Drill Rigs and Machinery of Epiroc（二）

By Hu Ming and Dong Xinye from Secretariat of China Rock Drilling Tools Association

In the mid-1950s, manufacturers began to apply hydraulic technology to the control system of drill rigs. In addition to the impact system and rotation system of drifters, the rotation, feed and walking systems of drill rig were all hydraulically controlled. The system greatly shortens working time and improves production efficiency. By the early 1960s, drill rigs in industrially developed countries had gradually become the main equipment in mechanized drilling projects.

In the early 1970s, the invention of hydraulic drifters led to the release of hydraulic drill rigs, which brought the drilling technology to a new stage of development. By the mid-1980s, about 30 manufacturers around the world had introduced nearly a hundred models of hydraulic drill rigs and dozens of models of hydraulic drifters to the market. Now, hydraulic drill rigs have been widely used for tunneling, mining, bolt anchoring, and quarrying in construction, highway and railway tunnels, slope support, large and medium-sized surface and underground mines, quarries, hydropower and water conservancy projects, national defense construction, etc. With the advancement of drilling and blasting technology, drill rigs have shown the superiority in construction, and been accepted by more and more projects.