Blasting method and blasting accessory
AssigneeInternational Technologies, LLC
InventorsNils Alberto Heinke, Roger Dean Skaggs, Stephen Mitchell Collinsworth
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A drill hole (350) extends into rock to be blasted. A blasting accessory (310) includes a container portion (312) for holding a predetermined volume of stemming material, and a spacer (330) for spacing the stemming material a predetermined distance from a surface, e.g. a blind bottom of the drill hole. The container portion has a top (320) surrounded by a dilatable, inverted skirt forming a seal (342), and forms a support for a blasting substance like an explosive.
Claims11
A method of blasting or breaking rock or other materials by means of pressure/shock waves generated in a tamped drill hole, the method including
- forming a stemming plug by holding a stemming material in a container at a predetermined spacing from a surface by a bottom of the drill hole by means of a frangible spacer abutting said surface and corresponding to said predetermined spacing and being connected to the container, the container and the spacer forming a sacrificial blasting accessory;
- locating a pressure generating or shock wave generating substance adjacent the container remote from the bottom;
- initiating said pressure generating or shock wave generating substance to cause the stemming material to be displaced at speed toward the bottom, characterized in that the container is of a defined volume and includes a openable and closable closure and by the initial method step of filling, in use, the container with a correspondingly defined volume of stemming material and closing the container by means of the openable and closable closure.
A blasting accessory suitable for use in a drill hole, the accessory including
- a container for holding stemming material in the form of a plug;
- a spacer connected to the container and extending away from the container a predetermined distance, the spacer having a free end remote from the container for abutting a surface formed by a bottom of the drill hole in use;
- characterized in that the container has a defined volume and includes an openable and closable closure to allow the container to be filled, in use, with a correspondingly defined volume of the stemming material and to be closed by means of the closure the blasting accessory further comprising a deformable seal formation in the form of a rim for sealing against an inner periphery of the drill hole to form a plunger for holding a pressure generating or shock wave generating substance adjacent the container and remote from the spacer.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.