Shaft Sinking Boring Machine With Guided Skip Hoisting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional shaft sinking operations in underground mines are slow and hazardous due to limitations in material removal speed, requiring skilled operators and ceasing operations for drilling and blasting, with filling devices on station being a bottleneck, and existing earth boring machinery solutions are not robust enough to maintain continuous excavation material removal.
Innovation Solution
A system comprising a rotary cutting head boring machine with a bucket conveyor transporting excavated material to a transfer station with storage bins and skips, allowing continuous material removal and rapid hoisting using guided skips, which can be extended and lined progressively as the shaft is formed, enabling efficient and safe excavation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If traditional drilling and blasting methods are used to excavate shaft material, then the shaft can be formed, but the material removal speed is limited and operations must cease for drilling and blasting cycles
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the traditional drilling and blasting mechanical system with an earth boring machine that uses a rotary cutting head with cutters to mechanically excavate material. This continuous cutting action eliminates the intermittent drilling and blasting cycles, allowing uninterrupted excavation and significantly increasing shaft sinking speed while removing operational downtime.
2Productivity
If earth boring machinery with rotary cutting head is used to increase sinking speed, then excavation efficiency improves, but the system stops cutting when filling devices are not on station
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements multiple filling devices (kibbles or buckets) positioned in advance at different locations around the shaft perimeter before excavation begins. As the earth boring machine continuously cuts and removes material, multiple filling stations are pre-positioned so that when one filling device completes loading, another is already in position to receive material, eliminating idle time and ensuring continuous excavation operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent ensures continuous material removal by coordinating the earth boring machine's cutting action with multiple同步 filling devices that operate simultaneously or in rapid succession. The system maintains uninterrupted excavation by having filling devices ready in advance and transitioning between them seamlessly, preventing the boring machine from stopping and maintaining continuous productive action.
3Length of stationary object
If kibbles are hoisted on very long cable lengths to reach the surface, then material can be removed from deep shafts, but the kibbles move about and hoisting speed is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the single long cable system into multiple shorter cable sections, each serving a specific depth zone or shaft section. Kibbles or buckets are hoisted using shorter cable lengths appropriate to their current position, eliminating the instability and speed limitations of very long cable systems while still enabling deep shaft access through progressive advancement of the boring machine and repositioning of filling devices.
4Ease of operation
If skilled operators are required to guide and operate equipment at the bottom of the shaft, then precise control is achieved, but the operation becomes inherently dangerous to miners
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements automated control systems for the earth boring machine, bucket conveyors, and hoisting equipment that operate without requiring skilled operators to physically guide equipment at the bottom of the shaft. The machinery performs its own guidance and operation through automated mechanisms, sensors, and control systems, maintaining precise control while eliminating the need for miners to be in hazardous positions, thereby removing the safety risk to operators.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system allows for continuous and rapid removal of excavated material, increasing the speed and capacity of shaft sinking operations, capable of moving at least 4,500 tonnes per day, and can be adapted for use in operating mines, enhancing safety and operational efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
a rotary cutting head 23 fitted with cutters 25
Implementation Method 2
rotary cutting head boring machine with a bucket conveyor transporting excavated material
Implementation Method 3
bucket conveyor 46 which transports the excavated material from the cutting head upwardly
Implementation Method 4
a hoisting system incorporating a pair of skips 36 and cables 40 for hoisting the skips from the transfer station to ground level
Implementation Method 5
hoisting system incorporating a pair of skips 36 and cables 40 for hoisting the skips
Implementation Method 6
The main machine frame 26 can be stabilised or locked into position within the bored hole by operation of hydraulically actuated stabilising jacks 27, 28
Implementation Method 7
stabilising jacks 27, 28 which operate upper and lower grippers 29, 30 to grip the sidewalls of the shaft
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3~5
AI summary
In forming a mine shaft for an underground mine, earth excavated by a boring machine (21) is transported upwardly by handling unit (22) to a transfer station (33) where it is transferred into skips 36 which are raised and lowered along skip guides 38 within the shaft hole (19) for transport of the excavated material to an earth surface region. Transfer station (33) is moved downwardly as excavation progresses.