US2959405A - Strata mining-adjacent seam hardness indicator - Google Patents

Description

STRATA MINING-ADJACENT SEAM HARDNESS INDICATOR Original Filed Nov. 18, 1954 G. T. FELBECK Nw.l s, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR GEORGE T. FELBECK @mtoy Nov. 8, 1960 6.1'. Fl-:LBECK y 2,959,405

STRAIA MINING-ADJACENT SEAM HARDNESS INDICATOR Original Filed Nov. 18, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 gli@ 4.

INVENTOR GEORGE T. FELBECK ATTORNEY United States Patent() STRATA MINING-ADJACENT SEAM HARDNESS INDICATOR George T. Felbeck, New York, N.Y., assignor to Union Carbide Corporation, a corporation of New York This invention relates to selected earth strata mining by remote control, and more particularly to improved means for indicating at a remote control station the relative hardness of a seam above or below the selected strata being mined before the mining machine cutters are damaged in case the machine approaches a seam that is hard enough to damage such cutters.

The invention is very useful in providing information for controlling the course of a mining machine of the type disclosed in the patent application of Alspaugh et al., Serial No. 353,932, tiled May l1, 1953, for a Remotely Controlled Mining System, now Patent No. 2,826,402.

In a continuons mining process using amachine controlled at a point remote from the actual mining operation, it is desirable to know at the control station if and when the machine approaches or crosses an upper or lower boundary of the strata or seam being mined.

An object of this invention is to provide information as soon as possible at the remote control station by a meter change if the machine leaves, or is likely to leave a selected seam, and approaches or enters a seam of different character, either above or below it, before the main head cutters are damaged.

For example, in mining coal the machine should operate only in the selected coal seam or strata, and if it can be avoided, not engage a rock strata immediately above or below such coal seam, else the cutters will be damaged, resulting in costly loss of operating time while the damage is being repaired.

This invention involves the use of a drum type cutter mounted yon a bore-mining machine and so arranged as to cut selected strata in a direction normal tothe forward motion of the machine, a motor to drive such drum cutter, and a suitable meter located at the remote control point of the mining machine connected to indicate the power supplied to such drum cutter drive motor. Changes in the meter reading indicate changes in the power requirements of the motor, and hence changes in the force required by the drum cutter to cut earth strata material adjacent to the bore made by the mining machine. As the machine bores forward into coal for example, such a drum cutter transversely mounted on top of the machine removes cusps of coal from the roof. The meter indicates the measure of force required for cutting such coal. As the machine approaches a layer of different hardness, such as rock in the top, for example, before the main cutter head teeth hit a relatively hard layer the drum cutter engages such harder layer. The resulting change in meter reading immediately indicates to the operator that the machine is moving upwardly toward such layer of different hardness. He immediately changes the Vertical course of the machine so as to avoid such harder layer and remain in the selected coal strata.

A similar suitation exists with respect to the bottom drum cutter. If the machine procedes on a downward course, the bottom drum cutter eventually breaks through the boundary of the coal into the bottom. The resulting change in the lower drum cutter power requirement indi-jik ice cates to the operator that such cutter has broken through the bottom of the coal seam, and he thereupon changes the vertical course of the machine so that the machine wlll avoid such bottom progress and progress only in the desired coal seam.

Wear on the drum cutter teeth is reduced by having a few of the teeth thereof longer than the others and thus concentrating wear in such longer teeth.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a view partly in section and partly in side elevation of a mining system embodying the invention 1n use;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary top plan view of the machine in the bore-hole;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross sectional view of the boref hole between the front cutters and the upper and lower drum cutters; and

Figs. 4 and 5 are enlarged fragmentary top plan views of the machine showing the upper and lower drum cutters, respectively.

The mining machine 10 comprising a self-powered tractor-type body 11 is designed to bore a hole 12 in selected earth strata, such as a coal seam 14, under the supervision of an operator in a control house 16 located outside of such borehole, as disclosed in said application Serial No. 353,932, continuously mining the material of such strata as the machine advances a distance, for example, of 1000 feet-more or less-without the need for a man to enter the hole.

The rotary front cutters 18 being laterally spaced leave cusps 20 of selected strata material in the oor and roof of the bore-hole, which are removed and such material recovered by the transversely disposed elongated upper and lower rotary drum cutters 22 and 24. The drum cutters are provided with radial teeth 25 some of which 25a are longer than the others for the purpose of age to the other teeth.

The upper cutter 22 is mounted on arms 26 pivoted to a main (front) gear box 28 by means of a transverse torsion shaft 30 that biases the upper drum cutter 22 up wardly toward the roof of the bore-hole. Such front gear box 28 is mounted on the body 11 for adjustment about a transverse horizontal axis 31 to control the vertical course of the machine. The upper drum cutter 22 is driven by an electric motor 32 through suitable reducing gear means 34 carried bly the left one ofarms 26.

The lower drum cutter 24 is driven by a motor 36 through suitable means comprising a drive shaft 38 containing universal joints 40 and 42, a differential gear 44, transverse drive shafts 46, and reduction gear means 48 disposed on each side of the machine. The ends of the lower drum cutter 24 are carried by gear boxes 50 that are mounted on the side rails 52 of the conveyors 54 which are disposed on either side of the longitudinal center of the machine, and pivoted at 56 for self-adjustment as the contour of the oor varies. Thus, as the lower drum cutter 24 approaches a seam of hard stratum such as sandstone, for example, below the selected strata being mined by the system, the torque of the motor 36- increases, which fact is indicated by a meter 58 located in the control house 16.

Similarly, a meter 60 that is electrically connected to the motor 32 which drives the upper drum cutter 22 indicates when the latter approaches a seam of relatively hard earth material above the roof of the hole 12. With such information, the operator can control the vertical course of the machine at the panel 62 to keep the progress of the mining operation Within the selected strata and avoid any damage to the front cutters as well as to the Patented Nov. 8, IQGQ drum cutters of the machine. Suitable vertical controls are disclosed in said application Serial No. 353,932, and in the application of Heimaster et al., Serial No. 307,246, tiled August 30, 1952 for Remotely ControlledBore- Mining Machine-Automatic., Course Controller, now Patent No. 2,761,666.

In this invention the drum cutters serve not only to cut (mine) a substantial amount of the selected strata material, such as coal, but they also servej at the same.

time to supply information as tothe relative hardness of the material being cut much more quickly and with less chance of damage to the cutters than has been possible in the past, because the load on a drum cutter (about 7 feet long) increases rather rapidly as it approaches a harder stratum than coal, for example, and thus indicates possible damage to the cutters to the operator at the control4 station before any` actual damage occurs` to theautter teeth even in the front cutters.

This application is a continuation of our application Serial No. 469,586, filed Novemberl 18, 1954, now Patent No. 2,878,000.

I claim:

1. In a system for miningv selected earth strata material by remote control, the combination with a boremining machine comprising vertically adjustable cooperative face cutting means and loading means adapted automatically to cut and loadselected strata material as it is mined into continuous conveyor. means that removes such material as it is mined through and from the resulting bore-hole made by said machine, said cooperative means including a plurality of laterally spaced rotary frontv cutters and a horizontal drum cutter having radial teeth disposed to cut at a xed but relatively close distance behind such face and recover residual material of the se lected strata including substantially all cusp material left by` said face cutting means adjacent one of the vertical boundaries of such bore hole, a drive motor exclusively for said drum cutter, means for energizing said drive` motor, and indicating means responsive to any changeV in the demand on said energizing means` by said drive motor in response to the actual cutting loadY on such drum cutter, associated with said'energizing means for indicating continuously such change before damage to the face cutting means occurs, said indicating means being positioned at a control station located remotely with respect to said machine,` and remote control means at such station for resetting the vertical course of the machine in accordance therewith by vertical adjustment said facercuttng means to keep the machine within the se lected earth strata characterized in that means are provided supporting said drum cutter on and for vertical movement with, and relatively to said face cutting means, whereby said drum cutter is kept resilently in contact with the roof or oor of the hole even when the face cutting means is adjusted vertically away from such root or iloor in operation of'themachine.

2. In a bore miningmachine the` combination comprising a self-powered tractor-type body, a front gear box mounted on said body` for vertical adjustment about a transverse-horizontal axis, front rotary cutters mounted on said gear box for rotation about transversely spaced longitudinal-horizontal axes, means for driving said front cutters in unison through said front gear box, longitudinal continuous conveyors mounted within said body on either side of theY longitudinal center thereof and extending under said front gear box for picking up selected earth strata material as it is mined by said front cutters, transversely disposed upper and lower drum cutters mounted above and below said gear box for relative vertical adjustment with respect thereto for continuously removing substantially all cusps of the strata material being mined from the roof and oor of the bore-hole made by said front cutters, separate electric motors for individually driving each of said drum cutters, electric power supply circuits for energizing said motors, the load on said drum cutters that is reected in the demand by said motors for electric power supplied by said circuits serving as a measure of the relative hardness of the strata engaged thereby before the front cutters are damaged, instruments connected to said power supply circuits of each drive motor of said drum cutters to indicate such relative hardness, and means for controlling the vertical course of the machine by adjusting said gear box about its axis to keep it within selected earth strata as revealed by said instruments, said drum cutters beingbiased outwardly from said gear box so as to remain in contact with the corresponding roof and floor `of the hole regardless of the vertical adjustment of said gear box.

3. In a mining machine the combination with vertically adjustable face cutting means, of a transverse drum cutter mounted thereon, a separate motor for driving said drum cutter, and means for indicating the relative hardness of strata being cut by said drum cutter; ofmeans supporting said drum cutter and motor on said machine comprising arms pivoted to said machine, means supporting said motor between said arms; said drum cutter being carried by the outer reaches of said arms; and means for urging said drum cutter about the pivot of said arms.

4. In a mining machine, the combination of a support, arms pivoted to said support for movement about an axis extending transversely with respect thereto, a drum cutter carried by said arms for movementtherewith about such axis, means for driving said` drum cutter, resilient biasing means between the arms and said support and means for indicating the relative hardness of strata being cut by said drum'cutter.

References Cited in the le of this `patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,641,007 Johansen Oct; 11, 1927 2,694,562 Snyder et al. Nov.V 16,1954

2,699,328 Alspaugh et al. Jan. 11, 1955 2,734,731 Cartlidge et al Feb. 1'4, 1956 2,826,402 Alspaugh etal Mar. 11, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 688,227 Great Britain Mar. 4, 1953 ne De

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