The Normet Corporation of Finalnd has launched a new personnel and equipment transporter that is designed expressly to cope with the rigors of the underground environment, the Normet RBO.
Normet was established in 1962 and since that time has designed, produced and serviced rubber tyred mobile equipment for the mining and tunnelling industries. With this heritage behind it, the Normet RBO has been designed to have durability for underground conditions that many of the existing utility vehicles in use at operations cannot hope to match. Often, surface tractors or pick-up trucks will be modified for underground use, such as tuning for emission control and limiters, but Normet said: “In most cases, however, the vehicles have proven not to last at [withstanding] the extreme underground conditions.”
The new vehicle features an electronically controlled 95kW engine from Caterpillar or Deutz to give the power to cope with steep terrain. Manoeuvrability and ease of use is enhanced by an electronically controlled automatic hydrostatic transmission, hydrostatic Orbitrol-type power steering (factory configured as left or right hand drive), two circuit oil immersed multidisc brakes and a failsafe parking/emergency brake.
Parabolic leaf springs and hydraulic shock absorbers are used for the suspension and further aspects of the design that are explicitly orientated towards an underground operation include: fresh air blower with filtering, laminated safety windscreen, sound insulation and a ROPS / FOPS approved cabin. The crewcab has room for five persons and the open cargo bed has a one tonne carrying capacity that can accommodate the Euro-pallet size. If required, the cargo bed can be equipped with a crane.
Normet claims the use of heavy-duty materials, robust construction and precise manufacturing will maximise the operating availability and minimise maintenance requirements. Production will commence during the autumn this year and the Normet RBO will be exhibited at the MINExpo event in Las Vegas from 27-30 September.
