JP6075957B2 - Seabed ore excavator - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a seabed ore excavator used for excavating a seabed, particularly a deposit existing in the deep sea.

  Recently, it has been confirmed by various exploration that there are many seabed deposits with metal resources such as gold, copper, lead, zinc, nickel, cobalt, platinum, other rare metals, rare earths, etc. .

  By the way, in order to use the resources of the seabed deposits, means for crushing and mining the seabed deposits is necessary, and it has been conventionally proposed in, for example, JP-A-7-217361 and JP-A-2004-143741. In addition, there are known means for lowering the scraper from the ship or dropping the rock crushing claw, but there are problems in terms of accuracy and crushing effect when applied to the deep sea.

  Further, when using explosives, there is a problem in terms of safety, and when using a large-diameter boring machine, there is a problem that it is costly and is easily affected by tidal currents.

  Therefore, a seabed excavator that directly sinks to the seabed and excavates the deposit is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Sho 63-130829.

  The submarine excavator proposed in this publication supports a moving frame similar to a main body frame provided with telescopic legs at the four corners of a rectangular frame with a slider so as to be movable in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction. At the same time, the main body frame is provided with a load head and a drum cutter below, and the main body frame and the moving frame are slid to move so as to walk on the seabed.

  Therefore, it can move when the sea floor is flat, but if the sea floor is uneven or inclined, the length of the telescopic legs placed at the four corners of the main body frame and the moving frame must be adjusted respectively. There is a problem that it cannot move, and in the case of submarine ore deposits, it is necessary to excavate while climbing the slope because resources accumulate in a mountain shape.

  In addition, the load header placed at the tip of the main body frame is convenient for excavating the front deposit, but the main body frame is fixed at a predetermined position on the seabed and can be turned up and down and left and right. However, since it cannot move in the front-rear direction, there is a problem that work efficiency is poor.

  Therefore, the boom 5 is disposed in front of the main body frame 2 provided with a pair of left and right crawler portions 3 and 3 that run on the seabed and the seabed deposit as shown in FIGS. In addition, it is conceivable that the seabed deposit excavation by the seabed deposit excavator 1 in which the cutting drum 51 for cutting the seabed deposit is provided so as to be swingable up and down and left and right by the cylinders 52 and 52.

By the way, in the deep sea where the depth of water using this seabed ore excavator exceeds 1000m, it will be remotely controlled from the ship. For example, it is necessary to investigate the topography of the seabed in advance, but the survey is because it is deep sea. In addition, the main purpose of this type of submarine ore drilling machine is to cut the submarine ore deposit and collect the cuttings separately or collect the cutting part of the submarine ore excavator. It will be collected by the cut material collecting machine replaced with a part, and the work will become more difficult.

JP-A-7-217361 JP 2004-143741 A JP-A-63-130829

  The present invention is intended to solve the above problems, and is convenient to use when using a submarine ore excavator, and investigates the position, distribution and type of the submarine ore deposit, and also the working environment of the submarine deposit. It is another object of the present invention to provide a seabed ore excavator that enables efficient collection by a cut object collector after cutting.

  In the seabed ore excavator according to the present invention made to solve the above problems, a boom is disposed in front of a main body frame provided with a pair of left and right crawlers that travel on the seabed and the seabed deposit, A submarine deposit excavator in which a cutting drum for cutting the submarine deposit at the tip of the boom is swingable vertically and horizontally, and is used for collecting a part of the submarine deposit on the front surface of the main body frame. A device is provided.

  By providing a collection device for collecting a part of the seabed deposit in front of the main body frame in this way, it is possible to check what kind of mineral is being excavated at the time of airframe recovery after excavation For example, it is possible to determine whether or not the subsequent collection is necessary, and it is possible to avoid an extra collection operation in advance, thereby saving labor and cost of the operation.

  Further, in the present invention, when the collection device is a collection container for excavated matter that is disposed at the tip of the main body frame and at least the top surface is opened, the mineral excavated by the boom in the front accumulates in the collection container. Achieve results with very simple means.

  Furthermore, in the present invention, when the sampling device is a core sampling machine arranged at the tip of the main body frame, the type and distribution of the seabed and the seabed deposit can be confirmed, and in addition, If the sensor is equipped with a driving machine for driving piles with sensors on the seabed ore deposit, the sensor measures the seafloor environment such as tidal current and water temperature. The collector can be lowered to the desired seabed position. In particular, the cut object collecting machine can be automatically driven along the cutting stroke.

  According to the present invention, when using a seabed ore excavator, the position, distribution and type of the seabed ore, as well as the working environment of the seabed, and the cut material are collected efficiently by the cut material collector. Make it possible.

It is a side view which shows preferable embodiment of this invention. It is a top view of embodiment shown in FIG. It is a front view of embodiment shown in FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the use condition in embodiment shown in FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the use condition in different embodiment of this invention. It is a top view of a different embodiment of the present invention. It is a front view of embodiment shown in FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the use condition in embodiment shown in FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the use condition in further different embodiment of this invention. FIG. 10 is a front view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 9. It is explanatory drawing which shows the use condition in embodiment shown in FIG. It is a side view which shows a prior art example. It is a top view of the prior art example shown in FIG. It is a front view of the form of the prior art example shown in FIG.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on embodiments shown in the drawings.

  FIG. 1 to FIG. 5 show a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and a submarine ore excavator 1 has a pair of left and right crawler portions on a main body frame 2 in the same manner as the conventional one shown in FIGS. 3 and 3 are provided, and the crawler portions 3 and 3 are the same as those used on land, for example, driving means (for example, a motor or a speed reducer disposed on the rear driving wheel 31). In this embodiment, the vehicle is driven by, for example, a wired connection.

  In addition, a boom 4 slidable in the front-rear direction is disposed on the main body frame 2, and an excavation drum 51 that excavates the seabed deposit ahead of the boom 4 is driven by an extendable cylinder 52 to be excavated drum 51. Is fixed through an excavating boom 5 that swings in the vertical and horizontal directions.

  Further, a pair of left and right outriggers 6 and 6 are provided behind the main body frame 2.

  In particular, in the present embodiment, a collection device 8 for collecting a part of the seabed deposit 7 is provided below the boom 4 on the front surface 21 of the frame body 2.

  In the present embodiment, the sampling device 8 collects the excavated material 72 excavated by the excavating drum 51, and has rigidity such as a metal imparted with corrosion resistance with an open top surface. For example, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, when excavating the seabed deposit 71, the excavated material 72 is collected by being inserted naturally from the open top surface. For example, using a device such as a recovery robot installed in the main body frame 2 (not shown), it may be recovered on the seabed during excavation, but after certain excavation work is completed It is preferable to take a means for collecting the seabed ore excavator 1 after lifting it on board.

  At this time, in the present embodiment, the collection device has a net shape, and when the water is pulled up, seawater flows and the excavated matter 72 is collected. Therefore, it is possible to determine the effectiveness of the excavated material 72 by analyzing the type and components of the excavated material 72 on the ship, for example, whether to collect or whether to continue excavation at the previous excavation site. Thus, it is possible to efficiently collect the seabed deposit 7 without wasteful recovery and excavation.

  FIGS. 6 to 8 show different embodiments of the present invention, and the traveling means and the excavation mechanism on the seabed or the like in the seabed ore excavator 1 are the same as the embodiment shown in FIGS. However, the configuration of the sampling device 8 is different.

The present embodiment is different in that the collection device 8 is a core collection machine disposed on the distal end surface 21 of the frame body 2. The sampling device 8 which is this core sampling machine has, for example, a drill head arranged at the tip, for example, in the same manner as that used when investigating the geology during tunnel construction on the ground or inspecting the composition and strength of concrete products. It comprises a core collecting device 81 made of a boring rod and the like and a drive source 82 for driving the core collecting device 81, and collects the core of the seabed and the seabed deposit in the excavation 1 by operation from the ship. The difference is that it is water resistant for use in the deep sea. The collected core is collected by exchanging the collection tube (not shown) by remote operation from the ship and is collected in the main body frame (not shown).

  According to the present embodiment, the core at the excavation site is collected, so the state of the seabed and seafloor deposits is directly observed, thereby confirming the geological distribution and rocky conditions of the seabed and seafloor deposits. Therefore, it is possible to determine whether or not to continue excavation at the same location, or to estimate the surrounding distribution status from information on a plurality of collected cores, and to search for an effective excavation location.

  FIGS. 9 to 11 show still another embodiment of the present invention, and a driving machine 9 for driving a pile 91 with a sensor on the seabed 7 and the seabed deposit 71 is provided on the front surface of the main body frame 2. Is different.

  The pile 91 with the sensor is preferably a seafloor environment sensor having a sensor having a function of measuring the seafloor environment such as a seafloor tide and a water temperature, or a sensor having a position confirmation function. By confirming the information on the ship, even if the current flow is taken into account by taking into account the tidal current when the next excavation is performed using the confirmed seafloor environment and excavation position, the signal from the sensor that has been used can be relied on. In particular, in the case of recovery, it is possible not only to lower the recovery machine from the ship to a predetermined excavation position by driving a position sensor into the excavation site in advance. By using the position sensor, it is possible to automatically determine the course and move it, and to perform extremely efficient excavation and recovery work

  In each of the above-described embodiments, the case where the sampling device 8 made of a container or a core sampling machine and the driving machine 9 for driving the pile 91 with the sensor are individually installed is shown, but all or a combination of them is installed. Needless to say, in that case, for example, by using a sampling device, the seabed mineral excavator 1 or the excavated material recovery machine (not shown) can be easily and reliably placed at a distribution position of a high quality seabed mineral. It is possible to collect seabed minerals with extremely high efficiency by allowing them to sink easily and surely at a position and further running on the seabed or seabed deposits.

    1 seabed ore excavator, 2 body frame, 3 crawler section, 4 boom, 6 outrigger, 7 seabed, 8 sampling device, 71 seabed deposit

Claims (4)

A boom is disposed in front of the main body frame provided with a pair of left and right crawlers that travel on the seabed and the seabed deposit, and a cutting drum that cuts the seabed deposit swings up, down, left, and right at the tip of the boom. A submarine ore excavator provided as possible, wherein a position confirmation function is provided in which a collecting device for collecting a part of the submarine ore deposit is provided in front of the main body frame and sensor information can be confirmed on the main body frame on the ship. A seabed ore excavator characterized by comprising a driving machine for driving a pile with a sensor provided on the seabed and the seabed deposit.   2. The seabed ore excavator according to claim 1, wherein the collection device is a collection container for excavated matter disposed at the tip of the main body frame and having at least a top surface opened.   The seabed ore excavator according to claim 1, wherein the sampling device is a core sampling machine disposed at a tip of the main body frame. The seabed deposit excavator according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the sensor has a function of measuring a seafloor environment such as a tidal current and a water temperature.

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