Drilling tool loading control system

A pipe loading system for a blast hole drilling rig, wherein the blast hole drilling rig comprises a drilling platform, a drill tower supported on the drilling platform, a drill motor supported at an upper end of the drill tower, operatively coupled to a drilling head configured to selectively engage with and rotate a drill pipe, and at least one pipe loader pivotably supported on the drilling rig and configured to selectively index a drilling tool into coaxial alignment with the drill pipe during a drilling tool change-out operation, wherein the at least one pipe loader comprises a vertical beam with a pipe support pod coupled to a lower end of the vertical beam and a pipe holding clamp coupled to an upper end of the vertical beam, and one or more sensors configured to detect one or more of a presence of the drilling tool in the at least one pipe holder, an interconnection between the drilling head and the drill pipe, and a state of the pipe holding clamp, the pipe loading system being configured to:

• determine whether the drilling tool is in the at least one pipe loader;
• determine the state of the pipe holding clamp;
• determine whether the drilling head is clear of a path of the at least one pipe loader during the drilling tool change-out operation or whether the at least one pipe loader is in an engaged position swung underneath the drilling head;
• determine whether the drilling head is engaged with the drill pipe;
• determine whether the drill pipe is coupled with a drill bit at an opposite end of the drill pipe from the drilling head;
• and
• open the pipe holding clamp when the pipe holding clamp is not in a fully opened state, the drilling tool is not detected in the at least one pipe loader, the drilling head is clear of the path of the at least one pipe loader during the drilling tool change-out operation or the at least one pipe loader is in the engaged position, the drilling head is engaged with the drill pipe, and the drill pipe is not coupled with the drill bit.

A method of automatically loading drilling tools on a blast hole drilling rig, wherein the blast hole drilling rig comprises a drilling platform, a drill tower supported on the drilling platform, a drill motor supported at an upper end of the drill tower, operatively coupled to a drilling head configured to selectively engage with and rotate a drill pipe, and at least one pipe loader pivotably supported on the drilling rig and configured to selectively index a drilling tool into coaxial alignment with the drill pipe during a drilling tool change-out operation, wherein the at least one pipe loader comprises a pipe support pod disposed at a lower end of the at least one pipe loader and a pipe holding clamp disposed at an upper end of the at least one pipe loader, and one or more sensors configured to detect one or more of a presence of the drilling tool in the at least one pipe holder, an interconnection between the drilling head and the drill pipe, and a state of the pipe holding clamp, the method comprising:

• determining whether the drilling tool is in the at least one pipe loader;
• determining the state of the pipe holding clamp;
• and
• closing the pipe holding clamp when the drilling tool is detected in the at least one pipe loader and the pipe holding clamp is not in a closed state.