This application claims priority to and the benefit of the filing date of International Patent Application No. PCT/EP2009/000146, filed Jan. 13, 2009, which application claims priority to and the benefit of the filing date of German Patent Application No. 10 2008 005 740.1, filed Jan. 23, 2008.
The invention generally relates to a connector device for connecting an attachment part, in particular a plough guide part, to a lateral element of a trough pan of a mining device, comprising first fittings arranged on the lateral element, comprising counter fittings arranged on the attachment part and detachably connectable to the fittings, and comprising at least one retaining piece, which in the closing position prevents detachment of the fitting and counter fitting and in the opening position permits detachment. The invention further generally relates to a trough pan with detachable attachment part, in particular with detachable machine guide, for mining equipment for mineral mining, wherein the attachment part can be detachably fastened to the trough pan by means of a connector device which has fittings on the trough pan, counter fittings on the attachment part, and at least one retaining piece, which in the closing position prevents detachment of the fitting and counter fitting. The invention also generally relates to an attachment part for a trough pan or for a corresponding connector device.
In underground mining equipment, for example for coal mining, mining machines are used which are moved to and fro along a conveying device for the won coal. In mining equipment of this type, which can be up to 400 m in length, special pans are respectively arranged in the longwall end region, particularly in plough systems, so as to create the necessary structural space not only to be able to draw the plough into the longwall end region, but also to be able to arrange the drives for the plough in the longwall end region.
Corresponding special pans can consist, in particular, of so-called wedge pans, in which the machine guide acquires over the length of the trough pan an increasingly greater distance from the lateral element, and can consist of connector pans, in which the distance apart of the top strand and bottom strand is increased so as subsequently to redirect the chain around a chain wheel. Particularly in the case of these special pans, machine guide parts are used which can be detached from the trough pan to allow the installation, disassembly or repair of a plough, the replacement of sliding blocks on the plough, or the execution of other maintenance works on the plough. The fastening between the detachable machine guide part and the trough pan is realized by connector devices having a fitting and a counter fitting which can be locked in place with at least one retaining piece. The main field of application of the present invention relates to corresponding wedge pans and connector pans having detachable machine guides as the attachment part to the trough pan. However, the invention is also fundamentally applicable on other attachment parts which need to be detached from the trough pan.
A connector device of the generic type is known from DE 20 2004 001 476 U1, and the known connector device comprises, inter alia, hook elements in the lower region of the lateral elements, into which the removable machine guide part can be inserted by means of mounting pieces, so that in the lower region a separable hook coupling is obtained. With the retaining piece, in the connector device of the generic type, the attachment part and the lateral element have only to be prevented from swiveling apart, for which purpose the retaining piece is configured either as a screw-on locking bar or in the form of crescent-shaped bushings which project over the lateral part and, in turn, are secured against detachment by means of a screw bolt. Through the use of the hook coupling, the attachment of the machine guide can certainly be facilitated. However, the release, in particular, of the screw bolts is laborious and time consuming, and can be made considerably more difficult, in particular, by sticking of the bolts, the bushings or the locking bar.
An object of the invention is to provide a connector device, together with trough pan and attachment part, in which the attachment part can be quickly and easily removed.
According to an aspect of the invention, this object can be achieved in respect of the connector device by virtue of the fact that to the retaining piece there is assigned a hydraulic cylinder for moving the retaining piece between the closing and opening position. By virtue of the inventively used hydraulic cylinder for actuation of the retaining piece, it is possible, provided that suitable hydraulic cylinders are chosen, for even a jammed retaining piece to be moved without difficulty from the closing into the opening position (and vice versa), in which case, in particular, the opportunity is presented to provide the hydraulic pressure for the hydraulic loading of the hydraulic cylinder with the longwall hydraulics. A solution according to the invention, in particular the utilization of a hydraulic cylinder, can be employed by the miner virtually without a tool, since the hydraulic cylinder has merely to be supplied with hydraulic pressure. To this end, it may be sufficient, as will be further explained, to connect the hydraulic cylinder to the anyway present longwall hydraulics, where appropriate, only for a short time.
In a preferred embodiment, two retaining pieces are provided and to each retaining piece there is respectively assigned a hydraulic cylinder. With two retaining pieces, at two mutually spaced positions, fittings and counter fittings can be locked against detachment, so that the attachment part and the trough pan are locked in place with minimum effort, secure against any relative movements one to another. It can be particularly advantageous if each of the two hydraulic cylinders has an extensible and retractable piston rod connected to the associated retaining piece, the hydraulic cylinders preferably being provided with piston rods lying aligned on an axis and being arranged laterally inverted on the lateral element of the trough pan in such a way that the distance apart of the retaining pieces in the closing position is greater than in the opening position. Particularly in this arrangement of the piston rods of hydraulic cylinders, but also in differently positioned hydraulic cylinders with piston rods, it is advantageous if both hydraulic cylinders have a common hydraulic connection for the extension movement and a separate common hydraulic connection for the retraction movement of the piston rods. For the detachment or locking of the connector device, a miner has then only to connect, for example, the longwall hydraulics to the correct hydraulic connection in order to move the hydraulic cylinders in such a way that the retaining piece respectively acquires the desired position.
Further, each fitting and counter fitting has first and second locking or positive locking means, which are spaced apart one above the other with an interspace and which, in the assembled state, interlock, and the retaining piece can respectively be slid into or out of the interspace. Particularly the lower positive locking means could also form a hook coupling, as known from the generic prior art. The upper fittings and counter fittings could then include bars or the like arranged one behind the other, which are provided with window cutouts, into which, in the assembly position, the retaining piece is inserted. Alternatively, the counter fittings can be configured as hook elements, which can be hung in grooves on the fittings, preferably both the upper and the lower fittings and counter fittings respectively including pairs of hook elements and grooves, since this embodiment makes do with relatively little structural space.
In another embodiment, the fittings can include C-shaped profiled parts having end members and a transverse member rigidly connecting these same, the transverse member preferably containing a transverse bore for receiving a centering element for the centering and connection of trough pans arranged one behind the other. The centering elements are used, in particular, when the detachable attachment parts, which are preferably provided with suitable toggle sockets for the reception of connecting toggles, are not yet installed, or are disassembled, in order that there is no risk of the trough pans being able to be pushed apart once the plough guide parts are disassembled.
It can be further advantageous if the retaining pieces rest displaceably on guide pieces attached, in particular welded, to the lateral element. As a result of the interplay between the guide piece and the piston rod, a secure guidance of the retaining pieces parallel to the lateral part of the trough pans can thus be achieved with relatively simple means, without the risk of guides for the retaining pieces becoming clogged by fine coal agglomerations or the like. The fittings and counter fittings can include, in particular, of strong bars of several centimeters length, which allow a hanging fastening of the attachment part to the lateral element. As explained further above, the fittings and counter fittings can also however, in the lower region of a hook coupling and in the upper region, include mutually parallel locking bars. Expediently, the retaining pieces are movable parallel to the lateral element and/or horizontally.
The above-stated object can be achieved in a trough pan according to an aspect of the invention by the fact that the connector device has a hydraulic cylinder, assigned to the retaining piece and abutted against the lateral element, for moving the retaining piece between an opening and a closing position in which the retaining piece prevents detachment of the fitting and counter fitting. The connector device can, in particular, be provided with the features described further above, in order to achieve the advantages stated there. The attachment part, in particular the machine guide, can include plough guide parts, in particular of plough guide parts for wedge or connector pans in the end region of a mining device.
The attachment part which according to the invention can be usable with such a connector device or with a corresponding trough pan can be configured, in particular, as a plough guide part and can be provided between the counter fittings with a removable closing plate in order, when the closing plate is removed, to expose the hydraulic connections for actuating the hydraulic cylinders of the connector device. The attachment part according to an aspect of the invention hence has located thereon only the counter fittings, plus a protective cover for the hydraulic cylinders, plus the hydraulic connections to the lateral part of the trough pan, so that the hydraulic cylinders, when the plough guide is fitted, lie protected between a rear wall of the plough guide part and the lateral element of the trough pan.
Further advantages and embodiments of a connector device according to the invention will become clear from the following description of an illustrative embodiment of a trough pan with corresponding connector device, as well as of a plough guide which is installable or installed thereon. In the drawing:
In
The invention relates to the device for fastening the detachable plough guide parts 6, 7 to the associated trough pans 8 and 9, which connector device, with the exception of removable closing plates 11, 12 assigned to the plough guide parts 6, 7, is not visible from the representation in
The configuration of the counter fittings 30 on the rear wall 14 of the plough guide part 6 can be seen particularly clearly from
Both hydraulic cylinders 45 can be charged to both sides of a piston face (not represented) of the piston rod with hydraulic fluid, and can be constructed, in particular, as a hydraulic cylinder with unsupported piston. The hydraulic input 48 of both hydraulic cylinders 45 for the extension of the piston rods lies close to the here mutually abutting cylinder covers of the hydraulic cylinders 45, and the hydraulic input 49 for the return movement of the piston rods, and thus of the retaining pieces 40, into the opening position lies close to the opposite ends of the two hydraulic cylinders 45. Both hydraulic inputs 48 are connected by hoses 51 to a common hydraulic connection 52 for the pressurization for the extension movement, and the two hydraulic inputs 49 are connected by further hoses 51′ to a second hydraulic connection 53 for the retraction movement of the retaining pieces 40. In the extension movement, the two hydraulic cylinders 45 are mutually supported with their cylinder covers. In the retraction movement, the two hydraulic cylinders 45 are supported by pins 55 against a here U-shaped mounting block 56.
If the attachment part 6 is now to be detached, the closing plate 11 shown, for example, in
In the underground operating use of a conveying system, all pans of the mining device are interconnected such that they can be angularly moved to a limited extent by means of the strong toggles 19 on the plough guide parts, as well as further toggles on the stowage side. In the case of removable plough guide parts, an interlocking, on the working face side, between the pan having the removable machine guide part and the directly following pan, for example a further wedge pan or, indeed, a normal pan, would be dispensed with. In the trough pan according to the invention, an additional centering and locking means 90 is therefore provided, the construction of which is now described with reference to
As can be clearly seen, in particular, from
For the person skilled in the art, the preceding description will give rise to numerous modifications which shall fall within the range of protection of the appended claims. The figures show an advantageous illustrative embodiment. The lower hook elements and grooves of the fittings and counter fittings could also form a hook coupling, so as to be able to pivot the machine guide part into the assembly position before the retaining piece assumes its locking position or closing position. Self-evidently, the upper fittings and counter fittings are then not normally realized as positive locking means, but rather, for example, as a bar having a mutually fitting recess into which the retaining piece can be inserted. Such and other modifications shall fall within the range of protection of the appended claims. With the solution according to the invention, other attachment parts, in particular including roller bearing guides, etc., could also be detachably fastened to the trough pan.
It will be appreciated that various of the above-disclosed and other features and functions, or alternatives or varieties thereof, may be desirably combined into many other different systems or applications. Also that various presently unforeseen or unanticipated alternatives, modifications, variations or improvements therein may be subsequently made by those skilled in the art which are also intended to be encompassed by the following claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10 2008 005 740 | Jan 2008 | DE | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/EP2009/000146 | 1/13/2009 | WO | 00 | 7/22/2010 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
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WO2009/092535 | 7/30/2009 | WO | A |
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7562764 | Schmidt et al. | Jul 2009 | B2 |
20060070859 | Pahlow et al. | Apr 2006 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
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2040678 | Feb 1972 | DE |
202004001476 | Apr 2004 | DE |
800864 | Sep 1958 | GB |
1145247 | Mar 1969 | GB |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20100288604 A1 | Nov 2010 | US |