Deep sea buoyant transport device

Abstract

A kind of deep-sea buoyancy transport device, include: float, backfill box, ore box, lifting hook, push-pull rod;Float is equipped with connecting plate below;The left side of connecting plate is sequentially connected from top to bottom with fixed plate, lifting hook, backfill box, and the right side is sequentially connected from top to bottom with lifting rope, ore box;Backfill box is loaded with seabed slurry and sinks into the sea on the mother ship, and the bottom of backfill box is lower than the bottom of ore box;Ore box loads large ore on the seabed, and the two ends of push-pull rod are respectively horizontally hinged connected with lifting hook and lifting rope;The lifting hook includes fixed plate and L-shaped connecting rod, and the L-shaped connecting rod is hinged connected with the fixed plate, and a compression spring is arranged between the upper part of the hinge of the L-shaped connecting rod and the fixed plate;When the ore box loads ore on the seabed reaches the rated load, the push-pull rod automatically unloads the backfill box on the lifting hook, the float takes the ore box and floats to the sea surface, realizes the seabed slurry on the mother ship is backfilled to the seabed, and the large ore on the seabed is transported to the sea surface.

Description

[0001] This invention is a divisional application of the patent application with application number 2024104358527, application date April 11, 2024, entitled "A Deep-Sea Mining System". Technical Field

[0002] This invention relates to a deep-sea mining system, specifically a deep-sea mining screening and crushing device and a deep-sea buoyancy transport device; it belongs to the technical field of deep-sea mining equipment. Background Technology

[0003] With the development of science and technology and industrial technology, human demand for resources is constantly increasing, and terrestrial mineral resources are gradually being depleted. The ocean covers approximately 71% of the Earth's surface, and all mineral resources found on land have been discovered in the ocean, with enormous reserves. Deep-sea metallic minerals are mainly manganese nodules and cobalt nodules. Manganese nodules are mainly distributed in the surface layer of the seabed at depths of 2000m-6000m in the world's oceans, with reserves of approximately 200 billion tons, equivalent to 57 times the reserves on land. Cobalt nodules are mainly found on seamounts at depths of 1500m-3000m, with reserves of approximately 5 billion tons, 539 times the reserves on land.

[0004] Currently, a key node in deep-sea mining systems is the transport of ore from the seabed to the surface mother ship. Fluid risers enable continuous ore transport from the seabed to the surface, resulting in high efficiency and making them the primary method for ore transport. However, fluid risers are limited by the inner diameter of the riser pipe, preventing the transport of large ores exceeding the pipe's inner diameter. Furthermore, the upward transport of ore within the fluid riser relies mainly on pumps, such as centrifugal or plunger pumps. Therefore, even if the ore size is smaller than the pipe's inner diameter, such as medium-sized ore, although it can enter the pipe, the excessive size of a single ore compared to the riser's inner diameter can still damage the fluid riser pipe and pumps. This includes blockage by medium-sized ore, and impacts and compression of key components such as the riser pipe, pump body, pump blades, and plungers during the lifting process. In severe cases, this can lead to deformation or even failure of these components, affecting their normal operation.

[0005] Furthermore, the seabed slurry pumped to the mother ship via fluid pipelines contains a large amount of seabed mud. If large-scale commercial development of seabed mineral resources is not carried out in a timely manner, large quantities of seabed mud will be dumped on land. Seabed mud contains various organic and inorganic substances, including heavy metals and organic compounds; if directly dumped on land, it will lead to soil pollution.

[0006] To address the issues of transporting large ore to the sea surface and backfilling seabed mining areas with seabed mud from the mother ship, application publication number: CN117514178A, titled: "A Deep-Sea Buoyancy Mining System," describes a system that uses a buoy and two lifting devices to hoist a backfill box and an ore container, respectively. An automatic hook is installed between the lifting devices and the backfill box. The backfill box, filled with seabed mud, sinks to the bottom of the mining area due to its own weight exceeding the buoy's buoyancy. After the backfill box settles, the ore container is suspended. By filling the ore container with large ore, the tension of the buoy on the backfill box decreases as the weight of the ore container increases. When the tension decreases to a certain level, the automatic hook releases, leaving the backfill box on the seabed, while the buoy automatically rises with the ore container. It solves the problems of large ore masses being unable to be transported to the mother ship via lift pipes, and the large amount of seabed mud transported with the ore to the mother ship, which cannot be backfilled in the seabed mining area and causes environmental pollution on land. It also addresses the problem of limited capacity of deep-sea mining buoyancy transport devices. Utilizing fluid lift pipes to efficiently transport seabed ore remains the main means of deep-sea mining transportation. Therefore, deep-sea mining buoyancy transport devices are the most effective complementary transportation equipment to fluid lift pipe transportation.

[0007] The aforementioned self-control hook is a scissor structure. A compression spring is located between the two upper handles of the scissors, opening the two upper handles and keeping the lower blade of the self-control hook open. The upward pulling force of the float between the two upper handles creates a clamping force that overcomes the reaction force of the compression spring, causing the lower blade to close. The closed blade forms a lifting hole to suspend the lifting rope of the backfill box. Therefore, when it is necessary to hook the backfill box's lifting rope into the lifting hole of the self-control hook, an external clamping force must first be applied to the upper part of the scissor structure to close the blade and form the lifting hole. When the float lifts the backfill box, it applies a clamping force to the two upper handles of the self-control hook. This clamping force overcomes the spring force, closing the blade. Only after releasing the external force can the self-control hook automatically release itself on the seabed. Therefore, the operation is relatively cumbersome. If the external force is forgotten to be released from the self-control hook before the backfill box sinks, the automatic control mechanism of the self-control hook will fail.

[0008] Furthermore, the self-control hook used in the aforementioned deep-sea buoyancy mining system has a complex overall structure, and the disengagement action of the backfill box is unstable. While water current fluctuations in the deep sea are generally not as pronounced as in nearshore or surface waters, a certain degree of water current movement still exists due to factors such as seabed topography, Earth's rotation, marine geographical environment, tides, and changes in water density. This water current movement causes the buoy to shift vertically. When the buoy shifts downwards, the buoyancy exerted by the buoy on the self-control hook decreases. This can lead to the self-control hook disengaging prematurely before the ore container reaches its rated load, resulting in premature unloading of the backfill box and the entire self-control mining device rising to the surface. Additionally, the deep-sea buoyancy mining system sinks to the seabed by gravity. After the backfill box first settles on the seabed, the system will vibrate, causing a decrease in the tension of the buoy on the self-control hook. This also creates the risk of premature disengagement of the self-control hook, premature unloading of the backfill box, and automatic resurfacing of the deep-sea buoyancy mining system.

[0009] In summary, the following problems currently exist in the exploitation of deep-sea mineral resources:

[0010] 1. Due to the varying sizes of seabed mineral nodules and the lack of necessary pretreatment equipment to pre-treat the ore, large, medium, and small ores are not classified and disposed of, affecting the normal transport of slurry by the fluid pipeline lifting system.

[0011] 2. The self-controlled hook of the existing buoyancy transport system has low stability due to its own structural limitations; and the process of installing the self-controlled hook is relatively cumbersome. If the operator forgets to release the external force auxiliary mechanism of the self-controlled hook before sinking, the automatic control mechanism of the self-controlled hook will fail. Summary of the Invention

[0012] To overcome the shortcomings of existing technologies, this invention provides a deep-sea mining system, comprising a deep-sea mining screening and crushing device and a deep-sea buoyancy transport device. It solves the problems of pre-processing of seabed ore and the reliability of the self-controlled hook during deep-sea buoyancy transport.

[0013] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention is implemented through the following technical solutions.

[0014] A deep-sea mining screening and crushing device includes an ore sorting machine, an ore crusher, a buoyancy platform, a fluid lift pipe, a mother ship, and a slurry pump. The device is characterized in that: the ore sorting machine and the ore crusher are mounted on the buoyancy platform; the buoyancy platform is anchored to the seabed; the ore sorting machine performs large, medium, and small screening on the ore fed into the machine, with the large, medium, and small ores corresponding to the upper, middle, and lower positions on the ore sorting machine; the large ore is automatically diverted from the upper part of the ore sorting machine to the large ore stacking area; the medium ore is automatically diverted from the middle part of the ore sorting machine to the ore crusher, and after being crushed by the ore crusher, it is then sent back to the ore sorting machine for secondary screening using pipelines and the slurry pump; the feed inlet of the fluid lift pipe is located at the lower part of the ore sorting machine, and the small ore is transported from the lower part of the ore sorting machine to the mother ship through the fluid lift pipe.

[0015] A deep-sea buoyancy transport device includes: a buoy, a backfill box, a ore container, a lifting hook, a push-pull rod, and an L-shaped connecting rod; a connecting plate is provided under the buoy; the left side of the connecting plate is sequentially connected to a fixed plate, a lifting hook, and a backfill box from top to bottom, and the right side is sequentially connected to a lifting rope and an ore container from top to bottom; when the backfill box is loaded with seabed mud and sunk on the mother ship, the bottom of the backfill box is lower than the bottom of the ore container; the device is characterized in that: when the ore container is loaded with large ore from a large ore stockpile area on the seabed, the two ends of the push-pull rod are horizontally hinged to the lifting hook and the lifting rope, respectively; the length of the push-pull rod is greater than the vertical distance between the fixed plate and the lifting rope;

[0016] The lifting hook includes a fixed plate and an L-shaped connecting rod, the L-shaped connecting rod being located on the left side of the fixed plate; the L-shaped connecting rod and the front and rear sides of the fixed plate are respectively provided with coaxial double hinge seats, and the L-shaped connecting rod and the fixed plate are hinged together by a hinge shaft, referred to as: hinge B; a torsion spring is provided in the middle of the hinge shaft of hinge B, so that the L-shaped connecting rod and the fixed plate can open and close at the top and bottom.

[0017] The objective of this invention can also be further achieved through the following technical solutions.

[0018] The ore sorting machine uses screening plates and mechanical vibration to screen the ore.

[0019] The ore sorting machine has two screening plates, upper and lower, which are arranged at an angle to the lower left and lower right respectively inside the cylinder of the ore sorting machine. The upper plate is the B screening plate and the lower plate is the A screening plate. A vibration platform is provided at the bottom of the cylinder of the ore sorting machine below the A screening plate.

[0020] Ore that cannot pass through the mesh of the B screening plate is classified as large ore, while ore that passes through the mesh is classified as medium and small ore. Utilizing the vibration and weight of the ore sorting machine, large ore is automatically diverted from the large ore outlet to the large ore storage area. Similarly, ore that cannot pass through the mesh of the A screening plate is classified as medium ore, while ore that passes through the mesh is classified as small ore. Utilizing the vibration and weight of the ore sorting machine, medium ore is automatically diverted from the medium ore outlet to the ore crusher inlet. Small ore falls onto the vibrating platform. The inlet of the fluid lift pipe is located in the small ore storage area between the A screening plate and the vibrating platform of the ore sorting machine.

[0021] The ore crusher is a horizontal spiral ore crusher, with a horizontally placed cylinder on its exterior; the upper left of the cylinder has a medium ore feed inlet, and the lower right has a crushed ore discharge outlet; the cylinder has an axially arranged rotating shaft inside; the rotating shaft has spiral blades.

[0022] The helical blade is a variable pitch helical blade on the rotation axis, and its pitch changes gradually along the rotation axis: larger on the left and smaller on the right.

[0023] The spiral blades are at least double-headed spiral blades, one of which is a ore conveying spiral blade and the other is an ore crushing spiral blade.

[0024] The outer diameter of the ore conveying spiral blade matches the cylinder body, and the blade cross-section is trapezoidal; the outer diameter of the ore crushing spiral blade is smaller than the inner diameter of the cylinder body, the blade cross-section is quadrilateral, wide at the root and narrow at the top, and the top is provided with a cutting edge.

[0025] The cylinder has pressure-reducing holes on its surface, the diameter of which is no larger than the screen holes on the A screening plate; the lower part of the cylinder has an ore receiving bin after being crushed by the ore crusher, and the bottom of the bin has an A conveying pipe, as well as a slurry pump and a B conveying pipe; the B conveying pipe is connected to the upper part of the ore sorting machine.

[0026] The buoyancy platform is equipped with supports to provide precise installation positions for the ore sorting machine, ore crusher, and motor.

[0027] The lifting hook has an A hinge hole on the L-shaped connecting rod directly below the B hinge. The A hinge hole is hinged to the left end of the push-pull rod. This hinge is referred to as: A hinge.

[0028] The L-shaped link has its bend point directly below the center of hinge B, and the bend point is the lowest point of the L-shaped link.

[0029] The backfill box is suspended at the bend of the L-shaped connecting rod.

[0030] The length of the push-pull rod is adjustable between hinge A and hinge C.

[0031] The fixing plate is a steel plate, channel steel, or angle iron.

[0032] Beneficial effects

[0033] The present invention discloses a deep-sea mining system, comprising a deep-sea mining screening and crushing device and a deep-sea buoyancy transport device.

[0034] A deep-sea mining screening and crushing device includes an ore sorter, an ore crusher, and a power unit mounted on a buoyancy platform anchored to the seabed and a support fixed to the buoyancy platform. The equipment is positioned such that the large ore outlet and the medium ore outlet of the ore sorter are higher than the large ore stockpile area and the ore crusher inlet, respectively. Because the screening plates of the ore sorter, namely the B screening plate and the A screening plate, are arranged at an angle, the ore on the screening plates can automatically flow from the large ore outlet and the medium ore outlet of the ore crusher into the large ore stockpile area and the ore crusher, respectively, through vibration and its own weight.

[0035] This invention relates to an ore crusher employing multi-head spiral blades. One head is a ore conveying spiral blade, the outer diameter of which matches the inner diameter of the cylinder, allowing the ore to be propelled from left to right within the cylinder. The remaining blades are ore crushing spiral blades, with an outer diameter smaller than the inner diameter of the cylinder. The outer diameter of the blades is equipped with cutting edges to cut and crush the ore. Because the pitch of the multi-head spiral blades is variable, gradually changing from left to right, it simultaneously compresses and crushes the ore while propelling it from left to right. Through continuous cutting, crushing, and compressing, the ore particles are reduced in size, providing pretreatment for ore lifting using a fluid lift pipe.

[0036] To prevent ore from becoming trapped between the blades and the cylinder, which occurs when the blade pitch gradually decreases, reducing the space between the ore and the cylinder / blades and increasing internal friction until the motor stalls (a point known as ore trapping), this invention incorporates pressure-reducing holes on the cylinder. As the blade pitch decreases, the friction between the ore and the cylinder increases, resulting in smaller particles being cut, crushed, and compressed. Smaller ore particles near the cylinder escape through these pressure-reducing holes when compressed. Additionally, seabed mud and other contaminants in the ore are also squeezed out through these holes, thus reducing friction between the ore and the cylinder / blades and preventing ore trapping.

[0037] To avoid excessively large pressure relief holes that would reduce the crushing effect of the ore crusher, the pressure relief holes in the cylinder of this invention are no larger than the screen holes on the A screening plate. Small pieces of ore escaping from the pressure relief holes fall into the hopper below the cylinder. Medium-sized pieces that have not been completely crushed, as well as small pieces that have not escaped, are conveyed to the discharge port by the ore screw conveyor blades and fall into the hopper below the cylinder. The ore in the hopper is then sent back to the ore sorter for further screening through the A conveying pipe and slurry pump below the hopper.

[0038] This invention pre-processes seabed ore, screening out small ore particles, and transports them to the mother ship via a fluid lift pipe. This avoids ore particles that are too large, causing blockages in the fluid lift pipe and conveying pumps, as well as significant squeezing and impact deformation of key components such as the fluid lift pipe, pump body, pump blades, and plungers, which could seriously affect the safe transport of fluids. This ensures the safe and efficient operation of the equipment.

[0039] A deep-sea buoyancy transport device is disclosed. This invention transports small ore to a mother ship via a fluid lift pipe. Seabed mud is also transported to the mother ship along with the small ore. To prevent the seabed mud from polluting the land environment, this invention uses a backfill box on the mother ship to fill the seabed mud, overcoming the buoyancy of the buoy and sinking to the seabed. Large ore, screened by the ore sorting machine, is loaded into a ore container on the seabed. When the ore container reaches its rated load, the backfill box is automatically detached from the lifting hook by a push-pull rod. The buoy, carrying the ore container, rises to the sea surface, thus backfilling the seabed mud from the mother ship to the seabed and transporting the large seabed ore to the sea surface.

[0040] To ensure that the weight of the ore container exerts a force on the push-pull rod and lifting hook, and to guarantee that the lifting hook can automatically disengage and release the backfill container when the ore container reaches its rated load, this invention, when the deep-sea mining buoyancy transport device composed of the buoy, backfill container, and ore container sinks into the sea, sets the bottom of the backfill container approximately h meters lower than the bottom of the ore container. The value of h is typically 0.5 meters; if the value is too large, it is inconvenient to fill the ore container on the seabed; if the value is too small, the bottom of the ore container may easily touch the bottom. When the backfill container overcomes the buoyancy of the buoy and sinks to the seabed, settling on the seabed, the ore container is suspended below the buoy by a hoisting rope and floats in the water.

[0041] Automatic unhooking of the lifting hook. A fixed plate, lifting hook, and backfill box are fixedly connected to the lower left of the float connecting plate; a lifting rope and ore box are fixedly connected to the lower right of the float connecting plate. A push-pull rod is horizontally hinged between the lifting hook and the lifting rope. Therefore, when the lifting rope is under tension, it will generate a component force coinciding with the direction of the push-pull rod. The greater the tension, the greater the component force; that is, the component force on the push-pull rod is proportional to the weight of the ore box. As the ore in the ore box increases, the force on the push-pull rod also increases. When the ore in the ore box reaches its rated load, the torque generated by the push-pull rod acting on the L-shaped connecting rod of the lifting hook is greater than the torque of the torsion spring on the lifting hook. The L-shaped connecting rod rotates clockwise around the B-hinge pivot, and the lifting rope of the backfill box slips off the L-shaped connecting rod. The backfill box is released from the constraint of the automatic unhooking system and remains on the seabed; simultaneously, the float, freed from the constraint of the backfill box, rises to the surface with the ore box. The ore in the ore container is retrieved from the mother ship via cables connecting the buoy and the material hoist, enabling the recovery of large ore deposits. The self-controlled unhooking device of the deep-sea mining transportation system, consisting of the hoisting hook and push-pull rod, allows the hoisting hook to be unhooked based on the weight of the ore container, thus unloading and backfilling the container. This also prevents accidental unhooking due to factors such as ore container overload causing failure to float or water current fluctuations, ensuring the stability of the deep-sea mining system.

[0042] Lifting point of the backfill box. To eliminate the additional torque generated by the weight of the backfill box on the pivot of hinge B, this invention sets the bending point of the L-shaped connecting rod to the lowest point, directly below the pivot of hinge B. Therefore, the lifting rope of the backfill box, suspended on the L-shaped connecting rod, will automatically slide down to the bending point, avoiding the additional torque generated by the weight of the backfill box on the pivot of hinge B to offset part of the torque of the torsion spring, thereby ensuring the control accuracy of the torsion spring, that is, ensuring the rated loading capacity of the ore box.

[0043] To improve the control accuracy of the push-pull rod on the lifting hook, this invention sets the push-pull rod to a horizontal state and places hinge A directly below hinge B. This converts the horizontal component force generated by the ore box on the push-pull rod into a torque that rotates the L-shaped connecting rod, allowing the L-shaped connecting rod to overcome the torque of the torsion spring and rotate, thus unloading the backfill box.

[0044] In addition, in the lifting hook, the coaxial double hinges are set on the front and rear sides of the L-shaped connecting rod and the fixed plate. This not only makes the connection between the L-shaped connecting rod and the fixed plate more stable, but also uses the hinge pivot as the limiting pivot of the torsion spring in the middle of the two hinges. This makes full use of the space in the middle of the hinge pivot and solves the problem of supporting and limiting the torsion spring. Attached Figure Description

[0045] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of a deep-sea mining system;

[0046] Figure 2This is a schematic diagram of a deep-sea mining screening and crushing device.

[0047] Figure 3 This is a cross-sectional view of the cylinder section of the ore crusher 9;

[0048] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of a deep-sea buoyancy transport device;

[0049] Figure 5 For the present invention Figure 4 Enlarged schematic diagram of the lifting hook 102;

[0050] Figure 6 This is a simplified structural diagram of the lifting hook 102 of the present invention using a compression spring.

[0051] In the diagram: 1. Self-controlled unhooking system; 2. Mother ship; 3. Buoy; 4. Seabed; 5. Fluid lift pipe; 6. Ore sorting machine; 701. A conveying pipe; 702. Slurry pump; 703. B conveying pipe; 8. Large ore stockpile area; 9. Ore crusher; 10. Buoyancy platform; 11. Ore; 12. Mining robot; 13. C conveying pipe; 14. D conveying pipe; 101. Backfill box; 102. Lifting hook; 103. A hinge; 104. B hinge; 105. Torsion spring; 106. Connecting plate; 107. Lifting rope; 108. Push-pull rod; 109. C hinge; 110. Ore box; 111. Compression spring; 1021. L-shaped connecting rod; 10 22. Fixed plate; 1023. Compression spring; 201. Material hoist; 202. Cable car; 203. Cable; 601. A screening plate; 602. B screening plate; 603. Large ore discharge port; 605. Ore inlet; 606. Medium ore discharge port; 607. Vibrating motor; 608. Spring; 609. Vibrating platform; 901. Electric motor; 902. Coupling; 903. Feed inlet; 904. Hopper; 905. Cylinder; 906. Pressure reducing hole; 907. Discharge port; 908. Self-aligning roller bearing; 909. Sleeve; 910. Sealing ring; 911. Rotating shaft; 912. Ore screw conveyor blades; 913. Ore screw crushing blades. Detailed Implementation

[0052] To make the objectives and technical solutions of this invention clearer, the invention will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments:

[0053] It will be understood by those skilled in the art that, unless otherwise defined, all terms used herein (including technical and scientific terms) have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention pertains.

[0054] In this invention, "left, right, up, down, front, and back" refer to the meanings of the terms "left," "right," "up," "down," "front," and "back" when the reader is facing the appendix. Figure 1 Figure 3When reading, the left side of the reader is called left, the right side of the reader is called right, the top of the reader is called top, the bottom of the reader is called bottom, the side of the paper in front of the reader is called front, and the side directly in front of the reader is called back, which is not a specific limitation of the present invention.

[0055] In this invention, the term "connection" can mean either a direct connection between components or an indirect connection between components through other components.

[0056] Example 1

[0057] like Figure 1 , Figure 2 , Figure 3 As shown, a deep-sea mining screening and crushing device in a deep-sea mining system includes an ore sorter 6, an ore crusher 9, a fluid riser 5, and a slurry pump 702; the ore sorter 6 and the ore crusher 9 are both mounted on a buoyancy platform 10; the buoyancy platform 10 is anchored to the seabed.

[0058] Structure of the ore sorting machine 6. The ore sorting machine 6 is a vertical cylindrical structure with a cover plate at the top. Three ore conveying pipes—an inlet 605, a B conveying pipe 703, and a fluid lifting pipe 5—enter the cylinder. Inside the cylinder of the ore sorting machine 6, two layers of screening plates are installed, both arranged at an angle. The upper layer is the B screening plate 602, with the right side higher than the left. At its lowest point, the B screening plate 602 corresponds to a large ore outlet 603 on the cylinder of the ore sorting machine 6. The outlet of the large ore outlet 603 corresponds to the large ore stacking area 8 on the seabed. Furthermore, the outlets of the inlet 605 and the B conveying pipe 703 are located below the cover plate of the cylinder of the ore sorting machine 6 and above the B screening plate 602. The lower layer is the A screening plate 601, with the left side higher than the right. At its lowest point, the A screening plate 601 corresponds to... The cylinder of the ore sorting machine 6 is provided with a medium ore discharge port 606, and the outlet of the medium ore discharge port 606 corresponds to the feed port 903 of the ore crusher 9; at the bottom of the cylinder of the ore sorting machine 6, that is, below the A screening plate 601, there is a vibrating platform 609. At the same time, below the A screening plate 601 and above the vibrating platform 609 is a small ore collection area. The feed port of the fluid lift pipe 5 is set in the small ore collection area, and the small ore is transported to the mother ship through the fluid lift pipe 5; the lower surface of the vibrating platform 609 is provided with a vibrating motor 607 and a spring 608.

[0059] The screening process of ore sorting machine 6. The seabed-harvested ore conveyed by inlet 605 and the ore crushed by ore crusher 9 conveyed by conveyor pipe B 703 are screened by vibrating platform 609. Ore that cannot pass through the mesh of screen plate B 602 is considered large ore. Under continuous vibration and gravity, the large ore is discharged through large ore outlet 603, automatically diverting it to large ore stockpiling area 8. Ore that passes through the mesh of screen plate B 602 is considered medium and small ore and falls to screen plate A 601. Ore that does not pass through the mesh of screen plate B 602 is considered medium and small ore and falls to screen plate A 601. The ore that can pass through the mesh of the A screen plate 601 is medium ore. The medium ore is subjected to continuous vibration and, under the action of gravity, is discharged through the medium ore discharge port 606, and is automatically diverted to the feed port 903 of the ore crusher 9. The ore that passes through the mesh of the A screen plate 601 is small ore. The small ore falls and is piled on the vibrating platform 609. The area below the A screen plate 601 and above the vibrating platform 609 is the small ore stacking area. The feed port of the fluid lift pipe 5 is set in the small ore stacking area, and the small ore is transported to the mother ship through the fluid lift pipe 5.

[0060] Structure of the ore crusher 9. The ore crusher 9 is a horizontal spiral ore crusher, with a horizontally placed cylinder 905 on its exterior. The cylinder 905 is closed at both ends. The upper left part of the cylinder 905 has the feed inlet 903 of the ore crusher 9, and the lower right part of the cylinder 905 has the discharge inlet 907 of the ore crusher 9. The surface of the cylinder 905 has pressure reducing holes 906, the diameter of which is no larger than the screen holes on the A screen plate 601. The rotating shaft 911 passes through the self-aligning roller bearing 908, sleeve 909, and sealing ring 910 on the left end cover of the cylinder. On the rotating shaft 911 inside the cylinder, there are double-headed variable pitch spiral blades. The pitch changes gradually along the axial direction of the rotating shaft 911, with the left end being larger and the right end smaller. The double-headed spiral blades are functionally divided into two parts: one end is a spiral conveyor blade 912 for ore, and the other end is... The ore spiral crusher blades 913 and ore spiral conveyor blades 912 have an outer diameter that matches the cylinder body and a trapezoidal blade cross-section. The ore spiral crusher blades 913 have an outer diameter smaller than the inner diameter of the cylinder body, a quadrilateral blade cross-section, a wide root, a narrow top, and a cutting edge at the top. The lower part of the cylinder body is equipped with an ore receiving bin 904 after the ore crusher has crushed it. The bin 904 is elongated and can collect all the small ore that escapes from the cylinder body pressure relief hole 906 and the ore that falls from the discharge port 907. The crushed ore is then transported back to the ore sorter 6 for screening through the bottom A conveying pipe 701, slurry pump 702, and B conveying pipe 703 of the bin 904. The rotating shaft 911 is located at the end outside the cylinder body and is connected to the motor 901 by a coupling 902.

[0061] The ore crusher 9 performs the ore crushing process. The ore crusher 9 adopts double-headed spiral blades; the ore to be crushed is discharged from the ore outlet 606 of the ore sorter 6 and enters the cylinder through the feed inlet 903 of the ore crusher 9; the ore is pushed forward from left to right by the ore spiral conveying blades 912. During the rotation process, because the pitch of the double-headed spiral blades is variable, larger on the left and smaller on the right, and changes gradually, the ore is squeezed and crushed while moving forward; as the pitch gradually decreases, the ore is squeezed, turned, and collided by the spiral blades in the cylinder, thereby cutting and crushing the ore by the ore spiral crushing blades 913; through continuous squeezing, crushing and cutting of the ore, the ore particles are reduced in size, which is a pretreatment for the ore to be lifted by the fluid riser 5.

[0062] To prevent material trapping between the blades and the cylinder 905, which occurs because as the blade pitch gradually decreases, the space between the ore and the cylinder / blades gradually decreases, leading to increased friction until the motor 901 stalls (a limiting state known as material trapping), the cylinder 905 is equipped with a pressure-reducing hole 906. As the blade pitch decreases, the friction between the ore and the cylinder 905 / blades increases, and the size of the ore particles being cut, crushed, and compressed also decreases. When the ore particles are smaller than the size of the pressure-reducing hole 906, under the combined action of compression and friction, the small ore particles on the surface of the cylinder 905 will quickly escape through the pressure-reducing hole 906. Additionally, some of the ore mixed with seawater... The bottom slurry is also squeezed out from the pressure relief hole 906, thereby reducing the friction between the ore and the cylinder and preventing material from getting stuck. In order to avoid the pressure relief hole 906 being too large and reducing the crushing effect of the ore crusher 9 on the ore, the diameter of the pressure relief hole 906 of the cylinder is set to be no larger than the screen hole on the A screen plate 601. Small pieces of ore that escape from the pressure relief hole 906 fall into the hopper 904 under the cylinder 905. For the ore that has not been completely crushed and the small pieces of ore that have not escaped, they are conveyed to the discharge port 907 by the ore screw conveyor blades 912 and fall into the hopper 904 under the cylinder 905. Then, the ore in the hopper 904 is sent back to the ore sorter 6 for screening through the A conveying pipe 701, the slurry pump 702 and the B conveying pipe 703 under the hopper 904.

[0063] A support frame is provided on the buoyancy platform 10 to provide precise installation positions for the ore sorting machine 6, the ore crusher 9, and the electric motor 901.

[0064] After being crushed by the ore crusher 9 and screened by the ore sorter 6, the ore is pre-treated to prevent the ore pieces from being too large and clogging the fluid lift pipe 5 and the conveying pump, as well as to prevent large squeezing and impact deformation of the fluid lift pipe 5, pump body, pump blades, plungers and other main ore lifting parts, which could seriously affect the safe operation of the fluid lift pipe and ensure the safe and efficient operation of the equipment.

[0065] like Figure 4 , Figure 5 As shown, a deep-sea buoyancy transport device is used in a deep-sea mining system. Includes: float 3, backfill box 101, ore box 110, lifting hook 102, push-pull rod 108, and L-shaped connecting rod 1021; a connecting plate 106 is provided under the float 3; from top to bottom, the left side of the connecting plate 106 is connected to the fixing plate 1022, the lifting hook 102, and the backfill box 101 in sequence; from top to bottom, the right side of the connecting plate 106 is connected to the lifting rope 107 and the ore box 110 in sequence; between the lifting hook 102 and the lifting rope 107, a push-pull rod 108 is connected by a horizontal hinge. The connecting hinge between the lifting hook 102 and the push-pull rod 108 is hinge A 103, and the connecting hinge between the lifting rope 107 and the push-pull rod 108 is hinge C 109. The length of the push-pull rod 108 is greater than the vertical distance between the fixing plate 1022 and the lifting rope 107. In order to ensure its rigidity, the fixing plate 1022 is made of steel plate, channel steel, or angle iron.

[0066] The lifting hook 102 includes an L-shaped connecting rod 1021 and a fixing plate 1022. The L-shaped connecting rod 1021 is located on the left side of the fixing plate 1022. The front and rear sides of the L-shaped connecting rod 1021 and the fixing plate 1022 are respectively provided with coaxial double hinge seats, and the L-shaped connecting rod 1021 and the fixing plate 1022 are hinged together by the hinge shaft, referred to as B hinge 104, so that the connection between the L-shaped connecting rod 1021 and the fixing plate 1022 remains stable. A torsion spring 105 is provided in the middle of the hinge shaft of B hinge 104. The hinge shaft is used as the limiting shaft of the torsion spring 105, which not only makes full use of the space in the middle of the hinge shaft, but also solves the support and limiting of the torsion spring 105, so that the L-shaped connecting rod 1021 and the fixing plate 1022 can be kept open at the top and closed at the bottom. The bend of the L-shaped connecting rod 1021 is the lifting rope hook of the backfill box 101.

[0067] To ensure that the weight of the ore container 110 exerts a force on the push-pull rod 108 and the lifting hook 102, and to guarantee that the lifting hook 102 can automatically disengage and release the backfill container when the ore container 110 reaches its rated load, the float 3 ensures that the bottom of the backfill container is 0.5 meters lower than the bottom of the ore container when lifting the backfill container 101 and the ore container 110 to the sea.

[0068] Automatic unhooking of the lifting hook 102. Because the left side of the lower connecting plate 106 of the float 3 is fixedly connected to the fixing plate 1022, the lifting hook 102, and the backfill box 101; and the right side of the lower connecting plate 106 of the float 3 is fixedly connected to the lifting rope 107 and the ore box 110; a push-pull rod 108 is horizontally hinged between the lifting hook 102 and the lifting rope 107, the length of the push-pull rod 108 is greater than the vertical distance between the lifting hook 102 and the lifting rope 107, and the length of the push-pull rod 108 is adjustable; therefore, the backfill box 101... 01. Load seabed mud onto mother ship 2 to overcome the buoyancy of buoy 3 and sink to the seabed 4; after backfill box 101 sits on the seabed, ore container 110 remains suspended in the seawater; ore container 110 receives large ore sorted by ore sorting machine 6 from large ore stacking area 8 and loads it into ore container 110, thereby subjecting lifting rope 107 to the tension of buoy 3 and ore container 110. The tension generated on lifting rope 107 will decompose into a component force that coincides with the direction of push-pull rod 108. The greater the pulling force on the 07, the greater the component force. In other words, the ore loading capacity of the ore bin 110 is directly proportional to the horizontal component force exerted on the push-pull rod 108 by the lifting rope 107. As the amount of ore in the ore bin 110 increases, the component force on the push-pull rod 108 also increases. When the ore loaded in the ore bin 110 reaches its rated weight, the torque generated by the component force on the push-pull rod 108 acting on the L-shaped connecting rod 1021 of the lifting hook 102 is greater than the torque exerted by the torsion spring 105. Using the reverse torque applied to the L-shaped connecting rod 1021, the push-pull rod 108 will push the L-shaped connecting rod 1021 to rotate clockwise around the pivot of hinge B 104. Under its own weight, the hoisting rope of the backfill box 101 will slide off the L-shaped connecting rod 1021, that is, the hoisting hook 102 will automatically unhook, and the backfill box 101 will be released from the constraint of the self-controlled unhooking system 1 and remain on the seabed 4. At the same time, the buoy 3 will lose the constraint of the backfill box 101 and rise to the surface with the ore box 110. The buoy 3 will be guided and connected by the cable car 202 and cable 203 on the mother ship 2, and the ore in the ore box 110 will be recovered to the mother ship 2 using the material crane 201, thus realizing the recovery of large ore.

[0069] The self-controlled unhooking of the deep-sea mining buoyancy transport device, consisting of the lifting hook 102 and the push-pull rod 108, enables the unhooking of the lifting hook 102 to be controlled by the weight of the ore box 110, unloading the backfill box 101. At the same time, it avoids accidental unhooking caused by factors such as the ore box 110 being unable to float due to overload and water flow fluctuations, ensuring the stability of the deep-sea mining system.

[0070] The hoisting point of backfill box 101. The backfill box 101 is equipped with a hoisting rope, which is hoisted onto the L-shaped connecting rod 1021 of the hoisting hook 102. The L-shaped connecting rod 1021 is connected to the fixing plate 1022 through the B hinge 104. Under the action of the torsion spring 105, it tilts to the left, so that the bend of the L-shaped connecting rod 1021 is directly below the pivot of the B hinge 104. That is, the two ends of the L-shaped connecting rod 1021 are high and the bend is low. Therefore, when the hoisting rope of the backfill box 101 is suspended on the L-shaped connecting rod 1021, it will automatically slide down to the bend of the L-shaped connecting rod 1021. That is, the direction of gravity of the backfill box 101 coincides with the center of the pivot of the B hinge 104. This avoids the gravity of the backfill box 101 from generating additional torque on the pivot of the B hinge 104, and offsets part of the torque of the torsion spring 105, thereby ensuring the control accuracy of the torsion spring 105, that is, ensuring the rated loading capacity of the ore box 110.

[0071] To improve the control accuracy of the push-pull rod 108 on the lifting hook 102, the length of the push-pull rod 108 between hinge A 103 and hinge C 109 is set to be adjustable. Within a limited range, the push-pull rod 108 can adjust the unlocking force on the lifting hook 102. That is, under the same weight of the ore box 110, within a limited range, the longer the push-pull rod 108, the greater the horizontal component force generated by the lifting rope 107 on the push-pull rod 108. Thus, by adjusting the length of the push-pull rod 108, it can match the torque of the torsion spring 105 on the lifting hook 102, and the rated load of the ore box 110 can be accurately set. In order to maximize the rotational torque generated by the push-pull rod 108 on the L-shaped connecting rod 1021, overcome the torque of the torsion spring 105, and make the L-shaped connecting rod 1021 rotate to unload the backfill box 101. The push-pull rod 108 is set to a horizontal state in the self-controlled unhooking system 1, and hinge A 103 is set directly below hinge B 104.

[0072] Example 2

[0073] A deep-sea buoyancy transport device, wherein a compression spring is provided on the upper part of the B hinge connecting the L-shaped connecting rod and the fixed plate.

[0074] Everything else is the same as in Example 1.

[0075] like Figure 6 As shown, a compression spring 1023 is provided on the upper part of the B hinge 104 connecting the L-shaped connecting rod 1021 and the fixed plate 1022.

[0076] When the hoisting rope 107 is under tension, it will generate a component force that coincides with the direction of the push-pull rod 108. The greater the tension, the greater the component force. In other words, the ore loading capacity of the ore bin 110 is directly proportional to the horizontal component force borne by the push-pull rod 108 from the hoisting rope 107. As the amount of ore in the ore bin 110 increases, the thrust on the push-pull rod 108 also increases. When the ore loaded in the ore bin 110 reaches its rated weight, the torque generated by the thrust of the push-pull rod 108 acting on the L-shaped connecting rod 1021 of the lifting hook is greater than the torque generated by the compression spring 1023 acting on the thrust of the L-shaped connecting rod 1021. The L-shaped connecting rod 1021 will rotate clockwise around the pivot of the B hinge 104, and the hoisting rope of the backfill box 101 will slip off the L-shaped connecting rod 1021, i.e., the lifting hook 102 will automatically unhook.

Claims

1. A deep-sea buoyancy transport device, comprising a buoy, a backfill box, a mineral material box, a lifting hook and a push-pull rod; a connecting plate is arranged below the buoy; a lifting hook and a backfill box are sequentially connected from top to bottom on the left side of the connecting plate, and a lifting rope and a mineral material box are sequentially connected from top to bottom on the right side of the connecting plate; when the backfill box is loaded with seabed slurry and sinks into the sea on a mother ship, the bottom of the backfill box is lower than the bottom of the mineral material box; characterized in that: The ore box loads large ore in the large ore loading area on the seabed, and the push-pull rod is horizontally hinged at both ends with a lifting hook and a lifting rope; ​ The lifting hook comprises a fixed plate and an L-shaped connecting rod, the L-shaped connecting rod is arranged on the left side of the fixed plate, coaxial double hinge seats are arranged on the front and back sides of the L-shaped connecting rod and the fixed plate respectively, and the L-shaped connecting rod and the fixed plate are hinged by a hinge shaft, which is denoted as B hinge; a compression spring is arranged on the upper part of the B hinge between the L-shaped connecting rod and the fixed plate, so that the L-shaped connecting rod and the fixed plate are opened upward and closed downward; The lifting hook is provided with an A hinge hole on the L-shaped connecting rod below the B hinge, the A hinge hole is hinged with the left end of the push-pull rod, and the hinge is denoted as A hinge; The connecting hinge between the lifting rope and the push-pull rod is a C hinge; the length of the push-pull rod is greater than the vertical distance between the fixed plate and the lifting rope; The length of the push-pull rod between the A hinge and the C hinge is adjustable.

2. A deep sea buoyancy transport device according to claim 1, characterised in that: The L-shaped connecting rod is bent at the center of the hinge shaft of the B hinge, and the bent part of the L-shaped connecting rod is the lowest point of the L-shaped connecting rod.

3. A deep sea buoyancy transport device according to claim 2, characterised in that: The backfill box is hung at the bent part of the L-shaped connecting rod.

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