AU2010202658A1 - A vehicle - Google Patents

Description

P/00/011 Regulation 3.2 AUSTRALIA Patents Act 1990 ORIGINAL COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Invention Title: "A VEHICLE" The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us: 1 TITLE A VEHICLE FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a vehicle. In particular, the invention 5 relates to a vehicle that is used to transport and distribute stemming material used in blast holes. However, it should be appreciated that the vehicle may be used for other purposes. BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION Blasting is common in many open cut mines as part of the 10 mining process. This typically involves drilling a series of holes to form a blast pattern. A detonator and primer are lowered down each of the holes to hang about one metre from the bottom of the hole. The holes are then charged with explosives with the hole being filled to within three metres of the surface. The last three metres are filled with stemming material. The 15 stemming material acts as a plug as forces the explosive energy to go into the surrounding rock rather than back out of the hole. The blasted holes are typically filled with stemming material provided by a vehicle. The vehicle typically includes a hopper that has a conveyor which extends out of the side of the truck between a cabin and 20 the hopper. The conveyor moves between a transport position where it is located directly between the cabin and the hopper and a delivery position in which it is extended outwardly from the truck. The truck drives along the blast pattern stopping adjacent the hole at which point in time the conveyor is extended and stemming material is delivered directly into the hole. In 25 many instances, the stemming truck works effectively. However, in other instances, the truck is required to drive close to or over blast holes. This can cause the blast holes to collapse requiring them to be redrilled. Further, the stemming vehicle can drive over a filled blast hole which dislodges the detonator and primer causing a 30 misfire.

2 OBJECT OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the invention to overcome or at least alleviate one or more of the above disadvantages and/or provide the consumer with a useful or commercial choice. 5 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In one form, although not necessary the only or broadest form, the invention resides in a vehicle able to transport and distribute stemming material into blast holes, the vehicle comprising: a vehicle body having chassis and at least one pair of wheels; 10 a stemming hopper supported by the chassis; a delivery system for delivering stemming material from the hopper into a blast hole, the delivery system including: a hopper belt conveyor to transport stemming material from the stemming hopper; 15 a transfer belt conveyor to transfer the stemming material from the hopper belt conveyor; and a slewing belt conveyor to deliver stemming material from the transfer belt conveyor into the blast hole wherein the slewing belt conveyor is able to swing with respect to 20 the chassis. Preferably, the vehicle includes a dust suppression system including one or more of: a transfer cover located adjacent an end of the hopper belt conveyor; 25 a slewing belt conveyor cover extending along a length of the slewing belt conveyor; and/or a water unit including a water tank connected to a water nozzle to spray water on to the stemming material passing from the hopper belt conveyor. 30 In yet another form, the invention resides in a method of delivering stemming material from a vehicle into a blast hole, the method including the steps of: 3 allowing stemming material to travel along a hopper belt conveyor; passing the stemming material from the hopper belt conveyor on to a transfer belt conveyor; 5 passing the stemming material from the transfer belt conveyor on to a rotatable slewing belt conveyor; and delivering stemming material from the slewing belt conveyor into the blast hole. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 10 To assist in understanding the invention and to enable a person skilled in the art to put the invention into practical effect, an embodiment of the invention will be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a vehicle according to an 15 embodiment of the invention; FIG. 2 is a further perspective view of a vehicle according to FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a top view of a vehicle according to FIG. 1; FIG 4 is a close-up perspective view of a vehicle according to 20 FIG. 1; and FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a partial vehicle according to FIG. 1. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIG. 1 to 5 show a vehicle 10 used for the transportation and 25 distribution of stemming material into blast holes on an open cut mine. The vehicle 10 includes a vehicle body 20, stemming hopper 30, stemming delivery system 40 and dust suppression system 50. The vehicle body 20 is a standard-non articulated truck body that includes a vehicle cabin 21 with associated engine (not shown), 30 gearbox (not shown) and driveshaft (not shown). Further, the vehicle body 20 includes a chassis 22 with associated wheels 23. It should be appreciated that the vehicle body 20 may, in an alternative form, include a 4 removable trailer having chassis and the wheels with a detachable prime mover which includes a vehicle cabin, engine, gearbox and driveshaft. The stemming hopper 30 is used to store stemming material. The stemming hopper 30 extends substantially the length of the chassis 22 5 and is mounted to the chassis 22. The stemming hopper 30 has a stemming aperture 31 located in the base of the stemming hopper 30 to allow stemming material to flow out of the stemming hopper 30. It should be appreciated that the size and the shape of the stemming hopper 30 may be varied depending on vehicle and/or mine site requirements. 10 A delivery system 40 is used to transport stemming material from the stemming hopper 30 to blast holes. The delivery system 40 includes a hopper belt conveyor 41, transfer belt conveyor 42 and slewing conveyor 43. The hopper belt conveyor 41 is located under the stemming hopper 30 adjacent the stemming hopper aperture 31. The transfer belt 15 conveyor 42 is located adjacent the end of the hopper belt conveyor 41. An end of the transfer belt conveyor 42 is positioned lower than the hopper belt conveyor 41. The slewing belt conveyor 43 is positioned so that an end of the slewing belt conveyor 43 is located under the transfer belt conveyor 42. 20 The slewing belt conveyor 43 is mounted for rotation to the chassis via a slewing shaft 44. Further, a pin 45 located on the stemming hopper 30 is used to rotatably mount support arms 46 which assist in support and rotation of the slewing belt conveyor 43. The dust suppression system 50 includes a slewing belt 25 conveyor cover 51 which is located over the majority of the length of the slewing belt conveyor 43 and a transfer cover 52 which covers part of the transfer belt conveyor 42 as well as an end of the hopper belt conveyor 41. Both the transfer cover 52 and the slewing belt conveyor cover 51 assist in preventing dust from escaping into the atmosphere adjacent the vehicle 10. 30 The dust suppression system 50 also includes a spray nozzle 53 located adjacent the end of the transfer belt conveyor 42. The spray nozzle 53 is connected to a water tank 54 via a water pipe 55. A water 5 pump (not shown) is used to pump water from the water tank 54 through the water pipe 55 and through the spray nozzle 53 to spray water on to stemming material that passes along the transfer belt conveyor 42, again assisting in preventing dust from escaping into the atmosphere adjacent 5 the vehicle 10. In use, the hopper belt conveyor 41, transfer belt conveyor 42 and slewing conveyor 43 all rotate at the same speed. The water pump is operated so that water is passed from the water tank 54 through the water pipe 55 and through the spray nozzle 53. 10 In operation, stemming material passes from the stemming hopper 30 via the hopper belt conveyor 41. The stemming material then passes on to the transfer belt conveyor 42. The transfer cover 52 assists in preventing dust from flying into the air during transfer of the stemming material from the hopper belt conveyor 41 to the transfer belt conveyor 42. 15 The stemming material then passes along the transfer belt conveyor 42 underneath the spray nozzle 53, again to increase dust suppression. The stemming material falls from the transfer conveyor 42 on to the slewing belt conveyor 43 and passes along the slewing belt conveyor 43. The slewing belt conveyor cover 51 also assists in preventing dust from passing into the 20 atmosphere. The stemming material then passes from the end of the slewing belt conveyor 51 into a desired blast hole. The slewing belt conveyor 51 can be stored on a transport mount 60 that extends outwardly from the chassis 22 during transportation. Further, the slewing belt conveyor 51 is able to rotate around the rear of the 25 vehicle 10 to access a large number of blast holes from a single position. It should be appreciated that various other changes and modifications may be made to the embodiment described without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.

Claims (12)

1. A vehicle able to transport and distribute stemming material into blast holes, the vehicle comprising: a vehicle body having chassis and at least one pair of wheels; 5 a stemming hopper supported by the chassis; a delivery system for delivering stemming material from the hopper into a blast hole, the delivery system including: a hopper belt conveyor to transport stemming material from the stemming hopper; 10 a transfer belt conveyor to transfer the stemming material from the hopper belt conveyor; and a slewing belt conveyor to deliver stemming material from the transfer belt conveyor into the blast hole wherein the slewing belt conveyor is able to swing with respect to 15 the chassis.

2. The vehicle of claim 1 including a transfer cover located adjacent an end of the hopper belt conveyor.

3. The vehicle of claim 1 or claim 2 including a slewing belt conveyor cover extending along a length of the slewing belt conveyor. 20

4. The vehicle of any one of the preceding claims including a water unit having a water tank connected to a water nozzle to spray water on to the stemming material passing from the hopper belt conveyor.

5. The vehicle of any one of the preceding claims wherein the slewing belt conveyor is rotatable with respect to the chassis. 25

6. The vehicle of any one of the preceding claims wherein the slewing belt conveyor is rotatably mounted to the chassis via a slewing shaft.

7. The vehicle of any one of the preceding claims wherein support arms are attached to the slewing belt conveyor.

8. The vehicle of any one of the preceding claims wherein a pin is 30 located on the stemming hopper to rotatably mount support arms which assist in support and are attached to the slewing belt conveyor. 7

9. The vehicle of any one of the preceding claims wherein the slewing belt conveyor is stored on transport mount during transportation.

10. The vehicle of any one of the preceding claims wherein the slewing belt conveyor is able to rotate around the rear of the vehicle body. 5

11. A method of delivering stemming material from a vehicle into a blast hole, the method including the steps of: allowing stemming material to travel along a hopper belt conveyor; passing the stemming material from the hopper belt conveyor 10 on to a transfer belt conveyor; passing the stemming material from the transfer belt conveyor on to a rotatable slewing belt conveyor; and delivering stemming material from the slewing belt conveyor into the blast hole. 15

12. The method of claim 11 further including the step of spraying water on to the stemming material passing from the hopper belt conveyor.