GB2108176A - Improvements in or relating to drum cutter loader mining machines - Google Patents

Abstract

This invention relates to drum cutter-loader mineral mining machines and an object of the invention is to provide a machine whose overall length is greatly reduced relative to known machines of similar output capabilities. The drum cutter-loader mineral mining machine has a machine body (10) a drum cutter (13) carried by a support arm (14) at one or both extremities of the face side of said body, and at least one electric motor (25) for driving the or each drum cutter mounted on the face side (11) of the body (10) between said extremities and occupying a volume the cross-sectional dimensions of which are within the trajectory swept by the cutter drum (13) or the leading cutter drum in operation of the machine. The body main frame (10) is of elongate hollow section, and at least part of the drive transmission is accommodated in the main frame. At least one traction unit (30) for the machine is mounted on the goaf side of the main frame. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements in or relating to drum cutter loader mining machines This invention relates to drum cutter-loader mineral mining machines of the type having a body adapted to sit upon and move along the frame of a face conveyor which is situated along the face from which the mineral is to be won, the machine carrying at one or each of its extremiities on the face side a cutting drum rotatably mounted on a shaft so as to be substantially parallel to the mine floor, the shaft being carried on a support arm rotatably secured at its inner end to the machine body and capable of being acted on by pressure jacks so as to range the cutter drum within chosen limits and thus extract the mineral from the seam face.

The overall lengths of known machines of the type stated hamper their use in the relatively low and narrow face areas underground and their complexity in design and construction makes their manufacturing and maintenance cost high.

It is an object of the invention to provide a drum cutter-loader mineral mining machine of the type stated of an overall lenght which is greatly reduced relative to any known machine of the type stated to similar output capabilities, and the design of which is such that it can be produced and maintained less expensively than any such known machine of the type stated.

In accordance with the present invention we provide a drum cutter-loader mineral mining machine having a machine body disposed in use lengthwise of the mineral face and having a face side, and a goaf side, a drum cutter carried by a support arm at one or both extremities of the face side of said body, and at least one electric motor for driving the or each drum cutter mounted on the face side of the body between said extremities and occuping a volume the cross-sectional dimensions of which are within the trajectory swept by the cutter drum or the leading cutter drum in operation of the machine.

Also, in accordance with the present invention, we provide a drum cutter-loader mineral mining machine of the type stated whereof the body is a main frame of elongate hollow section to be disposed in use with its longitudinal axis lengthwise of the face from which a mineral is to be won having a face side and a goaf side, the main frame rotatably mounting towards one or each of its ends to extend beyond the respective end a support arm carrying at its end remote from the main frame a cutter drum on a rotatable mounting the axis of which is normal to the face from which the mineral is to be won, the or each cutter drum having associated therewith for the drive thereof at least one electric motor which is mounted on said face-side to be within the trajectory swept by the cutter drum in operation of the machine and at least part of the drive transmission which is accommodated in the main frame and a hydraulic ram acting on the or each support arm to range the cutter drum carried thereby, and at least one traction unit for the machine being mounted on the goaf side of the main frame.

Preferably, the or each traction unit is driven by an electric motor mounted on the face side of the main frame to be within the trajectory swept by the cutter drum.

Alternatively, the or each traction unit is driven by hydraulic pump which is actuated from the or one of the electric motors driving the or a cutter drum.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figures 1 and 2 are diagrammatic plan and side views of a drum cutter loader mining maching according to one embodiment of the invention, in which two cutter drums are provided; Figures 3 and 4 are similar views of a second embodiment in which traction drive electric motors are provided; Figures 5 and 6 are similar views of a third embodiment; and Figures 7 and 8 are similar views of modifications of the embodiment of Fig. 1 in which only one cutter drum is provided.

In the drawings, like parts are denoted by the same reference numerals.

Referring firstly to Figs. 1 and 2, a drum cutter loader mineral mining machine consists of a main frame 10 which is in effect a beam of hollow substantially rectangular cross-section to be disposed in use lengthwise in relation to the seam face with two of its sides vertical and parallel to the seam face, i.e. the face side 11 and the goaf side 12, its other two sides 8 and 9 being horizontal and normal to the seam face. The upper horizontal side 8 has been omitted from Figs. 1, 3, 5 and 7 to reveal structure internal of the frame 10.

In the embodiment disclosed in Figs. 1 and 2, there are mounted within the main frame 10, all of the gears associated with the drives for two cutter drums 1 3 mounted one at each end of the main frame.

Support arms 14 for the cutter drums 1 3 are rotatably mounted by means of a bearing 15, 16 from the face side 11 of the main frame 10 at the ends thereof and extend in opposite longitudinal directions. In view of the narrowness of the main frame 10, the customary boss used to support the weight of the support arm and cutter drum would project through the main frame, so a slewing ring arrangement is utilized, mounted about a horizontal axis, and may take the form of a crossroller bearing. One part of the bearing, e.g.

the outer ring 15, is bolted to the support arm 14 as schematically indicated at 17, and the other part 1 6 is bolted to the main frame 10 as schematically indicated at 17A. Each support arm 14 carries at the end thereof remote from the main frame a cutter drum 1 3 on a rotatable mounting (not shown) centred about a horizontal drive shaft 1 8 axially normal to the seam face.Close to the regions of the cutter drum shafts 1 8 and secured to the main frame 10 and to the support arms 1 4 are hydraulic pressure jacks 20, the lines of action of which are substantially vertical, to rais and lower the support arms 1 4 so that the cutter drums 1 3 can extract mineral to any given thickness within the range of the support arms. The range can be increased by increasing the length of the support arms.

Situated between the cutter drums 1 3 and secured to the face side 11 of the main frame 10 are two electric motors 25 each to drive one of the cutter drums 13, the axes of the shafts 26 of the motors 25 being in the same horizontal plane normal to the same face as are the axes of the cutter drum drive shafts 1 8. The shafts 26 are supported within the main frame 10 and transmission of drive therefrom is by way of trains of spur gears accommodated within the main frame 1 0. The motors 25 projecting from said face side 11 of the main frame 10 are situated 'in web' i.e.

housed within the space trajectory swept by the leading cutter drum in operation of the machine.

On the goaf side 1 2 of the main frame 10, and secured to it at its extremities, are the traction units 30 for the movement of the machine along the face. In this embodiment each traction unit comprises a hydraulic motor 31 and stepdown transmission 32 to the traction wheel or sprocket 33.

Housed between the traction units are an hydraulic power pack unit 34 and a switch unit 35, both secured to the goaf side 12 of the main frame 10.

The hydraulic power pack unit 34 is actuated from a pump 36 driven by one of the cutter drum motors, and operates the traction units 31 whilst the cutter drum support arm rams 20 are operate, by an auxiliary pump 37.

The entire machine is mounted on shoes 50 suitable for travelling along armoured face conveyors 51 and has the conventional roll and steering arrangements normally associated with such drum shearer loaders, including the facility of mounting the machine onto underframes where greater seam thicknesses are to be exploited.

When it is the practice to cut bi-directionally, i.e. the load on the cutter drums is cyclic, there may be a single electric motor or, if space precludes this, there may be two smaller motors of equal size mechanically coupled together within the main frame. On the other hand, if the practice is to cut uni-directionally, there may again be a single motor or two smaller motors, the latter not being coupled together on this occasion and one being relatively larger than the other to accommodate the heavy cutting load from the constantly leading cutter drum and the other being relatively smaller to accommodate the lighter cutting load from the constantly trailing cutter drum plus the power requirements for the support arm rams, the power pack and the associated traction drive.The motors may therefore be varied to suit the mining system applied and permulated in size and coupling arrangements as required.

In the second embodiment disclosed in Figs. 3 and 4, the two traction units 30 are driven by electric motors 40 via gearing 41, the motors being mounted on the face side of the main frame 10 between the cutter drum drive motors 25. The traction drive motors 40 are always coupled for maximum power when driving the machine in either direction.

Each traction drive motor 40 is mounted in bearings 42 and has a drive shaft 43 which extends transversely through the main frame 10 to engage a train of gears 41 which cause rotation of the traction wheel or sprocket 33.

The cutter drum support arms 1 4 are appropriately fashioned to accommodate therewithin the trains of spur gears transmitting the drives from the motor shafts 26 to the cutter drums 1 3. The inboard ends of the support arms 14 are trunnion mounted and supported by the bearings 1 5 and 16, and the rams 20 for ranging the support arms 14 are located within the main frame 10.

In this embodiment, the hydraulic power jack is omitted, the cutter drum support arm jacks 20 being operated by an hydraulic pump driven by one of the cutter drum electric motors 25.

In the third embodiment disclosed in Figs.

5 and 6, the traction units 30 are operated, as in the first embodiment, by a hydraulic pump 36 driven by one of the cutter drum motors 25 and an auxiliary pump 37 operates the support arm rams 20 which are horizontally disposed as in the second embodiment.

The drive to the respective cutter drum is via gearing housed in the support arms as in the second embodiment.

The foregoing is applicable to machines operating on longwall faces of normal length, i.e. in excess of 100 metres, but there is a demand for a machine of even more reduced length on certain faces shorter than this. The design is such that a single drum and motor machine can easily be produced by virtually halving the double-ended version using the majority of parts in the latter design and securing them to a reduced-length main frame as illustrated for example in Figs. 7 and 8 which show a single drum version of the machine illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2.

In the single drum version of the embodiment of Figs. 3 and 4, one or two traction units may be provided with an electric motor to drive the or each or both units.

In the single drum version of the arrangement shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the power pack is located adjacent to the cutter drum motor, so if the left hand motor is retained, the hydraulic pump is transferred thereto and the position of the power pack and switch unit is reversed.

The advantage in a drum cutter loader according to the invention are: 1. The machine is of greatly reduced length due to the housing of the cutter drive electric motors 'in web'.

2. There is no encroachment on the machine line along the goaf side.

3. The electric motors are in an area of greater ventilation and hence of greater heatdissipation facility than conventionally.

4. Higher HP motors can be introduced as web depth increases or as seam height increases or both without affecting machine length.

5. The machine is designed around one central main frame to which are added sub-units all of simplified construction for ease of manufacture.

6. The transmission gears are all straight spur type and bevel gears are omitted, thus giving greater mechanical efficiency and minimum manufacturing complexity.

7. The design lends itself better to maintenance on a unit replacement basis if required.

8. Notwithstanding the above, the entire machine unit grouping, i.e.

1-main gearbox beam 2traction units 1-power pack unit 1-switchbox unit could be replaced with one complete chassis which would be easily machineable and into which the components could be readily assembled.

Claims (5)

1. A drum cutter-loader mineral mining machine having a machine body disposed in use lengthwise of the mineral face and having a face side, and a goaf side, a drum cutter carried by a support arm at one or both extremities of the face side of said body, and at least one electric motor for driving the or each drum cutter mounted on the face side of the body between said extremities and occupying a volume the cross-sectional dimensions of which are within the trajectory swept by the cutter drum or the leading cutter drum in operation of the machine.

2. A drum cutter-loader mineral mining machine of the type stated whereof the body is a main frame of elongage hollow section to be disposed in use with its longitudinal axis lengthwise of the face from which a mineral is to be won and having a face side and a goaf side, the main frame rotatably mounting towards one or each of its ends to extend beyond the respective end a support arm carrying at its end remote from the main frame a cutter drum on a rotatable mounting the axis of which is normal to the face from which the mineral is to be won, the or each cutter drum having associated therewith for the drive thereof at least one electric motor which is mounted on said face-side to be within the trajectory swept by the cutter drum in operation of the machine and at least part of the drive transmission which is accommodated in the main frame and a hydraulic ram acting on the or each support arm to range the cutter drum carried thereby, and at least one traction unit for the machine being mounted on the goaf side the main frame.

3. A machine as claimed in Claim 2, in the or each traction unit is driven by an electric motor mounted on the face side of the main frame to be within the trajectory swept by the cutter drum.

4. A machine as claimed in Claim 2, in which the or each traction unit is driven by hydraulic means which is actuated from the or one of the electric motors driving the or a cutter drum.

5. A drum cutter-loader mineral mining machine of the type stated, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figs.

1 and 2 or Figs. 3 and 4 or Figs. 5 and 6 or of Figs. 1 and 2 modified by Figs. 7 and 8 of the accompanying drawings.