Patent Application
20090066148
This invention relates to mining machines including a cutting drum mounted on a sumping frame, and more particularly, to such machines with mechanisms to improve the stability of the mining machine as the cutting drum sumps forward.
In the art of underground mining such as applied to the mining of coal from underground seams it is well known to mine solid mineral by providing mobile mining apparatus having mining head adapted by means of articulated mountings for dislodging the mineral in a substantially continuous manner. In practice such continuous mining operations often have comprised alternating sump and shear cutting cycles wherein the mining head is first actuated through a sump or horizontal cut into the mine face preparatory to a shear cut, and then through the shear or vertical cut across the face surface to dislodge mineral there from and to provide clearance for the advancing mining apparatus to pass. Subsequently the mining apparatus is trammed forward into the clearance cut by the mining head on tracks or the like to again position the apparatus adjacent the face surface for another sump and shear cutting sequence. Commonly, such continuous mining apparatus has also been adapted to automatically gather and load the mineral dislodged by the repeated cutting sequences into haulage means such as shuttle cars.
One of the principal objects of the invention is to provide an improved sumping continuous miner that provides better support to the miner when the cutting drum is sumping forward.
This invention is a continuous miner including a support frame having a support frame front, and a sumping frame mounted on the support frame for forward and rearward movement relative to the support frame. The sumping frame has a sumping frame front, and the miner further includes a cutting drum pivotally mounted on the sumping frame, the cutting drum being positioned near the sumping frame front. The miner also includes a gathering head for gathering mined minerals pivotally mounted on the sumping frame front, and a hydraulic cylinder for pivoting and fixing the gathering head relative to the sumping frame in both the raising and lowering directions. The continuous miner also includes a first drilling platform pivotally mounted on the support frame front, a second drilling platform pivotally mounted on the support frame front and spaced apart from the first drilling platform, a hydraulic cylinder for pivoting and fixing the first drilling platform relative to the support frame independently of the second drilling platform, and a hydraulic cylinder for pivoting and fixing the second drilling platform relative to the support frame independently of the first drilling platform.
Before one embodiment of the invention is explained in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of the construction and the arrangements of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or being carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. Use of “including” and “comprising” and variations thereof as used herein is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items. Use of “consisting of” and variations thereof as used herein is meant to encompass only the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof. Further, it is to be understood that such terms as “forward”, “rearward”, “left”, “right”, “upward” and “downward”, etc., are words of convenience in reference to the drawings and are not to be construed as limiting terms.
As illustrated in
The continuous miner 10 includes a mobile crawler base 14 carrying a support frame 12 on which is pivotally mounted adjacent the forward end or sumping frame front 19 thereof a sumping frame or assembly 20 including a forwardly extending boom 22 pivotally connected to the sumping frame 20 and adapted to swing vertically intermediate a mine roof 26 and a floor 16. The sumping frame 20 is mounted on the support frame 12 for forward and rearward movement relative to the support frame 12. More particularly, the support frame 12 has a support frame front 17. The miner 10 also includes gathering means 28 for gathering mined minerals, the gathering means 28 being pivotally mounted on the sumping frame front 19, as further explained below.
The miner 10 also includes a cutting drum 18 attached to the end of the boom 22, and the cutting drum 18 is positioned near the sumping frame front 19. The cutting drum shown schematically at 18 may assume any of numerous well known forms such as a transversely extending cylindrical drum rotatably secured adjacent the forward most end of boom 22. A driving motor (not shown) is connected to the drum 18 as by a suitable drive train (not shown) to power the drum 18 in rotation whereby suitable cutter bit members (not shown) carried thereon are adapted to tear or gouge coal or other minerals from a mine face (not shown) as the head 18 is advanced into the mine face during mining.
More particularly, the gathering means for gathering mined minerals is a well-known gathering head 28. The gathering head 28 is pivotally carried adjacent the forward end 19 of the support frame 12, and extends forwardly there from generally adjacent the support boom 22 to gather the coal dislodged by the cutting drum 18. The gathering head 28 moves the minerals, such as coal, inwardly and rearwardly as by means of oscillating gathering arms (not shown) and a flighted chain conveyor 32 toward a well known loading boom 34 also carried by the sumping frame 20 adjacent the rearward end thereof and extending rearwardly there from. Boom 34 includes thereon any suitable powered conveying means (not shown) such as a flighted chain conveyor similar to the conveyor 32 for conveying coal received from the gathering head 28 rearwardly into any suitable hauling means (not shown) such as shuttle cars or the like.
Still more particularly, the sumping frame 20 is mounted on the support frame 12 as follows. As illustrated in
As best shown in
More particularly, as best shown in
As shown schematically in
The miner 10 also includes means 82 for pivoting and fixing the gathering means relative to the sumping frame in both the raising and lowering directions. More particularly, the means 82 for pivoting and fixing the gathering means includes a hydraulic cylinder 86 extending between the frame front and the gathering head. And still more particularly, two spaced apart hydraulic cylinders 86 extend between the sumping frame front and the means for gathering mined minerals, and each cylinder 86 is on an opposite side of the gathering head. A valve arrangement similar to that shown in regards to the hydraulic cylinders 58 and 62 is used to fix the gathering head 28 in a particular position. A significant difference however is that the two cylinders 86 are operated in unison by a single directional control valve, as opposed to independently like the cylinders 58 and 62. This has the advantage of providing further structural stability to the continuous miner 10 when the sumping frame 20 is slid forward along the support frame 12.
Various other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following claims.
