Rod manipulator for a mining drill rig

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9903160-B2
Application number	US-201515129766-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 9, 2015
Priority date	Mar 28, 2014
Publication date	Feb 27, 2018
Grant date	Feb 27, 2018

Abstract

A bolting drill rig arranged to be mountable at a mobile mining machine. The drill rig includes a main frame mounting an axially movable drive unit and head to press against the roof or wall of the mine. A drill rod manipulator assembly is mounted at the main frame to one side of the drive unit and configured to transport a drill rod between a drilling position and a rod storage position.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A rod manipulator mountable at a mining machine near a drill drive unit and configured for moving a rod used for drilling or bolting operations, the manipulator-comprising:
a manipulator frame mountable at a frame of the mining machine;
a manipulator arm mounted to move in a first lengthwise direction along the manipulator frame between a rod storage position and a rod drilling position; and
a releasable rod engager provided at the arm to grip the rod for coupled movement with the arm, wherein at least a part of the arm is mounted to move in a second lateral direction substantially perpendicular or transverse to the first direction between a retracted state to provide the rod in the storage position laterally to one side of the drive unit and an extended state to provide the rod in the drilling position centered with the drive unit, the manipulator arm including a base part mounted at and configured to slide along the manipulator frame and an extender part arranged to extend laterally from the base part in the second lateral direction substantially perpendicular or transverse to the first lengthwise direction.

2. The rod manipulator as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising at least one linear actuator connecting the base part and the extender part to drive movement of the extender part in the second lateral direction.

3. The rod manipulator as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising at least one linear actuator connected between the base part and the manipulator frame to drive linear movement of the base part in the first lengthwise direction along the manipulator frame.

4. The rod manipulator as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the rod engager includes a single jaw or a pair of opposed jaws to open and close to release and grip the drill rod and at least one actuator to drive a movement of the jaw or jaws to open and close about the drill rod.

5. The rod manipulator as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising at least one pivot mounting connecting the base part to the extender part to pivot the extender part relative to the base part.

6. The rod manipulator as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the extender part is configured to pivot 20 to 70° relative to the base part.

7. A bolting drill rig mountable at a mining machine, the rig comprising:
an elongate main frame;
a drill drive unit arranged to provide rotational drive to a drill rod used to create a bore hole in a mine roof or wall to receive a bolt;
a head movably mounted at the frame and being configured to brace against the roof or wall of the mine during drilling, wherein a length of the manipulator frame is at least half a length of the main frame, such that the arm is arranged to move in the first direction over at least half of the length of the main frame to move the rod in a direction away from the head; and
a drill rod manipulator assembly mounted at the main frame, the drill rod manipulator assembly including a manipulator frame mountable at the frame, a manipulator arm mounted to move in a first lengthwise direction along the main frame between the rod storage position away from the head and a rod drilling position towards the head relative to the lengthwise direction of the main frame and a releasable rod engager provided at the arm to grip the rod for coupled movement with the arm, at least a part of the arm being mounted to move in a second lateral direction substantially perpendicular or transverse to the first direction between a retracted state to provide the rod in the storage position laterally to one side of the drive unit and an extended state to provide the rod in the drilling position centered with the drive unit.

8. The rig as claimed in claim 7 , wherein a distance that the manipulator assembly projects laterally from the main frame is equal to or less than a distance by which the drive unit projects laterally from the main frame.

9. The rig as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the drive unit is mounted at a first side of the main frame and the manipulator assembly is mounted at a second side of the main frame, wherein the arm is configured to move laterally in the second direction and to pivot between the retracted state and the extended state such that in the retracted state the arm does not obscure an axis centered on the drive unit and in the extended state provides the drill rod in the position centered with the drive unit.

10. The rig as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the drive unit is mounted at the main frame via a shuttle carriage to enable the drive unit to move lengthwise along the main frame relative to the head.

11. The rig as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the head is mounted at the main frame via at least one linear actuator and configured to be extended from or retracted at the main frame relative to the drive unit.

12. A mobile mining machine for a roof or wall bolting comprising a rig as claimed in claim 7 .

Assignees

• Sandvik Intellectual Property
• Sandvik Intellectual Property

Inventors

• Galler Thomas
• Leitner Johannes

Classifications

• E21B19/08

  Apparatus for feeding the rods or cables (E21B19/22 takes precedence; automatic feed E21B44/02); Apparatus for increasing or decreasing the pressure on the drilling tool; Apparatus for counterbalancing the weight of the rods · CPC title

• E21B7/027 Primary

  Drills for drilling shallow holes, e.g. for taking soil samples or for drilling postholes · CPC title

• E21D20/003 Primary

  Machines for drilling anchor holes and setting anchor bolts · CPC title

• E21B3/02

  Surface drives for rotary drilling · CPC title

• E21B19/14

  Racks, ramps, troughs or bins, for holding the lengths of rod singly or connected; Handling between storage place and borehole (E21B19/20, E21B19/22 take precedence) · CPC title