METHOD AND DEVICE FOR CONTROLLED FILLING AND INSPECTION OF BLAST HOLES

Abstract

A method and apparatus for controlled charging of blasting boreholes with a flowable/pourable explosive, in particular in open-cast mining, includes: providing a radar head with at least one radar unit operated in a non-rock penetrating frequency range; arranging the radar head on a pulling element; introducing the radar head into the borehole in that the radar head is lowered into the blasting borehole in an arrangement at the pulling means from an upper aperture opening of the blasting borehole; and detecting at least one measurement value comprising a base distance of the radar head from the blasting borehole base and/or a charge level distance to determine the charge level of the explosive in the blasting borehole; and/or comprising the shape of the jacket section over at least a portion of the depth of the blasting borehole by means of the operation of at least one of the radar units.

Claims

1. A method for the controlled charging of blasting boreholes with a flowable or pourable explosive, wherein the method comprises at least the following steps: providing a radar head having at least one radar unit that is operated in a non-rock penetrating frequency range; arranging the radar head on a pulling element; introducing the radar head into a blasting borehole in that the radar head is lowered into the blasting borehole from an upper aperture opening of said blasting borehole in an arrangement on the pulling element; and detecting at least one measurement value comprising a base distance of the radar head from a blasting borehole base and/or a charge level distance for determining the charge level of the explosive in the blasting borehole and/or comprising a shape of a jacket section over at least a portion of a depth of the blasting borehole by means of the operation of at least one of the radar units.

2. The method in accordance with claim 1, wherein: the radar head is moved from bottom to top or from top to bottom in a vertical axis between the blasting borehole base and the upper aperture opening of the blasting borehole during the detection of the at least one measurement value.

3. The method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the pulling element is indirectly guided via at least one rotary encoder or length encoder, with a position of the radar head along a vertical axis being detected by the rotary encoder or length encoder and being output as height information.

4. The method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the at least one radar unit provides distance information by means of a radar-based position determination method, with a position of the radar head along a vertical axis being detected by the radar-based position determination method and being output as height information by means of the radar unit.

5. The method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the at least one measurement value detected by the radar head comprising a charge level of the explosive in the blasting borehole and/or the shape of the jacket section over at least a portion of the depth of the blasting borehole is communicated to a computer unit, with a charge amount or a charge stream of the explosive that is placed into the blasting borehole being determined on the basis of the determined measurement values.

6. The method in accordance with claim 1, wherein a distance of the radar head above the charge level of the explosive is measured by the at least one radar unit, from which a height information of the charge level in the blasting borehole is determined and output in conjunction with a determined position of the radar head along a vertical axis; and/or in that the radar head comprises a rotary unit by which at least one radar beam of at least one radar unit is rotatable about the vertical axis.

7. The method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the detection of the charge level of the explosive in the blasting borehole takes place during charging of the blasting borehole with explosive; and/or with a falling speed of particles forming the explosive being detected by the radar head during the charging of the blasting borehole with explosive.

8. The method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the radar head is designed with a gyroscope, with a pose of the radar head in the blasting borehole being determined by the gyroscope.

9. The method in accordance with claim 1, wherein a blasting borehole model is generated by a computer unit on the basis of the determined measurement values comprising the shape of the jacket section over at least a portion of the depth of the blasting borehole.

10. An apparatus for the controlled charging of blasting boreholes with a flowable or pourable explosive, wherein the apparatus comprises: means for charging a blasting borehole; a radar head having at least one radar unit (12, 12′, 12″) that is operable in a non-rock penetrating frequency range; a pulling element on which the radar head is arranged and is lowerable into the blasting borehole; and the at least one radar unit for detecting a charge level of the explosive in the blasting borehole along a vertical axis; and/or the at least one radar unit for detecting the shape of a jacket section over at least a portion of a depth of the blasting borehole.

11. The apparatus in accordance with claim 10, wherein the means for charging the blasting borehole comprises a covering tube, with the pulling element being led through the covering tube and the radar head being led out of a lower end of the covering tube and being lowerable into the blasting borehole.

12. The apparatus in accordance with claim 10, wherein the means for charging the blasting borehole comprises a rotary encoder or a length encoder and with the pulling element being guided at least indirectly via the rotary encoder or length encoder so that the position of the radar head along a vertical axis can be determined by the rotary encoder or length encoder.

13. The apparatus in accordance with claim 10, further comprising a computer unit by which a charge amount or a charge volume of the explosive that is placed into the blasting borehole can be determined and/or a 3D model of the blasting borehole can be prepared on the basis of the determined measurement values.

14. A radar head for an apparatus in accordance with claim 10, wherein the radar head has a gyroscope; and/or the radar head has a base body at which a connector for a pulling element is formed at an upper side and at which a radar unit comprising a radar element and a radar lens is formed at a lower side.

15. The radar head in accordance with claim 14, wherein the base body in an arrangement at the side relative to a vertical axis has at least one radar unit by which the shape of the jacket section of the blasting borehole can be detected or by which a position determination of the radar head can in particular be determined along a vertical axis in the blasting borehole.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0040] Further measures improving the invention will be shown in more detail below together with the description of a preferred embodiment of the invention with reference to the Figures. There are shown:

[0041] FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view through a blasting borehole with a radar head let into the blasting borehole while the blasting borehole is charged with explosive;

[0042] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a blasting borehole with a radar head let into the blasting borehole to detect the jacket section of the blasting borehole;

[0043] FIG. 3 is a schematic detail view of the radar head in an arrangement in the blasting borehole;

[0044] FIG. 4 is a schematic view of the apparatus with a vehicle, with means for charging the blasting borehole with explosive, and with a radar head that is lowered into the blasting borehole, and

[0045] FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a radar head.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0046] FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a cross-sectional view of a blasting borehole 1 that extends downwardly in a vertical direction, for example, in a blasting field starting from an upper-side aperture opening 14 on a base surface of the blasting field down to a blasting borehole base 16. The blasting borehole 1 can be charged with explosive 10 starting from the blasting borehole base 16, with the illustration showing a lower part region of the blasting borehole 1 already charged with explosive 10 with a charge level h. The explosive 10 is charged into the blasting borehole 1 via means 20 for charging said blasting borehole 1, with the means 20 being arranged at a vehicle, for example.

[0047] A radar head 11, that can be lowered into the blasting borehole 1 to a lowering depth l is fastened to a pulling means 13 for this purpose and the pulling means 13 is led through a covering tube 21 that forms a lower part of the means 20 for charging the blasting borehole 1 with explosive 10. In this process, the pulling means 13 runs within the means 20 via a rotary encoder or length encoder 17 so that height information relating to the lowering depth l of the radar head 11 in the blasting borehole 10 is provided by the rotary encoder or length encoder 17. The radar head 11 is consequently located within the charge stream 19 of the explosive 10.

[0048] If the blasting borehole 1 is charged with explosive 10, a volume can be produced in dependence on the vertical axis z with a known constant charging rate of the blasting borehole 1 with explosive 10 due to the jacket section 15 of the blasting borehole 1 differing from a cylindrical shape, said volume differing from a simple cylinder volume of a cylinder when the borehole for forming the blasting borehole 1 having a jacket profile 15 differs from the purely cylindrical shape. The differences can, for example, be produced by material chips that arise during the drilling process to produce the blasting borehole 1 so that, with lateral pockets, bulges, and the like, additional volumes arise that are likewise charged with explosive 10, whereby a resulting charge level h is produced that cannot be directly determined by a simple measurement of the amount of explosive 10 placed into the blasting borehole 1.

[0049] The radar head 11 has radar units 12, 12′, and 12″, with the radar unit 12 serving the determination of the charge level h of the explosive 10 in the blasting borehole 1, starting from the blasting borehole base 16. For this purpose, the radar head 11 can first detect the base distance d without charged explosive 10 and the charge level distance d′ from the charge level h can be detected by the radar unit 12 on the charging of explosive 10, with the charge level distance d′ of the radar head 11 above the charge level h of the explosive 10 being able to be regulated by a corresponding regulating device so that the charge level distance d′ of the radar head 11 above the charge level h remains constant. The current height position of the radar head 11 along the vertical axis z can then be determined by the rotary encoder or length encoder 17 to ultimately draw a conclusion on the amount of placed in explosive 10 in dependence on the determined height position of the radar head 11. The further radar units 12′ and 12″ will be explained in more detail in connection with the following FIG. 2.

[0050] FIG. 2 shows a further cross-sectional view of a blasting borehole 1 with a radar head 11 that is lowered into the blasting borehole 1 before the charging of the blasting borehole 1 with explosive. The height position of the radar head 11 can here be determined by the rotary encoder or length encoder 17 in that the pulling means 13 is guided via the rotary encoder or length encoder 17, with the rotary encoder or length encoder 17 being integrated in the means 20 for charging the blasting borehole 1, and the pulling means 13 is guided, starting from the rotary encoder or length encoder 17, through the center of the covering tube 21 ultimately into the blasting borehole 1, for example.

[0051] The radar head 11 is, for example, first lowered into the blasting borehole 1 to the blasting borehole base 16. The radar head 11 at the pulling means 13 is subsequently pulled through the blasting borehole 1 with a constant movement from bottom to top up to the aperture opening 14 of the blasting borehole 1. In this process, the topography of the jacket section 15 of the blasting borehole 1 can be detected by activating the radar means 12′ and the detected topography can be brought into correlation with the vertical axis z to ultimately detect height-dependent volume information of the blasting borehole 1 from this measurement. The further radar units 12″ shown can here serve to likewise derive height information of the radar head 11 in the blasting borehole 1, for example in a SLAM (simultaneous localization and mapping) process, so that the information from the rotary encoder or length encoder 17 either becomes redundant or is replaced. A blasting borehole model can in particular then be produced by means of a computer unit using the data acquired to subsequently carry out the controlled charging of the blasting borehole 1 with explosive 10.

[0052] FIG. 3 shows a schematic detail view of the radar head 11 in an arrangement with a blasting borehole 10 that is charged up to a shown level with explosive 10. The radar head 11 has a base body 22 that is connected by a connection means 23 to the pulling means 13 and the position of the radar head 11 along the vertical axis z can be changed at the pulling means 13.

[0053] The radar head 11 comprises a plurality of radar units 12, 12′, and 12″ by way of example. The radar unit 12 is arranged at the lower side disposed opposite the pulling means 13 and can serve the determination of the distance from the charging level of the explosive 10. The radar unit 12 comprises a radar element 24 in an arrangement behind a radar lens 25 so that the charge level of the explosive 10 can be determined, with the charge level being derived by the known distance of the radar head 11 from the charge height and from the information on the height of the radar head 11 within the blasting borehole 1, for example output by the rotary encoder or length encoder 17 in accordance with FIG. 1 or FIG. 2.

[0054] The further radar units 12′ have radar elements 24′ by which the topography of the inner jacket section 15 of the blasting borehole 1 can be determined. In particular bulges, lateral pockets, and additional volumes in the blasting borehole 1 can thereby be detected.

[0055] The further radar unit 12″ has radar elements 24″ and the further radar units 12″ serve the detection of the height information of the radar head 11 along the vertical axis z in the blasting borehole 1. The measurement by the radar units 12′ is here based, for example, on a preferably radar-based position determination method, in particular on the application of the SLAM process with radar images or of the Doppler radar method.

[0056] If the radar head 11 is used while explosive 10 is placed into the blasting borehole 1, the radar head 11 is protected by a protective covering 27 as a component of the radar head 11 that surrounds the base body 22 having the radar units 12, 12′, 12″ at the outer side and thus protects it.

[0057] FIG. 4 shows a schematic view of an apparatus 100 with a vehicle 28 and the vehicle 28 has a container, not shown in more detail, as a substantial component in which the explosive is stored. Means 20 for charging a blasting borehole 1 with explosive 10 from the container in the vehicle 28 is furthermore arranged at the vehicle 28. The illustration furthermore shows a radar head 11 that is arranged at an end side at a pulling means 13. The pulling means 13 is led through the means 20 for charging the blasting borehole 1, in particular through a covering tube 21, and the radar head 11 can be pulled up and lowered in a manner not shown in any more detail, for example by a winch in or at the vehicle 28. The height of the radar head 11 within the blasting borehole 1 can thus be changed, with the height position of the radar head 11 in the blasting borehole 1 being able to be detected by a rotary encoder or length encoder 17 that is located at the means 20 for charging a blasting borehole 1.

[0058] A computer unit 18 is located by way of example in or at the vehicle and measurement values detected by the radar head 11 are transmitted to it, in particular in that the pulling means 13 can also comprise an electrical line in addition to a mechanical pulling means. Information of the rotary encoder or length encoder 17 can furthermore be transmitted to the computer unit 18 to likewise transmit the height position of the radar head 11 to the computer unit 18. The above-described method for the controlled charging of blasting boreholes 1 with a flowable or pourable explosive 10 can be carried out using the apparatus 1 shown.

[0059] A further view of a radar head 11 is shown schematically in FIG. 5, with the illustration showing an embodiment of a radar head 11 in its advantageously selected components, with the list of the components not being exclusive and, in accordance with further embodiments, the components listed below also being able to be individually omitted without impairing the function of the radar head 11 in accordance with the invention.

[0060] The embodiment shows the radar head 11 in an arrangement at the pulling means 13 having a data store 30 in which measurement data can be stored that were detected, for example, by the radar units 12, 12′, 12″. An energy store 31 is furthermore shown as a component of the radar head 11 that is designed, for example, as a battery or as a rechargeable battery. A further component is an interface 32 for data communication, for example with the computer unit 18. A gyroscope 29 is additionally shown by which the pose of the radar head 11 within the blasting borehole can be detected. The data of the gyroscope 29 and also the data that can be detected by the radar units 12, 12′, 12″ can be stored in the data store 30.

[0061] Radar electrics 33 are furthermore shown that are required for the operation of the radar units 12, 12′, 12″. The radar units 12, 12′, 12″ located at the radar head 11 here, for example, only form the radar antennas and the electronics for operating the radar antennas are accommodated centrally in the radar head 11.

[0062] The invention is not restricted in its design to the preferred embodiment specified above. A number of variants is rather conceivable that also makes use of the solution shown with generally differently designed embodiments. All the features and/or advantages, including any construction details or spatial arrangements, originating from the claims, the description or the drawings can be essential to the invention both per se and in the most varied combinations. The radar head 11 can in particular also only have one or two of the three described radar units 12, 12′, 12″ so that it also only carries out a corresponding partial measurement, e.g. either the determination of the filling level h of the explosive 10 in the blasting borehole 1 or the topography of the inner jacket section 15 of the blasting borehole 1.

REFERENCE NUMERAL LIST

[0063] 1 blasting borehole [0064] 10 explosive [0065] 11 radar head [0066] 12 radar unit [0067] 12′ radar unit [0068] 12″ radar unit [0069] 13 pulling means [0070] 14 aperture opening [0071] 15 jacket section [0072] 16 blasting borehole base [0073] 17 rotary encoder or length encoder [0074] 18 computer unit [0075] 19 charge stream [0076] 20 means for charging [0077] 21 covering tube [0078] 22 base body [0079] 23 connection means [0080] 24 radar element [0081] 24′ radar element [0082] 24″ radar element [0083] 25 radar lens [0084] 26 vertical axis [0085] 27 protective cover [0086] 28 vehicle [0087] 29 gyroscope [0088] 30 data memory [0089] 31 energy store [0090] 32 interface [0091] 33 radar electrics [0092] 100 apparatus [0093] d base distance [0094] d′ charge level distance [0095] h charge level [0096] l lowering depth [0097] t blasting borehole depth [0098] z vertical axis