AU3578799A - Drill boom support for a drill rig - Google Patents

Description

I~ E

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT 4 4* 9 4 .4 Applicants: 1) HYDRO POWER ENGINEERING (PROPRIETARY) LIMITED and 2) NORTHAM PLATINUM LIMITED Invention Title: DRILL BOOM SUPPORT FOR A DRILL RIG The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us: P13677 .HPE -2- DRILL BOOM SUPPORT FOR A DRILL RIG FIELD OF THE INVENTION 9*9* This invention relates to a drill boom support for a drill rig and, more particularly, a drill rig which is particularly, although not exclusively, suitable for use in drilling blast holes in the development end of a tunnel in an underground mining operation.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION In the drilling of such blast holes it is important that the axes of the holes extend in the correct direction and that the holes are drilled in a predetermined pattern.

The holes near the edges of the tunnel and at the roof and hanging walls need to be drilled at an incline to the general grade or axial direction of the tunnel in order 9 to ensure that sufficient rock is broken out to maintain the required 10 cross-sectional dimensions of the tunnel.

It is accordingly necessary to align a drill correctly both with regard to inclination relative to the grade in the vertical direction as well as in the horizontal direction in order that the tunnel maintain the required dimensions.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION It is the object of this invention to provide a drill boom support for a drill rig which greatly facilitates the drilling of a series of blast holes in the correct relative positions as well as in their correct inclinations, particularly in the horizontal, but also in the vertical directions.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with this invention there is provided a drill boom support assembly for a drill rig comprising a frame adapted to be operatively generally horizontal and supporting a drill boom along which a drill supported on a carriage is longitudinally movable, the drill boom being supported by the frame through a transversely extending track made to a required profile in plan view and along which the drill boom is movable transverse to its length and across the width of the frame and wherein the profile of the track is chosen to provide a drill with a correct axial orientation relative to the grade of a tunnel in plan view at each lateral position in which a hole is to be drilled.

o Further features of the invention provide for said axial orientation to be parallel to the grade of a tunnel in the central region of the track but inclined relative thereto in the lateral end region thereof; for the drill boom to be supported by the track :15 roughly in the region of the centre of gravity thereof with the drill in a retracted position; for additional support for the drill boom to be provided at the operatively rear end of the frame in which case such support may be by way of a slide arrangement carried by the boom and co-operating with a rail extending transversely to the frame and along which the slide is movable; for the track to be provided with predetermined stop positions along the length thereof each corresponding to a desired position in which a hole is to be drilled in a development face; for said stop positions to include a notch or hole which can be aligned with co-operant formations such as a notch or hole on the drill boom a: which preferably receives a locking member such as a pin therein during use of a 25 drill in any such position; and, for movement of the drill boom along the track to be achievable by means of a pinion gear engaging a rack extending along the length of the track and wherein the pinion gear is rotatable from the rear end of the frame, conveniently by means of a crank of the like.

Preferably the support assembly defined above can define the upper frame assembly of the drill rig described either in our co-pending patent application number 98/5646 filed on 29 June, 1998 under the title "Drill Rig", or in our co-pending patent application number 99/2662 filed on 12 April, 1999 under the same title.

-4- Those co-pending patent applications describe drill rigs each of which comprises an upper and a lower frame assembly wherein the lower frame assembly is adapted to support the drill rig during use as well as during transport and the upper frame assembly supports a drill boom and associated drill and carriage assembly.

In the former case the lower frame assembly and upper frame assembly are interconnected by elongate supports pivotally interconnected intermediate their ends and wherein at least the operatively upper and rear-most support limb is shorter than the operatively upper and foremost support limb of the elongate support. This arrangement automatically adjusts the inclination of the drill boom to the grade in the vertical plane as the upper frame assembly is raised and lowered relative to the lower frame assembly.

In the latter case the upper and lower frames are interconnected by an intermediate frame hingedly connected to the upper frame at one end and the 15 lower frame at the other end. The frames are rotated about their hinged connections by piston and cylinder assemblies and detents are provided to define fixed orientations of the upper frame relative to the lower frame.

In order that the above and other features of the invention may be more fully S'understood one embodiment thereof will now be described with reference to the 20 accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings:- SFIG. 1 is a side elevation showing a drill rig embodying a drill boom support according to the invention in a vertically raised position; FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the area indicated by circle in Figure 1; FIG. 3 is a plan view of the rig; and FIG. 4 is a schematic side elevation of one alternative form of drill rig embodying a support according to the invention.

1-i~ DETAILED DESCRIPTION WITH REFERENCE TO THE DRAWINGS In the application of the invention illustrated in Figures 1 to 3 of the drawings a drill rig generally indicated by numeral comprises an upper frame and a lower frame The lower frame has a single roughly centrally disposed spaced pair of rail wheels whereby it can be moved around and each end of s the lower frame has screw threaded jacking arrangements and at the rear and front thereof respectively. The upper frame supports above it a drill boom carrying a carriage with a drill thereon slung underneath the boom The boom is actually supported on a transverse track (10) (see Figure 2) carried by the upper frame as provided by this invention and in a manner which will be described hereinafter.

The upper frame and lower frame are interconnected by two elongate supports (11) and (12) pivotally connected together by means of a pivot (13) intermediate their ends. The one elongate support has its lower end (14) attached to the lower one end of the rear of the lower frame by a pivot (15) and its upper end (16) is pivotally connected to a slide (not shown) confined to :longitudinal movement along a lipped groove (17) extending along the forward S: portion of the upper frame The upper end (18) of the other elongate support is pivotally attached to the rear S: end of the upper frame by a pivot (19) and its lower end (20) is similarly slidable along an inwardly lipped guide (21) which forms the forward portion of the lower frame and in fact carries at its forward end the forward screw threaded jack 999 The lower end (20) of the latter elongate support (11) has a formation adapted to co-operate with notches (22) spaced apart along the length of a gauge member i (23) extending parallel to the guide The gauge member has notches on two *o 25 opposite edges and is rotatable about its own axis to direct one edge or the other upwardly. Also it can be rotated to an intermediate position in which no notches are directed upwardly for co-operation with the lower end of the support (11) in which case the drill rig can be totally collapsed to bring the upper and lower frame substantially together for transport or storage purposes.

The positioning of the pivot along the lengths of the two supports (11) and (12), and the respective lengths from the pivot to their extremities, is arranged such that when the drill rod (24) itself is located centrally and on the grade of the tunnel being developed the central region holes can be drilled in the exact -6direction of the tunnel. As the upper frame is raised or lowered the drill rod will become increasingly more inclined towards the hanging or foot wall, as the case may be, until at the extremities the drill rod is directed at the exact desired inclination for the upper-most and lower-most holes respectively. The former position is illustrated in Figure 1.

The notches in the gauge member (23) are arranged such that they determine fixed elevations of the upper frame relative to the lower frame which correspond to the desired positions of holes to be drilled in a standard pattern for the tunnel development. Accordingly once the rig has been set up no measuring or marking of a development face is necessary only adjustment of the height according to the notches in the gauge member (23).

Regarding the support of the drill boom and its lateral positioning the transverse roughly horizontal track (10) of the invention follows a substantially straight path across the central region (25) of the upper frame and has a rearwardly deflected end region (26) on each side. The central region enables holes to be drilled in the face in vertical planes parallel to the development grade. However the end .regions (26) cause the drill rod (24) to be directed laterally outwardly at an inclination to the side walls of the tunnel for the same purpose of breaking out rock in a manner resulting in a straight rock wall being developed.

20 In this case fixed lateral positions of holes to be drilled are determined by a series of spaced holes (27) in the track which are to be aligned with a hole associated .with the boom, and a pin can be placed through the aligned holes to lock the boom in position for drilling a particular hole. This determines all the lateral positions at which holes are to be drilled in the predetermined pattern and, once 25 more, no measuring is necessary on site. In order to stabilise the boom its rear end is provided with a slotted slider member (28) movable along a transverse rail (29) at the rear of the upper frame assembly.

In order to facilitate movement of the drill boom along the track (10) it is supported by way of flanged pulleys (30) on the track itself.

In order to employ the drill rig of this invention the rig can be wheeled along a rail even of a temporary and undulating nature as is often the case in development regions of tunnels and because it only has two wheels it can be swivelled sideways to greatly facilitate its setting up. It is then raised and supported on its -7screw threaded jacks in the correct orientation so that in the central position the drill rod will extend along the grade in the centre of the tunnel. The rig can then be locked in position by means of laterally extending outrigger jacks (not shown) and an entire set of holes can be drilled simply by moving the drill boom laterally along the track, stopping it at each hole in the track and then moving the upper frame up and down through the various vertical positions determined by the notches in the gauge member (23).

Movement of the boom along the track is achieved by means of a pinion gear (31) engaging a rack (32) extending along the length of the track. Rotation of the pinion gear is effected by a crank (33) operable at the rear of the rig.

It will be understood that numerous variations may be made to the embodiment of the invention described above without departing from the scope of this invention. In particular, the drill rig may be of any type and, may be of the type illustrated in Figure 4. In this case the rear of the upper frame (34) is hingedly is.. attached to the rear end of an intermediate frame (35) which is hingedly attached at its front end to the front end of the lower frame (36).

The angular position of the intermediate frame relative to the lower frame is achieved by a piston and cylinder assembly (37) and determined by a system of detents (38) at the rear.

A second piston and cylinder assembly (39) effects movement of the upper frame relative to the intermediate frame and a second set of detents (40) determine the various positions required for drilling of the set of holes.

Numerous other drill rigs could also be used. Furthermore, the support assembly itself may be varied within wide limits, the embodiment described simply being an example.

For the purposes of this specification it will be clearly understood that the word "comprising" means "including but not limited to", and that the word "comprises" has a corresponding meaning.

Claims (12)

1. A drill boom support assembly for a drill rig comprising a frame adapted to be operatively generally horizontal and supporting a drill boom along which a drill supported on a carriage is longitudinally movable, the drill boom being supported by the frame through a transversely extending track made to a required profile in plan view and along which the drill boom is movable transverse to its length and across the width of the frame and wherein the profile of the track is chosen to provide a drill with a correct axial orientation relative to the grade of a tunnel in plan view at each lateral position in which a hole is to be drilled.

2. A support assembly as claimed in claim 1 in which said axial orientation is parallel to the grade of a tunnel in the central region of the track but is inclined relative thereto in the lateral end regions of the track.

3. A support assembly as claimed in either of claims 1 or 2 in which the track supports the drill boom roughly in the region of the centre of gravity thereof 15 with the drill in a retracted position.

4. A support assembly as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which additional support is provided for the drill boom at the operatively rear end S-of the frame.

A support assembly as claimed in claim 4 in which said additional support is a slide arrangement carried by the boom and co-operating with a rail extending transversely to the frame and along which the slide is movable. °o

6. A support assembly as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the track is provided with predetermined stop positions along the length thereof each corresponding to a desired position in which a hole may be drilled in a development face.

7. A support assembly as claimed in claim 6 in which said stop positions include a notch or hole which can be aligned with a co-operant formation on the drill boom. 1~~11~ -9-

8. A support assembly as claimed in claim 7 in which the co-operant formation on the drill boom is a notch or hole adapted to be temporarily locked to a notch or hole in the track by means of a locking member.

9. A support assembly as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which movement of the drill boom along the track is achievable by means of a pinion gear engaging a rack extending along the length of the track.

A support assembly as claimed in claim 9 in which the pinion gear is rotatable from the rear end of the frame.

11. A drill rig comprising a support assembly as claimed in any one of the preceding claims and wherein said frame defines the upper frame of an upper and a lower frame assembly in which the upper frame is movable upwardly and downwardly relative to the lower frame. :*6696 e

•12. A support assembly substantially as herein described and exemplified with reference to Figures 1 to 3 of the accompanying drawings. FDated this 22nd day of June 1999 1) HYDRO POWER ENGINEERING (PROPRIETARY) LIMITED and 2) NORTHAM PLATINUM LIMITED By their Patent Attorneys GRIFFITH HACK Fellows Institute of Patent and STrade Mark Attorneys of Australia °0 gS S .i S.