Tool driving or impacting – Automatic control of power operated means – Tool advance causing or controlling means
Reexamination Certificate
2002-04-17
2004-03-02
Gerrity, Stephen F. (Department: 3721)
Tool driving or impacting
Automatic control of power operated means
Tool advance causing or controlling means
C173S032000, C173S042000, C173S193000, C405S259100, C405S303000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06698529
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is for a rock bolter which drills holes and sets bolts for stabilizing the roof and walls of mines, and more particularly for a rock bolter which can set bolts into rough rock surfaces while remaining compact in overall size.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Rock bolters have been developed to drill holes and set bolts to stabilize rock walls in mines and similar excavations. One type of rock bolter is the turret rock bolter, which typically has two feed tracks. One feed track directs a rock drill as it advances toward a rock surface to bore a hole into which a bolt is to be set, while a second feed track directs a bolt driver as it is advanced toward the rock surface to set the bolt into the hole. The feed tracks are sequentially rotated into a work position where the drill or the rock bolter residing thereon is in alignment with a particular location on the rock surface, and the rock drill or bolt driver is then advanced along its feed track to the rock surface. First, the drill is placed in the work position and advanced to drill a hole in the rock surface at the desired location. The drill is then withdrawn from the hole, and the turret is rotated to place the bolt driver in the work position, aligned with the hole. The bolt driver is then advanced to set the bolt into the hole. A stinger assembly is usually employed to engage the rock surface to stabilize the turret during the bolt setting process, in which case the turret typically rotates about an axis extending through the stinger assembly.
In many instances, the rock surface into which bolts are to be set is uneven, which limits the ability to rotate the feed tracks when they are positioned in close proximity to the rock surface. In an attempt to overcome this problem, U.S. Pat. No. 4,497,378 teaches a turret rock bolter where the feed tracks are translated away from the rock surface before rotating to allow the turret to rotate when the feed tracks are spaced further from the rock surface.
FIG. 1
is a schematic representation of the basic elements of the turret rock bolter taught in the '378 patent. The rock bolter has a turret
10
having a support base
12
which is connected to a boom
14
for positioning the turret
10
. A first cylindrical member
16
is fixed to the support base
12
and has an anchoring point
18
on one end. When the boom
14
is moved to position the anchoring point
18
against a rock surface (not shown), the anchoring point
18
engages the rock surface to act as a stinger.
A pair of spaced-apart bearing brackets
20
are rotatably and slidably mounted on the first cylindrical member
16
, and a feed track support
22
is fixed to the bearing brackets
20
so as to extend parallel to the first cylindrical member
16
. A drill track
24
and a bolt driver track
26
are provided on the feed track support
22
. A rock drill
28
is longitudinally movable along the drill feed track
24
, while a bolt driver
30
is longitudinally movable along the bolt driver track
26
. An advancing mechanism
32
is employed to selectively move the rock drill
28
and the bolt driver
30
along their respective feed tracks (
24
,
26
). In the rock bolter of the '378 patent, the advancing mechanism
32
employs a system of pulleys
34
to allow a single advancing piston
36
to move either the drill
28
or the bolt driver
30
when the other of the two is immobilized.
To translate the feed track support
22
away from the rock surface, providing greater space for rotation, a translating piston
38
is mounted to the first cylindrical member
16
and is rotatably mounted to the feed track support
22
. When the translating piston
38
is extended, the feed track support
22
is moved such that the separation of the drill feed track
24
and the bolt driver feed track
26
from the rock surface is increased.
To pivot the feed track support
22
to position either the drill
28
or the rock bolter
30
in alignment with a work axis
40
, a second cylindrical member
42
is fixed to the bearing brackets
20
. A pivot link
44
is rotatably mounted on the first cylindrical member
16
and both slidably and rotatably engages the second cylindrical member
42
. A pivot piston
46
is connected at one end to the support
12
, and at the other end to the pivot link
44
. By extending and retracting the pivot piston
46
, the pivot link
44
is rotated with respect to the first cylindrical member
16
. The second cylindrical member
42
, the bearing brackets
20
, and the feed track support
22
rotate with the pivot link
44
, and thus the feed track support
22
is rotated to position either the drill
28
or the rock bolter
30
in alignment with the work axis
40
.
While the rock bolter of the '378 patent allows translating the feed tracks away from the rock surface to facilitate rotation, it requires a complex structure to accomplish such action. The rock bolter has multiple, widely spaced bearings, which complicates the task of keeping the bearings protected from dirt and adequately lubricated. Furthermore, the use of the translating piston
38
to translate the feed track support
22
toward and away from the rock surface can result in binding. Because the translating piston
38
is mounted to one end of the first cylindrical member
16
, forces on the various bearings are unbalanced, and must be transmitted long distances through other elements of the structure. The slidable bearing between the pivot link
44
and the second cylindrical member
42
can be particularly problematic, since it is not only axially spaced apart from the translating piston
38
, but is also positioned on a different axis and thus is highly subject to torque. Because the feed track support
22
must rotate with respect to the translating piston
38
, all translation forces must be transmitted through the pivotable connection between these two elements, placing great strain on this connection.
Thus, there is a need for a turret rock bolter which allows translation of the feed track support while overcoming the deficiencies of the device discussed above.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The rock bolter of the present invention employs a turret assembly where a boom is employed to position the turret assembly at a desired location with respect to a rock surface. The turret assembly has a base which is connectable to the boom. The connection of the base to the boom may include one or more knuckles, roll actuators, or similar devices known in the art for further adjusting the position and orientation of the turret assembly. The base may also serve to support other elements of the rock bolter, such as a bolt magazine for supplying a number of bolts and bolt plates sequentially to the bolt driver, such as taught in U.S. Pat. No. 5,597,267.
The base has at least one base bearing, and preferably a pair of spaced-apart base bearings. The at least one base bearing slidably and rotatably engages a cylindrical member having a cylinder axis. The cylindrical member terminates in a cylinder first end region and a cylinder second end region. A pair of spaced-apart brackets are fixably connected to the cylindrical member, with the base residing therebetween. One of the brackets is fixed to the cylinder first end region, while the other is fixed to the cylinder second end region.
Attached to the brackets is a feed track support which extends parallel to the cylindrical member. The feed track support has a drill feed track and a rock bolter feed track mounted thereon, and the feed tracks can be formed as integral parts of the feed track support. A rock drill is longitudinally movable along the drill feed track, and typically is mounted to the drill feed track via a drill carriage. The drill has a drill steel for drilling a hole in the rock surface as the drill is advanced along the drill feed track. A bolt driver is longitudinally movable along the bolt driver feed track support, and typically is mounted to the bolt driver feed track by a bolt driver carriage. The bolt driver, when advanced along the bol
Bigoney Paul R.
Coombs Perry L.
Morrison Ward D.
Gerrity Stephen F.
Oldenburg Cannon, Inc.
Semprebon Jeffrey E.
Weins Michael T.
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