US1173170A - Mining-machine. - Google Patents

Description

f. CABTLIDGE. MINING MACHINE.

F. CARTLIDGE.

MINING MACHINE.

I/I//TA/ESSES BY l y TTH/I/EY F. CRTLIDGE. M|N|NG MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 21. 1913. Lwlm. Patented Feb. 29,19%.

5 SHEETSSHEET 4.

F. CARTLIDGE.

MINING MACHINE.

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APPLICATION FILED OCT 21,1913

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FRANK CARTLIDGE, 0F TERRE HAUTE, INDIANA.

f 'aerien MINING-MACHINE. l

To all whom z't may concern Be it known that L FRANK. CARTLIDGE, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Terre Haute, in the county of Vigo and State of indiana, have invented a new and useful Mining-Machine, of which the following is a specification.

class of mining machinery wherein cutter blades are carried by a power-driven endless chain and the chain as a whole is movable .transversely to feed the cutter blades into the material bein mined.

The objects of my invention are to provide an effective meansfor controllingthe feeding or' a mining machine; to provide means for varying the angle between the cutter chain and the body of the machine to suit varying conditions; to provide for disconnecting the cutter chain from its operating mechanism; as when it lis desired to operate the feeding mechanism rapidly to set the machine independently of the opera tion of the cutter chain. a l

The accompanying drawings illustrate my invention. 4

In these drawings Figure 1 is a plan View of a mining machine embodying a form of my invention wherein the same power operating mechanism drives the cutter chain and produces the feeding;Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section, slightly reduced, through the machine shown in- Fig. v1; Fig. 3 is an enlarged section on the ,line 3-3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a side elevation, partly in cross section of that part of the machine which is shown. in Fig. 3, illustrating the brakemechanism; Fig. 5 is a detail showing the means for disconnecting the cutter chain from its operating mechanism; Fig. 6 is a detail showing the bearing for the cutter chain sprocketbeing a section taken on the line 6-6of Fig. l; Fig. 7 is a section on the line 7-7 of Fig. 2; Fig. 8 is a plan view, with some parts broken away, showing a machine embodying another form of my invention, wherein separate power operating devices are used for driving the cutter chain and for producing the feeding; Fig. 9 is an enlarged longitudinal vertical section through the machine shown in Fig. 8; Fig. 10 is a section on the line 10-10 of Fig. 9; Fig. 11 is a diagram indicating the operation in the materiai being mined of the form of machine shown in Fig. 8; Fig. 12 is an electrical diagram showing the con- Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 29, 1216.

Application filed 0ctobe'r21, 1913. Serial No. 796,410.

nections for the form of machine shown in Fig. 1; and Fig. 13 is an electrical diagram showing the connections for theform of machine shown in Fig. 8.

`Within the main body 15 ofthe machinef of the form shown in Figs. 1 to l is mounted the single electric motor' 16, which, as My invention relates particularly to that illustrated in Fig. 12, lis conveniently provided with cumulatively compound field windings. One end of the motor shaft 17 projects beyond the main body 15 into a. casing TLS-adjustable to different angles to the main body 15 about the aXisof the shaft 17, such adjustment conveniently being obtained by a screw19 and the two parts 15 and 18 being clamped in `adjusted ,position by bolts 2Q extending through slots in the casing member 18- into the main body 15, as shown in Fig. 7. The end of the shaft 17 projecting into lthe casing member 18 carries a. bevel pinion 21 which normally meshes with a bevel gear 22 mounted on a substantially vertical shaft 23 to rotate therewith but being slidable axially, saidy shaft 23 being suitably journaled in the casing member 18. Conveniently, the bevel gear 22 forms part of a sleeve 24 splined on the shaft 23 and provided at its upper end with aj collar-25 with the under side of which ycoperates anv eccentric 26 operable by a suitable handle 27, as shown in Figs. 1 and 5. By' turning the handle 27 the eccentric 26 lifts the collar 25 and the bevel gear 22 to disengage the latter from the pinion 21, as when it ,is desired to operatev the motor`16 without operating the shaft 23 or when it is desired to turn the shaft 25 by hand without operating the motor. In order to prevent accidental disengagement ofthe pinion 21 and gear 22, the sleeve 24 is normally held in ,its lower position by a U-shaped washer 28 pivoted at y29 and movable either into or out of engaging` position with the upper end of thesleeve 24. This washer must be moved out of'engagement with the sleeve 24 before the handle 27 can be turned to disengage the gear 22 from the pinion 21.

Pivoted on theax-is of the shaft 23 is a cutter chain frame 30, which may be swung to various positions in relation to the casing 18 and fastened in such position by'bolts eX- tending through holes 31 in such casing. Usually three positions for the frame 30 are suiiicient,` one in line with and two at right angles to the main body 15. The lower end of the shaft 23 carries driving sprocket 32 for the cutter chain 33, which is provided with the usual cutters 33. The cutter chain 33 passes over both the driving sprocket 32 and a sprocket 34 at the outer end of the frame 30. The sprocket 34 is subjected to great wear because it must withstand the pressure against the cutter chain 33 at the outer end of the frame 30, and also because its bearing surface is limited by the narrow space in which the frame 30 and the parts carried thereby must operate. Therefore there 4is provided. a special bearing for this sprocket 34, as shown best in Fig; 6. A cup-shaped bearing 35 is ,clamped between the upper and lower plates 36 and 37 forming the outer end of the frame 30, suoli cup bearing 35 being open upward. The cup bearing 35 rests in an oil cup 38. which is eccentric to the bearing 35 and the edges of .which project upward into an annular groove 39 in the. under side of the sprocket 34, the hub of the sprocket 34 extending from the under side of the plate 36 to the upper side of the bottom of the cup 38. A bushing may be provided, if desired, be-Y tween the hub of the sprocket 34 and the surface of the bearing 35. Dowel pins 40 extend through the bottom of the cup 38 and into both the plate 37 and the cup bearing 35, and the parts are fastened together by a bolt 41 and nuts 42 and 43 thereon, the nut 42 being entirely within the cup bearing 35 and the nut 43 projecting into the upper end of such bearing and forming a support 'therefor and also having a tapered fit in the plate 36 to clamp the latter and the plate 37 together. By reason of the eccentricity ofthe oil cup 38, the permissible wear of the sprocket 34 and its cup bearing 35 before a new sprocket or bearing is required is greatly increased, as such eccentricity allows the sprocket and bearing to wear away and be forced inwardly by the pressure on the cutter chain to a greater extent before the sprocket begins to bear against the sides of the oil cup 38.

' The opposite end of the .motor shaft 17 from that on which the bevel pinion 21 is mounted carries a pinion 50 which meshes with a gear 51, the latter being rotatable with a worm 52 which meshes with a worin gear 53, and. the worm gear 53 being rotatable with a pinion 54 which meshes with a gear 55 co-axial with and rotatable rela tively to a shaft 57. Beside the gear 55 are located two gears 58 and 59, xed respectively on the shaft 57 and on a sleeve 60 rotatable on the shaft 57. The gears 58 59 are of dierent size and mesh respectively with sets of co-axial planet gears 61 and 62 carried by the gear 55, the planet gears 61 and 62 also being of diderent size tocorrespond with the gears 58 and 59. ylhe parte 55 to 62 are all located within an oil-containing casing 56. The sleeve 60 has fixed thereon a brake drum 63, with which coperates a brake band 64 operatively connected to a pivoted brake lever 65 connected to the core 66 of an electromagnet having a main winding 67 and an opposing winding 68. The opposing winding 68 is connected in series with the-armature of the motor 16, so that its strength varies with the load on such motor, while the main winding 67 is of substantially constant strength, as by being connected across the supply leads 69 and 7 O'from which the current is derived, as shown in Fig. 12.` The shaft 57 at the end carrying the sleeve 60 has fixed thereon a plate 71 `which is normally rotatable rela tively to the brake drum 63 but may be fastened thereto to prevent relative rotation between them by means of bolts 72 extending through holesY in the plate 714 and through an annular slot in the side face of the brake drum 63. The other end of the shaft 57 has fixed thereon a pinion 73 which meshes with an internal gear 74 on a wind ing drum 75 over which extends a cable 76 by means of which the feeding is accomplished. A,

In operation, the cable 76 is extending from the drum 75 around such pulleys 78 carried by the main body 15 as may be necessary for producing the desired movement of the machine by windingup the cable on the drum 75., the free end of the cable 76 being attached to a suitable stationary point toward which it is desired to pull the machine; though in practice this feeding is accomplished by extending the cable directly from the drum 75 between the two pulleys 78 nearest it so as to obtain a direct pull except during the preliminary setting of the machine. This is illustrated in Figs. 1 and 11. A shoe 79 may be pro videdfor riding against the face of the material being mined, such shoe conveniently being made to fit interchangeably on either side of the machine according to the side of the machine presented to the face of the material being mined. The cable 76 may also be used for Aturning the cutter frame 30 around its pivotal axis on the shaft' 23, by extending the cable over the proper pulleys 78 and attachingit to a suitable point on the cutter frame. DuringV the preliminary setting of the machine and its parts, the

bevel gear 22 vis conveniently disengaged from the pinion 21, and the nuts on the bolts 72 are tightened to prevent movement between the sleeve 60 and the shaft 57; wherev upon the operation of the motor 16 drives the shaft 57 at the saine rate of speed as it drives the gear 55. To prevent interference by the brake band 64 with this rapid movenient, a switch 80 may be provided as shown in Fig. l2. which switch when in the position shown connects the main winding 67 .of

the brake magnet in circuit but when in the other position opens the circuit for such main winding and short-circuits the diiferential winding 68, thus rendering the brake magnet inoperative. After the machine and its various parts have been set in the desired position to begin cutting, the end of the cable 76 is connected to the desired fixed -point to produce'the desired feeding, the gear l22, is allowed to mesh with the pinion 21, the nuts on the bolts 72 are loosened to permit freedom of` rotation between the sleeve 60 and the shaft 57, and the switch 80 is moved to its-normal position as shown in F ig. 12. The length of the machine is such in this form ofmy invention that the shoe 79 and the reaction on the cutter blades 33 of the material being mined prevents skewing ofthe machine, so that a guiding cable such as used in that form of my invention described lhereinafter is not ordinarily necessary in this form of my invention. After the machine is set as described, the device is put into operation by closing the circuit of the motor 16, which now drives both the cutter chain 33 and the main gear b 55 of the planet gearing to operate the machine as illustrated diagrammatically in Fig. 11. The movement of the winding drum 7 5 now depends on the load put on the motor 16 by the cutters 33. When such load is light, the armature current of the motor 16 is small, so that thedemagnetizing effect of the winding. 68 is weak .and the brake magnet is strongly effective to hold the brake band 64 against the brake drum 63- to retard or completely preventrotation of the sleeve 60 and gear 59. The movement of the gear 55 causes the planet gears 61 and 62 to react between the gears 58 and 59, and of the retardation or stoppage of the gear 59 this reaction produces a circumferential advance of the gear 58 and a consequentl driv- .ing of the Winding drum 75 to wind up the cable-76 and draw the machine forward in.

the desired direction. As the machine travelsforward the load. increases on the cutters 33 and the motor 16` and in con the gear 58 to decrease or even to stop com' pletely, thus diminishing or stopping the winding action of the drum 75, thus causing the load on the motor 16 to decrease. ne this load thus decreases, the strength of the brake magnet is increased, the rotation of the gear 59 is in consequence diminished Aor stopped, and the rotation of the winding drum 7 5 `is resumed or increased to increase the load on the motor 16. By this arrangement the feeding of the machine is made to `vary in inverse sense to the load on the cutting mechanism, and such load is maintained constant within predetermined limits.

1n the form of my invention shown in Figs. 8, 9, 10 and 13, the winding drum 75 is operated by a motor 85 separate from the main motor 16 which drives the cutting chain. 1n this form, shaft 23 is driven from the shaft 17 of a motor 16 by a bevel pinion 21 meshing with a bevel gear 22 mounted on the shaft 23 to rotate theretical shaft 88. The hub of the gear 87 carries a sleeve 89 provided with anoutward iange at its lower end, an'd on the sleeve 89 and between thisflange and the web of the gear 87 is rotatably mounted the driving sprocket 32 of the cutter chain 33, this sprocket being connectible to the gear 87 y means of a pin 90 which can be dropped through a suitable hole inthe web of the gear 87 against the web of the sprocket 32 so as to be engaged by a bridge 91 carried thereby. A sleeve 98 is rotatably mounted on the shaft 23 and is provided with a bevel gear 99 which meshes with a bevel pinion 100 on the shaft of the feed motor 85. The sleeve 98 carries a worm 101 meshing with a worm gear 102 which is rotatable with a pinion 103 meshing with the main gear 55 of a planet gearing very similar to that used in connection with the form of invention irst described. This gear 55 is fixed on and forms part of the planet gear casing 56 rotatably mounted on the shaft 57', and within this planet gear casing are mounted two unequal gears 58 and 59 carried respectively by the shaft 57 and by a sleeve .60 rotatably mounted on such shaft. The

planet gear easing 56 and the gear 55 project downward into an oil cup 10a, so as to maintain fthe parts constantly lubricated. Because of the very limited space available for this gearing,` this oil cup v104 projects within the gear 87, the latter being concave on its upper side to permit this. lhis allows the great compactness absolutely essential" in machines of this character. rThe shaft 57 carries a pinion 73 meshing with an internal gear 74 onthe winding drum 75. A sliding clutch member 105 is splined on the sleeve 60 and is provided with two clutch faces, which coperate with clutch faces on the end of the planet gear casing 56 and on a vstationary member 106 respectively. The clutch member 105 is movable by an operating handle 107 into engagement. either with the planet gear casing 56 or the stationary member 106, or to a neutral y tached thereto.

position out of engagement with both. When the clutch member 105 is inengagement with the planet gear casing 56, the relative movement is prevented between the sleeve 60', the planet gear casing 5G', and the shaft 57', so that operation of the feed motor 85 drives the shaft 57' at the same speed as it does the gear This rapid movement of the shaft 57 is used for preliminary setting of the machine. For hand setting, the end of the shaft 17 may be made square, to permit a cranking lever to be at- VVhen the clutch member 105 is in its neutral position, the operation of the motorf85 produces no movement of the shaft 57 because the sleeve 00 is left free tol move and there is nothing for the planet gears to react against as they must in order to produce rotation of the shaft 57. When the clutch member 105 is in engagement with the stationary member 10G, vthe sleeve 60' is held stationary, so that operation of the feed motor 85 causes theplanet gears to react between the gears 58 and 59 and rotatevthe former to produce rotation of the shaft 57. In order to makethis rotation of the shaft 57', and the consequent rotation of the drum vary in inverse sense as the load on the cutting mechanism, the motor 85 is provided with a shunt Winding 108, and also with a winding 109 in series with the armature of the main motor 16', as-

shown in Fig. 13. These two windings are cumulative. As the load on the main motor 16 increases, there is'an increase in the current flowing through the winding109, and in consequence an increase in'the field strength of the feed motor 85. 'Because of this increase in field strength, the motor 85 is retarded and the feeding operation` is thereby caused to take place at a decreased speed,- thus decreasing the load on the mainV motor 16. As the load on the main motor 16 decreases, there is a resultant decrease in strength in the winding 109 and a resultant decrease in the field strength of the feed motor 85, thus causing the feed motor to increase in speed to increase the rate of feeding. Thus in this form also the rate of feeding is varied automatically in inverse sense as the load on the cutting mechanism, and such load is maintained constant within predetermined limits. 1n this latter form of machine 1 conveniently provide a separate guiding cable 110, which passes over a drum 111 provided with a hand-controlled brake band 112 whereby the unwinding of the drum 111 may be controlled. rThis is clearly illustrated in the full line position of Fig. 11, which shows the normal cutting operation. The dotted line position of Fig. 11 illustrates the feeding of the machine into the face of the material to be mined, preliminary to the normal cutting operation. During this preliminary feeding or setting, it is not ordinarily necessary to use the guiding cable 110, the main cable 76y being passed around such of the pulleys 78 as may be necessary to produce the desired movement of the machine into the face of the material being mined.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a mining machine, the combination of feeding mechanism, a moto-r, a gearing through which said motor' and said feeding mechanism are connected, said gearing including a planetary gear ,embodying two gears of diiferent size interconnected leyV planet gears, and releasable means forholding one vof said two gears of different size stationary.

2. In a mining machine, the combination ofy feeding mechanism, a motor, a lgearing through whichv said motor and said feeding mechanism are connected, said ygearing including a planetary. gear `embodying two gears of different size interconnected by planet gears, and means for holding one of said two gears` of different size stationary.

3. In a mining machine, the combination of feeding mechanism, a motor, a gearing through which said motor and said feeding mechanism are connected, said gearing 1ncluding a planetary gear embodying two gears of different size interconnected by planet gears, and releasable means for holding one of said two gears of dierent size stationary and for locking said two gears of different size together.

1n witness whereof, 1 have hereunto set my hand at Indianapolis, lndiana, this 8th day of October, A. D. one thousand nine hundred and thirteen.

FRANK CARTLDGE.

Witnesses FRANK A.. Fai-inn, G. B. SCHLEY.

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