Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
~145779
Mine galleries are made, using in known manner,
a machine which belongs to one of the two following
types:
- machine known as a "continuous miner" which
is provided with a mining member extending over the
whole width of the galler~, and which is mounted at the
end of an arm mounted to pivot with respect to the
machine frame about a horizontal axis. Said machine
has a high output, but itsapplication is limited to the
working of galleries of rectangular cross-section;
- machine known as a "machine with pin,point
stroke" which is provided with a mining member far less
wide than that of the ~'continuous miner", mounted at
the end an arm which arm is mounted for pivoting between
two axes : one a horizontal axis and the other a
vertical axis. The mining member in such a machine
can reach virtually any point of the gallery thereby
permitting to obtain any desired cross-sectionO
On the contrary, the small cutting surface of this
mining member gives but a low output.
If the aim is to conciliate the facility
of obtaining different shapes of cross-sections, with
the high output obtained with the machine of the
first type, it becomes necessary to design a new
machineO
This is precisely the purpose of the invention
whose object is an excavating machine constituted by:
- a mobile main frame,
- an arm which supports a mining tool and is
coupled to the main frame with interposition of a
chassis-upperstructure assembly, on which it is mounted
by means of an orientation device about a first axis,
generally horizontal and transversal, and
- the said chassis-upperstructure assembly
proper, which is itself composed of:
~s77s
- an orientable upperstructure which is
rotatable with respect to the frame about a second
axis, generally vertical and orthogonal to the first
axis, and
- a chassis, orientable with respect to the
frame about a third axis, generally horizontal and
paral].el to the longitudinal axis of the main frame.
The chassis is directly mounted on the main
frame for rotation about the said third axis, the
upperstructure being itself directly mounted on the
said chassis, for rotation about the second axis~
Preferably, the machine also comprises the
following advantageous arrangements:
- the third axis is eccentric with respect to the
longitudinal median plane of the main frame;
- the main frame comprises two separate positions
on either side of its longitudinal median plane,
whereas the third axis is selectively situated in
one of the said two positions;
ZO - the arm is mounted for pivoting on the upperstructure
about the ~aid first axis;
- each orientation device about the first, second and
third axes comprises means for keeping the position
in the selected orientation, such as a hydraulic jack,
coupled for relative rotation between two successive
elementsO
The invention will be more readily understood
on reading the following description with reference to
the accompanying drawings, in which:
- Figure 1 is an elevational view of a machine
according to the invention;
- Figure 2 is a view along arrow F of Figure l;
and
- Figure 3 is a cross-section along III-III
of Figure 1.
~14S779
The machine illustrated in the Figures compris-
es a main frame 1, provided with tracks 2 making it
mobile. An auxiliary ch~ssis 3 is mounted on the frame
1. To this effect, the frame 1 is provided, in two
separate positions symmetrical with respect to its
median longitudinal plane P, with bores 4 adapted
to receive horizontal axes of rotation 5, parallel
to the longitudinal axis 6 of the frame 1. A hydraulic
jack 7 is coupled between pivoting points 8 and 9 found
respectively on the frame 1 and on the chassis 3. Two
pivoting points 8 and two pivoting points 9 are provided,
one of each kind, on either side of the symmetrical
plane of the corresponding element - frame 1 or chassis
3.
The auxiliary chassis 3 thus has a pivoting
clearance about the axis 5 received in one of the two
bores 4, and its upper face 10 which is either
horizontal(as shown in block lines in the drawings) or
inclined with respect to the horizontal towards one or
the other side of the frame 1 (as shown in broken lines
in the drawings). In its configuration, wherein the
face 10 is horizontal, the auxiliary chassis 3 supports
an axis 11 which is vertical. Said axis 11 ensures the
pivoting assembly of an upperstructure 12 which supports
a fork with two branches 13.
Said fork with two branches 13 in turn supports
the two-part pivoting axis 14, which is horizontal,
when the face 10 of the chassis 3 is horizontal and
which, when the fork 13 is situated symmetrically
with respect to the plane P of the frame 1, extends
transversely. Said axis 14 ensures the pivoting
assembly of an arm 15 at the end of which two ore
mining drums are mounted for rotation about an axis
17 parallel to the axis 14. Hydraulic jacks 18
coupled between the auxiliary chassis 3 and the upper-
li4S779
structure 12 permit to adjust the orientation of the
said upperstructure about the axis 11. In the same
way, jacks 19, coupled between the upperstructure
12 and the arm 15, permit to adjust the orientation
S of the said arm about the axis 14. Thus, the arm
15 can pivot in parallel to the plane P (shown in
block lines in Figure 2), or obliquely with respect
to that plane (as shown in broken lines in Figure 2),
whereas the mining drums 16 can mine the ore close to
the ground 20 (as shown in block lines in Figure l)o
The illustrated machine further comprises
a number of other arrangements. For example, a loader
with tongs 22 is mounted to pivot with respect to the
main frame 1 about a horizontal and transversal axis
15 23 and is positioned close to the area situated beneath
and at the back of the mining drums 16. Said loader
guides the mined products towards a discharge conveyor
means 24 the dumping end 25 of which can pivot about
a horizontal axis 38 in order to allow the adjusting
of the products dumping heightO The end 25 can also
pivot about an axis 26 which is perpendicular to the
plane of the discharge conveyor 24. The machine further
comprises lateral wedging shoes 27 which are
adjustable (28) in position andadapted to come in
25 resting contact on the side walls 29 of the gallery
in order to immobilize the machine during the mining
operationO Immobilizing sole pieces 30, which are
adjustable (39), are also provided to immobilize
the machine with respect to the ground 20. Finally,
30 the frame 1 supports the various driving rneans : the
electro-hydraulic unit 31, the reservoir 32, the
hydraulic fluid cooling device 33, the driving station
340 In addition, the arm 15 supports the engine 35
driving the mining drums 16 and the reduction gear
35 assembly 36 situated between the engine 35 and the
3'~
'
'
~45779
said mining drumsO
The machine according to the invention works
as explained hereafterO The most characteristic
configuration is that where the mining operation is
conducted according to a roof direction which is
transversely inclined (Figure 3), thereby giving a
general trapezoidal shape to the cross-section of
the gallery. In order to allow the mining drums 16 to
reach the roof 21, the operator causes the auxiliary
chassis 3 to pivot about the axis 5 situated in the
space 4 which corresponds to the required inclination,
and then, by successive mining phases, he causes the
upperstructure 12 to pivot about the axis 11. Thus
the mining drums 16 reach the entire surface of the
roof 21 and mine the ore in the desired directionO
Despite the large amount of dust caused by the mining
operation, the operator cannot fail to move the
mining drums in parallel to the direction of the roof
21 since this movement results f`rom the rotation
of the upperstructure 12 about the axis 11 and is
set once and for all before the mining opera-tion begins.
This eliminating all risks of the roof being cut into
beyond the layer containing the o;re, or damaged if cut
into at an undesigned spot, or of the ore layer being
only incompletely minedO
Moreover, the mining power of the drums 16 is
high, much higher than that of the mining member of a
machine with "pinpoint stroke". And therefore the
mining output is high.
~inally, the mining drums used have a cylindric-
al cross~section and permit to produce joints 37 at
substan~ally right angle between the side walls 29
and the ground 20. Such is not the case with the
spherical- or truncated cone-shaped mining members
used in the machines with "pin_point stroke" which
~i4S~79
only permit to obtain joints 37 constituted by
curved blends of larse radius. The increase width
between the joints 37, obtained with the rnachine
described hereinabove, compared with a machine with
llpin~point attack~ is therefore very important.
The invention is not limited to the embodiment
described but on the contrary covers any variants
that may be brought thereto without departing from the
scope or the spirit thereof.
