for the mine cart to travel.

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