US2031421A - Attachment for mining machines - Google Patents

Description

web. W36., W. A. LOGAN ATTACHMENT FOR MININGMACHINES Filed April 2, 1955M 5 Sheets-Sheet l @j 6,1m@ www Fe. H8, 1936. w. A. LOGAN ATTACHMENT FOR MINING .MACHINES Filed April 2, 1935 3 sheets-sheet 2 Feb. 18, 1936. W A LOGAN ATTAGHMENTFOR MINING MACHINES Filed April 2, 1935 5 sheets-sheet 5 jatenteci` Fel). 18,

TENT FFEE William Archibald Logan, Kinghorn, Fife, Scotland Application April 2, 1935, Serial No. 14,198 in Great Britain April 6, 1934 2 Claims.

means for loading the mined material on to a face conveyor or the like, haulage means for imparting feeding movement to the mining machine and -he attachment, means for removing cuttings from the cutter element of the'mining machine, and a motor and speed-reducing gearing for driving the said components of the attachment.

The attachment is readily convertible for operation on a mine seam disposed on either side of the line of travel of the mining machine.

in the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 is a plan view, Fig. 2 a side elevation, and Fig. 3 an end elevation, showing an attachment according to the invention attached to the gear head onf a longwall mining machine. Figs. 4 and 5 are frag- `mentary diagrammatic detail views of parts of the attachment. Fig. 6 is a transverse section of a nnne seam showing theV incisions made in said seam by the cutter elements of the mining machine and attachment.

Referring to the drawings, l denotes the horizontally disposed cutter jib, 2 the cutter chain, and 3 the gear head, of a longwall mining machine.

Attached to the gear head 3 is an attachment i including adjoining steel casings 4 and 5, re-

spectively. The casing i houses reduction gearing hereinafter described, and the casing 5 houses electric motor the rotor t of which is rotatable on a vertical axis.

A reduction gear train l-I (Fig. 4) partly housed within the casing 4, operatively interconnects the rotor shaft of the motor with a hollow vertical shaft it jcurnalled within the casing 4 and telescopically engaged by a second vertical shaft i2 joornalled and axially located in a rotatable turret I3 iitted on top of the casing 4. On the upper end oi the shaft l2, which projects upwardly through the turret i3, is secured a sprocket wheel i4 which drives acutter chain l5 circulating around a horizontally disposed jibl I6 attached by a bracket Il to the turret I3. The cutter chains 2 and l5 circulate in opposite directions as indicated by arrows in Fig. 1. The turret i3, which carries the cutter jlb I6 and its cutter-chain-driving shaft l2, is mounted for vertical adjustment on theY casing 4, adjustment eing eiiected by the operation of turret-supporting screws i8.

As is understood, the cutter jib l is adapted to be swung ina horizontal plane through a semi- 5 circle so that it may be positioned for operation at either side of the mining machine. The cutter jib i5 is` also swingable for operation at either side of the attachment, there being associated with the turret i3, for this purpose, a rope sheave I9 10 around which a rope may be trained for the purposeV of slewing the cutter jib l5 as required. Cutter-jib-locking means of usual design may be provided for locking the cutter jibs in operative position.

Surrounding the upper end of the stator Se of the motor is a rope haulage drum 2Q adapted to be stepwise rotated by a hydraulic reciprocating motor indicated conventionally at 2l (Fig. 5) and operatively connected to a scroll cam 22 se- 20 cured on a shaft 23 (Fig. a) carrying a gear pinion 24 which meshes with a gear ring 25 unitary with the drum 2S. The hydraulic motor 2! imparts vibratory motion to a lever 25 in opposition to the action of a spring 2l, whereby to im- 25 part stepwise rotation to the scroll cam 22 through the medium of rollers or ballsl 2t co-operating with wedging surfaces 29 presented by the scroll cam 22. Adjustable means is provided at 3Q in the operative connection between the hydraulic mo- 30 tor 2l and the lever 25, whereby to permit variation of the stepwise movement transmited to the drum 2li, Pressure oil is supplied to the hydraulic motor 2| by a pump 3i (Fig. 4) driven by means of an eccentric 32 from a shaft 33. 35

The shaft 33 extends transversely of the casing 5 and is driven from the rotor 6 of the electric motor through a gear train including the rotor pinion l, an idler Vgear wheel Se, a gear wheel 35, and a worm gear 36 meshing with a worm wheel 40 3l on. the shaft 33. A

The attachment is provided with a hollow base 3d within which circulates a scraper conveyor including a chain Se equipped with Scrapers il) adapted to remove the cuttings from the cutter chain 2 and to discharge said cuttings through an opening 4I at the rear end of the hollow base 38. The chain 39 is trained. around a pair of sprockets 42 within the iront end of the base 38 and around a second pair o1" sprockets 43 within the rear end of the base 33. The scraper conveyor is driven from the shaft H through gear pinions 44, 45 which transmit the drive to one of the chain sprockets 42. A channel-shaped fil ` Scrapers 5| and wrapping sprockets on a spaced pair of shafts 52, 53 of which the shaft 53 is driven from the shaft 33 through a sprocket 54, a chain 55, and a sprocket 56. Attached to the front of the box-base 48 is a wedge-shoe 51 extending in advance of the loader conveyor. Journalled immediately in front of the loader conveyor is a peripherally spiked roller 58 adapted to prevent the shoe 51 from jamming in the cut made in the mine seam by the cutter chain 2 and to assist in lifting the mined material on to the loader conveyor 41. The inner end of the roller 58 is geared to the shaft 33 through chain sprockets 59, 60 and a chain 6|. 62 denotes a shearing cutter chain which is driven from the roller 58 through chain sprockets 63, 64 wrapped by a chain 65.

The cutter chain 62 circulates around a jib 66 which is supported from the wedge-shoe 51 by a bracket 61.

Rollers 68 journalled in front of the roller 58 serve to assist the mined material to slide on to the wedge-shoe 51, so that the material will be entrained by the spikes on the roller 58.

69 denotes a roller journalled in the box-base 48 behind the loader conveyor and adapted to receive the return bight of a face conveyor belt 10.

` For securing the attachment to the gear head 3 of the mining machine the attachment is provvided with a pair of tram-like extensions 1| adapted to be bolted to the gear head 3.

The partially rotatable box-base 48 permits the loader conveyor 41 to be assembled at either side of the attachment, the shearing cutter jib 66 being mountable, for this purpose, on either side of the loader conveyor 41, and the cutter chain 62 being operatively connectible to either end of the roller 58. The chain sprockets 56, 59 may be coupled to either end of the shaft 33.

In operation, prior to xing the attachment to the mining machine, the cutter jib l of the machine is swung under the mine seam and locked in cutting position, and a space of about ten feet is cut from the seam and the mined material filled out. The attachment is then moved under its own power into position against the gear head 3 of the machine and bolted thereto. The face conveyor belt is trained round the roller 69 at the rear of the loader conveyor. As will be understood, as the machine and the attachment are fed forwardly by means of the haulage drum 20, the seam is horizontally undercut, sawn horizontally on top, and sheared vertically at the back, by the cutter chains 2, I5 and 62, respectively, as shown at 2a, I5a and 62a, respectively, in Fig. 6, the mined material being caught up by the loader conveyor 41 and transferred rearwardly on to the face conveyor 1D.

'Ihe motor of the attachment may be stopped and started by the main switch of the mining machine, or may be operated independently.

I claim:-

1. For a longwall mining machine having a horizontally disposed cutter element and a face conveyor, an attachment including a horizontally disposed cutter element adapted to make an incision in a mine seam above the incision made by the cutter element of the mining machine, an upright shearing cutter element adapted to make an upright incision in the seam between the inner ends of the said rst and second mentioned incisions, means for loading the mined material on to the face conveyor, haulage means for imparting feeding movement to the mining machine and the attachment, means for removing cuttings from the cutter element of the mining machine, a driving motor, and speed-reducing gearing for transmitting power from said motor to the said second and third mentioned cutter elements and to said loading, haulage and removing means.

2. An attachment as claimed in claim 1, including a gear-casing surmounted by a rotatable turret carrying a cutter jib, and an adjoinng casing housing the motor.

W. A. LOGAN.

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