MACHINES D'ABATTAGE TRAVAILLANT A L'AVANCEMENT

MOBILE CUTTING MACHINES

Abrégé anglais

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
The specification describes a mobile cutting machine
which employs a conveyor for transferring material from a front
region of the machine where cutting occurs to a rear region
where elevated discharge occurs. The machine further includes
a spreader for spreading the material discharged from the
conveyor.

Revendications

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:
1. In or for a mobile cutting machine employing a conveyor for
transferring material from a front region of the machine where cutting
occurs to a rear region where elevated discharge occurs, spreader means
in the form of an oscillating lever disposed to intersect material dis-
charged freely from the conveyor to spread the material laterally.
2. A machine according to claim 1, wherein the conveyor
is a scraper-chain conveyor.
3. A machine according to claim 1, wherein the lever is
a two-armed lever.
4. A machine according to claim 2, wherein the lever is
a two-armed lever.
5. A machine according to claim 3 or 4, wherein one arm
of the lever is coupled to a double-acting hydraulic piston-and-cylinder
unit which serves to oscillate the lever about an upstanding pivot axis.
6. A machine according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a hydraulic
piston and cylinder unit drives the lever.
7. A mobile partial cutting machine comprising cutting
means supported on a displaceable arm, a conveyor supported by the machine
for conveying material rearwardly of the cutting means and the arm,
loading means for loading material onto the conveyor which discharges
material at an elevated position at the rear of the machine and a swinging
arm acting as levelling means for distributing the material laterally
of the discharge zone as it discharges from the conveyor.

Description

FIELD OF THE I~VENTION
The present invention relates to a mobile jib-type
cutting machine.
BACKGRO~ND TO THE INVENTION
In certain underground mine workings, for example,
jib-type partial cutting machines are often used to win
mineral or to excavate roadways or galleries. These
machines usually have a chassis supported by endless
tracks so that the machine can move around. A jib which
ranges up and down and from side-to-side carries a cutting
means at its end which detaches material from a working
10 face. T~e material which is removed is transported to the
rear of the machine usually by means of a conveyor
supported on the machine. Loading appliances of various
Eorms can transfer the material falling beneath the
cutting means to a loading ramp feeding the conveyor. The
rear end of the conveyor can be raised or lowered
according to the prevailing conditions and discharges the
material, say onto another conveyor or a bunker or into a
vehicle. To permit the machine to operate continuously,
it is also known to use self-loading vehicles, such as
tractor shovels, to transport the discharged material. In
this case the conveyor on the machine merely discharges
the material onto the floor of the working and the
accumulated material is transported away with the aid of
the vehiclesO The material discharged onto the floor
25 naturally builds up as a pile of roughly conical shape and
unless frequent loading trips are made or other measures
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are taken the pile can eventually impede the free
discharge from the machine conveyor. To avoid this
difficulty it is known to mount the discharge region of
the conveyor for swinging in a horizontal sense as well as
up and down. sy lateral pivoting of the conveyor the
discharged material can be deposited over a wider area and
less frequent loading trips are necessary. I'his
construction is however unduly complicated and prone to
faults and damage.
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
A general object of the invention is to provide an
improved machine of the aforementioned kind in which the
discharge function is optimised by simple means.
SUM~ARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with the invention, a simple spreader
means or device is incorporated on the machine conveyor to
spread the discharging material laterally and distribute
the material evenly over a wide area to avoid the
formation of large pockets or heaps of material.
According to the invention there is provided a mobile
cutting machine employing a conveyor for transferring
material from a front region of the machine where cutting
occurs to a rear region where elevated discharge occurs
and spreader means for spreading the material discharged
freely from the conveyor.
In one preferred form, the spreader device can be
embodied as an arm of a simple two-armed pivotable lever.

The lever is mounted beneath the discharge of the conveyor
and is oscillated, for example, by a hydraulic double-
acting piston and cylinder unit to push the material from
side-by-side to enlarge the range over which the material
is Spread.
In a preferred embodiment the invention provides a
mobile partial cutting machine comprising cutting means
supported on a displaceable arm, a conveyor supported by
the machine for conveying material rearwardly of the
10 cutting means and the arm, loading means for loading
material onto the conveyor which discharges material at an
elevated position at the rear of the machine and swinging
levelling means for distributing the material laterally of
the discharge zone.
The invention may be understood more readily, and
various other aspects and features of the invention may
become more apparent, from consideration o~ the following
description.
~RIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING
. . . .. . . _ _ _ _ _
An embodiment of the invention will now be described,
by way of example only, with reerence to the accompanying
drawing, wherein
Figure l is a schematic side view of a machine
constructed in accordance with the invention;
Figure 2 is an enlarged schematic side view of the
rear portion of the machine shown in the chain-dotted
outlines in Figure l; and
Figure 3 is a schematic plan view of the portion of

~2~3~
the machine shown in Figure 2.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
As shown in Figure 1~ a machine constructed in
accordance with the invention is supported in a mobile
manner on tracks on a sub frame 2. A jib or arm 3 is
mounted for raising and lowering with the aid of a
hydraulic piston and cylinder unit 5. The arm 3 may be
supported for swinging from side-to-side, say on a
turntable, in known manner. The arm 3 has cutting means
such as one or more drums or cylinders 4, for detaching
10 material from a working face. A loading ramp 6 beneath
the arm 3 collects material detached with the cutting
means 4 and loading appliances 7, such as oscillating
blades, transfer the material from the ramp 6 to a
central conveyor 8 running Erom the front to the rear of
15 the machine. The conveyor 8 is conveniently a scraper-
chain conveyor. The conveyor 8 has an elevated rear
region which can be raised and lowered with a hydraulic
piston and cylinder unit 10. At the discharge zone 9 of
the conveyor 8 shown in Figures 2 and 3, there is a
20 spreader device which serves to distribute and level the
material discharged by the conveyor 8. As shown this
device takes the form of an oscillating lever arm 13
mounted beneath a drum 11 of the conveyor 8. The lever
itself oscillates about a pivot joint 15 and has a short
25 arm linlced to a pistonrod 18 of a double-acting hydraulic
piston and cylinder unit 14. The cylinder o the unit 14

is supported on a bracket 17.