US3408109A - Mining machine with rocker arm controlled front pusher plate - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 29, 1968 P. LOCKWOOD MINING MACHINE WITH ROCKER ARM CONTROLLED FRONT PUSHER PLATE .F'iled June 10; 1966 Oct. 29, 1968 P. LOCKWOOD 3,403,109

MINING MACHINE WITH ROCKER ARM CONTROLLED FRONT PUSHER EJATE Filed June 10, 1966 .3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Ldalilw M, $Aml4lu4-MIL,

Oct. 29. 1968 P. LOCKWOOD 3,

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United States Patent 3,408,109 -MINIr IG MACHINE WITH ROCKER ARM CONTROLLED FRONT PUSHER PLATE Peter Lockwood, near Darlington, Durham, England, assignor, by mesne assignments, to Mining Progress Inc.,

Highland Mills, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed June 10, 1966, Ser. No. 556,615 Claims priority, application Great Britain, July 9, 1965, 29,122/ 65 3 Claims. (Cl. 299-56) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Self-advancing mining machine having forwardly mounted rotary cutting'means on the machine frame,

'a conveyor transversely mounted on a conveyor frame at the foot of the front of the machine frame and advanceable and retractable with respect to the machine frame, the top of the front of the conveyor being spaced from the mine floor in any position of the conveyor, a pusher plate pivotally mounted at its rear edge along the top of the front of the conveyor about a pivot axis correspondingly spaced from the mine floor, and means in the conveyor frame below the conveyor for rocking the pusher plate between a first position downwardly and forwardly inclined to a second position in which the front edge of the pusher plate is raised substantially above such pivot axis and in'turn above the top of the front of the conveyor to permit mineral loading of the conveyor thereby, such rocking means for example including in the conveyor frame a hydraulic cylinder and ram assembly and a rocking support'lever secured to such conveyor frame, an underside pivot on the pusher plate underside, and a link extending forwardly to the underside pivot and pivotally connected at a common pivot at its rear end to both said ram'and support lever and at its forward end to said underside pivot to provide an operative connection below'the conveyor betwee the ram and pusher plate.

This invention relates to mining machines of the selfadvancing type, and provided with forwardly mounted rotary cutting means capable of being urged forwardly with respect to. the frame of the machine so as toremove mineral from a face in the path of. the machine.

According to the present invention, a mining machine of the type referred. to comprisesa conveyer transversely mounted at the foot of the front of the frame of the machine, means in the machine frame for advancingand retracting the conveyor with respect to the frame, a

pusher plate pivotally mounted by its rear edge only along the top of the front ofthe conveyor, and means in the .conveyor frame for rocking .the' pusher plateabout its pivot axis between a position in which the plate inclines downwardly and forwardly from its rear edge to its front edge and a position in which the front edge of the plate is raised to a height substantially above the pivot axis.

When mineral removed by the cuttingmeans lies on the floor in front of themachine, and the cutting head is raised clear of'the floor, the conveyor can be advanced advancing of it (with the conveyor) to be repeated, and

also the upward swinging of the plate, as often as is 3,408,109 Patented Oct. 29, 1968 necessary to remove whatever amount of material has accumulated in front of the machine.

By this use of the pusher plate, the machine is able to advance the cutting means directly into the bottom of the face to be worked, instead of first having to drive its way through accumulated mineral, with consequent avoidance of power waste through churning through the material, and the use of this power for mere conversion of the material to still smaller size, as is particularly undesirable when the mineral is coal.

Advantageously, and particularly so when the machine has hydraulically powered means for positioning the cutting means in relation to the face to be worked, and likewise if the cutting means is driven by hydraulic motor, the rocking means for the pusher plate are hydraulically operated. Thus, a hydraulic cylinder disposed substantially horizontally in the frame of the conveyor and having a ram extending forwardly lengthwise of the conveyor may have the ram pivotally connected to the rear end of a link extending forwardly to a pivot on the underside of the pusher plate, the rear end of the link-being connected, at its pivotal connection with the ram, to a rocking support lever, upstanding or depending from the conveyor frame, the link providing an operative connection below the conveyor between the ram and the pusher plate. Generally, two such operating mechanisms suffice for a pusher plate co-extensive in length with the transverse conveyor.

When the cutting means is operating on any part of the face not immediately above floor level, the conveyor, with the pusher plate downwardly inclined in front of it, can be set at fully advanced position, to enable much of the material to fall directly on to the conveyor as it is detached from the face. In due course, the pusher plate can be swung upwards, to discharge on to the conveyor such material as has fallen on to it in its advanced position. With repeated forward advance of the conveyor and swinging of the plate, the floor can be cleared of accumulated material as the whole area of the face has been completely removed by the cutting means from the position occupied by the machine, so that the machine itself can be advanced to a new position, and the cutting head advanced once more directly into the bottom of the face. Because the floor can be kept substantially free from loose material in the path of the machine, and, with the hydraulic operation described above, by means included in the general control devices used by the operator for effecting the entire operation of the machine, the operator has a clear view of the whole space in front of the machine, so that his control of the progressive positioning of the machine and its cutting means is much simplified.

The invention will now be further described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which FIGURE 1 is a longitudinal view of a self-advancing mining machine incorporating a pusher plate;

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of the pusher plate and associated conveyor;

FIGURE 3 is a section on the line III--III of FIG- URE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a section on the line IVIV of FIG- URE 2, to a larger scale, and

FIGURES 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d, and 52 show various positions of the pusher plate in use.

In FIGURE 1, a mining machine 1 generally of the type described in our patent application Ser. No. 398,954, filed Sept. 24, 1964 and now Patent-No. 3,306,663, has a frame 2, carried by two transverse beams 3 secured at their ends towards the front and rear on two parallel elongated base members 4 extending in the lengthwise direction of the machine, to carry the machine by a wide span from the supporting surface 5. Lengthwise of the machine is a tubular torque shaft 6, to which is secured at its forward end an arm 7 having slideways 8 for a carrier 9 for a cutting drum or head 10 hearing picks (not shown) and rotatable about an axis parallel to that of the shaft 6. The carrier 9 is moved along the arm 7 by means of a chain 11, so that the cutting head 10 may effect cutting in a direction dependent on the position to which the arm is set, e;g., the vertical position shown. Again, by rotation of the torque shaft 6 (by means not shown), the cutting head 10 can effect cutting over an arc. In front of the machine, and supported by a frame 12, is a transverse conveyor 13 which feeds cut material to a conveyor 14 alongside the machine.

Associated with the transverse conveyor 13 is .a pusher plate 15 as shown in FIGURES 2 and 4. The pusher plate is pivotally mounted by its rear edge 16 along the top of the front 17 of the transverse conveyor 13 and having its front edge 16A sitting on the floor. Two bydraulic cylinders 18 are disposed substantially horizontally in the conveyor frame 12 and rams 19 extend forwardly lengthwise of the machine and are each pivotally connected to the rear of alink 20 each extending forwardly to a pivot 21 in a bracket 22 secured to a vertical plate 23 which is welded to a substantially horizontal plate 24 on the underside of the pusher plate. The rear of each link 20 is connected, at its pivotal connection with .its ram to a rocking support lever 25, upstanding from the conveyor frame 12. Two further rams 26 are secured to the machine base members 4 and to the rear of the conveyor 13.

The base members 4 are provided with longitudinal guides 27 (FIGURE 3) screwed to longitudinally welded strips 28 along each outer vertical wall 29. The transverse conveyor 13 is provided with two side arms 30 through which it is secured to the machine. Each side .arm 30 is provided with an aperture 31, near its end remote from the conveyor to receive a pivot pin 32 having a flange 33 externally of the side arms 30 and, internally of the side arms a slide 34 of H section fitting between guides 27. Thus, the transverse conveyor 13 and attached pusher plate 15 are guided during advancing or retracting of the rams 26 by the slides 34 and guides 27 and the conveyor 13 and pusher plate 15 may be raised or lowered about the pivot pin 32.

The machine frame 2 is provided with self-propelling and steering mechanism 35 as described in our co-pending patent application Ser. No. 398,954.

With reference to FIGURES a, 5b, 5c, 5d, and 52, to begin cutting operations on a substantially plane mineral face 36 the mineral 37 is first removed with the transverse conveyor 13 and pusher plate 15 in retracted position as shown in FIGURE So. When for example a 6 inch out has been effected after the cutting head has been raised clear of the floor the conveyor 13 and pusher plate are advanced with respect to the machine frame 2 by means of the rams 26 with the pusher plate 15 inclined downwardly from the top of the front 17 of the transverse conveyor 13 so that its front end 16A sits on the floor. Thus the pusher plate is forced under the mineral 37 lying in front of it. The rams 19 are then actuated to swing the plate upwardly, .as shown in FIG- URE 5b, to lift the quantity of material 36 resting on it until the mineral slides from the pusher plate 15 onto the conveyor 13. The conveyor is then retracted towards the machine frame by reverse operation of the rams 19 and the pusher plate is then lowered to contact the floor again, as shown in FIGURE 50. The cutting head 10 is then lowered and a further 6 inch cut taken from the face 36 and the conveyor and pusher plate advanced as shown in FIGURE 5d. Again material is removed by actuation of the rams 19,..not shown. With aheading 38 thus removed it is possible to advance the conveyor and pusher plate with the machine moved to its horizontal position and the full 12 inch of material 39 removed from the remainder of the face above the heading, which falls onto the 'pusher plate and/or conveyor and icaribe" raised by actuation of the rains '19of-thepusher'plate-to allow the 1 remaining cut'lrinateria l" to slidefbnto the, conveyor, without theneed to further advance (orret'ra'ct) the conveyor 13 and pusher plate 15. 1

1. A self-advancing mining machine provided with a machine frame, rotary cutting means forwardly mounted of the machine frame capablepf being urged forwardly, a conveyor transversely mounted on a conveyor frame at the foot of the front'of the machine frame,"mans in the machine frame for advancing and retracting the conveyor with respectto the machineframe, the top. of the front of. the conveyor being, spaced verticallyfrom the mine floor in any position of the conveyor, a pusher plate pivotally mounted at its rear edge along the topof the front of the conveyor about a pivot axis correspondingly spaced from the mine floor, and means in the conveyor frame below the conveyor for rocking the pusher plate about itspivot axis between afirst position in which the pusher plate inclines downwardly and forwardly from its rear edge to its front edge and a second position in which .the front edgeof the pusher plate is raised to a height substantially above the pivot axis. H h

2. .A self-advancing mining machiueas in claim 1, provided with a machine frame, ,rotar-y cutting means forwardly mounted of the machine frame capable of being urged forwardly, a conveyor transversely mounted on a conveyor frame at the foot of the front of the machine frame, means inthemachine frame for advancing and retracting the conveyor with respect to the machine frame, a pusher plate pivotally mounted at its rear edge along the top of the frontof the conveyor, and means in the conveyor frame below the conveyor for rocking the pusher plate about its pivot axis between a first position in which the pusherv plate inclines downwardly and forwardly from its rear edge to its front edge and a second position in which the front edge of the pusher plate is raised to a height substantially above theh pivot axis, wherein the rocking means for the pusher plate includes a hydraulic cylinder and ram assembly disposed substantially horizontally in the frame of'the conveyor, a pivot on the underside of the pusher plate,alink extending forwardly to that pivot, the 'ram extending forwardly to the rear end of the link, a rocking support lever secured to the conveyor frame, the rearend of the link also being connected, at its pivotal connection with the ram to the rocking support lever, the link providing'an-operative connection below the conveyor between the ram and the pusher plate.

3. A'mining' machine as in claim 2, wherein two such means for rocking the pusher plate are provided'for a pusher plate co-e'xtensive in length with the transverse conveyor. I

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