Hydraulically-motivated, rope-operated feed device for rock drills and the like

Claim 1

A hydraulically-motivated, rope-operated, feed device for rock drills and the like, comprising an elongate frame made up of a pair of structural channels secured together in mutually spaced, back-to-back, parallel relationship, so that a set of the longitudinal flanges of said channels form a trackway along one of the longitudinal faces of the frame; a carriage mounted on said trackway for reciprocative travel therealong, said carriage being adapted to receive a rock drill or the like for reciprocative travel therewith; a hydraulic power cylinder unit extending longitudinally of said frame in-between the opposing backs of said structural channels and along one end portion of the frame and comprising a cylinder secured to the frame and a piston having an elongate piston rod extending from said cylinder for work-stroke extension in-between the backs of the structural channels of the frame; cooperative piston rod supporting and guiding means at the extension end of the piston rod, said supporting and guiding means comprising mutually spaced and parallel rails secured to the said backs of the respective structural channels of said frame in mutually opposed relationship intermediate the breadths of said backs, and respective, cooperating riders secured to the extension end of the piston rod and engaging said rails for riding therealong and for support thereby; a pair of sheaves carried in tandem by the work-stroke extension end of said piston rod; idler sheave means at opposite ends of the frame; a rope having one end attached to one end of the carriage and extending along the frame to loop around the sheave means at the corresponding end of the frame, extending back along the frame to loop around the corresponding one of the tandem sheaves, and again extending along the frame to a secure anchorage adjacent the said corresponding end of the frame; a second rope having one end attached to the opposite end of the carriage and extending along the frame to loop around the sheave means at the corresponding other end of the frame, extending back along the frame to loop around the corresponding other of the tandem sheaves, and again extending along the frame to a secure anchorage adjacent the said corresponding other end of the frame; and means for operatively connecting the power cylinder unit with a hydraulic system.