WO2020200834A1

WO2020200834A1 - Method and apparatus for the automatable operation of a conveyor belt system used in particular in surface mining

Info

Publication number: WO2020200834A1
Application number: PCT/EP2020/057746
Authority: WO
Inventors: Daniele Naro; Julian WALTHER; Wolfgang Genius; Martin Schmitt; Frank SEEHÖFER
Original assignee: Thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions Ag; Thyssenkrupp Ag
Priority date: 2019-04-03
Filing date: 2020-03-20
Publication date: 2020-10-08
Also published as: CA3134733A1; CN113661137A; BE1027170A1; EP3947214A1; BR112021018853A2; BE1027170B1; CA3134733C

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for operating a conveyor system having at least two excavation and/or conveyor devices (100, 105, 120), for the removal of free-flowing material excavated from an excavation site (147), wherein transfer points (165, 170) for the transfer of conveyed material are arranged between every one of the at least two excavation and/or conveyor devices (100, 105, 120), wherein provision is made in particular for spatial positions and/or orientations of at least two excavation and/or conveyor devices (100, 105, 120) involved at a respective transfer point to be determined using sensors (180, 185, 190, 195, 197) and for the at least two excavation and/or conveyor devices (100, 105, 120) involved at the respective transfer point (165, 170) to be actuated (215) on the basis of the determined spatial positions and/or orientations such that the positions and/or orientations of the at least two excavation and/or conveyor devices (100, 105, 120) are adjusted in the region of the respective transfer point (165, 170).

Description

description

Method and device for the automatable operation of a belt conveyor system used in particular in opencast mining

The invention relates to a method for the automated transfer of pourable material to mobile and / or stationary belt conveyors or belt conveying machines mainly used in open-cast mining, according to the preamble of claim 1. The present invention also relates to a computer program, a machine-readable data carrier for storing the Computer program and a device by means of which the method according to the invention can be carried out.

State of the art

The material flow in the vicinity of a continuously operating belt conveyor system used in open-cast mining is passed in a manner known per se at transitions between material leading to mobile and / or stationary conveying devices. There is a free transfer of the material flow at so-called transfer points by means of suitable conveyor transfer chutes or as free transfers without material guidance. By means of the conveying equipment, the excavation or overburden excavator, e.g. a bucket wheel excavator, material or bulk material mined on a mining front of a mining site, mostly bridging mobile belts or belt trucks or the like and ultimately to a rail-bound or chassis-supported transport system with a running rail or a bulk material wagon (rail-bound or chassis-supported) arranged on a bench belt, or to Transport vehicles such as autonomous or non-autonomous dump trucks, handed over for further transport.

To automate the most reliable transfer of the material flow at the respective transfer points, it is necessary, depending on the kinematic degrees of freedom of the conveying devices involved, to precisely align the conveying devices relative to one another. In the prior art, the resulting, necessary adjustment tasks are usually carried out by additional staff to ensure that the material flow is transferred permanently and loss-free to the subsequent conveyor of an entire conveyor system even during a translational movement sequence of several conveyors of a given device group. Disclosure of the invention

The invention is based on the idea of enabling the most continuous possible flow of material in a conveyor belt system located at a mining site, in particular at the transfer points mentioned between at least two conveyor devices, an automatic adjustment of the transfer points at the transfer points (so-called "transfer points") arranged conveying devices by a control or regulation of relevant degrees of freedom with regard to the local position of the conveying devices involved at a transfer point and / or preferably the horizontal (angular) alignment of the conveying devices involved in this way.

According to the method and the device according to the invention, sensor-determined and / or model-based derived location or angle data of the conveying devices involved are processed as possible in real time for the required, precise alignment at the respective transfer points of the conveying devices involved here.

According to one aspect of the proposed method, the method can be divided into the following three technical sub-areas:

1. According to a first procedural sub-area, there is a real-time sensory detection of local positions and / or angular orientations of the dismantling / conveying devices involved in at least one transfer point. These devices preferably relate to a device group locally present on a mining front or overburden edge of a mining or conveying system concerned here. The sensory detection can be done by means of radar using at least one reference object, e.g. a reflector ring, by means of “LiDar” (= light detection and ranging), by means of known transponder technology according to the “time of flight principle” or the like, or by means of camera technology known per se.

The acquisition can alternatively or additionally take place on the basis of satellite-based GNSS position acquisition of the material dropping and receiving areas of the conveying devices involved at the respective transfer points. For reasons of precision, a D-GPS (differential GPS) position detection system is preferably used here.

Alternatively or additionally, the determination of the respective transfer points can also be model-based, for example on the basis of device-inherent position and / or operating data, for example by means of a suitable angle encoder or by means of an optical image recognition device arranged outside the conveyor.

2. According to a second procedural sub-area of the method according to the invention, suitable process variables for the operation of the present conveyor system are determined, by means of which the position or horizontal alignment of the conveyor devices involved can be adjusted as precisely as possible in relation to the respective transfer points. A superordinate dismantling process planning of the respective subsequent work steps or a corresponding path planning of the excavation excavator or the at least locally present conveyor devices, possibly across a device network, can be calculated in advance.

A model for the entire excavation process, which is preferred in process planning, can also include an environment detection on the excavation front of an existing excavation machine (e.g. a bucket wheel excavator) as well as of conveying devices involved in the environment of the excavation machine, including any embankment geometries and / or possible obstacles in the area of the dismantling front.

3. According to a third procedural sub-area of the method according to the invention, the control of the entire device network of the present conveyor system takes place on the basis of suitable travel commands and / or pivoting or lifting movements of the dismantling / conveying devices involved, namely by means of a superordinate control logic or a corresponding control algorithm. .

The control logic or the control algorithm is preferably of modular design, so that the dismantling and conveying devices involved in the device network can be expanded and simplified by appropriate parameterization. In this way, the number of conveying devices and / or the respective degrees of freedom per conveying device can be reduced. In addition, individual devices can be “docked” to other devices in a simplified manner depending on the situation.

According to a further aspect of the proposed method, the said logic or the algorithm can be control-based, the control behavior of the entire device network being mapped in a control structure and thus not being rigidly specified for all operating situations of the conveyor system. The corresponding control algorithm can additionally be designed generically or also self-learning, for example by means of a artificial neural network (ANN). The automatic adaptation of at least two dismantling or conveying devices involved in the respective transfer point can thus be carried out by means of a control and / or regulation of relevant degrees of freedom in the movement of the at least two dismantling or conveying devices in the area of the respective transfer point. The relevant degrees of freedom can be based on the position of the dismantling or conveying devices involved at the respective transfer point and / or the horizontal and / or vertical alignment of the dismantling or conveying devices involved at the respective transfer point.

According to a further aspect, it can be provided that the proposed method is also used to control a conveyor system, using suitable sensors or a model-based simulation to determine whether the speed of the conveyor process is changed or adapted in the event of a changing material feed got to. Such an adaptation can take place in particular with regard to the safe transfer of material at the respective transfer points and / or with regard to any subsequent classification and / or comminution processes. Because a relatively coarse overburden material slows down the crushing process, whereas a relatively fine feed material can shower a subsequent crushing plant with material due to the too slow speeds of the aggregates of the crushing plant.

It should be noted here that existing conveyor systems, which are at least partially automated by means of a sensor system, can also be significantly improved subsequently using the method according to the invention, in particular when performing a process simulation mentioned.

According to a further aspect, it can be provided that on the basis of spatial positions and / or orientations determined by sensors of at least two mining or conveying devices involved at a respective transfer point, suitable location and / or angle data at the respective transfer point can be generated using a model calculation involved dismantling or conveying devices are calculated, on the basis of which a precise alignment of the dismantling or conveying devices in the area of the respective transfer point is carried out.

According to a further aspect, it can be provided that the adjustment of spatial positions or orientations of the at least two dismantling or conveying devices in the area of the respective transfer point takes place in a control-based manner, with the regulation or control behavior of the at least two dismantling devices involved at a respective transfer point - or conveyor devices is mapped in a control structure. It can also be provided be that the regulation-based adaptation of the spatial positions or alignments of the at least two dismantling or conveying devices in the area of the respective transfer point takes place by means of a self-learning algorithm.

According to a further aspect, it can be provided that the activation of the at least two dismantling or conveying devices involved at a respective transfer point takes place as a function of a changing speed of the conveying process.

According to a further aspect, it can be provided for a belt conveyor system having a mining excavator, at least one conveyor bridge wagon and a bulk material wagon, that when controlling at least two mining or conveying devices involved at the respective transfer point, the feed rate and the rotation angle are the control variables of the conveyor bridge wagon in relation to an unloading boom of the excavator and the position of the bulk goods wagon. It can further be provided that the feed speed of the excavation excavator in the direction of the respective excavation site is specified so that the belt conveyor system is optimally utilized overall.

According to yet another aspect, it can finally be provided that a first material flow in a first transport system of the belt conveyor system and a second material flow in a second transport system of the belt conveyor system are detected by sensors and that a suitable material flow is detected if there is a deviation in the first and second material flow Adjustment of the feed rate of the excavator is calculated, by which the present deviation is compensated.

The device also proposed according to the invention is set up to largely automatically control a conveyor system concerned here, in particular the spatial movement and / or spatial alignment of the conveyor devices involved during the mining or overburden process, using the proposed method.

According to one aspect, the proposed device can include a sensor system for determining spatial positions and / or orientations of dismantling or conveying devices involved at a respective transfer point, a calculation module for planning the dismantling process on the belt conveyor system based on the determined spatial positions or orientations and on the basis of a data model of the dismantling process, as well as a control and / or regulation for the control or regulated control of the dismantling or conveying devices involved at the respective transfer point on the basis of the planned dismantling process. The invention can be used in particular in a mining or conveying system that can be used primarily above ground in a (superstructure) opencast mine for ore or lignite mining, but in principle also underground in an underground mine for ore, hard coal, sand or stone mining. It is also used in mining or conveying systems for the extraction of pourable raw materials for cement production, or in other industrial plants in which pourable materials or substances have to be conveyed over relatively long distances by means of a conveyor belt technology involved here can be used.

The computer program according to the invention is set up to carry out each step of the method, in particular when it runs on a computing device or a control device. It enables the implementation of the method according to the invention on an electronic control unit without having to make structural changes to it. The machine-readable data carrier on which the computer program according to the invention is stored is provided for this purpose. By uploading the computer program according to the invention to a device or a corresponding electronic control device, the device according to the invention is obtained, which is set up to operate a belt conveyor system concerned here by means of the method according to the invention or to control the corresponding conveyor operation.

Further advantages and configurations of the invention emerge from the description and the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, identical or functionally equivalent elements or features are provided with matching reference symbols.

It goes without saying that the features mentioned above and those yet to be explained below can be used not only in the respective specified combination, but also in other combinations or on their own, without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Brief description of the drawings

Figure 1 shows a schematic plan view of a typical spatial arrangement of egg nes overburden or bucket wheel excavator together with corresponding För dergeräte on a mining or overburden edge of an ore store, including a sensor system according to the invention. FIG. 2 shows an exemplary embodiment of the method or the device according to the invention on the basis of a combined flow / block diagram.

FIG. 3 shows an exemplary embodiment of a sensor-based simulation calculation according to the invention for the automated operation of a conveyor system concerned here.

Description of exemplary embodiments

The method according to the invention for operating a conveyor system concerned here and a corresponding control device are described below using the exemplary embodiment of an above-ground conveyor system used in ore extraction by means of a bucket wheel excavator. The method and the device can, however, also be used for other above-ground or underground mining / conveyor systems, e.g. be used accordingly for ore, coal, sand or stone extraction.

A conveyor system affected here usually consists of several material conveying devices that work together with an overburden excavator. The spatial arrangement or alignment of the conveying devices to one another and relative to the excavator during a mining process or mining process can be modeled mathematically. The part of the process that can be most influenced for modeling represents the exact positioning and spatial alignment of conveyor bridges or conveyor bridge wagons arranged between the overburden excavator and a bulk goods wagon.

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary device arrangement or a device group consisting of an overburden excavator 100 arranged on a mining front 117, in this case a bucket wheel excavator for opencast mining, a conveyor bridge wagon (“beit wagon”) 105 with a loading boom (“receiving boom “) 110 and a discharge boom (“ discharge boom ”) 1 15, as well as a bulk goods wagon (“ hopper car ”) 120 arranged on a rail in the present exemplary embodiment.

It should be noted here that the device combination of the bucket wheel excavator 100 and the conveyor bridge wagon 105 in the present embodiment is a first transport system according to the dashed lines 125 and that the bulk goods wagon 120 that can be moved on the running rail represent a corresponding second transport system according to the dashed lines 130. The first transport system 125 thus serves essentially for the removal of the bulk material close to the dismantling and the second transport system 130 with the bulk material Gutwagen 120 for further transport of the already dismantled bulk material to a relatively distant loading point, for example for loading the bulk material onto a transport vehicle, eg a truck, or another rail vehicle, eg a freight train.

It should also be noted that the bucket wheel excavator 100, according to an alternative device arrangement or according to an alternative application scenario, can also load the bulk goods wagon 120 directly with bulk goods, with no conveyor bridge wagon 105 being arranged in between in this scenario.

The bucket wheel excavator 100 has, in a manner known per se, a bucket wheel 135 rotatably mounted on a first conveyor arm 133 in the horizontal ground plane (= plane of the drawing) and usually also perpendicular thereto. Through a horizontal transverse movement of the first conveyor boom 133 and thus also of the bucket wheel 135 in a first direction of arrow 140 and an advance of the bucket wheel 135, or in accordance with the excavator 100, in a second arrow direction 145 at a so-called "spoil edge" 147, pourable material becomes dismantled or cleared.

The bulk material removed by the bucket wheel excavator 100 is fed via a first conveyor belt 150 arranged on the first conveyor boom 133 at a fixed transfer or connection point 155 provided on the bucket wheel excavator 100 to a second conveyor belt 160 which is arranged on a second conveyor boom 157 and carries away material.

The bulk material delivered by the bucket wheel excavator 100 is transferred to the conveyor bridge wagon 105 at a first transfer point (TP1) 165. The non-fixed transition at the transfer point (TP1) 165 of the bucket wheel excavator 100 must be carried out during the dismantling or overburdening operation of the bucket wheel excavator 100, ie especially when the overburden excavator is advanced in the second arrow direction 145 with a simultaneous Rotationsbewe movement of the bucket wheel, continuously with the loading arm 110 of the conveyor bridge wagon 105 are brought into spatial agreement as possible, so that no bulk material from the second conveyor belt 160 and / or the loading arm during the transfer 1 10 falls and is therefore lost for the degradation process.

In the present embodiment, the transfer point of the Entladeausle gers 1 15 of the conveyor bridge wagon 105 to the bulk goods wagon 120 represents a second, also not fixed transfer point (TP2) 170, since the bulk goods wagon 120 are also tracked accordingly in the feed direction 145 of the bucket wheel excavator 100 got to. It should be emphasized here that in the present exemplary embodiment the loading boom 110 and the unloading boom 115 of the conveyor bridge wagon 105 are rotatably mounted on a trailer 175 and are fixedly connected to one another and are therefore not horizontally movable independently of one another.

It should be noted, however, that the present invention basically also includes application scenarios in which the loading boom 110 and the unloading boom 115 of the conveyor bridge wagon 105 are rotatably mounted on the trailer 175 relative to one another. It should also be emphasized that the present invention encompasses all possible constellations of conveying devices affected here, with at least one actuator and / or sensory access to the essential, movable degrees of freedom of the devices concerned being required.

The free transfer of the bulk material to the two transfer points (TP1) 165 and (TP2) 170 in the present starting example thus requires a constant adjustment or readjustment of the respective two transfer points 165, 170, while the bucket wheel excavator 100 is being advanced in the second arrow direction 145, namely between the bucket wheel excavator 100 and the conveyor bridge carriage 105 on the one hand and between the conveyor bridge carriage and the bulk goods carriage 120 on the other hand. In the present exemplary embodiment, the bulk goods wagon 120 represents a rail-bound transport vehicle of a corresponding rail network 172.

It should be noted here that instead of the rail network 172, specifically for the further transport of dismantled bulk material from the mining front 117 or from the mentioned second transport system 130, a bench belt designed as a belt conveyor or a transport vehicle, e.g. an autonomously or non-autonomously operated dump truck can be provided.

In addition, the entire conveyor system also requires optimal utilization of the first conveyor system 125 and the second conveyor system 130 for optimal operation. In addition to the requirement that there must be as little waste as possible at the respective transfer points 165, 170, the load distribution in the entire conveyor system must therefore also be as homogeneous as possible. At the same time, the maximum permissible overburden quantities or the corresponding overburden weights for the respective conveyor equipment must not be exceeded. It should be noted in this regard that such a load distribution of the material flow is preferably carried out only behind a cited excavator 100 (or a mobile crusher or the like), namely in the area of a conveyor system concerned here, in which there is a material flow from the dismantled or cleared bulk material is conveyed over said conveyor devices and corresponding transfer points.

The mentioned requirements for the operation of a conveyor system shown in FIG. 1 can be solved with the aid of the method according to the invention and the device which enables an automation of the adaptation of the respective transfer points by means of a suitable sensor system and a model calculation mentioned. The accuracy of the required, dynamic adjustment of the position or alignment of the respective conveying devices can also be achieved by a learning method, e.g. by means of an artificial neural network (ANN).

In the present exemplary embodiment, the named sensor system includes interacting pairs of transponders 180, 185 and 190, 195 arranged at the respective transfer points (TP1, TP2) 165, 170. The first transponder 180 is on the second conveyor boom 157 of the bucket wheel excavator 100 and the second transponder 185 is arranged on the gate boom 110 of the conveyor bridge wagon 105. The third transponder 190 is arranged on the unloading boom 115 of the conveyor bridge wagon 105 and the fourth transponder 195 is arranged on the bulk goods wagon 120. The transponder pairs 180-195 can either be through two active transponders, i.e. two transponders equipped with their own power supply, or a respective combination of an active and a passive transponder. The transponder can be used to automatically determine whether the two end areas of the conveyors 100, 105, 120 involved in a transfer point 165 or 170 are sufficiently close to one another or one above the other so that no bulk material is lost from the conveyor system during the transfer.

It should also be noted that the aforementioned modeling of an existing operating situation of a device group affected here preferably requires both absolute measuring position sensors and relative measuring sensors. These two types of sensors can be based on very diverse or different physical measuring principles.

FIG. 2 shows an exemplary embodiment of the method or the device according to the invention using a combined block / flow diagram. In the present exemplary embodiment, the method shown is based on a named, presently on transponder technology-based sensor system for recording relevant location data of the conveyor devices 100, 105, 120 involved at the respective transfer points (TP1, TP2) 165, 170.

The required sensors can alternatively or additionally be radar-based or light-based e.g. can be implemented by means of a “LiDar” system, which is then also arranged in the areas of the transfer points 165, 170 (see FIG. 1) of the respective conveyor devices involved. Alternatively or additionally, the positions or orientations of the dismantling / conveying devices 100, 105, 120 involved in the transfer points 165, 170 can also be determined by means of satellite-based GNSS data. Depending on the location, the best available satellite positioning systems can be used there. Alternatively or additionally, an optical sensor system, e.g. by means of IR sensors, laser sensors, or a sensor system based on camera technology known per se can be used.

On the overburden excavator 100, a likewise preferably sensor-based environment recognition 197 for spatial monitoring of the overburden edge 147 and in particular of possible obstacles, e.g. vegetation or trees standing in the way (embankment) should be provided in order to be able to carry out precise and reliable planning of the entire excavation or overburden process in advance when a mining / conveyor system is operated according to the invention.

In the present exemplary embodiment, the method shown in FIG. 2 is additionally based on a computer-aided model simulation of a (local) conveyor device network shown in FIG. The model simulation includes, on the one hand, a model-based calculation of possible motion sequences (kinematics) of the respective conveyor device network, i.e. in particular the positions and / or orientations of these devices or machines resulting from possible movement sequences of the dismantling / conveying devices 100, 105, 120 involved there.

In addition, the model calculation in the exemplary embodiment includes a calculation model 200 of the degradation process itself, i.e. the amount of material or size distribution of the corresponding broken or bulk material resulting from an assumed lateral removal movement of the bucket wheel 135 of a mining excavator 100 shown in FIG. Using the model calculation, the resulting from the two transport systems 125,

130 combined local dismantling / conveying equipment network is also operated in such a way that both transport systems 125, 130 are optimally utilized. The load distribution of the dismantling / conveying devices 100, 105, 120 involved can also be as homogeneous as possible Overburden or bulk material, a maximum amount of overburden and as little or no overburden or material losses as possible at the transfer points 165, 170 are sought.

On the basis of the location data 205 supplied by the sensors 180-195 with regard to the described transfer points, a calculation module 210 is used to plan the dismantling process, in particular the necessary tracking of the entire local conveyor chain or the locally involved dismantling / conveying devices 100, 105, 120. Possible degrees of freedom in the movement of the dismantling / conveying devices 100, 105, 120 are taken into account. The planning of the dismantling process is based, in particular, on the knowledge that the spatial alignment of the individual devices of a device group affected here can always be (automatically) oriented to a leading device. As already mentioned, the model of the degradation process can additionally be based on sensor data of a named environment recognition 197.

In the predictive planning of the movement of the local mining / conveyor network, the possible time sequences or time-dependent movement sequences in the operation of the overburden excavator 100 or its bucket wheel 135 and in the movement of the conveyor bridge wagon 105 and the bulk goods wagon 120 are calculated.

On the basis of the mentioned further boundary conditions, e.g. the most homogeneous load distribution possible and not exceeding a maximum permissible amount of spoil, the entire device network is controlled by means of a control, e.g. a known programmable logic controller (PLC), controlled 215. The control can be in a known manner by means of appropriate travel commands to the bucket wheel excavator 100, corre sponding pivoting movements of the bucket wheel 135 and corresponding travel commands to the movable conveyor bridge 1 10, 1 15 des Conveyor bridge wagon 105. The travel commands can e.g. relate to adjustments of the positions or alignment of the dismantling / conveying devices involved in relation to a feed value. These adjustments ensure that at the transfer points (TP1, TP2) 165, 170) affected here, as far as possible, no waste material falls off a conveyor belt and is thus lost for the further conveying process.

Instead of a described predictive planning, the described method can also be designed as a learning ANN-based system or as an automated control system or as a self-learning controller. In such a control system, either a desired amount of spoil of the entire mining process of the existing mining / conveying device network or a correlation with the desired amount of spoil can be used as the target size. render feed value of the excavator 100 can be specified. As the actual value, the current value of the feed of the excavator 100 can thus be adjusted by means of the control system so that the movement of the excavation / mining involved in the present case is required for the loss-free transfer of the excavated material at the transfer point (TP1, TP2) 165, 170 Conveyor devices 100, 105, 120 is carried out.

The calculation mentioned in FIG. 2 is shown in greater detail in FIG. 3 using an exemplary embodiment. Here it is again assumed that the conveyor system shown in FIG. 1 comprises a bucket wheel excavator 100, a conveyor bridge wagon 105 and a bulk goods wagon 120. It should be noted, however, that in the case of examples with two or more conveyor bridge cars, additional transfer points must be taken into account, e.g. in the case of two conveyor bridge cars, three transfer points with an additional transfer point (not shown here).

Due to the fixed arrangement of the loading boom 1 10 shown in Figure 1 opposite the unloading boom 1 15 of the conveyor bridge wagon 105, the present optimization or adjustment problem includes the two location variables of a suitable transfer point (TP1) 165 and a suitable transfer point (TP2) 170. The optimization is used to ensure that the end areas of the dismantling / conveying devices 100, 105, 120 involved at the transfer points (TP1, TP2) 165, 170 are arranged on top of each other as possible at all times of the dismantling process.

In the present exemplary embodiment, the feed speed and the rotation angle or the alignment of the conveyor bridge wagon 105 with respect to the unloading boom 157 of the bucket wheel excavator 100 and the position of the bulk wagon 120 along the rail 172 are used as influencing variables for this adjustment or optimization problem. The feed speed of the bucket wheel excavator 100 in the second arrow direction 145 shown in FIG. 1 in the direction of the spoil edge 147 is specified so that the two conveying systems 125, 130 are optimally utilized with the maximum possible material (volume) throughput.

The following variables that can be measured or determined by means of sensors 180, 185, 190, 195 are used as the basis for the modifiable operating variables that are possible for optimization:

- The angle of rotation and the height position of the unloading boom 157 of the bucket wheel excavator 100,

- the position of the conveyor bridge wagon 105, - The angle of rotation and the height position of the conveyor bridge 1 10, 1 15 of the conveyor bridge carriage 105 and all individually movable booms arranged there, such as

the position of the bulk goods wagon 120 along the rail 172.

The aforementioned angle data can also be calculated in a manner known per se from the position data acquired by means of the sensor system 180-195. Thus, from the position data recorded by the sensors 185, 190, not only the horizontal position of the end areas of the loading boom 110 and the unloading boom 115 of the conveyor bridge carriage 105, but also the horizontal angle of the loading boom 110 and the unloading boom 115 formed conveyor bridge, e.g. with respect to the feed direction 145 of the bucket wheel excavator 100, can be determined trigonometrically in a manner known per se.

In the routine shown in FIG. 3, both a current first material flow 300 in the first transport system 125 and a current second material flow 305 in the second transport system 130 are initially recorded or determined by means of sensors known per se (not shown here). These two values 300, 305 are fed to a first calculation module 310, in which a suitable adjustment of the feed speed of the bucket wheel excavator 100 is calculated from a possible deviation of the two values 300, 305, by means of which the possible deviation can be canceled or compensated.

Using the feed data resulting from the calculation 310, the bucket wheel excavator 100 is controlled 315 at a correspondingly predetermined feed speed.

On the basis of the thus existing feed speed of the bucket wheel excavator 100 and in particular on the basis of the aforementioned position data 325 currently recorded by the sensor system 180-195, a model calculation or simulation of the entire mining / conveyor chain 100, 105 is carried out by means of a second calculation module 320, 120, including the boom 157, 110, 115, to determine suitable control interventions or measures in the operation of the unloading boom 157 of the bucket wheel excavator 100, the conveyor bridge wagon 105 and the bulk wagon 120. These measures are intended to ensure that the dismantling / conveying devices involved are aligned as precisely as possible at the transfer points 165, 170 mentioned for the reasons mentioned. These measures or adjustments can therefore, especially in the event of a possibly present the change in the feed rate of the bucket wheel excavator 100 can be carried out in almost real time. These measures are also converted in the second calculation module into changes to the above-mentioned changeable variables. The changes in the above-listed changeable variables resulting from the model calculation 320 are converted into specific control commands or changed control commands for operating the mining / conveying devices 100, 105, 120 involved by means of a third calculation module 330. The mining / conveying devices 100, 105, 120 are finally controlled 335 by means of these control commands.

Thereafter, a jump is made back to the beginning of the routine and current material flows 300, 305 are again recorded or determined in the two transport systems 125, 130. From this, in turn, a suitable adjustment of the feed rate of the bucket wheel excavator 100 is calculated and the routine is continued as described in order to enable the optimization process described to be automated.

It should be emphasized that the three calculation modules 310, 320 and 330 can also be implemented in the form of a single calculation module, since the calculation architecture is not important in the present case.

Claims

1. A method for operating a belt conveyor system having at least two mining and / or conveying devices (100, 105, 120) for the removal of pourable material excavated at a mining site (147), wherein between the at least two mining or conveying devices (100 , 105, 120) in each case transfer points (165, 170) are formed for the transfer of conveyed material, characterized in that spatial positions and / or orientations of at least two dismantling or conveying devices (100, 105, 120 ) sensory (180, 185, 190, 195, 197) are determined and that the at least two dismantling or conveying devices (100, 105, 120) involved at the respective transfer point (165, 170) on the basis of the determined spatial positions or alignments are controlled (215) so that the positions or alignments of the at least two dismantling or conveying devices (100, 105, 120) in the area of the respective transfer point (165, 170) are adjusted asst be.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the automatic adaptation of the at least two dismantling or conveying devices (100, 105, 120) involved at the respective transfer point (165, 170) by means of a control and / or regulation (215 ) relevant degrees of freedom in the movement of the at least two dismantling or conveying devices (100, 105, 120) in the area of the respective transfer point (165,

170) takes place.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that the relevant degree of freedom de the position of the dismantling or conveying devices (100, 105, 120) involved at the respective transfer point (165, 170) and / or the horizontal and / or vertical off direction of the dismantling or conveying devices (100, 105, 120) involved at the respective transfer point (165, 170).

4. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that on the basis of the spatial positions and / or alignments determined by sensors of the at least two construction or conveying devices (100, 105, 120) involved at the respective transfer point (165, 170) ) using a model calculation, suitable location and / or angle data of the dismantling or conveying devices (100, 105, 120) involved at the respective transfer point (165, 170) are calculated, on the basis of which one ne precise alignment of the mining or conveying devices (100, 105, 120) in the area of the respective transfer point (165, 170) is carried out.

5. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the sensoric determination of the spatial positions and / or alignments of the at least two mining or conveying devices (100, 105, 120) involved at the respective transfer point (165, 170) by means of radar takes place using at least one reference object and / or by means of LiDar and / or by means of transponder technology and / or by means of satellite-based GPS position detection and / or by means of camera technology.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that the sensory determination of the spatial positions and / or alignments of the at least two dismantling or conveying devices (100, 105, 120) involved at the respective transfer point (165, 170) is model-based on the basis of device-inherent devices Position and / or operating data of the dismantling or conveying devices (100, 105, 120) involved takes place.

7. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the adjustment of the spatial positions or alignments of the at least two mining or conveying devices (100, 105, 120) in the area of the respective transfer point (165, 170) is additionally based on a Time-of-flight evaluation of material dropping and / or material uptake behavior of conveyed bulk goods at the respective transfer point (165, 170).

8. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that when adjusting the spatial positions or orientations of the at least two mining or conveying devices (100, 105, 120) in the area of the respective transfer point (165, 170) by means objects detected in the vicinity of the dismantling or conveying devices involved are taken into account.

9. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the adjustment of the spatial positions or alignments of the at least two dismantling or conveying devices (100, 105, 120) in the area of the respective transfer point (165, 170) is based on regulation, the regulation or control behavior of the at least two mining or conveying devices (100, 105, 120) involved in the respective transfer point (165, 170) being mapped in a control structure.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that the regulation-based adaptation of the spatial positions or alignments of the at least two Ab construction or conveying devices (100, 105, 120) in the area of the respective transfer point (165, 170) by means of a generic and / or self-learning algorithm 'takes place.

11. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the control (215) of the at least two dismantling or conveying devices (100, 105, 120) involved at the respective transfer point (165, 170) as a function of a changing speed of the funding process takes place.

12. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, for carrying out a belt conveyor system having a mining excavator (100), at least one conveyor bridge wagon (105) and a bulk material wagon (120), characterized in that during the control (215) of the at least two at the respective Transfer point (165, 170) involved mining or conveying devices (100, 105, 120) as control variables the feed speed and the angle of rotation of the conveyor bridge wagon (105) in relation to an unloading boom (157) of the excavator (100) and in relation can be used on the position of the bulk wagon (120).

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that the feed speed of the excavator (100) in the direction of the mining site (147) is specified so that the belt conveyor system (100, 105, 120) with respect to the material flow (300, 305) of bulk material is optimally used.

14. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that a first material flow (300) in a first conveying system (125) of the belt conveyor system (100, 105, 120) and a second material flow (305) in a second conveying system (130) of the belt conveyor system ( 100, 105, 120) are detected by sensors and that if there is a deviation in the first and second material flow, a suitable adjustment of the feed speed of the excavator (100) is made, which compensates for the deviation in question.

15. Computer program which is set up to carry out each step of a method according to one of claims 1 to 14.

16. Machine-readable data carrier on which a computer program according to claim 15 is stored.

17. Device which is set up to control a belt conveyor system for conveying Steinför shaped material by means of a method according to one of claims 1 to 14.

18. Device according to claim 17, characterized by a sensor system (180, 185, 190, 195) for determining spatial positions and / or alignments (205) of dismantling or conveying devices (100) involved at a respective transfer point (165, 170) , 105, 120), a calculation module (210) for carrying out planning of the dismantling process on the belt conveyor system (100, 105, 120) based on the determined spatial positions or orientations (205) and a control and / or regulation (215) for Control of the dismantling or conveying devices (100, 105, 120) involved at the respective transfer point (165, 170) on the basis of the planned dismantling process.