Patent Application
20070185610
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
This invention relates to the use of robotic technology in mining industry to improve the working conditions of the operators and operating conditions of the casting wheels specifically in the smelting area.
During metal obtention and refining processes, smelting furnaces are used to cast metal concentrates for purifying and extracting them. The first stage of the productive process is to move the dry concentrate to one of these furnaces, which could be a flash furnace and/or a Teniente converter, where casting is at temperatures over 1,200° C. In this way, while the concentrate becomes molten liquid, its components are being separated and combined to form a two layer bath. The heaviest layer is called matte and it is a metal enriched component. Over this layer, the slag is floating, which is a coat of impurities of the metal of interest. In this way and during successive stages, the stage rich in the metal of interest is sequentially cast and refined through several furnaces which allows to obtain a high purity metal.
In the last stage of the smelting process, the fire refining stage is carried out in which the metal is processed in rotary furnaces, by adding special purifying agents which are called fluidizing agents to oxide and eliminate all the impurities with the resulting effect of very few non desired elements contained in the molten bath. Then, the oxygen is extracted with steam or oil injections with the final result of a high purity level.
Thus, when a metal load reaches the required purity level, the furnace is inclined and in exact quantities the metal is poured in one of the ingot casts of the fire refined casting wheel. Once the metal is poured into the cast, the wheel rotates to advance the following cast to the position and other ingot is cast. In this way, the wheel speed is adjusted in an accurate way to the optimum speed profile, ensuring a smooth acceleration and disacceleration level of the casts. This is intended to produce high quality anodes with a minimum burr formation grade.
To finish the smelting process, the cast removal process (stripping and/or extraction) proceeds in which the anodes are lifted and sent to a cooling tank to avoid the excessive oxidation and to obtain a deep scrubbing.
Finally, the cast anodes are counted and arranged in predetermined bundles or arranged at distances as required by the electrolytic plant. The discharge of the cooling tanks is carried out by a forklift or anode lifting devices.
One of the major disadvantages of the tasks associated to the casting and removal of the anodes from the casting wheels is the exposure of the personnel to harsh environmental conditions. In the medium and long term this could generate serious occupational diseases to the people in charge of carrying out this task.
Specifically in the processes to apply dislodging material, there are some disadvantages from the point of view of safety as a result of the exposition to spatters and/or projections of molten metal. Similarly, the manipulation of the tool used by the operator in these tasks must be carried out with extreme care for not damaging the surface of the cast. On the other hand, from the operations point of view, the pins should be correctly positioned to avoid the infiltration of copper because when lifting the anode the surface could be damaged, generating a decrease in the production capacity.
A robotic system and a robotized method have been developed for for the application of dislodging material and the repositioning of pins in the casts of the casting wheels, allowing to carry out necessary tasks in a automated way. These tasks are: Dislodging material application and verification of pins in the casting wheel
In the drawings, closely related figures share the same numbers, with different alphabetic suffixes.
1. Robotic manipulator
2. Mobile or fixed mounting system
3. Gripping mechanism
4. Vision system
5. Casting wheel
6. Dislodging application tool
7. Dislodging material
8. Metal discharge
9. Channel
10. Refine furnace
11. Repositioning pin tool
This invention relates to a new robot system as well as a robotic method for the dislodging material application and verification of pins in the casting wheel which are carried out automatically through anthropomorphous robotic arms of at least 4 degrees of freedom, provided with a gripping mechanism, so as the robotic system y designed to manipulate several tools and/or vision systems and allows to carry out the following activities:
With reference to
This application claims the benefit of provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/734,983 filed 2005 Nov. 10 by the present inventor
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60734983 | Nov 2005 | US |
