Conceptual Design of a Cable Attachment Device for a Mining Machine

Sammanfattning: This report is the result of a master thesis project from the master in machine design at KTH in cooperation with Svea Teknik AB and Atlas Copco Rock Drills AB. Atlas Copco’s department for rock drills and excavation is currently developing a new machine for underground mining. The machine is supposed to work without any operators on it or around it while it excavates. The machine and its systems should therefore be able to be controlled remotely or autonomously. To operate the machine without any operators nearby the machine demands a device that could handle and attach the cables and hoses necessary for the machine to operate on the mine wall as it operates and excavates. The purpose of this master thesis has therefore been to design such a device. The project included many stages such as a background study, concept generation, concept evaluation, concept development and documentation. During the concept generation phase eight concepts of hangers to attach the cables and hoses to the wire mesh was generated. One of these hangers was then chosen to use later with the device. With the hanger chosen five concepts for the device was generated and after a short evaluation of the concepts one was chosen to develop further. The concept was verified with the requirement specification in consideration. The final concept is based on a link arm system that attaches the hanger and cables at the same time on to the wire mesh.