Method of collecting dust during rock drilling and a dust collecting suction system for a rock drilling apparatus
AssigneeAtlas Copco Aktiebolag
InventorPieter Barendsen
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In a dust collecting suction system for a rock drilling apparatus, the air rushing out of the borehole is collected in a hood and sucked through a coarse dust separator and a filter unit. The coarse dust from the separator is cleaned by an air currrent to remove remaining fine particles and then it is dumped on the ground whereas the finer dust from the filter unit is collected in plastic bags.
Claims12
Dust collecting suction system for a rock drilling apparatus comprising a hood (11) arranged to collect the dust loaded flushing air that flows out of the borehole, a coarse dust separator (13) having at least one inlet (22,23) coupled to the suction hood, a filter unit (14) coupled to the coarse dust separator (13), and a suction unit (15) coupled to the filter unit (14) to suck the flushing air through the coarse dust separator and through the filter unit,
- the coarse dust separator (13) comprising:
- a separator chamber coupled to said at least one inlet (22,23) for receiving said flushing air, said separator chamber including passage means defining a sharp bend in which said flushing air is diverted,
- a collector (32,33) in communication with the separator chamber adjacent said sharp bend for collecting coarse dust from the flushing air flowing through the separator chamber, the coarse dust, because of its inertia, not going with the air through said sharp bend, the flushing air from which the coarse dust has been separated being fed to the filter unit (14) for filtrating,
- a closed container (26) for the collected coarse dust,
- cleaning means (37, 38, 39) for cleaning the collected coarse dust from remaining fine dust by an air current, said cleaning means (37, 38, 39) including a substantially vertical elongated tube (37) coupled between the collector (32,33) and the closed container (26), the length of the elongated vertical tube (37) being several times the diameter thereof, and means (38, 39) coupled to the elongated vertical tube (37) for providing a current of air up through the tube (37) to clean the coarse dust that falls through the tube (37), the upward current of air from the tube (37) being fed to the filter unit (14) for filtration, and
- means (27) coupled to the closed container (26) to permit the coarse dust collected in the closed container (26) to be dumped on the ground.
Method of collecting dust during rock drilling comprising:
- collecting the dust-loaded air that flows out of the borehole,
- separating most of the dust as a coarse fraction by passing same through a passage having a sharp bend therein to divert air flowing therethrough, the coarse dust, because of its inertia, not being diverted through said sharp bend,
- filtering the dust loaded air from which the coarse fraction has been removed to collect the remaining fine dust,
- cleaning the separated coarse dust from remaining fine dust mixed therewith by a current of air that is then mixed with the air that is to be filtered in order to remove fine dust collected and carried by the current of air, the cleaning step comprising passing the separated coarse dust downwardly through a substantially vertical elongated tube which has a length of several times the diameter thereof, the separated coarse dust falling substantially freely in said tube, and producing a current of atmospheric air upwardly through the tube counter-current to the direction of fall of said separated coarse dust to clean the coarse dust falling through the tube, the upward current of air, which contains the remaining fine dust then being filtered to collect the remaining fine dust therefrom, and then
- dumping the separated cleaned coarse dust on the ground.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.