WO2022156883A1

WO2022156883A1 - Mining vehicle charging arrangement and method for loading mining vehicle

Info

Publication number: WO2022156883A1
Application number: PCT/EP2021/051153
Authority: WO
Inventors: Mikko KITULA
Original assignee: Sandvik Mining And Construction Oy
Priority date: 2021-01-20
Filing date: 2021-01-20
Publication date: 2022-07-28

Abstract

A mining vehicle charging arrangement comprising charging busbar (4), connectable to the mining vehicle for charging, attached to a lever (1) having a first end (2) and a second end (3), comprising a joint structure (5) is provided between the first end (2) and the second end (3), the lever (1) is arranged to be fixed to a structure with the joint structure (5), the lever (1) is arranged to rotate around the joint structure (5), and the charging busbar (4) is arranged at the first end (2) of the lever (1).

Description

MINING VEHICLE CHARGING ARRANGEMENT AND METHOD FORLOADING MINING VEHICLE TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to charging arrangementsand methods of charging mining vehicles. BACKGROUND OF THE ART Mining vehicles require frequent charging to operatein normal service. Thus, the mining vehicles must bedriven to separate charging stations often. The miningvehicles are typically charged by the driver who manually plug in a high voltage cable to the vehicle. Suchcables are heavy and stiff, and, thus, difficult tocarry and handle. Further, loose cables are at risk tobe damaged if run over with the mining vehicle. In some known solution, the charging has been automated by providing an arm extending downwards from astructure above the vehicle. However, such solutionrequires a lot of space between the vehicle and thestructure and, therefore, they are usable only withapplications where such space may be provided, e.g.for loading a bus in bus terminal. As generally known,mines and tunnels have very limited height and suchextending arms are not usable in mining environments. SUMMARY The object of the arrangement and method is to alleviate the disadvantages mentioned above. In particular, the arrangement is to provide safer anduser-friendly mining vehicle charging arrangement,which is usable in locations with limited height, e.g.mines and tunnels. According to a first aspect, the present inventionprovides a mining vehicle charging arrangement com-prising charging busbar, connectable to the mining ve-hicle for charging, attached to a lever having a firstend and a second end. A joint structure is providedbetween the first end and the second end, the lever isarranged to be fixed to a structure with the jointstructure, the lever is arranged to rotate around thejoint structure, and the charging busbar is arrangedat the first end of the lever. The advantage of the arrangement is that the chargingmay be enabled in a height limited spaces by using themining vehicle itself without manually plugging thecharging equipment to the vehicle. In an embodiment of the arrangement, the lever com-prises at least two parallel rods extending betweenthe first end and the second end. In an embodiment of the arrangement, the lever isformed of two lever parts, a first lever part, extend-ing from the joint structure towards the first end ofthe lever, and a second lever part, extending from thejoint structure towards the second end of the lever. In an embodiment of the arrangement, the first leverpart and the second lever part are separate parts con-nected via the joint structure. In an embodiment of the arrangement, the second leverpart, extending from the joint structure towards thesecond end, is heavier than the first lever part, ex-tending from the joint structure towards the firstend. In an embodiment of the arrangement, the lever com-prises a folding point arranged between the first endand the second end. In an embodiment of the arrangement, the folding pointforms an angle, which is less than 180°. In an embodiment of the arrangement, the folding pointis arranged to engage with the joint structure. In an embodiment of the arrangement, the charging bus-bar are attached to the lever with at least onespring. In an embodiment of the arrangement, comprising cablesfor connecting the charging busbar to a power source. In an embodiment of the arrangement, comprising charg-ing counter parts attached to the mining vehicle,which counter parts are arranged to be connected withthe charging busbar for charging the mining vehicle. According to a second aspect, the present inventionprovides a method for charging a mining vehicle with acharging arrangement according to any of precedingclaims, comprising steps of: - driving the mining vehicle, comprising a liftablemeans, under the lever of the charging arrangement sothat the liftable component of the mining vehicle isunder the second end of the lever, - lifting the liftable means upwards, whereby theliftable means pushes the second end of the lever up-wards causing the lever to rotate around the jointstructure and the first end of the lever lowers to-wards the mining vehicle, - connecting the charging busbar with the mining vehi-cle. In an embodiment of the method, the mining vehicle isdriven under the charging arrangement so that chargingbusbar is above a charging counter parts fastened tothe mining vehicle, and the busbar is connected to thecharging counter parts when the liftable means arelifted. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings, which are included to pro-vide a further understanding of the invention and con-stitute a part of this specification, illustrate em-bodiments of the invention and together with the de-scription help to explain the principles of the inven-tion. In the drawings: Figure 1 shows a side view of a mining vehicle charg-ing arrangement, Figure 2 shows a three-dimensional view of a miningvehicle charging arrangement, Figure 3 shows a side view of a mining vehicle charg-ing arrangement having a lever with a folding point, Figure 4 shows a three-dimensional view of the miningvehicle charging arrangement having a lever with afolding point, Figure 5 shows a side view of a mining vehicle charg-ing arrangement wherein a loader has been driven underthe lever, Figure 6 shows a side view of a mining vehicle charg-ing arrangement wherein a loader has been driven underthe lever and the bucket has been lifted to enablecharging of the loader, Figure 7, shows a side view of a mining vehicle charg-ing arrangement wherein a truck has been driven underthe lever, and Figure 8 shows a side view of a mining vehicle charg-ing arrangement wherein a truck has been driven underthe lever and the bed has been lifted to enable charg-ing of the truck. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Figure 1 shows a side view of a mining vehicle charg-ing arrangement comprising a lever 1 having a firstend 2 and a second end 3. A joint structure 5 is pro-vided between the first end 2 and the second end 3,which is used for fixing the lever 1 to a structure,e.g. a ceiling or a wall of a tunnel or construction.The lever 1 is arranged to rotate around the jointstructure 5, i.e. rocking, so that the first end 2 ofthe lever 1 may be lowered when the second end 3 ofthe lever 1 is lifted, and vice versa. The arrangementcomprises charging busbar 4 which is connectable tothe mining vehicle for charging the mining vehicle,i.e. providing electric energy to the mining vehicle.The charging busbar 4 is arranged at the first end 2of the lever 1. Instead of one charging busbar, thearrangement may comprise several busbars. Thus, thedisclosure should be understood so that referring toone busbar refers also to several busbars, i.e. onebusbar or busbars. The charging busbar 4 may be fastened may be fasteneddirectly to the lever 1 or it may be fastened via fas-tening means. The fastening means may comprise a platein which the charging busbar is fastened, and theplate is fastened to the lever at the first end. The charging busbar 4, or the plate, may be fastened tothe lever with an elastic material, such as rubber.Also, a resilient component, such as a spring orsprings, may be used. In figures, the charging busbaris fastened to the first end 2 of the lever 1 withsprings 6. The elastic material or resilient componentabsorbs the forces when connecting the busbar 4 to themining vehicle. Thus, less force is directed to thelever 1 itself. The joint structure 5 comprises means to allow rockingmotion of the lever. The joint structure may comprisea hole, extending in perpendicular direction of thelever, arranger to receive a shaft, e.g. a pin or arod, so that the lever 1 is rocking around it. Option-ally, the joint structure may comprise a shaft, e.g. apin or a rod, arranged to be inserted to a hole orholes for rocking the lever 1. The lever 1 may be formed of solid or tube-like rod,beam or such. It may comprise a first lever part ex-tending from the joint structure 5 towards the firstend 2, and a second lever part 8 extending from thejoint structure 5 towards the second end 3. The lever1 may have uniform structure, i.e. the first leverpart 7 and the second lever part 8 are same uniformstructure. Optionally, the lever 1 is formed of twoseparate lever parts so that the first lever part 7and the second lever part 8 are separate elements con-nected to each other directly or via the joint struc-ture. In any case, the part of the lever 1, which isextending from the joint structure 5 towards the sec-ond end 3, may be heavier than the part of the lever1, which is extending from the joint structure 5 to-wards the first end 2. This may be achieved by havinga thicker and/or longer lever part or parts betweenthe second end 3 and the joint structure 5, and/or having a separate weight between the second end 3 andthe joint structure 5. Therefore, because of the grav-ity and the joint structure 5, the lever 1 is tryingto rotate so that the second end 3 is lower than thefirst end 2. The arrangement may comprise a mechani-cal stopper for limiting the rotation when no externalforces are applied to the arrangement. The mechanicalstopper may be beam or shaft arranged above the leverpart between the first end 2 and the joint structure5. The lever 1 may comprise a biasing member arranged be-tween the first lever part 7 and a structure above thelever 1 so that the biasing member is pulling thefirst end 1 upwards. The biasing member may be aspring or any other flexible component. Figure 2 shows a three-dimensional view of the miningvehicle charging arrangement. As seen in the figure,the lever 1 may comprise two (or more) parallel rodswhich are connected to each other to improve stiffnessof the structure. The rods may be connected to eachother with the joint structure 5, a connecting memberarranged at the second end 3 of the lever, and/or aconnecting member arranged at the first end 2 of thelever 1. The rods and the connecting elements may beuniform structure, or they may be separate elementsconnected to each other. The connecting member at thesecond end 3 may be used for rocking the lever 1 andthe connecting member at the first end 2 may be usedfor fastening the busbar 4. The connecting member atthe second end 3 of the lever 1 may have differentforms for improving usability of the lever 1. For ex-ample, it may extend wider than the lever as seen infigure 2. The lever 1 may be straight structure, as seen in fig-ures 1 and 2, or it may have a folding point. Figures3 and 4 shows an embodiment of the arrangement, where-in the lever 1 comprises a folding point 10 betweenthe first end 2 and the second end 3 so that the anglebetween the first lever part 7 and the second leverpart 8, at the side of the busbar 4, is less than180°. The angle may be for example more than 90° andless than 180°, 100°-160°, or 120°-150°. Having a suchfolding point between the first end 2 and the secondend 3 is advantageous for example in tunnels wherespace in vertical direction is limited. The foldingpoint 10 may be arranged within the joint structure 5,whereby the rocking motion of the lever may be enabledonly using the space below the joint structure 5. The arrangement may comprise a cable or cables forproviding electric energy from a power source, e.g.charger, to the bus bar 4. The cables may run withinthe lever structure for example inside the tube-likelever or they may be fastened to the outer surface ofthe lever 1. Further, the mining vehicle charging arrangement maycomprise charging counter parts 13 arranged to be con-nected with the charging busbar 4 for charging, asseen in figures 5 to 8. The charging counter parts 13are fastened to the mining vehicle 11 and connected tothe battery of the mining vehicle 11 for charging thebattery. The charging counter parts 13 may be fastenedto the mining vehicle 11 so that they are accessibleto the busbar 4 above the mining vehicle. The chargingcounter parts 13 are preferably fastened on top of themining vehicle 11. According to the method, a mining vehicle 11, compris-ing a liftable means, e.g. a bucket or a liftable bed, is driven under the charging arrangement so that theliftable component of the mining vehicle is under thesecond end of the lever. The liftable means are liftedupwards towards the second end 3 of the lever 1 andwhen engaged with the second end 3, pushing the secondend 3 upwards causing the lever 1 to rotate around thejoint structure 5 and the first end 2 of the lever 1to lower towards the mining vehicle 11. The chargingbusbar 4 at the first end 2 of the lever 1 is connect-ed to the mining vehicle and the charging may bestarted. In the following examples of the method for charging amining vehicle with above mentioned charging arrange-ment, a loader and a truck are used as an example ofthe mining vehicles suitable to charge with the charg-ing arrangement. However, it should be understood thatthe charging arrangement and the method is suitablefor all kind of mining vehicles having liftable means,such as bucket or truck bed. In figure 5, a mining vehicle 11, a loader, has beendriven under the lever 1 of the charging arrangementso that the bucket 12 is under the second end 3 of thelever 1 and the first end 2 is above the loader. Thebucket is lifted, whereby it pushes the second end 3upwards causing the lever 1 to rotate around the jointstructure 5 and the first end 2 to lower towards theloader. In figure 6, the bucket has been lifted andthe charging busbar 4 is connected to the chargingcounter parts 13 fastened to the loader and the charg-ing has been enabled. In figure 7, a mining vehicle 11, a truck, has beendriven under the lever 1 of the charging arrangementso that the bed 14 is under the second end 3 of thelever 1 and the first end 2 is above the truck. The bed is lifted, whereby it pushes the second end 3 up-wards causing the lever 1 to rotate around the jointstructure 5 and the first end 2 to lower towards thetruck. In figure 8, the bed has been lifted and thecharging busbar 4 is connected to the charging counterparts 13 fastened to the truck and the charging hasbeen enabled. It is obvious to a person skilled in the art that withthe advancement of technology, the basic idea of theinvention may be implemented in various ways. The in-vention and its embodiments are thus not limited tothe examples described above, instead they may varywithin the scope of the claims.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. A mining vehicle charging arrangement comprisingcharging busbar (4), connectable to the mining vehiclefor charging, attached to a lever (1) having a firstend (2) and a second end (3) c h a r a c t e r i z e din that, - a joint structure (5) is provided between the firstend (2) and the second end (3), - the lever (1) is arranged to be fixed to a structurewith the joint structure (5), - the lever (1) is arranged to rotate around the jointstructure (5), and - the charging busbar (4) is arranged at the first end(2) of the lever (1).

2. The mining vehicle charging arrangement accordingto claim 1, wherein the lever (1) comprises at leasttwo parallel rods extending between the first end (2)and the second end (3).

3. The mining vehicle charging arrangement accordingto claim 1 or 2, wherein the lever (1) is formed oftwo lever parts, a first lever part (7), extendingfrom the joint structure (5) towards the first end (2)of the lever, and a second lever part (8), extendingfrom the joint structure (5) towards the second end(3) of the lever (1).

4. The mining vehicle charging arrangement accordingto claim 3, wherein the first lever part (7) and thesecond lever part (8) are separate parts connected viathe joint structure (5).

5. The mining vehicle charging arrangement accordingto claim 3 or 4, wherein the second lever part (8),extending from the joint structure (5) towards thesecond end (3), is heavier than the first lever part(7), extending from the joint structure (5) towardsthe first end (2).

6. The mining vehicle charging arrangement accordingto any of preceding claims, wherein the lever (1) com-prises a folding point (10) arranged between the firstend (2) and the second end (3).

7. The mining vehicle charging arrangement accordingto claim 6, wherein folding point (10) forms an angle,which is less than 180°.

8. The mining vehicle charging arrangement accordingto claim 6 or 7, wherein the folding point (10) is ar-ranged to engage with the joint structure (5).

9. The mining vehicle charging arrangement accordingto any of the preceding claims, wherein the chargingbusbar (4) are attached to the lever with at least onespring (9).

10. The mining vehicle charging arrangement accordingto any of the preceding claims, comprising cables forconnecting the charging busbar (4) to a power source.

11. The mining vehicle charging arrangement accordingto any of the preceding claims, comprising chargingcounter parts (13) attached to the mining vehicle,which counter parts (13) are arranged to be connectedwith the charging busbar (4) for charging the miningvehicle.

12. A method for charging a mining vehicle with acharging arrangement according to any of precedingclaims, comprising steps of: - driving the mining vehicle, comprising a liftablemeans, under the lever (1) of the charging arrangementso that the liftable component of the mining vehicleis under the second end of the lever (1), - lifting the liftable means (14) upwards, wherebythe liftable means pushes the second end of the lever(1) upwards causing the lever to rotate around thejoint structure (5) and the first end of the leverlowers towards the mining vehicle, - connecting the charging busbar (4) with the miningvehicle.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the min-ing vehicle is driven under the charging arrangementso that charging busbar (4) is above a charging coun-ter parts (13) fastened to the mining vehicle, and thebusbar (4) is connected to the charging counter parts(13) when the liftable means are lifted.