US3278236A - Dual augering machine - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 1966 G. ADAMS ETAL 3,278,236

DUAL AUGERING MACHINE gmmim gfifi C'HA miss TTGO VIN 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed June 20. 1960 THEME A 7' TOIQNEY Oct. 11, 1966 G. L. ADAMS ETAL 2 DUAL AUGERING MACHINE Original Filed June 20, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 NVENTORS GEOEGE 1. Am M5 By Ckmmas 71' Q0 VIA! %%f 77 4519 A? T70 ENE v United States Patent 3,278,236 DUAL AUGERING MACHINE George L. Adams, Salem, Ohio, and Charles T. Goviu, Wauwatosa, Wis. (both Salem Tool Company, Salem, Ohio) Original application June 20, 1960, Ser. No. 37,490, now Patent No. 3,091,439, dated May 28, 1963. Divided and this application July 5, 1962, Ser. No. 207,637

3 Claims. (Cl. 299-55) This invention is a division of application Serial No. 37,490, filed June 20, 1960, for Dual Auger Mining Machine.

This invention relates generally to anger mining machines and more particularly to an auger mining machine.

The principal object of this invention is the provision of automatic locking means that permit interengagement and locking of adjacent auger sections together with a release for detachable securing either end of each auger section when it is to be removed or disengaged from the drive of the mining machine. This materially aids in decreasing the time in changing angers or loading or unloading auger sections which represents the nonproductive time of the mining machine. This also includes a device for pre-setting each of the auger strings so that they may be released or uncoupled from their adjacent coupling by machine. This release may also be augmented by providing an arcuate shoe on the release mechanism to insure engagement with the release pins within a reasonable tolerance of misalignment of the auger sections in their rotary position.

Other objects and advantages appear hereinafter in the following description and claims.

The accompanying drawings show for the purpose of exemplification without limiting the claims thereto, certain practical embodiments illustrating the principles of this invention wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of the angering machine.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged plan view of the cutting head and the initial angering sections.

FIG. 3 is a view in side elevation showing the front and rear auger latch release mechanisms.

Referring to FIG. 1 of the drawings the angering machine consists of the frame 1 constructed of a pair of longitudinally disposed parallel I-beams 3 joined by a plurality of channel members 4 0n the under side thereof and connected by the continuous belly .plate 5 that extends from one I-beam to another and is braced by a series of brace plates. The outer face of the I-beams 3 are provided with the outboard brace plates 7 along the sides of the frame to provide for the walkways 8. The frame members 10 which consist of the raiser posts 11, the cross members 12 and the longitudinal beam 13 function to support the auger baflle frame 16 as well as the four vertical jacks 17 in the riser tubes 11. The vertical lifting jacks 17 are capable of lifting the whole of the machine and their large disc type feet are enabled to be raised above the skids 18 which support the mining machine for guiding movement and travel along the ground. The underside of the skids 18 represent the lowermost surface of the mining machine when the jacks 17 are retracted. These skids are retained to the under side of the frame 1 by brackets, not shown and the frame 1 in turn is provided with rollers 29 to support the movement of the frame on the skids.

The belly plate 5 supports the auger sections 20. These auger sections are couped to the mining head shown in detail in FIGS. 2 and 3 wherein the first auger section is preferably provided with a tread section 23. The auger 20 is provided with the cutting head 26. The forward end of each auger section is preferably provided with a nonround pin to be received in the nonround socket of the cutting heads 26. The cutting head is provided with its own sectional flight 29 to feed the coal from the cutting head rearwardly to the auger flight section 20.

The rear pins of which will receive the ordinary flight sections of the augers wherein the front of each auger section will be provided with a socket 41 and the rear of each auger section will be provided with a similar pin 40 to mate with the nonround socket of the next succeeding auger section or the nonround coupling socket 41 on the drive. It will be noted that these sockets have an outer nonround bore 42 to receive the nonround end 43 of the pins 40. The sloping walls 38 of the nonround bores 42 engage and depress the latch 44 biased by the spring 45 which is set by the thread plug 46.

A socket 41 also carries a collar 47 that receives the unlatch pin 48 which is provided with an annular flange 49 and is biased by the spring 50. The outer surface of the flange is stopped by the split ring 51. When the unlatch pin 48 is depressed it will shove the latch 44 within the pin 40 and release the auger section carrying the pin 40 from the socket 41. To perform this function the front auger latch release member as illustrated in FIG. 3 is employed. This latch release is indicated by the cam member 53 actuated by the cylinder 55 supported from the frame. When this cylinder is energized its piston is as shown in FIG. 1, and extends the cam surface 53 to engage the unlatch pin 48. While the cam is thus extended holding the unlatching pins 48 depressed, the rear auger sections or the coupling 0n the drive are retracted to release from the forward auger sections.

In similar manner the machine is provided With a rear auger latch release cylinder 58 which carry the cam section 59 for engaging the unlatch pins 48 on the driving coupling 60 which is bolted to the coupling bit 61 attached to the drive shafts of their respective gearboxes 62 and 63 as shown in FIG. 3. In order to actuate the automatic front and rear latch release mechanisms it is necessary to stop the auger sections in a predetermined position which position as shown in FIG. 3 leaving the hole 64 in the center of the auger flight on the top of the auger which permits the same to be engaged by hook members from the hoist lines 65.

The hoists 66 are positioned outwardly of the front lifting jacks 11 and are stepped in the deep tubular sockets 67. Each hoist is driven by a chain from a sprocket on a shaft of the motor 71. Each hoist member 66 thus may be made to swivel on its step bearing through 360 if necessary. The upper end of the hoist is provided with a bracket member 72 that supports the outwardly projecting box member 73 that slidably supports the boom member 74 that is guided by the box member 73 that functions as a track for the boom. The boom 74 is provided with a depending bracket to which is secured a piston extending from a cylinder, not shown, the opposite end of which is pivotally secured to the inner end of the box 73. Thus by energizing the cylinder the piston moves the boom forwardly for the full length of the piston.

The boom is in turn provided with the cylinder 80 which is pivotally secured as indicated at 81 to the boom and extending from its opposite ends is the piston 82 which carries a pulley 83 at its outer end or at the back of the boom 74. A hoist line travels over the pulley 84 pivoted to the forward end of the boom 74 and travels backwardly over the top of the pulley 83 and returns to the anchor 85 on one of the brackets that supports the cylinder Within the boom. Thus when the cylinder 80 is energized to retract the piston 82, the hook and the weight on the end of the hoist line 65 will descend and if it is necessary to extend the position of this hook from the center of rotation of the hoist mast 66, the cylinder is energized to run the boom outwardly. Thus the hook is enabled to function within the varying radius of the center of rotation of the hoist mast 66 by the extension of the piston from the extension cylinder and the hook is enabled to be raised and lowered by the extension and contraction of the piston 82 within the cylinder 80. As shown in FIG. 1 the boom 74 can be swung outwardly at different radii to receive and discharge auger sections from their loading position on the machine bed to the auger storage racks 86 of which there is one on each side of the augering machine.

The auger storage frames 86 are provided to support four auger flights in the bottom of the pile on which are stacked a row of three auger sections which in turn provide with the extensible posts posts 93 for four additional auger sections in the next level. If the posts 93 are extended any higher they can be made to stack a considerable number of anger sections. However, as shown in FIG. 1 the augers are stacked in elevations but they may be increased or be reduced in number as they pyramid.

The racks 86 have secured to their under sides the rollers 94 which ride on the inner side of the top fiat surface of the skids 18, the outer sides of which are occupied by the skid operating jacks 95.

Thus each of the hoists 66 with their expansible boom 74 may raise a pair of augers from the storage racks 86 on each side of the frame 1 and swing them into position against the auger batfie 16 to steady and straighten the same and then drop them down onto the bed plate within the guides 22 in proper position so that they may be readily coupled. Since the hoist openings 64 in each auger section properly locks the auger section when lowered to the bed plate they may be readily coupled with the automatic latching means by merely moving the carriage forward to connect the couplings at the rear and at the front of the newly inserted auger section.

As shown in FIG. 1 a platform 97 is provided in front of the forward lifting jacks and the hoist controls show three control levers for each hoist for the purpose of swinging the hoist in either direction, extending or retracting the boom or raising and lowering the hoist line 65. Above the platform 97 is a screen canopy 98 which protects the hoist operator from falls from the face, high wall or hill. This also protects the forward end of the machine as well as the conveyor section indicated at 100 which withdraws the coal as it is carried over the extensible auger guide section 101 and drops onto the conveyor 100 from whence it is conducted to an elevating conveyor to a truck or other transportation means.

As shown in FIG. 1 in back of the gearbox is the chain drive 104 that extends from the shaft driving the gearbox and thence through the coupling 105 and the transmission 106 to the diesel engine 107. An auxiliary powered diesel engine 108 is placed on the side of the machine for operating a hydraulic pump that serves all of the hydraulically actuated controls. The controls for operating the auger sections and feeding them forward is shown at the operator station 110 in FIG. 1.

We claim:

1. An auger mining machine having a frame supporting a rotary mining assembly operated by a feed and rotary drive means, the rotary mining assembly including auger sections connected by a pin and socket joint and a biased latch means, one of said sections having biased unlatch means in operative position to disengage said latch means, said rotary mining assembly with said auger sections being stopped in said frame at predetermined rotary and longitudinal positions for changing auger sections, and servomotor means mounted on said machine in position to operate said prepositioned unlatch means to disengage said latch means to permit separation of said auger section from said rotary mining assembly.

2. An auger mining machine having a frame supporting a rotary mining assembly operated by a feed and rotary drive means, the rotary mining assembly including auger sections connected by a pin and socket joint and a biased latch means, said sections having biased unlatch means in operative position to disengage said latch means, said rotary mining assembly with said auger sections being stopped in said frame at predetermined rotary and longitudinal positions for changing auger sections, and servomotor means mounted on said machine in position to operate said prepositioned unlatch means at opposite ends of a prepositioned auger section to disengage said latch means to permit separation of said prepositioned auger section from said rotary mining assembly.

3. An auger mining machine comprising a mining machine frame, a rotary auger mining assembly including a plurality of connected auger carried by said frame to rotate and move said augers along said frame in mining, each auger having a pin of polygon cross section at one end and a mating socket at the other end, and which also consists of a biased latch projecting from each pin, a sloping bell surface in at least one face of said polygon socket in the end of said socket to depress said latch when said pin in entering into said socket, an outwardly projecting unlatch member on each socket aligned with said recess to force the latch therefrom when depressed and a servomotor supported from said frame to depress said unlatch member to inturn push said latch out of said recess and unlock said pin from said joint, and wherein there are two servomotors mounted adjacent opposite ends of augers in said mining assembly to release both ends of the auger, and a hoist to remove the same.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,190,081 2/1940 Pfauser 2871 19 2,474,360 6/ 1-949 Jimerson.

2,588,901 3/1952 Weikert 287--119 X 2,607,603 8/1952 Breuer et al 27976 X 2,764,397 9/1956 Compton 299--56 2,846,093 8/1958 Densmore 85 X 2,951,693 9/1960 Carothers 29955 2,969,243 1/ 1961 Drazick 27976 2,979,320 4/1961 Adams 17334 ERNEST R. PURSER, Primary Examiner.

BENJAMIN HERSH, CHARLES E. OCONNELL,

Examiners.

Claims (1)

1. AN AUGER MINING MACHINE HAVING A FRAME SUPPORTING A ROTARY MINING ASSEMBLY OPERATED BY A FEED AND ROTARY DRIVE MEANS, THE ROTARY MINING ASSEMBLY INCLUDING AUGER SECTIONS CONNECTED BY A PIN AND SOCKET JOINT AND A BIASED LATCH MEANS, ONE OF SAID SECTIONS HAVING BIASED UNLATCH MEANS IN OPERATIVE POSITION TO DISENGAGE SAID LATCH MEANS, SAID ROTARY MINING ASSEMBLY WITH SAID AUGER SECTIONS BEING STOPPED IN SAID FRAME AT PREDETERMINED ROTARY AND LONGITUDINAL POSITIONS FOR CHANGING AUGER SECTIONS, AND SERVOMOTOR MEANS MOUNTED ON SAID MACHINE IN POSITION TO OPERATE SAID PREPOSITIONED UNLATCH MEANS TO DISENGAGE SAID LATCH MEANS TO PERMIT SEPARATION OF SAID AUGER SECTION FROM SAID ROTARY MINING ASSEMBLY.

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