US 12,140,410 B2
Method of and apparatus for establishing a blasting system
Elmar Lennox Muller, Johannesburg (ZA); Riaan Lingenfelder Van Wyk, Johannesburg (ZA); Tielman Christiaan Meyer, Johannesburg (ZA); and Marius Christo Botha, Johannesburg (ZA)
Assigned to DETNET SOUTH AFRICA (PTY) LTD, Johannesburg (ZA)
Appl. No. 17/271,853
Filed by DETNET SOUTH AFRICA (PTY) LTD, Johannesburg (ZA)
PCT Filed Aug. 21, 2019, PCT No. PCT/ZA2019/050048
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Feb. 26, 2021,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/047560, PCT Pub. Date Mar. 5, 2020.
Claims priority of application No. 2018/05693 (ZA), filed on Aug. 27, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2021/0318108 A1, Oct. 14, 2021
Int. Cl. F42D 1/10 (2006.01); B25J 5/00 (2006.01); B25J 11/00 (2006.01); F42D 1/04 (2006.01)
CPC F42D 1/10 (2013.01) [B25J 5/007 (2013.01); B25J 11/0025 (2013.01); F42D 1/04 (2013.01)] 6 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
3. Apparatus for use in establishing a blasting system which includes a vehicle with:
a load bed,
ground-engaging drivers which support the load bed, and
a drive system for driving the ground-engaging drivers in a controlled manner over the ground, and
mounted on or coupled to the load bed;
navigation aids for determining the position of the vehicle in relation to a blast site at which a plurality of blast holes have previously been formed,
a processor, responsive to the navigation aids, for controlling movement of the vehicle at the blast site whereby the vehicle is controlled to move in succession to each of the blast holes,
a store of a plurality of detonators,
robotic means, operable by the processor at each blast hole to remove from the store a detonator, to program the removed detonator with a respective delay time calculated for each of the plurality of blast holes to thereby implement a selected blasting sequence for the plurality of blast holes at the blast site, and to place the respective programmed detonator into the blast hole for which the respective time delay was calculated, and
a pump, under the control of the processor,
the pump serving to pump a controlled amount of emulsion from a source on or associated with the vehicle into the respective blast hole.