Classifications

• • E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
  • E21—EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; MINING
  • E21B—EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; OBTAINING OIL, GAS, WATER, SOLUBLE OR MELTABLE MATERIALS OR A SLURRY OF MINERALS FROM WELLS
  • E21B19/00—Handling rods, casings, tubes or the like outside the borehole, e.g. in the derrick; Apparatus for feeding the rods or cables
  • E21B19/14—Racks, ramps, troughs or bins, for holding the lengths of rod singly or connected; Handling between storage place and borehole

Definitions

• Gripping arm for a rock drilling equipment or the like provided with a cartridge for rods
• the invention relates to a gripping arm for a rock drilling equipment or the like provided with a cartridge for rods, the gripping arm comprising an abutment jaw, a clamping cylinder, and a clamping jaw attached to the clamping cylinder so as to be moved by it for clamping a rod between the jaws, and the gripping arm being mounted turnably in the transverse direction of the rod with respect to the rock drilling equipment such that the gripping arm can be turned to the rod positioned at a predetermined distance from the turning axis of the gripping arm so that the abut- ment jaw and the clamping jaw will be positioned on opposite sides of the rod in the longitudinal direc ⁇ tion of the gripping arm.
• Mechanized rock drilling widely employs a cartridge technique in which drill rods or pipes used in long hole drilling are stored in various drill cartridges out of which the rods or pipes are taken one by one as the drilling proceeds or returned one by one into the cartridge when the drill rod set is broken up.
• bolts used in rock bolting are stored in cartridges out of which they are taken one by one for the bolting process.
• the rock drilling equipment refers both to rock drilling equipment used solely for rock drilling and to rock bolting equipment in which either drill rod or drill pipe sections or rock bolts are stored in a cartridge for later use.
• the rod refers in this patent application and claims to a drill rod, drill pipe, bolt or the like, which is stored in the cartridges of the rock drilling equipment.
• Drill pipes, rods or bolts are handled, i.e. picked up from and inserted into the cartridge, by separate gripping arms each comprising an abutment jaw mounted fixedly to the frame and a movable clamping jaw driven by a hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder.
• a rod i.e.
• a drill pipe, drill rod, or bolt is picked up in the following way: the bolting equipment or the rock drill is turned close to the rod and then the pairs of jaws in the concurrently moving gripping arms are displaced in the transverse direction of the rod to its opposite sides by turning the gripping arms, and the rod is then gripped by displacing the clamping jaws by the cylinder so that the rod will remain in the gap defined between the jaws. The rod is then withdrawn from the cartridge by turning the bolting head or the rock drill and the gripping arms in the opposite direction.
• Another way to displace the rod is to use gripping arms which turn between the cartridge and the axis of the bolting head or the rock drill typically along a curved path, and so the gripping arm picks up a rod from the cartridge and then turns so as to displace the rod at the drilling centre or in alignment with a hole to be bolted.
• a drawback of the prior art technique is that bolts and drill rods/drill pipes of different thick ⁇ nesses require clamping jaws of different dimensions. This implies that a different gripping arm has to be manufactured for each rod size, which increases the number of required spare parts and ties up capital unreasonably. Moreover, if bolts of different thick ⁇ nesses are to be installed by the same equipment, or the drilling means of the equipment are to be changed, it is always necessary to change the gripping arm as well.
• the object of the present invention is to provide a gripping arm which can be used for rods of different thicknesses simply and easily.
• the gripping arm according to the invention is characterized in that the abutment jaw is mounted to the gripping arm displaceably in the longitudinal direction of the clamping cylinder such that it can be adjusted in accordance with the diameter of the rod to be used so that the stop face of the abutment jaw will be posi ⁇ tioned substantially in abutment with the outer surface of the rod when the gripping arm has been turned so that the jaws are positioned on opposite sides of the rod, and that the abutment jaw is arranged to be fixed in a desired position.
• abutment jaw associated with the gripping arm is mounted longitudinally displaceably with respect to the gripping arm, so that it can be mounted at a suitable position for each rod diameter in the longitudinal direction of the gripping arm.
• Another essential feature of the invention is that the abutment jaw can be locked immovable with respect to the gripping arm in each one of the desired positions.
• An advantage of the gripping arm according to the invention is that the jaws can always be posi- tioned suitably with respect to the rod to be dis ⁇ placed by varying the position of the abutment jaw with respect to the gripping arm in accordance with the thickness of the rod to be displaced. In this way the clamping jaw will always be positioned appropri- ately at the gripping stage and force the rod against the abutment jaw without that the rod bends or is exposed to any other extra strains. It is thereby easy to change the bolt diameter in the bolting equipment simply by suitably adjusting the jaw of the gripping arm. Correspondingly, when the diameter of drill rods or pipes used in long hole drilling is to be changed, the gripping arm can be easily adapted by adjusting the jaw. Another advantage of the invention is that in most cases a single gripping arm type can be used in the same type of equipment, and so a large spare part store is avoided with resulting savings in investments and other costs.
• Figure 2 is a schematic view of the structure of the gripping arm according to the invention when the jaws are open;
• Figures 3a to 3d illustrate the structure of a preferred embodiment of the invention and its adjust ⁇ ment for rods of different thicknesses.
• Figures la and lb are schematic top views of a rock bolting equipment, showing a bolt cartridge 1, a bolting head 2, a rock drill 3, and a gripping arm 4.
• the bolt cartridge 1, the bolting head 2 and the rock drill 3 are known per se, and the bolting equipment itself is well-known, wherefore they will not be described more closely herein.
• the rock bolting equipment is in a rest position, whereby all the components are shown apart from each other.
• abutment jaw 13 attached to the frame of the clamping cylinder 11 and having a body portion extending longitudinally of the gripping arm 4 so as to secure it to the gripping arm and, especially in the case shown in the figure, to the frame of the clamping cylinder 11.
• the abutment jaw 13 is secured to the frame of the clamping cylinder 11 by bolts 15 extending through elongated openings 14 formed in the body portion of the abutment jaw in order that the abutment jaw 13 could be displaced longitudinally of the clamping cylinder 11 to a suitable position.
• the aim is to mount the abutment jaw 13 so with respect to the rod 6 that when the gripping arm 4 is turned to the gripping position, the abutment jaw 13 will be positioned substantially in abutment with the surface of the bolt 6.
• the length of travel of the clamping cylinder 11 is thus such that when the abutment jaw 13 is in its extreme position and the clamping cylinder 11 is in its most retracted position, the thickest desired bolt 6 can be inserted between the jaws 12, 13.
• the abutment jaw is in a position closest to the clamping cylinder 11, the thinnest desired bolt 6 will remain clamped between the jaws 12, 13 when the clamping cylinder 11 forces the clamping jaw 12 towards the abutment jaw 13.
• the clamping jaw 12 is displaced onward by the clamping cylinder 11 so that the rod 6 will be supported by the edges 12a of a recess formed centrally in the jaw 12, and will thus stay in position during the displacing stage.
• the clamping jaw 12 is retracted by the clamping cylinder 11 so that the gripping arm can be turned aside so that it will not hamper the movement of the rock drill or the bolting head.
• Figures 3a to 3d show a preferred embodiment of the gripping arm according to the invention, in which the position of the abutment jaw 13 is arranged to be easily adjustable in accordance with certain standard rod diameters.
• the body portion of the abutment jaw 13 is provided with a number of openings 13a to 13c which in this specific case form groups of four openings at a predetermined distance from each other.
• the frame of the clamping cylinder is provided with openings 11a and lib positioned similarly in groups of four openings at suitable distances so that when the abutment jaw 13 is in a certain longitudinal position with respect to the clamping cylinder 11, certain openings in the body of the abutment jaw 13 and certain openings in the frame of the clamping cylinder 11 will be in alignment.
• FIG. 3b which is a sectional view along a line A-A indicated in Figure 3a
• the openings 13a of the body of the abutment jaw 13 and the openings 11a of the frame of the clamping cylinder 11 are in alignment in this specific case, and so its has been possible to insert aligning pins 16 through the openings.
• the abutment jaw 13 is thereby in a pre ⁇ determined position with respect to the clamping cylinder 11 and hence with respect to the gripping arm 4, and this position is arranged to suit a bolt 6 having a predetermined diameter.
• Figure 3a shows a situation in which the rod 6 has the smallest possible diameter for which the gripping arm is designed.
• Figure 3c in turn shows a situation in which the abutment jaw 13 has been displaced onward in the longitudinal direction of the clamping cylinder 11, that is, upward in Figure 3c, and so the openings 13b in the body of the abutment jaw 13 and the openings lib in the frame of the clamping cylinder 11 are in alignment, and it has been possible to insert aligning pins 16 through both openings.
• the abutment jaw 13 is thereby in a second predetermined position with respect to the clamping cylinder 11, and it will stay accurately in position when another rod 6 having a diameter greater than that of the rod shown in Figure 3a is used.
• the invention has been described in the text above and shown in the drawings only by way of example, and it is not in any way limited to the example.
• the shape of the abutment jaw may be different, and the gripping arm may comprises two abutment jaws 13 positioned on the opposite sides of the clamping cylinder. Further, the longitudinal position of the abutment jaw may be arranged to be adjusted by utilizing other ways of locking, such as aligning means of different kinds, e.g. stops.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Geology (AREA)
• Mining & Mineral Resources (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Environmental & Geological Engineering (AREA)
• Fluid Mechanics (AREA)
• General Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Geochemistry & Mineralogy (AREA)
• Earth Drilling (AREA)
• Processing Of Stones Or Stones Resemblance Materials (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (2)

Family

ID=8537716

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (9)

Family Cites Families (4)

• 1993
  • 1993-04-08 FI FI931615A patent/FI95620C/fi not_active IP Right Cessation
• 1994
  • 1994-03-15 DE DE69416400T patent/DE69416400T2/de not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1994-03-15 AU AU62591/94A patent/AU678822B2/en not_active Expired
  • 1994-03-15 AT AT94909941T patent/ATE176516T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 1994-03-15 PL PL94310973A patent/PL172841B1/pl unknown
  • 1994-03-15 EP EP94909941A patent/EP0692063B1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1994-03-15 WO PCT/FI1994/000096 patent/WO1994024409A1/en active IP Right Grant
  • 1994-03-15 CA CA002157176A patent/CA2157176C/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1994-03-29 ZA ZA942204A patent/ZA942204B/xx unknown

Non-Patent Citations (1)

Also Published As

Similar Documents

Legal Events