US3830338A

US3830338A - Lift for raise driving apparatus

Info

Publication number: US3830338A
Application number: US00282812A
Authority: US
Inventors: T Svensson
Original assignee: Linden Alimak AB
Current assignee: Linden Alimak AB
Priority date: 1971-09-07
Filing date: 1972-08-22
Publication date: 1974-08-20
Anticipated expiration: 1991-08-20
Also published as: JPS5542233B2; NO130244B; AU459875B2; FR2152628A1; IT962215B; AU4547172A; JPS4836001A; CS166817B2; CA986542A; ZA725457B; FR2152628B1; CH545408A; SE346828B

Abstract

The invention relates to a lift assembly carrying a drift mining equipment for driving raises and the like in rock. The equipment comprises a fluid motor unit for moving said equipment along a guide track composed of a plurality of separate sections which are adapted to be spliced on successively as the raise driving work proceeds, and to be secured, each in its turn, to the wall of the raise from a platform or the like forming part of the drift mining equipment. A drive unit comprising an internal combustion engine assembly and fluid pumping means operated by said engine is suspended so as to be pivotable about a substantially horizontal axis extending transversely of said track, and is associated with the drift mining equipment to be moved together with the latter along the track in a position such that the internal combustion engine assembly will function independently of the inclination of the raise relative to the horizontal plane, said fluid pumping means being interconnected with the fluid motor unit by flexible fluid conduits. The invention eliminates the need of power supply lines extending along the raise for propulsion of the drift mining equipment along the track.

Description

United States Patent [191 Svensson [111 3,830,338 Aug. 20, 1974 LIFT FOR RAISE DRIVING APPARATUS [75] Inventor: Torbjorn Svensson, Skelleftea,

Sweden [73] Assignee: Linden-Alimak AB, Skelleftea,

Sweden [22] Filed: Aug. 22, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 282,812

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Sept. 7, 1971 Sweden 11343/71 [52] US. Cl 182/82, 61/85, 104/2, 104/89, 105/30, 105/62 R, 105/96.2, 105/148,105/161,182/141,187/19, 299/19 [51] Int. Cl E04q 3/16, E2ld 3/00, E21f 13/04 [58] Field of Search 105/30, 62 R, 96.2, 148, 105/161;182/20, 82, 141; 187/19; 61/84, 85;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,316,223 4/1943 Cheneau 105/30 3,016,989 1/1962 Lindmark 187/19 3,085,794 4/1963 Johansson et al 182/20 Primary Examiner-Lloyd L. King Assistant Examinerl-loward Beltran Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Fred C. Philpitt 5 7 ABSTRACT The invention relates to a lift assembly carrying a drift mining equipment for driving raises and the like in rock. The equipment comprises a fluid motor unit for moving said equipment along a guide track composed of a plurality of separate sections which are adapted to be spliced on successively as the raise driving work proceeds, and to be secured, each in its turn, to the wall of the raise from a platform or the like forming part of the drift mining equipment,

A drive unit comprising an internal combustion engine assembly and fluid pumping means operated by said engine is suspended so as to be pivotable about a substantially horizontal axis extending transversely of said track, and is associated with the drift mining equipment to be moved together with the latter along the track in a position such that the internal combustion engine assembly will function independently of the inclination of the raise relative to the horizontal plane, said fluid pumping means being interconnected with the fluid motor unit by flexible fluid conduits.

The invention eliminates the need of power supply lines extending along the raise for propulsion of the drift mining equipment along the track.

5 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures LIFT FOR RAISE DRIVING APPARATUS The present invention relates to a lift assembly carrying a drift mining equipment for driving raises and the like in rock, said drift mining equipment comprising a fluid motor unit for moving said equipment along a guide track composed of a plurality of separate sections which are adapted to be spliced on successively as the raise driving work proceeds, and to be secured, each in its turn, to the wall of the raise from a platform or the like forming part of the drift mining equipment.

The use in drift mining work of so-called raise lifts of the kind here disclosed is well-known to those skilled in the art and offers a number of advantages over previous methods, first of all owing to the fact that raise lifts enable a substantially faster driving rate. For driving small raises, ofa length of 150 m, at most, lifts operated by pneumatic motors are most commonly used, whereas for raises of greater lengths electrically operated lifts are employed. The latter, however, are restricted in use to raise lengths of about 600 m. At greater lengths excessive problems are encountered as regards the electric cable required for operating the motors. Primarily in the building of hydro-electric power stations, but also in mining, raises or drifts up to 1000 m and more in length are becoming increasingly common.

The invention has for its object to provide an improved raise lift enabling driving raises of the greatest lengths encountered and without any problem as regards power supply.

For this object, the lift assembly according to the invention is characterized in that a drive unit comprising an internal combustion engine assembly and fluid pumping means operated by said engine is suspended so as to be pivotable about a substantially horizontal axis extending transversely of said track, and is associated with the drift mining equipment to be moved together with the latter along the track in a position such that the internal combustion engine assembly will function independently of the inclination of the raise relative to the horizontal plane, said fluid pumping means being interconnected with the fluid motor unit by flexible fluid conduits.

Thus, the invention eliminates the need of power supply lines extending along the raise for propulsion of the drift mining equipment along the track. The raise in this case, can be driven in any inclination between horizontal and vertical positions, owing to the fact that the positional sensibility of the internal combustion engine has been eliminated by the pivotal suspension of the drive unit. As is well known, in order to enable satisfactory operation of an internal combustion engine, the latter must be maintained in a fixed position relative to a vertical plane.

In a preferred embodiment of the assembly according to the invention, the drive unit is carried in spaced relation to the guide track and to the drift maining equipment so as to be pivotable about a first horizontal axis extending transversely relative to the track, by being suspended from a framework which, at two locations relatively spaced along the track, is movably supported from the track at one of said locations and is pivotally connected with the drift mining equipment, respectively, at the other location so as to be pivotable about a second horizontal axis extending transversely relative to the track. Owing to this arrangement, the pivot axis of the drive unit can be fixed at a substantially constant distance from the track, which distance is merely sufficient to allow for any required inclination or change in inclination of the-track without any risk of the drive unit impinging the track. At the same time, owing to the pivotal connection between the framework and the drift mining equipment, a limited floating will be allowed as between the drive unit and the comparatively bulky drift mining equipment, so that the entire assembly composed of this equipment and the drive unit can be bodily moved, for instance, along a horizontally extending section of the track to and along a substantially vertically extending section thereof, without requiring for the drive unit at any time any substantially larger cross-sectional space within the raise than that required for the drift mining equipment, and without impinging the latter.

Said framework, in addition, suitably carries a fuel reservoir for supplying the internal combustion engine assembly.

According to a preferred embodiment of the inventive assembly, the fluid motor unit is constituted by a hydraulic motor of the axial-piston type, and the fluid pumping means is a variable-throw axial-piston pump, in which case the drive unit, in addition, comprises a hydraulic-fluid reservoir.

The fluid motor assembly and the fluid motor pump,

- however, alternatively could be constituted by a pneumatic motor and a pneumatic pump, respectively. The

.internal combustion engine assembly is, preferably, a

diesel engine.

The invention will now be described more in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a raise lift constructed according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view as seen in the direction of arrows IlII in FIG. 1; and

FIGS. 3 and 4 are diagrammatical side views illustrating how the raise lift of FIG. 1 can assume different attitudes according to the inclination of the raise of drift.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, numeral 2 designates the side wall of a raise or drift being driven into the rock. Secured to the top or ceiling of the raise is a track guide generally designated by 4. The track 4 is composed of a plurality of successive sections interconnected by quick-grip-connectors 6. In the embodiment shown by way of example, each track section is secured to the rock wall by a sowel bracket 8, and each section, in addition, is supported at its lower end by the top of the next-preceding mounted track section. Each track section is built up of a track element proper, 10, in the form of a channel member provided with a toothed or pinned rack, and a set of pipe lines 12. The pipe lines 12 are adapted to convey pressurized air for the drilling assembly, as well as water for the drift mining equipment moved along track 4, as will be further described hereinafter.

The drift mining equipment, briefly, comprises an operating platform 14 and a lift cage 16 which are mounted to a framework, as indicated at 18. The operating platform,l4- is pivotally mounted to the framework 18 in a manner not specifically illustrated and is adjustable into a horizontal position independently of the inclination of the raise or drift by means of an adjustment device 20 in the form of two telescopically interconnected tubes, the upper tube, at its extreme end, being pivotally connected to the platform 14 at 22, and the lower tube, at its extreme end, being pivotally connected to the framework 18 at 24. The lift cage 16 serves for carrying personnel to the working place within the raise and is provided in its top portion with a door, not shown, to enable the operators to climb to the platform 14, the cage having, in addition, in its floor a door serving as an emergency exit.

The framework 18 is guided and supported on the track element by roller sets, not shown in detail, and is movable along the track by a machinery comprising two worm gears 26 driving individual toothed wheels, respectively, which are in mesh with the pinned rack of track element 10. The input element of each worm gear 26 is drivingly connected to a drive unit to be further described hereinafter. The machinery, in the embodiment illustrated by way of example, further comprises a centrifugal brake unit indicated at 28 and an automatic speed limiter or capture device indicated at 30. Numeral 32 designates a synchronizing coupling interposed between the two worm gears 26.

The arrangement so far described is a conventional raise lift with its associated, also conventional equipment. The raise lift is well known to those skilled in the art and therefore need not be further described here, neither in its functional nor as to its structural features. Thus, for instance, it could correspond essentially to a raise lift of the type ALIMAK STH-S.

The input element of the two worm gears 26 are driven in common by a hydraulic motor 34 of the axialpiston type, which, again, is mounted on the framework 18 in a manner not illustrated in detail. Motor 34 has hydraulic fluid supplied to it from a diagrammatically illustrated drive unit 36 through supply lines omitted from the drawing for clarity. Drive unit 36 comprises a box-shaped casing containing a drive assembly consisting of a diesel engine, for instance of 39 HP, and a variable axial-piston pump driven thereby. The axialpiston pump is adapted to feed hydraulic fluid to the motor 34. Both the diesel engine and the axial-piston motor may be of any commercially available design and, therefore, need not be further described here, either. The box-shaped casing of drive unit 36 also contains a hydraulic-fluid reservoir with a capacity of 25 liters, for example, and a starter battery having a capacity of l 10 Ah.

As is well known, a diesel engine to operate satisfactory, should assume a substantially fixed attitude relative to the vertical. In order to ensure this attitude independently of the inclination of track 4, the drive unit 36 is suspended from and connected with the framework 18 in a manner to be described in detail hereinafter.

The suspension for the drive unit 36 comprises a frame consisting of two parts rigidly connected with each other. The first one of these parts is a T-shaped frame member 37 having the free extreme end of the leg of the T pivotally connected to the framework 18 at 38, so as to be movable about a horizontal axis extending at right angles to the track 4. The leg of frame member 37 at its end remote from suspension point 38 is rigidly interconnected with a second frame member 39. Frame member 39 consists of a pair of spaced parallel bars 39a and 39b extending at right angles to, and on either sides of the track 4 and carrying a plurality of guide and supporting rollers 40 adapted to run on the flat surface of the track element 10 in the manner indicated in FIGS. 1 and 2. Welded to the extreme ends of the two legs of the T-shaped frame member 37 in the manner shown are two short carrier or suspension arms 42, respectively. The suspension arms 42 carry between them the box-shaped casing of the drive unit 36, so that the latter is pivotally suspended about a horizontal axis 44 extending at right angles to the track.

The T-shaped frame member 37 may suitably be built up of hollow beam members so as to form a fuel reservoir for the diesel engine. The supply conduit from this reservoir is omitted from the drawing for clarity.

The pivotal suspension of the drive unit 36 as illustrated and described hereinbefore enables this unit always to occupy one and the same position or attitude relative to the vertical, independently of the inclination of track 4 and without impinging track 4,

frame portions

37, 39 or lift cage 16 at any time. Furthermore, the suspension is so devised, that the drive unit 36 will at worst take up merely a slightly larger space within the cross sectional area of the raise than the remainder of the drift mining equipment, including the platform 14 and lift cage 16.

The condition just stated will also be seen from the diagrammatic FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. 3 illustrates the positional relationship of the drift mining equipment and drive unit 36 where the track 4 extends horizontally, whereas FIG. 4 illustrates the drift mining equipment and the drive unit 36 in transferring from a substantially horizontal or slightly upwardly inclined portion of track 4 to a vertically extending track portion which is ascending into a vertical raise.

A raise lift equipment constructed in accordance with the present invention will be entirely independent of any electrical lines extending backwards through the raise, as opposed to electrically powered raise lifts, and of any pressurized-air conduits, as opposed to pneumatic-motor driven raise lifts. This will enable very long raises, of lengths up to 1,000 meters or more, to be driven rapidly and economically.

The invention is not restricted to the embodiment illustrated but may be modified within the scope of the appended claims. Thus it is possible, for instance, instead of a hydraulic motor to use, in a conventional manner, pneumatic motors for driving the worm gears 26, respectively, in which case the internal combustion engine contained in the drive unit 36 will drive a pneumatic pump for supplying pressurized air to said motors. The internal combustion engine need not necessarily be a diesel engine, but may instead be a gasoline engine.

I claim:

1. Drift mining equipment for driving raises and like drifts in rock, comprising a. track means composed of a plurality of interconnected but separately demountable track sections;

b. means for securing said track sections to the wall of a raise; 0. frame means carrying platfonn means;

. d. guide and support means for suspending said frame means for reciprocating movement on and along said track means, said guide and support means further carrying fluid motor means for driving said frame means along said track means;

e. a drive assembly including internal combustion engine means, a fluid pumping means operated by said engine, and conduit means for directing drive fluid from said fluid pumping means to said fluid motor means, and

f. means for suspending said drive assembly from said guide and support means so that the drive assembly is freely pivotable about a substantially horizontal axis extending transversely of said track means;

whereby said internal combustion engine means will always be able to take a position in which it will function regardless of the inclination of the raise.

2. Drift mining equipment according to claim 1 wherein the means for suspending said drive assembly is a framework which has one section that is movably supported from the track means and a second spaced apart section that is pivotably connected to said guide Y ternal combustion engine means is a diesel engine.

Claims

1. Drift mining equipment for driving raises and like drifts in rock, comprising a. track means composed of a plurality of interconnected but separately demountable track sections; b. means for securing said track sections to the wall of a raise; c. frame means carrying platform means; d. guide and support means for suspending said frame means for reciprocating movement on and along said track means, said guide and support means further carrying fluid motor means for driving said frame means along said track means; e. a drive assembly including internal combustion engine means, a fluid pumping means operated by said engine, and conduit means for directing drive fluid from said fluid pumping means to said fluid motor means, and f. means for suspending said drive assembly from said guide and support means so that the drive assembly is freely pivotable about a substantially horizontal axis extending transversely of said track means; whereby said internal combustion engine means will always be able to take a position in which it will function regardless of the inclination of the raise.

2. Drift mining equipment according to claim 1 wherein the means for suspending said drive assembly is a framework which has one section that is movably supported from the track means and a second spaced apart section that is pivotably connected to said guide and support means about a horizontal axis extending transversely to the track means.

3. Drift mining equipment according to claim 1 wherein said fluid motor means consists of a hydraulic motor of the axis-piston type, the fluid pump means is a variable axial-piston pump and the drive assembly includes a hydraulic-fluid reservoir.

4. Drift mining equipment according to claim 1 wherein said fluid motor means and said fluid pump means are a pneumatic motor and a pneumatic pump, respectively.

5. Drift mining according to claim 1 wherein said internal combustion engine means is a diesel engine.