METHOD, ARRANGEMENT AND MACHINE FOR FULL FACE REAMING

Abstract

A method, an arrangement and a machine for powering holes in mountains through so-called full face reaming. According to the method according to the invention a plurality of cutterheads (20:1-20:n) independently of each other are displaceably moveably accommodated in a drill head (11) by operation of a linear drive arrangement (22:1-22:n) for each cutterhead (20:1-20:n), and which cutterheads from a condition retracted in the drill head (11) are conveyable to a projecting mountain-grinding condition from the front side (11) simultaneously with the drill head (11) rotating, whereby the hole front is gradually drilled along concentric rings drill rings that go from an inner smallest circle to an outer largest circle by new cutterheads (20:1-20:n) with gradually increasing radius from the centre of the drill head in successive steps are conveyed in mountain-grinding condition.

Claims

1. A method for powering holes in mountains by means of a full face reaming machine (FRM machine), whereby a front surface is drilled in a direction forwards by means of a rotatable drill head, which on its front side has a plurality of mountain-grinding cutterheads, which are located at radially different distance from a centre of the rotatable drill head, and said mountain-grinding cutterheads independently of each other are displaceably moveably accommodated in the rotatable drill head by being operated by a linear drive arrangement arranged for each of the mountain-grinding cutterheads, and which the mountain-grinding cutterheads from a retracted condition in the rotatable drill head, by means of said linear drive arrangement, are conveyable to a mountain-grinding condition projecting from its front side simultaneously with rotation of the rotatable drill head, whereby the front surface is drilled in steps in sections along concentric rings (B:1-B:n), which, like a target board, go from an inner smallest circle to an outer largest circle by new mountain-grinding cutterheads with gradually increasing radius from the centre of the rotatable drill head in successive steps are conveyed in mountain-grinding condition.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein a rotational speed of the rotatable drill head is reduced by at least one transition from an inner drill ring of the drill rings (B:1-B:n) with an inner smallest circle to an outer drill ring of the drill rings (B:1-B:n) with a largest outer circle.

3. A method according to claim 2, wherein the rotational speed of the rotatable drill head is reduced at each transition from the inner drill ring of the drill rings (B:1-B:n) with the inner smallest circle to the outer drill ring of the drill rings (B:1-B:n) with the largest outer circle.

4. A method according to claim 2, wherein the rotational speed of the rotatable drill head is reduced at increasing radius from the centre of the rotatable drill head to each new mountain-grinding cutterheads or at least such new mountain-grinding cutterhead that is located projected in mountain-grinding condition.

5. A method according to claim 1, wherein a feeding force (Ff), which, in the drill direction acts on cutterhead in an inner drill ring (B:1), is measured, and a transition to a subsequent outer drill ring (B:2), cutterhead of which is located on a larger radius from the centre of the rotatable drill head, takes place when the feeding force (Ff) of cutterhead in the inner drill ring (B:1) falls below a pre-determined limit value.

6. A method according to claim 1, wherein as a cutting speed (V) for each of the new mountain-grinding cutterhead conveyed to a mountain-grinding condition is optimized by a revolution speed of the rotatable drill head being adapted to the cutterhead located in a drill ring of the drill rings (B:1-B:n) being radially farthest from the centre of the rotatable drill head.

7. A method according to claim 1, wherein the linear drive arrangement for each mountain-grinding cutterhead uses hydraulic power from hydraulically operating actuator and control accommodated in a body included in the rotatable drill head and is equipped with hydraulic medium via a swivel coupling, which is arranged between the rotatable drill head and a machine housing included in the full face reaming machine on which the rotatable drill head is rotatably supported.

8. A method according to claim 5, wherein the feeding force (Ff) acting on a cutterhead is sensed by means of a pressure sensor or sensing element, load cell or the like, which can measure an occurring tension of material at loading.

9. A method according to claim 8, whereby the pressure sensor can sense a hydraulic pressure in a drive circuit for the linear drive arrangement.

10. An arrangement for powering holes in mountains by means of a full face reaming machine, (FRM machine), by means of which a front surface is drilled in a forward direction, and which machine comprises a rotatable drill head, which on its front side has a plurality of mountain-grinding cutterheads, which are located at radially different distance from a centre of the drill head, and said mountain-grinding cutterheads independently of each other are displaceably moveably accommodated in the rotatable drill head by operating a linear drive arrangement arranged for each of the mountain-grinding cutterheads, which the mountain-grinding cutterheads from a retracted condition in the rotatable drill head by means of said linear drive arrangement are conveyable to a mountain-grinding condition projecting from its front side simultaneously with rotation of the rotatable drill head, and a control circuit is arranged with which the movements of each linear drive arrangement can be controlled and checked by sensing of an application pressure against the front surface.

11. The arrangement according to claim 10, wherein the control circuit is configured to control and check at least one of the following drilling parameters; rotation speed of the rotatable drill head; feeding force against the front surface for each mountain-grinding cutterhead for a group of mountain-grinding cutterheads.

12. The arrangement according to claim 10, comprising a swivel coupling, which is arranged between the rotatable drill head and a machine housing included in the full face reaming machine for transfer of hydraulic drive fluid from a pressure fluid source to said linear drive arrangements, whereby said linear drive arrangements are hydraulically driven and application of each mountain-grinding cutterhead against the front surface takes place by the operation of hydraulic power.

13. The arrangement according to claim 12, comprising a pressure sensor arranged for each linear drive arrangement with the purpose of sensing a hydraulic pressure in each linear drive arrangement and thereby the feeding force (Ff) on each cutterhead, whereby exchange of a subsequent new mountain-grinding cutterhead to a projected mountain-grinding condition at larger radial distance from the centre of the rotatable drill head to form a subsequent radially outer drill ring takes place by sensing of an application pressure of a previous cutterhead against the front surface via the pressure sensor.

14. The arrangement according to claim 10, comprising at least one of the following components for revolution speed control of the rotatable drill head; a gearbox, which is arranged between the rotatable drill head and a drive motor for rotation of the rotatable drill head an inverter arranged for drive motor.

15. A full face reaming machine (FRM machine) such as a shaft boring machine (SBM machine) or a tunnel boring machine (TBM machine) for powering holes in mountains, it comprises the arrangement of of claim 10.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES

[0028] In the following, the present invention is described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which;

[0029] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an FRM machine of the tunnel boring machine type, in which a drill head with an arrangement according to the invention is included.

[0030] FIG. 2 shows a front view of a drill head with an arrangement according to the invention,

[0031] FIG. 3 shows a side view of a drill head included in an FRM machine according to the invention.

[0032] FIG. 4 shows a side view of the drill head in FIGS. 2 and 3 and a portion of a machine housing, in which the drill head is rotatably accommodated in a front portion of the FRM machine.

[0033] FIG. 4a shows a longitudinal sectional view through a linear drive arrangement for a cutterhead with a plurality of disc cutters, which via a saddle are supported at a front end of a slide, with which the cutterhead, along the longitudinal axis of the FRM machine, can be displaced in the forward direction towards a meeting drill front or rearwards, respectively, from the same.

[0034] FIG. 4b shows a cross sectional view through a cutterhead accommodated in the slide viewed along the line IVb-IVb in FIG. 4a.

[0035] FIG. 5 shows a series of successive steps for a method according to the invention of an FRM machine of the shaft boring machine type, in which a series of n cutterheads from a radially inner drill ring to an outer drill ring with force can successively be applied in cooperation with a receiving front surface in a vertical chute in an SBM machine simultaneously with the rotational speed of the drill head is thereby gradually reduced as the effective diameter of the drill head increases.

[0036] FIG. 6 schematically shows a block diagram of a control circuit for controlling an arrangement included in an FRM machine according to the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0037] With reference to FIGS. 1-6, an FRM machine of the tunnel boring machine 1 type is shown, comprising a machine housing 2, which by means of hydraulic cylinders 3 and front and rear tension shoes 4, 4 is fastenable in a tunnel 5. The tension shoes 4, 4 can also be used for directional guidance of the FRM machine 1. The FRM machine 1 comprises hydraulically maneuverable support feet 15 on which the machine is supported, while the tension shoes 4, 4 are displaced for repetition against the hole wall. A case 6 is moveable forwards and rewards in the machine housing 2 and is prevented from rotating about its longitudinal axis by the machine housing 2.

[0038] As most clearly appears from FIG. 4, the machine housing 2 comprises an axis 7, which is rotatably accommodated and supported by bearings 8. At its front end, the shaft 7 supports a drill head 11 with a body 12, comprising first and second mounting surfaces 12a, 12b, respectively, for mounting of the cutterheads 20:1-20n on the front surface of the drill head 11. Each such cutterhead 20:1-20:n comprises a saddle 21, which on shaft tabs supports one or a plurality of cutting tools in the form of disc cutters 22.

[0039] The case 6 has a diameter that is somewhat smaller than the diameter of the drill head 11, and which successively is to be moved forwards and rearwards, respectively, relative to the drill head 11. During the drilling work, the front end of the drill head 11 is pressed against a front surface 90 in the bore 5 by means of hydraulic cylinders 16, whereby the tension shoes 4, 4 in the case serve as abutment.

[0040] Also, with reference to FIG. 4, the machine housing 2, on its end facing away from the drill head 11, is equipped with a transmission 9, comprising a gearbox 10 to which an electric drive motor 12 is coupled. The drive motor 12 has an output shaft (not shown), by which it transfers the torque to the drill head 11 via the transmission 9. A first swivel arrangement is denoted 13a, enabling transfer of hydraulic flow to and from the actuator and control 41:1-41:n comprised in a plurality of linear drive arrangements 22:1-22:n, which are arranged in the body 12 of the rotatable drill head 11 and by which linear drive arrangements a number of cutterheads 20:1-20:n on the drill head 11 with force, optionally and independently of each other, can be applied against the front surface 90. In an alternative embodiment, it is imaginable that the FRM machine 1 comprises a second swivel arrangement 13b allowing electrical control signals (analogue or digital) to be transmitted to the body 12 of the drill head 11, which should make it possible to mount required electronically controlled valve packages in the body 12 of the rotatable drill head 11.

[0041] The drill head 11 also has one or a plurality of buckets 4 that let fragmented mountain pass from the front surface 90 to the rear side of the drill head 11. A conveying means for taking away fragmented mountain from the front surface 90 ahead of the drill head 11 is denoted 30. The conveying means 30 comprises a first conveyor (not shown) located behind the drill head 11, by which mountain fragments can be scooped up to a higher level, where the mountain fragments fall down onto a second conveyor travelling along the FRM machine in a rearward direction. Furthermore, the conveying means 30 comprises a framework 33 along which said second conveyor such as a belt conveyor or the like travels rearwards.

[0042] Also, with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, it is shown how the drill head 11 on its front side 11 has a centrally circular inner and relatively small drill area A with fixed cutterheads 20 that together form a pilot drill with the purpose of obtaining a centring bore in front of the machine. Said fixed cutterheads 20 are mounted on said first mounting surfaces 12a in the body 12 of the drill head 11. B denotes a relatively substantially larger, in terms of area, annular radial outer drill area B, which according to the invention is intended to drill sectionally with radially or diameter-wise increasing width or extent, and wherein the drilling work is performed successively on something that can rather be compared with a target board with concentric rings in sections. In the following, said concentrically stepwise drilled annular sections, which go from an inner smallest circle to an outer largest circle of the annular outer drill area B are denoted drill rings B:1-B:n.

[0043] As shown in FIG. 2, the body 12 of the drill head 11 comprises a number of cutterheads 20:1-20:n that are located so that they form a successive sequence of drill rings B:1-B:n that go from an inner smallest circle to an outer largest circle of the larger annular drill surface B of the front surface 90. In this section, we also refer to the top figure in FIG. 4, wherein it is illustrated how the drill rings B:1-B:n along which the cutterheads 20:1-20:n are intended to be operating by being successively conveyed against the front surface 90 from the drill head 11 are located at an increasing radial distance from the centre of the drill head 11 and outwards. For the peripheral speed to be constant, the revolution speed of the drill bit 11 must thus be reduced gradually as the cutterheads 20:1-20:n are conveyed from the front side 11 of the drill head 11 for generating new drill rings B1-B:n with increasingly larger radius (diameter) in the meeting front surface 90 in the bore.

[0044] During hole powering, a cutterhead 20:1-20:n, or a group of jointly operating cutterheads, can successively generate each new drill ring with increased radius by being conveyed from the front side 11 of the drill head 11 and be set in a mountain-grinding or mountain-removing condition against the front surface 90. The force for conveying said cutterheads 20:1-20:n in mountain-grinding condition is obtained from a hydraulically operating actuator and control included in a linear drive arrangement 22:1-22:n arranged for each cutterhead 20:1-20:n. Said hydraulically driven actuator and control 41:1-41:n included in said linear drive arrangements 22:1-22:n are discretely accommodated in the body 12 of the rotatable drill head 11. Consequently, each cutterhead 20:1-20:n or group of cutterheads can hereby for one to form a drill ring B:1-B:n be driven to mountain-removing application against the front surface 90 simultaneously with the rotation of the drill head 11. As the cutterheads 20:1-20:n are successively conveyed for forming drill rings B:1-B:n with an increasingly larger diameter, which in practice means that the mountain-grinding work is only carried out by the one or the smaller group of cutterheads 20:1-20:n that are operating in the outermost drill ring, it should be understood that the power requirement of the FRM machine, also for drilling with considerable hole diameter becomes very low. As to the latter, it should be understood that the other cutterheads of the drill head certainly rotate along the inner drill rings but without meeting any real resistance, while in practice they rotate freely without performing any mountain-grinding work against the front surface in the bore.

[0045] As illustrated by double arrows in FIGS. 3 and 4, said linear drive arrangements 22:1-22:n make it possible to bring, forwards or rearwards in the longitudinal or main shaft direction of the machine 1, said respective cutterheads 20:1-20:n in a projected or retracted condition, respectively, as regards the front side 11 of the drill head 11 facing the front surface 90. According to the present invention, said cutterheads 22:1-22:n can, independently of each other, be brought into or out of interaction with the front surface 90 in the bore to successively form new radially larger drill rings B:1-B:n simultaneously with the rotation of the drill head 11 of the machine 1.

[0046] With reference to FIG. 3 and FIGS. 4a and 4b, each linear drive arrangement 22:1-22:n for a respective cutterhead 20:1-20:n in the drill head 11 is hydraulically driven. Each linear drive arrangement 22:1-22:n comprises a housing 24, in which a space for controlled accommodation of a slide element 25 that is displaceably moveably controlled in the longitudinal direction of the machine 1. At a front end, the slide element 25 is equipped with said second mounting surface 12b for mounting of one (or several) cutterhead(s) 20:1-20:n, each of said cutterheads or in the form of groups of such to form a respective drill ring B:1-B:n. Controlled on a slide element 25, each cutterhead 20:1-20:n can be shifted from a retracted condition in the body 12 of the drill head 11 to a projected condition towards the front surface 90 in the bore. As appears from FIG. 4a, a hydraulically driven actuator and control for this in the form of a hydraulic cylinder 41:1-41:n operates between a rear end of the slide element 25 and an abutment in a attachment point of the body 12 of the drill head 11. Also if the linear drive arrangement 22:1-22:n in this exemplary embodiment is hydraulically driven, it should be understood that it could comprise any type of control gear known to the person skilled in the art, for example linear displacement of the slide 25 included in the linear drive arrangement could be executed by means of an electrically powered motor with a connected ball screw mechanism or similar means that can convert a rotational motion to a linear motion.

[0047] With reference to FIG. 6, a schematic view of a control circuit generally denoted 35 for the linear drive arrangements 22:1-22:n included in the present invention is shown. Hydraulic pipes are shown with unbroken lines, and electrical pipes are shown with dashed lines. A control unit is denoted 40, which can be PCL- or PC-based, a respective double-acting hydraulic cylinder is denoted 41:1-41:n, 42 refers to a drive fluid source for hydraulic flow comprising a pump and a tank unit, and 43:1-43:n denote an electric control valve arranged for each hydraulic cylinder, with which the condition of each hydraulic cylinder can be controlled and checked. Moreover, each of the hydraulic cylinders 41:1-41:n are connected to a pressure sensor 44:1-44:n, which can sense a hydraulic pressure on the piston side of each hydraulic cylinder 42 as well as a swivel coupling 13a for guidance of a hydraulic flow to and from, respectively, each hydraulic cylinder from the drive fluid source. Both the control valves 43:1-43:n and the pressure sensors 44:1-44:n are electrically connected to the control unit 40. Further, said drive motor 12 is included in the control circuit system, which motor is of a three-phase type and arranged to be provided with electric drive power from a grid via a combination of a rectifier 45 and an inverter 46. For rotatable operation, the drive motor 12 is connected with the drill head 11 via a gearbox 47. The control unit 40 is connected with the inverter 46 and the gearbox 47, respectively, via electrical cables, from which it should appear that the revolution speed of the drive motor and hence the revolution speed of the drill head 11 can be varied, partly through frequency control of the drive motor via the frequency deflector, and partly through control of the gearbox in various switch positions. It should be understood that each of the revolution speed control functions above should not necessarily be used in combination.

[0048] With reference to FIG. 5, a drill cycle is shown and described according to the invention at a vertically drilling shaft boring machine, in the form of a series of successive steps, denoted step I to step IV, and further a method according to the invention, in which a series of n number of cutterheads 20:1-20:n with the associated linear drive arrangement 22:1-22:n can operate along drill rings B:1-B:n that go from an inner smallest circle B:1 to an outer largest circle B:n, by in the axial direction being displaced forwards in mountain-removing contact with the front surface 90 simultaneously with the rotational speed of the drill head 11 being successively reduced at each new drill ring B:1-B:n on a larger radius for maintaining optimum or pre-determined mountain-removing parameters such as cutting speed and/or feeding force.

Step I

[0049] Pilot drillingeach axially displaceable cutterhead 20:1-20:n in the annular large drilling area B is in a condition retracted in the drill head 11 and thus in a non-mountain-grinding condition relative to the small drilling area A, forming the pilot drilling area. It could be mentioned that in an alternative embodiment of the invention, wherein the pilot drill head for the small drilling area A and the annular outer drill surface B of the drill head 11 is arranged so that they can rotate independently of each other, it is imaginable that only the pilot head is driven rotatably in this initial drilling step. The revolution speed of the drill head 11 is adapted for optimum cutting speed V for the fixed cutterhead 20 of the pilot drill head A (alternatively group of a plurality of cutterheads 20).

Step II

[0050] Drilling of an inner first drill ring B1 with each first cutterhead 20:1 in a mountain-removing projecting condition in the drill head 11, wherein they meet the front surface 90- and wherein each otherwise non-operating cutterhead 20:2-20:n intended for radially outer bores is 11 retracted in the drill head in a non-operating condition. The revolution speed of the drill head 11 is thereby so adapted that the disc cutters 21 included in each first cutterhead 20:1 for forming a first drill ring obtain desirable optimum cutting speed V. When the feeding force Ff on each first cutterhead 20:1 has fallen below a pre-determined level, the control unit 40 initiates transition to a subsequent drill step (step III).

Step III

[0051] Drilling of an outer second drill ring B2 with each second cutterhead 20:2 in a mountain-removing projecting condition for obtaining a second drill ring with larger radius- and wherein each otherwise non-operating second cutterhead 20:3-20:n is retracted in the drill head 11 in a non-operating condition. The revolution speed of the drill head 11 is thereby so adapted that the disc cutters 22 included in each second cutterhead 20:2 for forming a second drill ring obtains desirable optimum cutting speed V. When the feeding force Ff on each second cutterhead 20:2 has fallen below a pre-determined level, the control unit 40 initiates transition to a subsequent drill step (step IV).

Step IV

[0052] Drilling of a last outer drill ring B3 farthest out on the radius, each third cutterhead 20:3 being in a mountain-removing projecting condition to obtain a third drill ring with larger radius. The revolution speed of the drill head 11 is thereby so adapted that the disc cutters 22 included in each third cutterhead 20:2 for forming a final third drill ring obtains desirable optimum cutting speed V. When the feeding force Ff on each third cutterhead 20:3 has fallen below a pre-determined level, the control unit 40 initiates transition to a subsequent drill step (step IV).

[0053] The drilling cycle is completed by all cutterheads 20:1-20:n returning to a non-operating condition retracted in the drill head 11, whereupon the arrangement is ready for a new drilling cycle.