JPS5919238B2 - Traveling body for manganese nodules mining - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a mining machine for mining manganese nodules existing on the seabed.

Various types of mining machines have been proposed for mining manganese nodules that exist in the deep sea at depths of 1,000 to 6,000 m, and the typical ones are the continuous packet type and the fluid dredge type.

Although the continuous bucket type has a relatively simple device, it has the disadvantage that it is not efficient because it is impossible to mine the minerals at a uniform density in all the packets when they land on the bottom.

Furthermore, since the fluid dredge system sucks up nodules scattered on the seabed, it also sucks up mud along with the nodules, resulting in ocean pollution.

The present invention, in principle, belongs to the latter type (fluid dredge type), and it solves the above-mentioned drawbacks of this type, and also replaces the conventional mining machine with the type in which the conventional mining machine runs on the seabed using a crawler running device. This also prevents disadvantages that may arise due to the fact that the bottom of the sea is soft (for example, the total weight of the equipment is limited due to the soft ground on the sea floor, and nodules and stones can get caught in the gaps between the crawlers, causing running problems). In the soil (below the surface 3
The object of the present invention is to provide a traveling body for mining manganese nodules that can excavate and dig out nodules buried in 0 to 40 crIL) in a stable state without the machine tipping over. A mining machine is constructed by reducing its own weight, giving a certain degree of floating blades by buoyancy, and rotatably attaching a pair of floating bodies on both sides of the machine body with spiral blades on the outer surface and exerting a propulsion function. A special feature is that a collection net is installed on the rear side, which is towed by the net, to collect the nodules dug up by the twin bodies.

Next, the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to the drawings.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a floating body having a small self-weight and a certain degree of floating blade, which is rotatably mounted on both sides of a machine frame 4 to constitute a twin-hull type mining machine 10.

A spiral blade 11 is installed on the outer peripheral surface of each floating body 1, and each floating body 1 is driven by an underwater motor 3 via a transmission mechanism 2 in opposite directions.

5 is a power transmission claw, 9 is a control device, and each floating body 1
A large number of scrapers 14 are provided protruding from the rear half of the plate.

A collection net 7 is towed behind the mining machine 10 by a wire 8, and the lower end of an ore lifting pipe 12 is connected to the tail portion 13 of the net.

In operation, each underwater motor 3 is operated to move each floating body 1,
1, the mining machine 10 moves forward (moves to the right in FIG. 1) due to the propulsive force generated by the rotation of the spiral blades 11 of each floating body.

At this time, the mining machine 10 moves forward while the floating body 1 having a floating blade is held to the extent that the floating body 1 is slightly submerged on the seabed surface (the state shown in Fig. 1). The nodules 15 buried therein are dug up and further scraped up by the spiral blades 11 of the floating body 1.

And it will be collected between the two floating bodies 1°1.

The mining machine 10 moves forward while operating in this manner.

The nodules collected by the floating body 1 of the mining machine 10 are collected by the collection net 7 that is towed by the mining machine 10, and further accumulated in the tail section 13 of the mining machine 10.

During movement within the collection net T, the nodules are washed by seawater and separated from the mud, and when introduced into the tail section 13, only the nodules remain.

Then, the ore is guided from the tail section 13 to the ore lifting pipe 12, and is lifted to the sea by a fluid dredge method (air lift or pump method).

In the above-mentioned operation, the scraper 14 is provided protruding from the outer circumferential surface of each floating body 1, making it more efficient to dig out the nodules buried in the soil surface. If the scraper 14 is provided over the entire length of the floating body 1, there is a risk that the scraper 14 will be damaged when it runs aground on a rock or the like. Therefore, in the present invention, the scraper 14 is installed only in the rear half of the floating body 1.

In this way, according to the present invention, the mining machine is supported by a twin-hulled floating body, so it has good stability, there is no risk of it falling over during work, and it can move the nodules buried in the soil in a spiral manner. It can be dug out effectively using the shaped blade and scraper.

In this case, the spiral blade has three functions: excavation, accumulation, and propulsion, and the floating body supports the machine frame and also serves as the base of the spiral blade and scraper.
The mining machine can be configured with a minimum number of parts1, making the mining machine simple and compact.

In addition, since it has a simple configuration in which the nodules excavated by the excavating vehicle are collected by a collection net and sucked up by an ore lifting pipe, there are few failures and high reliability.

Furthermore, the manufacturing cost of the mining machine is reduced, and the price of the mined nodules can also be reduced.

Furthermore, since the present invention uses a floating body with its own floating blade without using crawlers, it is possible to work on soft ground, and the accumulated nodules can be collected with a collection net. Since the nodules are collected, the cost of the collection device is reduced, and since the nodules are cleaned during collection, marine pollution can be kept to a minimum.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention, with Fig. 1 being a partially cutaway side view of a mining machine, and Fig. 2 showing the entire body of the mining machine. 1...Floating body, 3...Underwater motor, 4.
... Machine frame, 7 ... Collection net, 8 ...
・Wire, 10... Mining machine, 11...
Spiral blade, 12... Lifting pipe, 13...
... Rear section, 14 ... Scraper, 15 ...
... Nodule.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Spindle-shaped floating bodies whose buoyancy exceeds their own weight are arranged like a catamaran at the bottom of the machine frame, and these floating bodies are rotatably supported by a drive device, and these floating bodies have a structure for traveling and digging. A helical blade is attached to form an excavation vehicle, and an ore collector towed by the excavation vehicle is provided behind the excavation vehicle in the direction of movement. A running body for mining manganese nodules, consisting of an ore lifting pipe attached to the rear part. 2. The manganese nodule mining traveling body according to claim 1, wherein a large number of scrapers are provided protruding from the rear half of each floating body.