Rotatable Roller Cutter with Angled Buttons for Hard Rock
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional rock cutting machines are not optimized to cut hard rock with strengths beyond 120 MPa safely and reliably, and they experience large forces during operation, leading to inadequate cutter strength and excessive wear due to frictional engagement.
Innovation Solution
A cutting apparatus with rotatable roller cutters that can pivot laterally and vertically, featuring a disc-like cutting head with optimally angled buttons and a recessed underside to reduce friction and balance strength, allowing for a two-stage cutting action with reduced force and energy consumption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional cutters are used with frictional engagement to cut hard rock, then cutting action is achieved, but cutter wear is excessive and structural integrity is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The cutter employs a disc-like configuration with a recessed underside surface instead of a flat frictional engagement surface. This curved geometry reduces the contact area and frictional forces between the cutter and rock, thereby minimizing wear while maintaining cutting effectiveness. The recessed surface allows the cutter to roll or glide with reduced friction compared to conventional flat-cutting surfaces.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention optimizes the geometry parameters of the cutter, specifically the angle and shape of the cutting buttons and the recessed underside configuration. By changing these geometric parameters, the cutter achieves better force distribution and reduced frictional engagement, improving both productivity and reliability simultaneously.
2Reliability
If cutter strength is increased to maintain structural integrity during cutting, then reliability improves, but cutter wear due to friction increases
Solution Approach 1:
The recessed underside surface creates a curved contact interface that reduces frictional forces. This geometric modification allows the cutter to maintain structural integrity without experiencing excessive wear, as the rolling or gliding motion reduces the frictional engagement that would otherwise cause material loss.
Solution Approach 2:
By optimizing the geometric parameters of the cutter design, including the recessed surface depth and button angles, the invention achieves a balance where structural strength is maintained while frictional wear is minimized through improved contact mechanics.
3Strength
If cutting apparatus is designed for hard rock beyond 120 MPa, then cutting capability improves, but force and energy consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The recessed underside surface reduces frictional forces during cutting operations. By minimizing friction, the apparatus requires less energy to maintain cutting action on hard rock, thereby improving energy efficiency while maintaining the capability to cut rock beyond 120 MPa.
Solution Approach 2:
The optimized geometric parameters of the cutter, including button angles and recessed surface configuration, improve the efficiency of force transmission to the rock. This reduces the total force and energy required to achieve effective cutting of hard rock materials.
4Adaptability or versatility
If variable cross sectional area cutting is implemented, then adaptability improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cutting apparatus employs movable arms that can be positioned at different angles and depths, allowing the cutting heads to trace arcuate paths. This dynamic positioning capability enables variable cross-sectional area cutting without requiring complex reconfiguration of the entire apparatus, achieving adaptability through controlled motion rather than structural complexity.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
Cutting apparatus (100) suitable for creating tunnels or subterranean roadways and the like. The apparatus comprises: a support structure (800) having generally upward (300), downward (301), frontward (303) and side (302) facing regions; first and second cutting assemblies (900), each of the first and second cutting assemblies (900) including a rotatable cutting head (128) and a mounting assembly (902), the mounting assembly (902) attaching the cutting head (128) to the support structure (800) in a manner that enables the cutting head (128) to move with respect to the support structure (800), said mounting assembly (902) including a first pivot axis (400) wherein the cutting head (128) is movable about the first pivot axis (400) thereby enabling the cutting head (128) to move in a generally sideways direction relative to support structure (800), said mounting assembly (902) including a second pivot axis (401) wherein the cutting head (128) is movable about the second pivot axis (401) thereby enabling the cutting head (128) to move in a generally upwards-downwards direction relative to the support structure (800); wherein each of the cutting heads (128) includes a plurality of cutting units (700), each cutting unit (700) includes a rotatable shaft (703) having a central longitudinal axis (704) and a cutter (127) mounted on the shaft (703), said cutter (127) including a disc body (711) and a plurality of buttons (710) for abrading rock, said buttons (710) are mounted in a radially peripheral portion (738) of the disc body and protrude outwardly therefrom, wherein at least some of the buttons (710) each have a central longitudinal axis (745) that subtends an angle α with respect to a reference axis (746), which extends perpendicularly outwards from the central longitudinal axis (704) of the shaft, wherein the angle α is greater than or equal to 20° and less than or equal to 34°.