GB2152975A

GB2152975A - Controller for the vertical positioning of mineral plough

Info

Publication number: GB2152975A
Application number: GB08427395A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Ernst Braun; Gert Braun
Original assignee: Halbach and Braun Industrieanlagen GmbH
Current assignee: Halbach and Braun Industrieanlagen GmbH
Priority date: 1984-01-24
Filing date: 1984-10-30
Publication date: 1985-08-14
Also published as: JPS60159297A; SU1284462A3; ES291687Y; GB2152975B; FR2558523A1; DE3402206A1; PL250302A1; GB8427395D0; ES291687U; DE3402206C2

Abstract

A controller for the vertical positioning of a coal etc., plough is described, having a control shield (3) secured to a face conveyor (2) at the goaf side, which control shield (3) has bearing cheeks (4) for a control lever (5) terminating near the base of the shield (3). The end of the control lever (5) remote from the shield (3) pivots on a driving bar (7). The upper end of the control lever (5) nearest the shield (3) is adapted as a gear segment (8). With the gear segment (8) is meshed a driving worm (9) journalled on the control shield (3) orthogonally to the axis (6) of the control lever (5), above the control lever (5) and is manually drivable at its rearward end. This gives a simple, functionally reliable and compact construction. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Controller for the vertical positioning of mineral plough This invention relates to a controller for the positioning, in a vertical plane, of a mineral, (e.g. coal) cutter or plough, having a control shield secured to a conveyor adapted to extend along a mineral face, on the rearward goaf side of the conveyor, distal from the face, which control shield has at least one bearing cheek for at least one control lever terminating near the base of the shield, a pivot of the control lever being a fixed axle running parallel to the control shield and the end of the control lever remote from the shield pivoting on a supported driving or relay bar or similar outrigger.

The known use for a controller is to compensate for local floor irregularities or deviations of the coal etc., cutter from the desired cutting level. For this purpose, the face conveyor is usually raised or lowered with the aid of a lifting cylinder at the goaf side. When the cutter is lowered, one has climb cutting, and when it is raised one has plunge cutting. When the cutter is at the desired cutting level, the lifting cylinder is in a neutral position with the piston rod in a mid-position. The lifting cylinder is usually set obliquely, one end of the piston rod bearing on the control shield and forming a fixed longitudinal axis near the top of the shield, while the far end of the cylinder bears on the control lever to form a movable hinge axis and the control lever as it were forms an extension to the relay bar.The lifting cylinder is obliquely set and consequently relatively unprotected, while furthermore the vertical extent of the assembly is relatively large. Moreover, a lifting cylinder of this type, apart from requiring additional supply pipelines, is both expensive and easily damaged. Furthermore, it is comparatively difficult to bring the plough exactly to the desired cutting level with a lifting cylinder of this type. When the control valve is manually controlled, the lifting cylinder often overshoots, and the plough may climb or plunge out of control. The invention is intended to provide a remedy.

The object of the invention is to devise a controller of the type initially described, but outstanding by virtue of its simple, compact and functionally apt construction and the particularly precise adjustment it ensure for the cutting level of the plough.

According to the present invention, there is provided a controller for the vertical positioning of a mineral, (e.g. coal) plough, comprising a control shield secured to the rearward goaf side of a face conveyor, which control shield has at least one bearing cheek for at least one control lever terminating near the base of the shield, a pivot of the control lever being constituted by a fixed axle running parallel to the control shield and the end of the control lever remote from the shield being pivotable on a supported driving bar or similar outrigger, with an upper portion of the control lever adapted as a gear segment and in mesh with a worm journalled orthogonally to an axis of the control lever on an axle located above the control lever on the control shield, the worm being drivable from its rearward end.

These features of the invention have the effect that it becomes possible in principle to avoid the use of a lifting cylinder, since the face conveyor is raisable and lowerable by means of a worm drive.

This facilitates an extremely precise adjustment of the cutting level of the plough.

In accordance with the invention, the end of the control lever remote from the shield is constructed as a fork, in which fork is journalled the forward end of the driving bar/relay bar/outrigger/advancing ram or the like, forming a hinge head with a vertical pivot.

Other significant features of the invention will now be described. Thus the invention provides that when the control lever is in its initial position, the axis for the control lever is located at the midpoint under the gear segment and the driving worm, so that a sufficient angle of control is available in both directions for either raising or lowering the face conveyor with the aid of the driving worm, the gear segment and the axis of symmetry running vertically through the axis. It is preferable to journal the driving worm in bearing housings fixed or welded between the bearing cheeks for the control lever on the control shield and relay bar for example, which latter may also constitute a cable conduit or the like. At its rearward end, the driving worm may have a polygon, for example and internal polygon, for manual actuation with the aid of a key.

The advantages accruing from the invention are to be seen substantially in that it provides a controller for the vertical positioning of a coal etc., plough of outstandingly simple and compact construction, so that a relatively shallow control shield can be used nevertheless the worm drive can be protected under a cable conduit for example. The compact construction leaves more cable conduit space available than when a lifting cylinder is used. Moreover, no additional supply pipelines are now required. The worm drive of the invention is functionally reliable and can be made at relatively low cost. Manual actuation of the worm drive facilitates a particularly precise adjustment of the cutting level of the plough. The overall result is a simple, functionally reliable and compact constructional arrangement.

The invention will now be described in greater detail, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a schematic view of a controller of the invention, in its initial position showing the face conveyor, the plough guide and the coal cutter, Figure 2 is a view to a larger scale of the cutter controller of Figure 1, Figure 3 corresponds to Figure 2 but shows the cutter controller in the climb position, and Figure 4 is a schematic plan view of Figures 2 and 3, in partial horizontal section.

In the drawings is shown a controller for the vertical positioning of a coal etc., plough 1, having a control shield 3 secured to a face conveyor 2 on the rearward, goaf side, which control shield has at least one bearing cheek 4 for at least one control lever 5 terminating near the base of the shield. An axis 6 for the control lever 5 is a fixed axle running parallel to the control shield 3. The end of the control lever 5 remote from the shield pivots on a driving or relay bar 7 or similar outrigger bearing, for example on the conventially provided powered roof supports. The upper end of the control lever 5 nearest the shield is adapted as a gear segment 8.

With the gear segment 8 is meshed a driving worm 9 journalled at 10 orthogonally to the axis 6 on which the control lever 5 pivots, i.e. on an axle 10 at right angles to the control shield 3, located above the control lever 5 on the control shield 3 and drivable from its rearward end. The end of the control lever 5 remote from the shield is constructed as a fork 11. The forward end of the bar 7 is journalled in the fork 11, forming a hinge head 12 with a vertical pivot 13. When the control lever 5 is in its initial position the axis 6 for the control lever 5 is located at the midpoint under the gear segment 8 and the driving worm 9, so that a vertical axis passing through the midpoint of the axis 6 is at the same time an axis 14 of symmetry for the driving worm 9 and the gear segment 8. Between the bearing cheeks 4 for the control lever 5 there are bearing housings 15 for the driving worm 9, one on the control shield 3 and the other welded to a cable conduit 16. At its rearward end, the driving worm 9 has a polygon, for example an internal polygon 17, for manual actuation with the aid of a key, so that the face conveyor 2 can be raised or lowered to adjust the position of the plough 1.

Claims

1. A controller for the vertical positioning of a mineral, (e.g. coal) plough, comprising a control shield secured to the rearward, goaf side of a ;ace conveyor, which control shield has at least one bearing cheek for at least one control lever terminating near the base of the shield, a pivot of the control lever being constituted by a fixed axle running parallel to the control shield and the end of the control lever remote from the shield being pivotable on a supported driving bar or similar outrigger, with an upper portion of the control lever adapted as a gear segment and in mesh with a worm journalled orthogonally to an axis of the control lever on an axle located above the control lever on the control shield, the worm being drivable from its rearward end.

2. A controller as claimed in Claim 1, wherein an end of the control lever remote from the shield is constructed as a fork, in which is journalled a forward end of the driving bar or similar outrigger, forming a hinge head with a vertical pivot.

3. A controller as claimed in Claim 1 or 2, wherein, when the control lever is in its initial position the control lever axis is located at a midpoint under the gear segment and the driving worm.

4. A controller as claimed in any preceding Claim, wherein bearing housings for the driving worm are fixed between the bearing cheeks for the control lever.

5. A controller as claimed in any preceding Claim, wherein the worm is provided at its rearward end with a polygon, for example an internal quadrilateral, for manual actuation with the aid of a key.

6. A controller for the vertical positioning of a mineral plough, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.