GB2025873A - Rail Vehicle with Lifting Device - Google Patents

Abstract

A lifting device for use on a cutting face in a mine comprises a trolley 10 having rollers 11 for running on the upper surface of the marginal flange 12 of a face conveyor 14. The trolley has a mast 18 extending upwardly from it and lifting means arranged thereon and supporting means being associated with the trolley thus supporting it during a lifting operation. The supporting means may engage with the face conveyor (as does roller 29 in Fig. 1) or may comprise retractable elements which can be extended from the trolley and contact the ground or the conveyor. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Lifting Device This invention relates to lifting devices and more particularly concerns a lifting device for use on a cutting face in a mineral mine.

Space is generally very restricted at the cutting face of a mine and it is necessary to transport and position relatively heavy equipment along the face. It is an object of the present invention to provide a lifting device which will facilitate the movement and positioning of equipment on such a face.

According to the present invention, I provide a lifting device which comprises a trolley provided with rollers for running on the upper surfaces of the marginal channel flanges of a conveyor, supporting means associated with the trolley to retain it in position during a lifting operation, a mast extending upwardly from the trolley and lifting means arranged on the mast.

The lifting device of the invention is particularly adapted for running on a face conveyor which comprises a plurality of conveying pans driven by a driving chain within a frame. The frame has a flange forming the upper wall of a channel at each side of the conveyor in which the driving chain is located. The rollers in the lifting device of the present invention are arranged to run on the upper surface of the flange which defines the upper wall of the channel for the driving chain.

The supporting means may comprise auxiliary rollers which, in one embodiment, are arranged to engage the underside of the flange. When the driving chain is in position, however, it will obstruct such auxiliary rollers and an alternative is to arrange the rollers on the outside of the channel and to provide a flange formed from angle sections bolted on the outer side of the conveyor frame.

Another form of supporting means is to provide a support element which engages with a rail, such as a cutting machine captivation rail. This is particularly convenient for providing support on the side of the conveyor which is adjacent to the rail.

A further alternative type of supporting means comprises projecting elements which can locate with respect to the floor or a part of the conveyor.

Conveniently, the projecting elements are mounted, detachably or otherwise, on extending arms which can be extended outwardly from the trolley when the support is required. The extending arms may be received in channel or box sections which form the frame of the trolley.

In its simplest form the supporting means may be an abutment which can be supported by a simple wedge or it may be in the form of a jack of the hydraulic, screw or quick release type or it may be in the form of a roller which locates on the top of the conveyor frame when the arm is extended from the trolley. It will be appreciated that the lifting device can be provided with a combination of these various types of supporting means.

The lifting means arranged on the mast may comprise a boom which can slide vertically along the mast or along a member associated with it.

Conveniently, the mast or member associated therewith is of rectangular cross-section and is rotatable about a vertical axis in order to swing the boom to the desired position.

The boom may be moved relative to the mast by any convenient means, but the use of hydraulic means is preferred.

In one preferred embodiment the boom comprises a plurality of telescopic sections, advantageously each being of rectangular crosssection. The mast may also be of rectangular cross-section and comprise a plurality of telescopic sections. The section of the boom and the mast may be extended by power means, e.g.

by means of an hydraulic ram.

The pivoting of the mast about its axis may be effected by any" convenient means, e.g.

hydraulically or mechanically, and one embodiment, a worm gear device is provided.

Reference is now made to the drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of one form of lifting device according to the invention; Figure 2 is an end elevation on an enlarged scale of an alternative form of auxiliary roller arrangement to that shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a side elevation of the retaining plate for use in the arrangement shown in Figure 2; Figure 4 is a perspective view of an alternative form of apparatus; Figure 5a to 5e show alternative forms of supporting means; Figures 6a to 6d show alternative forms of supporting means for association with projecting elements from the frame of the trolley shown in Figure 4; and Figure 7 is a cross-section of an alternative form of supporting means.

Referring to Figure 1, the device comprises a trolley 10 provided with a roller 11 adjacent each corner so that they can run on the upper walls of flanges 12 which define a channel 1 3 for receiving the driving chain of a conveyor. In the drawing the frame 14 only of the conveyor is shown and the conveying pans and driving chain have been omitted for clarity.

The trolley 10 comprises a rectangular plate 9 provided with side members 15 which, together with members 1 6 define a channel in which the rollers 11 are located. The members 1 5 and 16 are supported in spaced relationship by a plurality of transverse elements, only one of which is shown at 17.

It will be appreciated that by virtue of the provision of rollers 11 and trolley can be moved to any desired position along the frame 14 of the conveyor.

A mast 18 is secured by a mounting 19 to the upper surface of the plate 9. The mast provides a support for a lifting boom 19 which can move vertically along the boom support element 20 which is attached to and extends parallel with the mast 18. The boom support element is of square cross-section and boom 19 is provided with a similar square section aperture 21 so that vertical sliding relative movement only is permitted.

The boom 19 is pivoted at 22 to the sliding member having aperture 21 and is provided at its outer end with attachment means which, in this embodiment comprises a lifting hook 23.

Movement of the boom 19 relative to the mast 18 is controlled by means of an hydraulic ram 24 which can be attached at different points 25 on the boom and is pivoted at its other end to a sliding member 26. The hydraulic ram 24 is controlled by means of the hydraulic control means 27.

The arrangement described above allows for only vertical movement of the boom 19; if it is desired to provide a rotating movement then the mast can be pivoted about a vertical axis relative to the plate 9.

In order to prevent the trolley from becoming disengaged from the conveyor frame when a load is applied to the boom 19, supporting means are provided. In Figure 1, only one supporting means is shown associated with the roller 11. This supporting means comprises a plate 28 which carries an auxiliary roller 29 which runs on the under surface of the flange 12.

An alternative form of supporting means is shown in Figure 2. In this embodiment the axle 30 of the roller 11 is extended outwardly beyond the side plate 1 5 to a triangular plate 31, as shown in Figure 3. The plate 31 carries a pair of spindles 32 for a pair of rollers 33 which engage under a rail 34 formed by an angle section bolted to the outside of the conveyor 14 by bolts 35. If desired, a plate similar to plate 28 carrying a single roller can be used in this form of supporting means.

This embodiment of the invention can be used when the driving chain is in position in the channel 13.

An alternative embodiment of the invention is shown in Figure 4. In this embodiment the trolley comprises a plats 40 carried by a pair of longitudinally extending box section frame members 41 and a pair of transversely extending box section member 42. The frame members 41 are provided with flanges 43 to support rollers 44 which run on the upper wall of the flange 12 defining the channel for the driving chain 13.

The plate 40 carries a mast 45 which is bifurcated at its upper end to receive a boom 46 which is pivoted to the mast at 47. The boom 46 is of rectangular box section and is of telescopic construction, there being three telescopic sections in the embodiment shown in Figure 4.

The outer end of the third section is provided with apertured lugs 48 for receiving attachment means.

The boom 46 can be raised or lowered relative to the mast 45 about the pivot 47 by means of a hydraulic ram (not shown) and the boom sections can also be extended and retracted by a hyraulic ram (not shown).

The mast 45 can be pivoted about a vertical axis by means of a pinion 49 which can be rotated by the worm 50. The worm 50 is connected to a pair of handle receiving elements 51 to facilitate rotation of the worm. The supporting means shown in Figure 4 comprises projecting elements which can slide into an out of the box sections of the trolley. Projecting elements 52 can be projected transversely from the transverse members 42 and longitudinal projecting elements 53 project from the members 41. The projecting elements 52 and 53 can be provided with a variety of supporting elements at their outer end for contact with the floor, the conveyor frame or any other convenient supporting surface.

In figure 4 the end of projecting elements 52 is closed and provided with a pair of bolt receiving holes 54. The end of projecting element 53 is shown open. The open end of projecting element 53 can be closed by a male closure member 55 which comprises an end plate having a spigot 56 for insertion into the box section and can be retained therein by means of a pin engaging in the hole 57. Alternatively the end of the projecting element 53 can be closed by a female member 58 which fits over the element 53 and is retained thereon by means of a pin engaging in the hole 59.

In order to support the trolley in position during a lifting operation, one or more of the projecting elements 53 and/or 54 can be extended from the frame members. A variety of means can be employed to contact a supporting surface. In the simplest form according to the invention a wedge is used in the ends of the projecting elements.

Alternative forms are shown in Figures 6a to 6d. In Figure 6a a screw jack is employed for this purpose. The screw jack comprises a ground engaging foot 60, a screw threaded bar 61 and a square section spigot 62 movable relative to a plate 63 having apertures 64 whereby it may be bolted to the end of a projecting element.

Figure 6b shows a "quick-kick" jack comprising a ground engaging foot 65 connected to a supporting bar 66 which can move relative to a plate 67 attached to the end of the projecting element. Extension and retraction of the foot is controlled by a release button 68.

The elements shown in Figures 6a and 6b are particularly suitable for use on the transverse projecting element 52. The elements shown in Figures 6c to 6d are designed for use on the longitudinally projecting elements 53. Figure 6c shows an element which includes a fixing plate 70 and carries an auxiliary roller 71 which can locate in the channel 13 beneath the flange 12 in the conveyor frame. Figure 6d shows an element which comprises a fixing plate 72 carrying an auxiliary roller 73 which can engage on the upper face of the flange 12.The device shown in Figure 4 can of course be provided with supporting means which engage with the flange 12 of the conveyor in a manner similar to those described in relation to the embodiment shown in Figure 1. These can be used in conjunction with or instead of the projecting elements 52 and 53.

A variety of such supporting means is shown in Figures 5a to 5e. In Figure 5a the supporting means comprises plates 80 which bolt to the inner surfaces of the longitudinal members 41 and have a projection 81 which extends beneath the flange 12 of the conveyor frame.

In Figure 5b a plate 82 is provided which is bolted to a transverse frame member 42 and includes projections 83 which engage beneath the flange 12 of the conveyor frame.

In Figure Sc plates 84 are bolted on the inner faces of the longitudinal frame member 41 and carry rollers 85 which locate beneath the flanges 1 2 of the conveyor frame.

In Figure 5d spring elements 86 engage beneath the flanges 12 and in Figure 5e a turn plate 87 is provided which can be rotated between a longitudinal position and a transverse position as shown in the drawing in which the endsiof the plate 87 locate beneath the flanges 12.

Figure 7 shows an alternative method of support of the trolley which can be used when a machine captivation rail is available.

Conventionally such machine captivation rails are formed on spill plates attached to the conveyor although any other type of captivation rail can be utilised.

The conveyor frame is as shown in both Figures 1 and 4 and has bolted to it a vertically extending spill plate 90 which carries a rail 91 of circular cross-section which normally is utilised to stabilise the cutting maching. In this embodiment of the supporting means the trolley 10 is provided with rollers 11 as in Figure 1 and has bolted thereto a support element 92 which includes a channel 93 which receives the rail 91.

A number of alternative supporting means for supporting the trolley relative to the conveyor frame during the lifting movement have been described above. It will be appreciated that alternative supporting means can be used and that various supporting means can be used in combination with one another in a lifting device to suit the particular arrangement of the conveyor.

The present invention provides an extremely convenient means for lifting and positioning equipment in the restricted space available at the cutting face of the mine. The device can be used not only for moving equipment along the conveyor but can be used to transport the sections of the conveyor itself to facilitate assembly of the face conveyor.

Claims (25)

Claims

1. A lifting device comprising a trolley provided with rollers for running on the upper surfaces of marginal flanges of a conveyor, supporting means associated with the trolley to retain it in position during a lifting operation, a mast extended upwardly from the trolley and lifting means arranged on the mast.

2. A lifting device according to claim 1 in which the supporting means includes one or more auxiliary rollers.

3. A lifting device according to claim 2 in w!iich the auxiliary rollers are arranged to engage the underside of the flange on the conveyor or a flange associated therewith.

4. A lifting device according to claim 2 in which the auxiliary rollers are arranged to engage the upper surface of the flange on the conveyor or a flange associated therewith.

5. A lifting device according to any of claims 1 to 4 in which the supporting means comprises a support element which engages with a rail.

6. A lifting device according to claim 5 in which the rail is a cutting machine captivation rail.

7. A lifting device according to claim 1 having supporting means comprising a projection which extends from the trolley to a position beneath the flange of the conveyor.

8. A lifting device according to any of claims 1 to 7 having supporting means which comprise projecting elements which can be extended outwardly from the trolley when support is required.

9. A lifting device according to claim 8 in which the trolley includes a frame which comprises one or more channel or box sections and the projecting element or elements can slide in an associated channel or box section between an extended position and a retracted position.

10. A lifting device according to claim 8 or 9 in which at least one projecting element is provided with means for contacting a support surface.

11. A lifting device according to claim 10 in which the means for contacting the support surface comprises a jack.

12. A lifting device according to claim 11 in which the jack is hydraulically operated.

13. A lifting device according to claim 11 in which the jack is a screw jack.

14. A lifting device according to claim 11 in which the jack is of the quick release type.

15. A lifting device according to claim 9 in which the means for contacting a supporting surface comprises an auxiliary roller.

16. A lifting device according to any of claims 1 to 1 5 in which the mast extends substantially vertically from the trolley and a boom extends from the mast.

1 7. A lifting device according to claim 16 in which the boom is slideable relative to the mast.

1 8. A lifting device according to claim 16 in which the boom is pivoted to the mast.

1 9. A lifting device according to any of claims 16 to 18 in which the boom can be moved relative to the mast by means of a hydraulic ram.

20. A lifting device according to any of claims 16 to 19 in which the mast can pivot about a vertical axis.

21. A lifting device according to claim 20 in which the mast can be rotated by means of a worm and pinion arrangement.

22. A lifting device according to any of claims 1 6 to 21 in which the boom comprises a plurality of telescopic sections.

23. A lifting device according to claim 22 in which the telescopic sections can be extended and retracted by means of a hydraulic ram.

24. A lifting device substantially as herein described with reference to and as shown in Figures 1 to 3 and 5,6 or 7 of the accompanying drawings.

25. A lifting device substantially as herein described with reference to and as shown in Figure 4 and 2, 3, 5, 6 or 7 of the accompanying drawings.