Claims
- 1. An apparatus for fracturing a hard material, said apparatus including at least:
a loading head provided with a guide for receiving a cartridge containing a charge of energetic material, and guiding said cartridge into a hole formed in a face of a hard material to be fractured; a system for advancing said cartridge along said guide to a toe of said hole; and, a stemming loader for loading a particulate stemming material into said hole through said guide.
- 2. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said system for advancing said cartridge includes a flexible elongated member having a first end which abuts an end of said cartridge distant said hole, and a device for advancing and retracting said flexible elongated member.
- 3. The apparatus according to claim 2 wherein said flexible elongated member is a conduit and constitutes a part of said stemming loader, said stemming loader further including a stemming injector for injecting particulate stemming material into a second end of said conduit.
- 4. The apparatus according to claim 3 wherein said stemming injector includes a blower for blowing said particulate stemming material into and along said conduit.
- 5. The apparatus according to claim 1 further including an alignment mechanism for moving said guide into and out of alignment with said hole.
- 6. The apparatus according to claim 5 wherein said alignment mechanism rotates said loading head about an axis parallel to an axis of said hole, to move the guide into and out of alignment with said hole.
- 7. The apparatus according to claim 5 wherein said alignment mechanism slides said loading head along an axis perpendicular to an axis of said hole, to move the guide into and out of alignment with said hole.
- 8. The apparatus according to claim 5 further including a drilling system for drilling said hole, said drilling system including a rail and a drill slidably mounted on said rail, wherein said alignment mechanism is supported on said rail.
- 9. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said loading head includes a stemming bar which can be moved into and out of alignment of said hole for insertion into said hole to support said particulate stemming.
- 10. The apparatus according to claim 9 wherein said stemming bar includes a transmitter for transmitting a signal into said hole for operating an initiator or a detonator contained in said cartridge.
- 11. A method of fracturing a hard material, said method including the steps of:
providing a guide for receiving a cartridge containing a charge of energetic material; aligning said guide with a hole formed in a face of a hard material; inserting the cartridge into said guide; advancing said cartridge along said guide into said hole; injecting particulate stemming material through said guide into said hole; and, initiating said energetic material.
- 12. The method according to claim 11 including the step of advancing said guide into abutment with said face of said hard material.
- 13. The method according to claim 11 wherein said step of advancing said cartridge includes pushing said cartridge along said guide.
- 14. The method according to claim 13 wherein said step of pushing includes advancing a length of a flexible elongated member into said guide to push said cartridge along said guide into said hole.
- 15. The method according to claim 14 wherein said step of injecting particulate material includes forming said flexible elongated member as a conduit and blowing said particulate stemming material through said conduit into said hole.
- 16. The method according to claim 15 including a step of retracting said conduit from said hole as said particulate material is blown into said hole.
- 17. The method according to claim 11 including a step of attaching said guide to a drilling system which includes a rail and a drill mounted on said rail and supporting said guide on said rail.
- 18. The method according to claim 11 including the step of providing an alignment mechanism for moving said guide into and out of alignment with said hole.
- 19. The method according to claim 18 including a step of providing a stemming bar coupled to said alignment mechanism, moving said guide out of alignment with said hole; and moving said stemming bar into alignment with said hole and into abutment with said particulate stemming in said hole.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application claims the benefits under 35 U.S.C. §119 of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/359,251, of the same title, filed Feb. 20, 2002, to Carnegie-Smith, which is incorporated herein by this reference in its entirety.
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60359251 |
Feb 2002 |
US |