GB2086462A - Underground mine support equipment - Google Patents
Underground mine support equipment Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- GB2086462A GB2086462A GB8033919A GB8033919A GB2086462A GB 2086462 A GB2086462 A GB 2086462A GB 8033919 A GB8033919 A GB 8033919A GB 8033919 A GB8033919 A GB 8033919A GB 2086462 A GB2086462 A GB 2086462A
- Authority
- GB
- United Kingdom
- Prior art keywords
- working face
- support
- abutment component
- retractable
- roof
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Granted
Links
- 229910052500 inorganic mineral Inorganic materials 0.000 description 15
- 239000011707 mineral Substances 0.000 description 15
- 238000009434 installation Methods 0.000 description 2
- 239000011435 rock Substances 0.000 description 2
- 230000004913 activation Effects 0.000 description 1
- 229910052729 chemical element Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 238000011010 flushing procedure Methods 0.000 description 1
- 231100001261 hazardous Toxicity 0.000 description 1
Classifications
-
- E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
- E21—EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; MINING
- E21D—SHAFTS; TUNNELS; GALLERIES; LARGE UNDERGROUND CHAMBERS
- E21D23/00—Mine roof supports for step- by- step movement, e.g. in combination with provisions for shifting of conveyors, mining machines, or guides therefor
- E21D23/0004—Mine roof supports for step- by- step movement, e.g. in combination with provisions for shifting of conveyors, mining machines, or guides therefor along the working face
-
- E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
- E21—EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; MINING
- E21D—SHAFTS; TUNNELS; GALLERIES; LARGE UNDERGROUND CHAMBERS
- E21D23/00—Mine roof supports for step- by- step movement, e.g. in combination with provisions for shifting of conveyors, mining machines, or guides therefor
- E21D23/04—Structural features of the supporting construction, e.g. linking members between adjacent frames or sets of props; Means for counteracting lateral sliding on inclined floor
- E21D23/0454—Trailing plates; Coal face or goaf side sprags
Landscapes
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Mining & Mineral Resources (AREA)
- Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
- General Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
- Geochemistry & Mineralogy (AREA)
- Geology (AREA)
- Architecture (AREA)
- Structural Engineering (AREA)
- Excavating Of Shafts Or Tunnels (AREA)
Abstract
Underground mine support equipment for use with advanceable roof support (10, 13, 14, 15) on a longwall face having a working face (1) provides a retractable abutment component (30) movable between a working face engaging mode in which it is adapted to contact the working face and a retracted mode in which it is withdrawn from the working face, a link arrangement (34) pivotally connecting the abutment component to a roof support and hydraulic ram means (40) for controlling movement of the abutment component between the two operational modes, the retractable abutment component may comprise a hydraulically retractable foot (51). <IMAGE>
Description
SPECIFICATION
Underground mine support equipment
This invention relates to underground mine support equipment.
In particular, although not exclusively, the present invention relates to support equipment for use with advanceable roof supports installed along longwall faces in mineral seams, the longwall faces having mineral working faces which are advanced by the repeated to and fro transversing of mineral winning machines extracting mineral from the working faces, the won mineral being loaded onto armoured flexible conveyors extending along the longwall faces.
A typical advanceable roof support for installation on a longwall face comprises a base unit locatable on the side of the armoured flexible conveyor remote from the working face and securableto the conveyor buy a hydraulic advancing ram, a roof canopy extending beyond the base unit to project over the conveyortowards the working face and a plurality of hydraulically extensible legs extending between the base and roof canopy units. Although, such a typical roof support tends to provide adequate roof support for the strata overlaying the mineral seam it has been found that the roof support provides little or no support for the exposed vertical mineral working face.This lack of support or containment of the vertical working face tends to give rises to potentially hazardous conditions particularly in relativelythick mineral seams where the expanse of unsupported mineral tends to be considerable and where the collapse of the vertical working face with its "landslide" affect endangers operators working on the longwall face.
An object of the present invention is to provide underground mine support equipment which tends to overcome or reduce the above mentioned problem.
According to the present invention underground mine support equipment for use with advanceable roof supports on a longwall face having a working face comprises a retractable abutment component movable between a working face engaging mode in which it is adapted, in use, to contact the working face and a retracted mode in which it is withdrawn from the working face, a link arrangement pivotally mounted at one end to the abutment component and adapted at the other end for pivotal connection to an adjacent roof support canopy unit, and hydraulic ram means for controlling movement of the abutment component between the two operational modes, the retractable abutment component comprising hydraulically extensible means including a retractable foot.
Preferably, the hydraulic ram means is pivotally mounted at one end to the abutment component and is adapted at this other end for pivotal connection to an adjacent roof support.
Advantageously, the retractable foot is movable between an extended mode in which, in use, the foot is urged to contact the mine floor and a retracted mode in which the foot is withdrawn from the mine floor.
Preferably, a guide arrangement is provided for the retractable foot.
By way of example, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure lisa side view of an underground mine installation including support equipment constructed in accordance with the present invention mounted on an advanceable roof support, the equipment being shown in two alternate operational modes;
Figure 2 is a side view of the support equipment of
Figure 1, the equipment being shown on an enlarged scale; and
Figure 3 is an incomplete rear view of a detail of
Figure 2.
The drawings show underground mine support equipment according to one embodiment ofthe present invention, the equipment being mounted on an advanceable roof support installed on a longwall face having a mineral working face 1 from which, in use, mineral is extracted to advance the face by the action of a winning machine 2 including a rotary cutter 3, with repeated traverses to and fro along the longwall face. The machine which is shown only in
Figure 1 is slidably mounted on an armoured flexible conveyor 4 (only the outline of the pans of which are shown) arranged to transport mineral won by the machine along the face to a discharge conveyor (not shown) installed in a service roadway provided at one end of the longwall face.In practice a plurality of advanceable roof supports are installed inside-by- side relationship along the length of the longwall face to provide adequate roof support to rock strata 6 overlaying the mineral seam 7. Each advanceable roof support (see Figure 1 ) comprises a base unit 10 arranged to slide over the mine floor 11 on the side of the conveyor 4 remote from the working face 1, a roof canopy unit 13 extending forwardly beyond the base to project over the conveyor towards the working face, and a plurality of hydraulically extensible legs 14,15 (only two of which can be seen in Figure 1) extending between the base and roof canopy units. The legs are extendable to urge the roof canopy unit to supportably engage the mine roof 16.
Each roof support also comprises a flushing shield assembly 17 including support arms 20 mounted on the rear of the support's base and roof canopy units tending to prevent broken rock from the collapsing mine roof from flowing into an operator passage or walkway 19 defined between the relatively forwardly and relatively rearwardly located legs 14 and 15, respectively.
The support equipment for the present invention comprises a retractable abutment component 30 movable between a working face engaging mode (indicated in full lines) in which a support-plate assembly 31 is adapted to contact the working face 1 and a retracted mode (indicated in broken lines) in which the support assembly 31 is withdrawn from the working face into a region just below the forwardly cantilevered portion of the roof canopy. As seen in Figure 1, in its retracted mode the abutment component is raised clear of the winning machine 2 which thereby is able to continue unhindered its
traverse along the longwall face. The equipment has
a link arrangement 34 comprising a pair of link ele
ments 35 pivotally mounted in brackets 36 provided
on the support plate assembly 31 and brackets 37
provided on the foremost ends of roof canopy unit
13.
Movement of the abutment component 30 about the link arrangement 34 into one or other of its oper
ational modes is controlled by a hydraulic ram 40
pivotally mounted to the plates assembly 31 by pivotal bracket 41 and to the roof canopy unit 13 by pivotal bracket 42. Thus, in use, the ram 40 is extended to urge the support assembly 31 into its vertical working face supporting mode and is
retracted to urge the support assembly into its
retracted mode with the support assembly 31 withdrawn from the working face.
The abutment component 30 also comprises a retractable foot arrangement 50 having a foot 51 for engagement with the mine floor 11 and two elongate slide rods 52 slidably engaged within cylindrical guide tubes 53 constituting part of the support plate assembly 31. Movement of the retractable foot between its two alternative operational modes is controlled by a hydraulically extensible ram 55 having a piston rod 56 (see Figure 3).
In operation, the abutment component 30 is retracted into a raised position (as indicated in broken lines in the drawings) allowing the winning machine 2 to traverse passed the associated roof support. In Figure 1 the machine is shown traversing along the longwall face in a direction into the paper, ie away from the observer. Passage of the cutter 3 advances the vertical working face from 1' to lie by a distance substantially equal to the width of the rotary cutter drum.
Immediately upon the machine passing a particu larroofsupportthe roof support is advanced by retraction of a hydraulic advancing ram 60 (only one end of which is seen in Figure 1) extending between the conveyor4 and the base unit 10 of the support.
The roof support is advanced until the base unit 10 is adjacent to the conveyor and the foremost end of the roof canopy is adjacent to the newly exposed working face 1. Once the roof support is fully advanced the ram 40 is extended by activation of a control valve handle provided on the roof support, to urge the abutment component 30 the support equipment from its retracted mode towards its vertical working face supporting mode in which the support plate assembly 31 abuts the working face 1. Upon the support assembly 31 contacting the working face the operator activates another control to extend the ram 55 urging the retractable foot into its mine floor engaging mode.Once in this mode the action of the ram 55 is to urge the support assembly upwards such that the link arrangement provides an additional supportforthe foremost end of the roof canopy unit 13, thus tending to improve support for the mine roof. In addition, the ram 40 urges the support assembly substantially horizontally towards the vertical working face thus tending to provide support to contain the working face and thereby tending to prevent collapse of the face into the passage or walkway 19. Thus, the support equipment tends to improve conditions on the longwall face and tends to reduce the hazards associated with falling mineral.
Upon the machine traversing along the face in the opposite direction the support equipment is retracted into its raised mode to permit unhindered passage of the machine. Then, as previously described immediately the machine has passed the roof support the roof support is advanced followed by the support equipment being urged into its working face supporting mode. In between the two traverses of the machine the conveyor 4 is advanced towards the working face by the action of the rams 60.
It is to be understood that in practise each roof support installed along the face is provided with support equipment to support the vertical working face. Thus, in operation as the machine traverses along the longwall face and each roof support in sequence, is released from its roof supporting mode, advanced and reset immediately behind the machine a similar release and reset operation is conducted for each set of support equipment provided and the newly advanced and reset roof support. Thus, the only section of the vertical working face not supported by the support equipment is that immediately adjacent to the machine. It will be appreciated that the body of the machine protects the mine operators from falling mineral upon the collapse of this currently unsupported section. Thus, the present invention tends to improve safety on the longwall face.
In other embodiments, the roof support canopy unit comprises a forwardly extendable section and the link arrangement extends between the forwardly extendable section and the retractable abutment component.
Claims (5)
1. Underground mine support equipment for use with advanceable roof supports on a longwall face having a working face, comprising a retractable abutment component movable between a working face engaging mode in which it is adapted, in use, to contact the working face and a retracted mode in which it is withdrawn from the working face, a link arrangement pivotally mounted at one end to the abutment component and adapted at the other end for pivotal connection to an adjacent roof support canopy unit, and hydraulic ram means for controlling movement of the abutment component between the two operational modes, the retractable abutment component comprising hydraulically extensible means including a retractable foot.
2. Equipment as claimed in claim 1, in which the hydraulic ram means is pivotally mounted at one end to the abutment component and is adapted at its other end for pivotal connection to an adjacent roof support.
3. Equipment as claimed in claim 1 or2, in which the retractable foot is movable between an extended mode in which, in use, the foot is urged to contact the mine floor and a retracted mode in which the foot is withdrawn from the mine floor.
4. Equipment as claimed in claim 3, in which a guide arrangement is provided for the retractable foot.
5. An underground mine roof support for use on a longwall face having a working face, comprising a base unit, a roof canopy unit, a plurality of hydraulically extensible legs extending between the base and roof canopy units, and support equipment comprising a retractable abutment component movable between a working face engaging mode in which it is adapted, in use, to contact the working face and a retracted mode in which it is withdrawn from the working face, a link arrangement pivotally mounted at one end to the abutment component and adapted at the other end for pivotal connection to an adjacent roof support canopy unit, and hydraulic ram means for controlling movement ofthe abutment component between the two operational modes, the retractable abutment component comprising hydraulically extensible means including a retractable foot.
5. An underground mine roof support for use on a longwall face having a working face, comprising a base unit, a roof canopy unit, a plurality of hydraulically extensible legs extending between the base and roof canopy units, and support equipment comprising a retractable abutment component movable between a working face engaging mode in which it is adapted, in use, to contact the working face and a retracted mode in which it is withdrawn from the working face, a link arrangement pivotally mounted at one end to the abutment component and adapted at the other end for pivotal connection to an adjacent roof support canopy unit, and hydraulic ram means for controlling movement of the abutment component between the two operational modes, the retractable abutment component comprising hydraulically extensible means.
6. A support as claimed in claim 5, in which the hydraulic ram means is pivotally mounted at one end to the abutment component and is adapted at its other end for pivotal connection to an adjacent roof support.
7. A support as claimed in claim 6, in which the retractable foot is movable between an extended mode in which, in use, the foot is urged to contact the mine floor and a retracted mode in which the foot is withdrawn from the mine floor.
8. A support as claimed in claim 7, in which a guide arrangement is provided for the retractable foot.
9. Underground mine support equipment for use with advanceable roof supports on a longwall face having a working face, substantially as described herein and substantially as shown in the accompanying drawings.
10. An underground mine roof support for use on a longwall face having a working face, substantially as described herein and substantially as shown in the accompanying drawings.
New claims or amendments to claims filed on 3rd
April 1981 superseded claim 5
New or amended claims:
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| GB8033919A GB2086462B (en) | 1980-10-21 | 1980-10-21 | Underground mine support equipment |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| GB8033919A GB2086462B (en) | 1980-10-21 | 1980-10-21 | Underground mine support equipment |
Publications (2)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| GB2086462A true GB2086462A (en) | 1982-05-12 |
| GB2086462B GB2086462B (en) | 1984-01-11 |
Family
ID=10516806
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| GB8033919A Expired GB2086462B (en) | 1980-10-21 | 1980-10-21 | Underground mine support equipment |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| GB (1) | GB2086462B (en) |
Cited By (2)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US5133626A (en) * | 1989-05-11 | 1992-07-28 | Crucible S.A. | Mobile stope support apparatus |
| CN109139076A (en) * | 2018-08-24 | 2019-01-04 | 淮北矿业股份有限公司 | A kind of mining tunnel face mechanization brush expands frame lane device |
-
1980
- 1980-10-21 GB GB8033919A patent/GB2086462B/en not_active Expired
Cited By (2)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US5133626A (en) * | 1989-05-11 | 1992-07-28 | Crucible S.A. | Mobile stope support apparatus |
| CN109139076A (en) * | 2018-08-24 | 2019-01-04 | 淮北矿业股份有限公司 | A kind of mining tunnel face mechanization brush expands frame lane device |
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| GB2086462B (en) | 1984-01-11 |
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCNP | Patent ceased through non-payment of renewal fee |