GB2172636A

GB2172636A - Improvements in machines for use in mining or tunnelling

Info

Publication number: GB2172636A
Application number: GB08605522A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Willy Tyslauk; Klaus Huhn; Konrad Knosel
Original assignee: Gewerkschaft Eisenhutte Westfalia GmbH
Current assignee: Gewerkschaft Eisenhutte Westfalia GmbH
Priority date: 1985-03-22
Filing date: 1986-03-06
Publication date: 1986-09-24
Also published as: FR2590317A1; GB8605522D0; DE3510400C2; AT389349B; DE3510400A1; ATA366485A; GB2172636B

Abstract

A partial-cut machine for use in tunnelling or mining employs a mobile frame (2) supporting a cutting jib (4) which can be raised and lowered and swung from side-to-side. Material detached by a cutter head (5) of the jib (4) collects on a loading shovel (12) which has oscillating blades (14) to push the material onto the front region (25) of a scraper-chain conveyor (13) running along the frame (2). A central region (22) of the conveyor (13) is linked with levers (35) and an hydraulic ram (32) to a slide (31) displaceably guided on rails (29) extending longitudinally of the conveyor (13) and mounted to the frame (2). <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements in machines for use in mining or tunnelling The present invention relates to a machine for use in mining or tunnelling operations and more particularly to a machine of the partial-cut type employing a cutting arm or jib mounted to a mobile frame for ranging up and down and for swinging from side-to-side. Such machines are well known for use in tunnelling, drifting and mineral winning operations. In order to transport material detached from a working face in front of the machine a loading appliance or mechanism beneath the arm collects the material on a inclined shovel and loads the material onto a scraper-chain conveyor which extends along the frame.The conveyor may have a rear region or portion projecting from the rear of the frame in an elevated position from which material is discharged to some apparatus such as another conveyor in a roadway or into wagons or the like. DAS 2429459 describes a machine of this type.

In order to increase the range of the machine it is also known to adapt the mountings for the cutting arm and the loading mechanism so that these components can be thrust forwards and backwards relative to the working face in relation to the frame (See for example DOS 2130280). It is also known from European patent publication 0043812 to subdivide the conveyor by means of horizontal pivot joints to permit front and rear regions of the conveyor to move up and down in relation to a central region fixed to the frame.

A general object of the present invention is to provide an improved form of machine in which the adaptability of the machine is further increased. In accordance with the invention the conveyor is connected to the frame both for raising and lowering motion and for longitudinal displacement. A machine constructed in accordance with the invention may thus comprise a frame, a cutting arm mounted on the frame for detaching material from a working face in front of the machine and a conveyor for transferring material thus detached to the rear of the machine for discharge; wherein the conveyor is displaceably mounted on the frame with the aid of a lifting mechanism which serves to raise and lower at least a region of the conveyor co-operating with slidable guide means permitting movement of the conveyor longitudinally towards and away from the working face relative to the frame.The aforesaid region of the conveyor is longitudinally displaceable and preferably vertically adjustable independently of the longitudinal displacement. The slidable guide means may comprise one guide rail or a pair of guide rails on which a mounting or slide piece is slidably guided.

A piston and cylinder unit or ram can be connected between the conveyor and the mounting in an inclined disposition to raise and lower the conveyor.

A stroke guidance system composed for example of at least one cranked lever can be used to permit the raising and lowering motions of the conveyor to be performed without causing longitudinal displacement and vice versa. These measures enable the cutting and loading work to be co-ordinated more effectively.

As is known, a loading mechanism with an inclined shovel can load material onto a front region of the conveyor. This loading mechanism can be displaced with the conveyor in the longitudinal sense. It is desirable also to permit the loading mechanism to tilt up and down with the front region of the conveyor. A rear end region of the conveyor from which material is discharged can be made to range over different height levels with the height adjusting ram to suit the conditions and the mode of subsequent material transference. In addition the longitudinal displacement of the conveyor permits the rear discharge and the loading operations to be further controlled most effectively. Conveniently the mounting or slide piece is positioned near the rear end of the frame which is itself supported by endless tracks.The rear end region of the conveyor may be connected to a central region, supported for displacements as described, in an articulated manner for swinging side-to-side to assist in the discharge operation.

Hydraulic rams can be conveniently connected between the frame and the loading mechanism to effect the longitudinal displacement of the mechanism and the conveyor and at least one further ram can be connected between the central region of the conveyor and the loading mechanism to effect tilting of the shovel. It is desirable to also provide for independent displacement of the arm towards and away from the working face relative to the frame.

In a preferred embodiment the invention provides a machine for use in mining or tunnelling; said machine comprising a mobile frame or chassis, an arm or jib supported on the frame for displacement in both vertical and lateral senses, a cutting means supported by the arm for detaching material from a working face, a shovel with loading blades for collecting and transferring material onto a scraper-chain conveyor projecting from the front and rear of the frame, the conveyor being composed of a central region slidably supported for displacement on the frame towards and away from said working face and raisable and lowerable, a front region leading to the shovel and receiving material therefrom and a rear region for discharging material from the machine, the central and rear regions being interconnected for relative displacements, means for raising and lowering the shovel and the front conveyor region in relation to the frame and means for displacing the shovel and the conveyor towards and away from the working face in relation to the frame.

The invention may be understood more readily, and various other aspects and features of the invention may become apparent, from consideration of the following description.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawing, wherein; Figure 1 is a side view of a machine constructed in accordance with the invention; and Figure 2 is a schematic plan view of the machine as shown in Figure 1.

As shown in the drawing a partial-cut machine 1 employs a main frame or chassis 2 supported on endless tracks 3. An arm or jib 4 is supported at the front of the frame 2 and the arm 4 is fitted at its free end with a cutting head 5. The cutting head 5 can be composed of a pair of cutting roilers mounted on a common shaft for rotation about an axis extending laterally of the arm 4. The arm 4 is mounted for swinging up and down on a pivot joint 6 of a support 7. The arm 4 can be swung about the joint 6 of the support 7 by means of hydraulic piston and cylinder units 8 flexibly connected between the arm 4 and the support 7. The support 7 is itself mounted on a rotatable turntable 9 which can be partially rotated about an upstanding axis to swing the arm 4 from side-to-side. Further hydraulic piston and cylinder units (not shown) can serve to effect movement of the turntable 9.The turntable 9 is supported on a carriage 10 which is guided for sliding displacement in relation to the frame 2 back and forth in the longitudinal direction of the machine. Piston and cylinder units 11 are used to displace the carriage 10 and hence the turntable 9, support 7 and arm 4 towards and away from a working face in front of the cutting head 5. The units 11 are again flexibly connected between the frame 2 and the carriage 10.

The machine 1 is also provided with a loading mechanism disposed beneath the arm 4 and a transfer conveyor 13 for removing the detached material e.g. spoil or debris. The loading mechanism takes the form of an inclined ramp or shovel 12 provided with two loading blades 14 which are pivotably mounted to the shovel 12. The blades 14 are driven to oscillate about pivot joints 15 in order to transfer debris collected on the shovel 12 to the conveyor 13. The main shovel 12 is provided with laterally adjustable side wings 24 which can be adjusted to vary the operating width of the shovel 12.

The entire loading apparatus composed of the loading mechanism 12, 14 and the conveyor 13 is displaceable longitudinally of the machine relative to the frame 2 and to effect such displacement hydraulic rams 23 are flexibly connected between the frame 2 and the loading mechanism. The rams 23 are disposed outside the tracks 3. The conveyor 13 extends from the front to the rear of the machine 1 and is disposed predominantly at the longitudinal centre of the machine 1. The conveyor 13 takes the form of a scraper chain conveyor conveniently of the central-chain type. The conveyor 13 has a front region 25 which adjoins the shovel 12 and receives material from the loading blades 14. This front region 25 has a drum 16 around which the scraperchain assembly passes.The front region 25 of conveyor 13 leads to a central region 22 which is inclined upwardly and passes over the frame 2 to project to the rear thereof. The front region 25 is displaceable to a limited extent in relation to the central region 22 in the manner described hereinafter. A rear region 17 of the conveyor 13 is also displaceable to some extent in relation to the remainder of the conveyor 13 and is disposed in an elevated position to form a rear transfer station from where material is discharged onto some other appliance. At this rear region 17 there is a drive drum 18 for the scraper-chain conveyor 13 and drive means 20 for driving the same. The rear region 17 of the conveyor 13 is connected by means of an articulated mechanism 21 to the central region 22 of the conveyor 13 in such a way as to be laterally pivotable.In this way the rear section 17 can be swung from side to side to facilitate transfer of material.

The shovel 12 and the front region 25 of the conveyor are also pivotable in unison in relation to the frame 2 and in relation to the central region 22 of the conveyor 13 in a vertical sense so that the height of the shovel 12 and front conveyor region 25 can be varied in relation to the floor of the working. The shovel 12 is accordingly mounted on pivot joints 26 on the frame 2 and the front conveyor region 25 is mounted with one or more further pivot joints 26 on the central region 22 of the conveyor 23. One or more hydraulic rams 27 each of which is flexibly interconnected between the shovel 12 and front end of the central conveyor section 22 or the frame 2 serves to raise and lower the loading mechanism and the conveyor front region 25.

At the rear zone of the frame 22, well behind the pivoting mechanisms for the arm 4, the central region 22 of the conveyor 13 is supported on the frame 2 for further adjustable displacement. The frame 2 has a rear end portion 28 which extends over the tracks 3 and at the top of which is situated guide means 30 composed of a pair of parallel rails 29. A mounting 31 is slidably guided on the rails 29 for movement in longitudinal direction of the machine. The portion of the conveyor 13 which extends over the mounting 31 is supported thereon by means of a lifting mechanism such that it can be raised and lowered. The lifting mechanism is composed of inclined hydraulic piston and cylinder units 32.The cylinders of these units 32 are supported by brackets 33 on the mounting 31 while the piston rods pivotably of the units 32 are mounted with pivot joints 34 on the opposite vertical side walls of the conveyor 13. By means of these units 32 the height of the discharge from the rear region 17 of the conveyor can be adjusted. In addition a stroke guidance system is provided between the rear part of the central region 22 of the conveyor 13 and the guide 30, 31. This guidance system is composed of two guide levers 35 pivotably connected at lower pivot joints to the mounting 31 and by means of upper pivot joints 37 to the conveyor side walls. The levers 35 as may be seen from Figure 1 are shaped to be non-rectilinear i.e.

cranked and are disposed between the rails 29 and the side walls of the rear part of the central region 22 of the conveyor 13. The levers 35 provide a positive connection between the conveyor 13 and the mounting 31 which serves to stabilise the relative position of the mounting 31 and the conveyor 13.

The levers 35 prevent the mounting 31 and the conveyor 13 from undergoing longitudinal dis placements along the rails 29 solely as a result of the reactive forces of the units 32 and prevent the height setting of the conveyor 13 from changing solely as a result of the reactive forces of the units 23. The levers 35 also resist tension and compression forces and transfer adjustment displacement forces to the rails 29. When the units 32 are extended the rear part of the conveyor region 22 together with the adjoining rear region 17 will be raised without any significant displacement of the conveyor 13 in the longitudinal direction. Independently of the raising and lowering displacement effected by the units 32 the front region 25 of the conveyor 13 can be adjusted in height together with the shovel 12 with aid of the ram or rams 27 while the slidable guide system 30, 31 with the guide levers 35 enables the entire loading apparatus 13, 12 to perform longitudinal displacements towards and away from the working face in relation to the frame 2 by operating the rams 23 without effecting the height of the discharge from the rear conveyor region 17.

Claims

1. A machine for use in mining or tunnelling; said machine comprising a frame, a cutting arm mounted on the frame for detaching material from a working face in front of the machine and a conveyor for transferring material thus detached to the rear of the machine for discharge; wherein the conveyor is displaceably mounted on the frame with the aid of a lifting mechanism which serves to raise and lower at least a region of the conveyor co-operating with slidable guide means permitting movement of the conveyor longitudinally towards and away from the working face relative to the frame.

2. A machine according to claim 1, wherein the lifting mechanism is composed of at least one hydraulic piston and cylinder unit connected between the conveyor and a component of the slidable guide means.

3. A machine according to claim 1, wherein the slidable guide means comprises at least one rail on which a mounting is slidably guided.

4. A machine according to claim 2, wherein said component of the slidable guide means is a mounting slidably supported on a pair of rails carried by the frame.

5. A machine according to claims 3 or 4 and further comprising a stroke guidance system provided between the conveyor and the mounting for permitting the raising or lowering motion to be performed without significant longitudinal displacement of the conveyor and vice versa.

6. A machine according to claim 5, wherein the stroke guidance system is composed of at least one lever pivotably connected to the conveyor and to the mounting.

7. A machine according to claim 6, wherein said lever is cranked.

8. A machine according to any one of the preceding claims and further comprising a loading mechanism disposed generally beneath the cutting arm for loading material onto the conveyor.

9. A machine according to claim 8, wherein the loading mechanism comprises an inclined shovel disposed at the front of the frame supporting a front region of the conveyor and a pair of loading blades mounted for pivoting in relation to the shovel.

10. A machine according to claim 9, and further comprising means for raising and lowering the shovel.

11. A machine according to claim 8, 9 or 10, and further comprising means for displacing the loading mechanism and the conveyor towards and away from the working face.

12. A machine according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the conveyor has a rear region extending outwardly beyond the frame from which material can be discharged and this rear conveyor region is connected for lateral pivoting to the region of the conveyor which is displaceably mounted on the frame.

13. A machine according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the frame has endless tracks for permitting the machine to be moved.

14. A machine according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the cutting arm is mounted to the frame with means permitting the arm to be raised and lowered, swung from side-to-side and urged back and forth in relation to the working face.

15. A machine for use in mining or tunnelling; said machine comprising a mobile frame or chassis, an arm or jib supported on the frame for displacement in both vertical and lateral senses, a cutting means supported by the arm for detaching material from a working face, a shovel with loading blades for collecting and transferring material onto a scraper-chain conveyor projecting from the front and rear of the frame, the conveyor being composed of a central region slidably supported for displacement on the frame towards and away from said working face and raisable and lowerable, a front region leading to the shovel and receiving material therefrom and a rear region for discharging material from the machine, the central and rear regions being interconnected for relative displacements, means for raising and lowering the shovel and the front conveyor region in relation to the frame and means for displacing the shovel and the conveyor towards and away from the working face in relation to the frame.

16. A machine according to claim 15, wherein the frame bears a pair of guide rails on which a mounting is slidably supported, at least one hydraulic ram is connected between the central region of the conveyor and the mounting to raise and lower this region of the conveyor and a pair of cranks are pivotably connected between the central region of the conveyor and the mounting to restrict longitudinal displacement of the mounting and the conveyor when the ram is operated.

17. A machine according to claim 15 or 16 and further comprising groups of hydraulic piston and cylinder units for raising and lowering the arm, for swinging the arm from side-to-side, for advancing and retracting the arm relative to the working face, for displacing the shovel and the conveyor towards and away from the working face, for raising and lowering the shovel and the front conveyor region and for raising and lowering the central region of the conveyor relative to the frame.

18. A machine substantially as described with reference to, and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.