GB2244738A - A furnished profile for a scraper chain conveyor - Google Patents

Abstract

A profile, generally of sigma cross-section, to constitute one sidewall of a line pan (2) to form, with similar line pans a scraper chain conveyor, in which the sidewall is formed integrally, as a casting, with an associated furnishing (13), the latter serving for both the trapping of an associated haulage rack arrangement (14) and the captivation of slide shoes (20) of an associated mining machine (21), with the furnishing (13) comprising a wall (25) extending upwardly from an inner edge (26) of the upper flange (22), the wall (25) being formed integrally with a pair of spaced-apart, outwardly directed ribs (27, 28), which between them define a trapping gap constituting one half of a trapping means for an associated haulage rack arrangement (14), and the upwardly extending wall (25) further being formed integrally with an inwardly projecting captivation rib (29) for the slide shoes (20) of the mining machine (21) and, at an upper edge of the wall, with a planar slide surface (30) to be slidably engaged by the slide shoes (20) of the mining machine (21), and with at least one aperture (23) in the upper flange (22) for discharge of fines from the trapping gap. <IMAGE>

Description

SCRAPER CHAIN CONVEYOR ETC.

This invention relates to a scraper chain conveyor and in particular to a line pan from which the conveyor is constructed, and to a side wall configuration for the line pan.

Line pans of unit length (1500 cm or 5ft) are secured together, end-to-end in articulated manner to build up a conveyor to desired length e.g. 200me each pan comprising a pair of mutually facing, spaced-apart, elongate, sigma-section sidewalls, interconnected by a deck plate welded to both sidewalls to separate an upper, conveying run, from a lower return run, with a plurality of transversely extending flight bars attached at regular intervals to at least one endless chain and with a drive sprocket barrel assembly provided at at least one end of the conveyor and a return sprocket barrel assembly provided at the other end of the conveyor.

Scraper chain conveyor s are used extensively in mineral mining operations, particularly coal mining, by being located along a mineral face and serving not only to convey away mineral mined from the face, but also as a guide track for an associated mining machine adapted to be reciprocated to and fro along the conveyor. Machine reciprocation is by a haulage system comprising at least one machine mounted drive sprocket, powered from an onboard source, and, for the socalled "chainless" haulages developed over the last 2 years, adapted to engage a rack associated with the conveyor.

Various rack arrangements are in operation but all have required the securing, by bolting and/or welding, of mounting and/or trapping furnishings to one of the conventional sigmasection sidewalls of a line pan. Inevitably, during mining operations, damage or deformation of the furnishings occur, requiring replacement. With a wholly bolted construction, or part bolted construction, the bolts are frequently difficult to release as a result of deformation and/or rusting from water sprays provided for dust supression etc.With a wholly welded construction, or part welded construction, weld fatigue occurs due to stresses, vibrations, overloading etc., in practice, while frequently compromises must be made in the steel specification from an optimum specification to one with improved weldability, while furthermore the entire pan (conventionally 1500 cm length) must be withdrawn from the conveyor for surface repair (under British regulations) or underground repair at a safe area (under U.S. regulations).

Apart from the interruption to mineral production, the furnishings are usually outboard of the conveyor width, (c.f.

GB 2,176,522, GB 2,196,366, GB 2,94,866, GB 2,58,882, GB 2,54,72, GB 1,53 4,0 2 9, GB 1,528,398), which may result in the taking of a reduced web of mineral during each traverse.

Also, the machine must be captivated to the conveyor by slide shoes engaging a captivating flange whilst the machine must also carry a scraper to scrape fines from the top surface of the sidewall of each pan to prevent the captivating path being obstructed by fines.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a profile, generally of sigma cross-section, to co n s t i t ut e one sidewall of aline pan to form, with similar line pans a scraper chain conveyor, in which the sidewall is formed integrally, as a casting, with an associated furnishing, the latter serving for both the trapping of an associated haulage rack arrangement and the captivation of slide shoes of an associated mining machine.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a line pan to form part of a scraper chain conveyor, incorporating one side wall as defined above.

According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided a scraper chain conveyor, built-up to desired length by securing together, end-to-end, a plurality of line pans in accordance with the second aspect.

With the arrangement in accordance with the invention, a more robust construction is possible as the integral casting is not adversely affected by vibration, stresses and rusting as is the case with bolts and welds. Furthermore, there is no difficulty in providing the furnishing within the standard width of a line pan, rather than having a disadvantageously widened line pan where outboard furnishings cannot be avoided.

Preferably, a plurality of fines outlet apertures are provided in the upper flange of the sigma-section. By the location of fines outlet apertures in the upper flange of the sigma section, the fines are advantageously discharged directly into the conveying run of the conveyor, thereby minimising any ploughing action.

The fines outlet apertures are preferably constructed by elongate slots. In detail, three may be provided in each integrally cast sidewall/furnishing.

In a first embodiment the furnishing is provided at an elevated location with respect to the sidewall and is rendered integral by a plurality of interconnecting webs common to both the sidewall, and in particular its upper flange, and the furnishing, the latter providing not only a captivation rail directed downwardly towards the upper surface of the upper flange of the sidewall to engage a slide shoe of a mining machine adapted to slidably engage the upper surface of the upper flange, which slide shoe is thereby captivated between the captivation rail and the upper flange, but also one half of an elongate trapping aperture for the associated rack arrangement, the other half being provided by a trapping rail extending along the conventionally provided spill plate at the goaf side of the conveyor.Such an embodiment is satisfactory in the course of mining medium to thick mineral seams.

However, in accordance with a second embodiment. which is particularly suitable for the mining of thin mineral seams, then compared with the first embodiment, the height of the trapping means is much reduced, the furnishing comprising a wall extending upwardly from the inner edge of the upper flange, the wall being formed integrally with a pair of spaced-apart, outwardly directed ribs, which between them define a trapping gap constituting one half of a trapping means for an associated haulage rack arrangement, and the wall further being formed integrally with an inwardly projecting captivation rib for a slide shoe for a mining machine and at an upper edge of the wall, a planar slide surface to be slidably engaged by a slide shoe of the mining machine.With this arrangement the other half of the trapping means can readily be provided by welding an upright plate along an outer edge or lip of the upper flange, with a trapping rail extending inwardly from an inner face of the upright plate, to constitute the other half of the trapping means.

With this second embodiment, debris escape apertures are necessary rather than optional as with the first embodiment. Thus, apertures in the form of elongate slots may be formed in the upper flange during casting, and they may discharge either, generally inwardly, into what is the conveying run of the conveyor, or generally outwardly on to the mine floor.

Use of the low-height, second embodiment is not of course confined to thin mineral seams, as it may be employed with equally advantageous effect in medium to thick seams, and hence has universal application. Furthermore, the second embodiment provides not only amore compact, but a more robust construction than the first embodiment, in that there are no interconnecting webs between the sidewall and the furnishing.

Furthermore, the second embodiment offers the possibility of increasing the width of the contact area between the rack arrangement and the conventionally provided haulage sprocket(s) of the associated mining machine and hence minimising if not eliminating the swaging effect that is noticable in transmitting the haulage forces involved. by these rolling faces.

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 transverse sectional view through a first embodiment of sidewall in accordance with the first aspect of the invention; Figure 2 is a side elevation of Figure 1 in the direction of arrow x; Figure 3 corresponds to Figure 1, but shows a second embodiment; Figure 4 corresponds to Figure 1 but shows a second embodiment; and Figure 5 corresponds to Figure 4, but shows a third embodiment.

In the drawings, a sigma-section profile constituting one, goaf-side sidewall 1, of a line pan 2, is interconnected via a deck plate 3, to another and conventional, face-side, sigma-section sidewall 4 to define an upper conveying run 5 and a lower return run 6 for flight bars 7 attached at intervals to endless chains (not shown). The line pan 2 is also conventionally provided with a floor plate 8 welded to the under surfaces 9 of lower flanges 1B of both sidewalls and seating on a mine floor 11. In the usual way, sufficient number of unit length (1500 cm) line pans 2 are assembled together, end-to-end via articulated joints, to build up a scraper chain conveyor 12 to desired length (e.g. 2 m).

In detail, the sidewall 1 is produced integrally, as a casting, with furnishing 13 which may serve, depending on the type of rack haulage system which the user wishes to install either as a rack, or a trapping arrangement for a rack 14 constituted by a plurality of interengaging blocks 15 as described in detail in pending patent application NoCB 900 582.8 by the blocks 15 being trapped under lip 16 of the furnishing 13 and under lip 17 of a trapping rail 18 bolted to a conventional spill plate 19. The furnishing 13 serves secondly as a captivation means for the conventional slide shoes 2 of a longwall mining machine 21.Upper flange 22 of the goaf-side, sigma-section sidewall 1 is provided with five elongate fines discharge slots 23, at regular intervals, which slots 23 open out into the upper conveying run 5 for direct discharge of fines into that run.

In the embodiment of Figures 1 to 3, the furnishing 13 is attached to the sidewall 1, by a plurality of inter connecting webs 24 common to both the furnishing 13 and the sidewall 1.

In the low height embodiments of Figures 4 and 5, the furnishing 13 comprises a wall 25 extending upwardly from an inner edge 26 of the upper flange 22 the wall 25 being formed integrally with a pair of spaced-apart, outwardly directed ribs 27, 28 which between them define a trapping gap constituting one half of a trapping means for the associated haulage rack 14, and the wall 25 further being formed integrally with an inwardly projecting captivation rib 29 for the slide shoe 2 of the mining machine 21 and at an upper edge of the wall 25, a planar slide surface 3 to be slidably engaged by the slide shoe 2 of the mining machine 21 . With the embodiment of Figure 4, slots 23 discharge debris into the conveying run 5, while in the embodiment of Figure 5, slots 23 discharge debris onto the mine floor 11 at the goaf side.

Claims (1)

1. PATENT CLAIMS

   1. A sigma-section profile to constitute one sidewall of a line pan to form a scraper chain conveyor, the sidewall being provided with a furnishing characterised in that the sidewall is formed integrally as a casting, with an associated furnishing, the latter serving for both the trapping of an associated haulage rack arrangement, and the captivation of slide shoes of an associated mining machine.

   2. A profile as claimed in Claim 1, characterised in that a plurality of fines outlet apertures are provided in an upper flange of a sigma-section.

   3. A profile as claimed in Claim 2, characterised in that the apertures are elongate slots.

   4. A profile as claimed in Claim 2 or Claim 3, characterised in that three slots are provided.

   5. A sigma-section profile, pr or il e, as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 4, characterised in that the furnishing comprising a wall extending upwardly from an inner edge of upper flange, the wall being formed integrally with a pair of spaced-apart, outwardly directed ribs, which between them define a trapping gap constituting one half of a trapping means the haulage rack arrangement, and the wall further being formed integrally with an inwardly projecting captivation rib for the slide shoes of the associated mining machine and, at an upper edge of the wall, with a planar slide surface to be slidably engaged by the slide shoes and with at least one aperture in the upper flange for discharge of fines from the trapping gap.

   6. A sigma-section profile as claimed in Claim 5, characterised in that an upright plate is welded along an outer edge of the upper flange, and an inner face of the upright plate is provided with an inwardly extending trapping rail, to constitute the other half of the trapping means.

   7. A sigma section profile as claimed in Claim 3, characterised in that the slots are so located as to discharge debris generally inwardly, into the conveying run.

   8. A profile as claimed in Claim 3, characterised in that the slots are so located as to discharge debris generally outwardly, onto the adjacent mine floor.

   9. A line pan, to form part of a scraper chain conveyor, incorporating one side wall as defined in any preceding Claim.

   113. A scraper chain conveyor, built-up to desired length by securing together, end-to-end, a plurality of linepans as defined in Claim 9.