Method and device for breaking a hard compact material
AssigneeAtlas Copco Aktiebolag
InventorErik V. Lavon
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A hard compact material, such as rock, is broken by forcing a longish mass body of relatively incompressible fluid, such as water, against the material to be broken. The mass body is caused to impact the material at a momentum necessary for breaking the material. The momentum is generated by supplying the fluid to a storage chamber against the effect of a thrust load acting upon the fluid in the storage chamber. When a sufficient amount of fluid has been supplied the fluid in the storage chamber is forced toward the material to be broken by the effect of the thrust load.
Claims22
A cannon for shooting an elongated fluid mass body of a relatively incompressible fluid comprising:
- a storage chamber for storing the fluid,
- means operatively associated with said storage chamber for substantially continuously exerting a thrust load upon the fluid in said storage chamber,
- means for successive supply of said fluid to said storage chamber against the effect of said thrust load,
- a barrel means coupled to said storage chamber for forming fluid received from said storage chamber into an elongated coherent fluid mass body, and
- valve means which includes two cooperating members coupled between said storage chamber and said barrel means, and means for causing said valve means to suddenly open a passage between said storage chamber and said barrel means to permit the fluid from said storage chamber to be discharged through said barrel means as said elongate mass body, said means for causing said valve means to suddenly open comprising means for accelerating said two cooperating members of said valve means relative to one another, said valve means being arranged to open said passage only after said two cooperating members have moved relative to each other a predetermined distance, the maximum pressure in said storage chamber during said discharge of fluid from said storage chamber being of the same order of magnitude as the maximum pressure during the supplying of fluid to said storage chamber.
A cannon for shooting an elongated fluid mass body of a relatively incompressible fluid comprising:
- a storage chamber for storing the fluid,
- means operatively associated with said storage chamber for substantially continuously exerting a thrust load upon the fluid in said storage chamber, said thrust load exerting means comprising a drive piston and means for applying a bias load on said drive piston,
- means for successive supply of said fluid to said storage chamber against the effect of said thrust load,
- a barrel means coupled to said storage chamber for forming fluid received from said storage chamber into an elongated coherent fluid mass body, and
- a slide valve means coupled between said storage chamber and said barrel means, and means for causing said valve means to suddenly open a passage between said storage chamber and said barrel means to permit the fluid from said storage chamber to be discharged through said barrel means as said elongate mass body, the maximum pressure in said storage chamber during said discharge of fluid from said storage chamber being of the same order of magnitude as the maximum pressure during the supplying of fluid to said storage chamber,
- said slide valve means including a valving element coaxial with said barrel means and a cooperating element, said valving element having a surface forming a seat valve with said cooperating element, said drive piston being arranged to lift said valving element from its seat when said drive piston reaches a predetermined rear position, said valving element having annular surface means arranged to accelerate said valving element away from its seat when subject to the pressure in said storage chamber upon said valving element leaving its seat, said slide valve means being arranged to suddenly open said storage chamber to said barrel means only after said valving element has moved a predetermined distance from its seat.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.