Mining or in situ disintegration of hard material – Automatic control; signaling or indicating – Of hard material disintegrating machine
Patent
1997-09-05
1999-08-17
Bagnell, David J.
Mining or in situ disintegration of hard material
Automatic control; signaling or indicating
Of hard material disintegrating machine
299 18, 299 61, E21D 910, E21C 3524
Patent
active
059382880
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to a system and a method for automatically controlling the operation of a machine used for excavating drifts, tunnels, stopes, caverns or the like of a predetermined profile. More particularly, the invention relates to automatic control of machines having a rotatable head on which are mounted at least two cutting arms which are rotatable with the head and extend in the direction of excavation and at least one of these tool arms is radially pivotable by means of a hydraulic cylinder.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A number of excavation machines are known for cutting drifts, tunnels, stopes, caverns or the like, which have a rotatable head on which a plurality of arms are mounted that extend in the direction of excavation and which are radially pivotable by means of hydraulic cylinders to achieve a desired excavation profile. One example of such a machine is disclosed in European Patent No. 0551273 which belongs to the same applicants as the present application. Another example is disclosed in German Offenlegungsschrift DE 31 40 707 and still a further example is given in U.S. Pat. No. 4,248,481. Most of these prior art references indicate that the machines in question can be used to cut various profiles, however, the actual cutting of such profiles must be done by the operator of the machine who, for example, must adjust the extension of the arms to cut corners in a rectangular profile or to cut uneven angles in profiles where such angles are desired. This leads to considerable difficulties and results in uneven excavations. Also the achieved results greatly depend on the expertise of the operator of the machine which in itself leads to a great deal of inconsistency.
It is suggested in European Patent No. 0551273 that the pivot drives for the tool arms can be controlled automatically using a computer program, however, no parameters on which such a program would be based have been defined. A general computer program could be used, but it would be difficult to adapt it to various rock conditions and various profiles that one may need to cut during the excavation.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is, therefore, to provide a novel automatic control method and system for such excavation machines, particularly to achieve automatically any desired profile during excavation.
Another object of the invention is to optimize the automatic control of the excavation in relation to the various conditions that may exist during the excavation.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description thereof.
The basic method of the present invention involves automatically controlling the operation of a machine used for excavating drifts, tunnels, stopes, caverns or the like of a predetermined profile, such machine having a rotatable head on which are mounted at least two cutting arms which are rotatable with the head and extend in the direction of excavation, at least one of these cutting arms being radially pivotable, the novel method comprising the steps of: continuously measuring angular position .phi. of the head as it is rotating; continuously measuring radial position angle .theta. of each pivotable cutting arm; processing output signals from the measurements of .phi. and .theta. and controlling the machine so that for each angular position .phi. of the head, each pivotable tool arm is radially positioned at a preset angle .theta. according to a predetermined profile code.
The fundamental system of the present invention for automatically controlling the operation of a machine used for excavating drifts, tunnels, stopes, caverns or the like of a predetermined profile, relates to a machine having a rotatable head on which are mounted at least two cutting arms which are rotatable with the head and extend in the direction of excavation, at least one of these cutting arms being radially pivotable by means of a hydraulic cylinder having a piston and a shaft one end of which is connected to the piston and the other
REFERENCES:
patent: 4033626 (1977-07-01), Dinkelbach
patent: 4248481 (1981-02-01), Stoltefuss
patent: 4343512 (1982-08-01), Heitkamp et al.
Chevrette Guy
Henderson Everett James
Hennecke Peter Heinrich
Hensgens Werner
Piefenbrink Wilfried
Bagnell David J.
HDRK Mining Research Limited
Wirth Maschinen-Und Bohrgerate-Fabrik GmbH
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