US3698769A

US3698769A - Mining machine having liquid supply sealing means

Info

Publication number: US3698769A
Application number: US102769A
Authority: US
Inventors: Michael J Amoroso
Original assignee: Lee Norse Co
Current assignee: Lee Norse Co
Priority date: 1970-12-30
Filing date: 1970-12-30
Publication date: 1972-10-17
Anticipated expiration: 1989-10-17
Also published as: AU452222B2; AU3445071A; GB1317120A; CA952921A

Abstract

Mining machine having a rotary mining head including a rotatable support carrying cutter supporting drum means, wherein liquid such as water is discharged through discharge outlets peripherally of the drum means. The liquid is supplied through passage means in nonrotatable supporting means and communicating passage means in the rotary mining head, leakage at the connection of such passage means being prevented by a plurality of sealing rings which encircle the support laterally spaced apart longitudinally of the latter adjacent opposite sides of such connection. Leakage past the sealing rings flows externally of the mining head, whereby such leakage is readily and quickly detectable; and means separate from the sealing rings prevent liquid leakage past the latter from flowing to the bearings mounting the support and/or to the gears through which the mining head is rotatably driven.

Description

United States Patent Amoroso 154] MINING MACHINE HAVING LIQUID SUPPLY SEALING MEANS [52] US. Cl ..299/73, 299/81 [51] Int. Cl ..E2lc 27/24 [58] Field of Search ..299/l2, 73, 75, 81

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,374,033 3/1968 Arentzen ..299/81 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS Great Britain ..299/8l 51 Oct. 17,1972

Primary ExaminerErnest R. Purser Attorney-Frank S. Troidl, David W. Tibbott and Robert R. Paquin [5 7 ABSTRACT Mining machine having a rotary mining head including a rotatable support carrying cutter supporting drum means, wherein liquid such as water is discharged through discharge outlets peripherally of the drum means. The liquid is supplied through passage means in nonrotatable supporting means and communicating passage means in the rotary mining head, leakage at the connection of such passage means being prevented by a plurality of sealing rings which encircle the support laterally spaced apart longitudinally of the latter adjacent opposite sides of such connection. Leakage past the sealing rings flows externally of the mining head, whereby such leakage is readily and quickly detectable; and means separate from the sealing rings prevent liquid leakage past the latter from flowing to the bearings mounting the support and/or to the gears through which the mining head is rotatably driven.

9 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTEDnm 11 m2 sum 1 or 3 INVENTOR I MICHAEL J. AMOROSO ATTORNEY MINING MACHINE HAVING LIQUID SUPPLY SEALING MEANS The present invention relates to mining machines and more particularly to mining machines, such as for example employed for the mining of coal, adapted for discharging liquid such as water through a rotary mining head.

An object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved mining machine of the type set forth which has sealing rings preventing leakage of the liquid at the connection of a liquid supply passage in a nonrotatable support with a liquid supply passage in the rotary mining head.

Another object o the invention is to provide a new and improved mining machine of the type set forth which is particularly constructed and arranged to prevent liquid leakage past the sealing rings from flowing to either the bearings mounting the mining head or the gears through which the latter is rotatably driven.

Another object is to provide a new and improved mining machine of the type set forth which is particularly constructed and arranged whereby liquid leakage past the sealing rings flows externally of the mining head and is thereby readily and quickly detectable.

In accordance with the invention, a mining machine may comprise a chassis, a boom mounted on the chassis for vertical movement thereto, supporting means carried by the boom, a rotary mining head including a support and cutter supporting drum means carried by the support for rotation therewith, bearing means rotatably mounting the support on the supporting means, driving means including gear means for rotatably driving the support relative to the supporting means, discharge means peripherally of the drum means for discharging liquid during rotation of the drum means, the supporting means being provided with first liquid supply passage means, second liquid supply passage means in the mining head connected to the first supply means to receive liquid therefrom and communicating with the liquid discharge means for supplying liquid thereto, a plurality of sealing rings laterally spaced apart adjacent opposite sides of the connection of said passage means for preventing liquid leakage at such connection, at least one of such sealing rings preventing liquid leakage from passing externally of the mining head, and means separate form the sealing rings preventing liquid leakage by the sealing rings from flowing to said gear means and said bearing means.

Referring to the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a top or plan view of one form of mining machine embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary top or plan view, partially broken away and in section, of the mining machine shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a further enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the mining machine shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a top or plan view of another form of mining machine embodying the invention;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view illustrating a portion of the rotary mining machine shown in FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken on line 6-6 of FIG. 5 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring more particularly to the drawings wherein similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, FIG. 1 illustrates a mining machine designated generally as 10 which comprises a chassis 12 having mounted thereon a vertically movable boom 14 which projects forwardly of the forward end of the chassis 12. The boom carries a pair of cutter supporting arms, 16, mounted adjacent opposite sides of the longitudinal centerline of the machine 10, which during the machine operation are laterally oscillated towards and away from one another by a hydraulic motor designated generally as 18 located between the supporting arms 16. The rotary mining head of the machine 10 comprises rotatably driven

cutter supporting drums

20, 22 at the forward end of each supporting arm 16 carrying the usual cutter bits 24 which may be of any conventional construction and arrangement. The

drums

20, 22 of each supporting arm 16 are threadedly mounted on opposite ends of a support or supporting shaft 26 which longitudinally extends tranversely through the arm 16 and is rotatably mounted thereon by bearings 28. The supports 26 are connected to be rotatably driven by individual drive motors 30 through separate gear trains each comprising a bevel gear 32 mounted on one end of a rotatable shaft 34 at its other end connected to be rotated by a respective motor 30, an intermeshing bevel gear 36 keyed to a rotatable shaft 38, a drive gear 40 also on the shaft 38, and a driven gear 42 keyed to the support 26 and intermeshing with the drive gear 40. If desired, further details of a conventional mining machine of this general construction can be obtained from US. Pat. No. 3,353,871, issued Nov. 21, 1967 and assigned to the assignee of the present invention.

Each supporting arm 16, as shown in FIG. 2, is provided with a liquid inlet 44 adapted for connection to a supply hose (not shown) communicating with a pressurized source of water or other liquid supply pipe or tube 46 which is connected at its rearward inlet end to the inlet 44 to receive the liquid therethrough. Each arm 16 rigidly carries nonrotatable connector or

adaptor housing

48, 50, 52, 54, 56 containing communicating

bores

58, 60, 62, 64, 66, respectively, the housing 56 encircling the respective shaft 26 and including an annular inner face 68 bounding the outer side of an annular supply chamber 80. The bore 58 in the adaptor housing 48 is connected to the forward discharge end of the supply tube 46 to receive liquid therefrom; and the bore 66 in the adaptor housing 56 extends through the annular face 68 to discharge liquid to the chamber 80 in a direction tranversely or circumferentially of the surrounded shaft 26. Hence, liquid supplied through the inlet 44 flows successfully through the supply pipe 46 and the

bores

58, 60, 62, 64, 66 inwardly of the annular face 68 of the adaptor housing 56.

The hub 70 of each drum 20 is mounted on its shaft 26 with an annular shoulder 72 spaced axially of such shaft 26 from an annular shoulder 74 on the latter. An annular adaptor housing 76 is clamped to each shaft 26 for rotation therewith between the pair of spaced

shoulders

72, 74. The adaptor housings 76 have annular faces 78 spaced inwardly from the respective adjacent annular faces 68 to bound the radially inner sides of the supply chambers 80, and contain passages 82 communicating with the chambers to receive liquid therefrom in a direction radially or transversely of the shafts. Liquid leakage form the sides of the chambers 80 is prevented by sealing

rings

84, 86 which encircle the shafts 26 laterally spaced apart longitudinally of the shafts 26 adjacent opposite sides of the chambers 80. The

sealing rings

84, 86, prevent liquid leakage from the chambers 80 externally of the mining head through the spaces 84a, 86a, whereby in the event of liquid leadage past the

rings

84, 86, such leakage will accumulate externally of the head and be resultantly readily and quickly detectable. Annular sealing rings 88 encircle the shafts 26 and prevent liquid leakage past the sealing rings 86 from flowing to the bearings 28 mounting the supports 26. The

gears

32, 36, 40, 42 are enclosed in housings one of which is indicated generally as 90 in FIG. 2; and such housings 90 prevent liquid leakage past the rings 86 from flowing to the gears through which the

drums

20, 22 are driven.

Each hub 70 contains a bore 92 at one end connected to the passage 82 in the respective thereadjacent adaptor housing 76 and at the other end communicating with a supply bore 94. The bore 94 at opposite ends is connected to an annular chamber 96 and a supply bore 98 in its hub 70. The bores 98 each communicate through passages 100 formed in cap elements 102, mounted on the thereadjacent end of the respective shaft 26, with end of a bore 104 formed axially through such shaft 26. As shown in FIG. 2, the other end of each bore 104 communicates with passages 106 formed in a cap element 108 carried at the other end of the shaft 26, the passages 106, in turn, being connected to one end ofa passage 1 formed in the drum 22. The passage 110 is connected to an annular chamber 112 which at intervals alongs its arcuate extent communicates through bores 114 with liquid discharge outlets 116 located to discharge the liquid from the periphery of the drum 22.

Each annular chamber 96 communicates through passage means 118 with an elongated second annular chamber 120, the second annular chamber 120 being at intervals along its arcuate extent provided with discharge outlets or nozzles 122 and the chambers 96 being directly connected to similar discharge outlets or nozzles 124.

During the operation of the aforedescribed mining machine, the supporting arms 16 are continuously laterally oscillated towards and sway from one another while simultaneously the

drums

20, 22 are rotatably driven through the aforedescribed gearing. Water or other suitable liquid is continuously supplied to the inlets 44, and therefrom flows through the described passage means of the supporting arms 16 which comprises the tubes 46 and communicating

bores

58, 60, 62, 64, 66, to the annular chambers 80 between the nonrotatable connector housings 56 and the rotatable adaptor housing 76. From the chambers 80, the liquid flows through the aforedescribed passage means of the rotary mining head and is discharged through the discharge outlets or

nozzles

116, 122, 124. Leakage from the chambers 80 is prevented by the sealing rings 88 from flowing to the bearings 28 and the gears 42. However, leakage for the chambers 80 past the

sealing rings

84, 86 flows externally of the mining head to the ground where it may be readily and quickly detectable.

FIGS. 4 through 6 illustrate a mining machine designated generally as 10a which comprises a chassis 12a having a vertically movable boom 14a mounted thereon. The boom 14a carries a plurality of laterally spaced mounting arms 126 which mount the rotary mining head 128 on the boom 14a for vertical move ment therewith. As shown in FIG. 4, the rotary mining head 128 includes an axial support or shaft 130 rotatably mounted by bearings 132 contained in mounting housings 135 which are rigidly carried by the supporting arms 126 encircling the shaft 130. The mining head 128 comprises pairs of laterally spaced, coaxial, inner and outer cutter supporting drums I36, 138 mounted on the shaft 130 for rotation therewith, and end cutter supporting drums 140, also carried by the shaft 130, which are selectively laterally movable for extending and retracting the length of the mining head 128. The

drums

136, 138, 140 carry conventional cutters shown as 142 in FIG. 4. The cutters 142 on the

drums

136, 138 may, if desired, as shown in FIG. 4, be mounted on spiral plates 144 circumferentially carried by such drums or alternatively may be otherwise suitably mounted on the drums.

The mining head 128 is rotatably driven by a pair of drive motors 146 each independently connected to the shaft 130 through gearing including a gear 148, an intermeshing gear 150 mounted on a rotatable shaft 152 projecting through one of the outer mounting arms 126, a gear 154 mounted on the shaft 152 within a mounting housing 134 and an intermeshing gear 156,

circumferentially carried by the shaft 130. The bearings 130 and intermeshing gears 154, 156 are enclosed within the mounting housings 134. The central supporting arm 126 has a liquid supply bore 158 formed 'therethrough, the supply bore 158 having an inlet end communicating with a supply hose fragmentarily shown as 160 which is, in turn, connected to a pressurized source of water or other liquid. The mounting housing 134 on such arm 126 contains a liquid supply passage 162 intermediate its ends connected to the bore 158 and at each end communicating with a' bore 164 formed axially through an element 168 which is threadedly connected in a radial opening 167 in the mounting housing 134. The threaded elements 168 project through the outer face of the mounting housing 134 whereby the bores 164 discharge liquid outward through such outer face in a direction transversely or radially of the shaft 130; and the housing 134 rigidly carries nonrotatable circumferential ring elements 166 on opposite sides of the outer end of each threaded element 168.

The sides of the drums 136 most adjacent to such housing 134 carry elements 174 having bores 176 communicating through bores 178, formed in nuts 180 carried by the elements 174, with the bores 164 through therebetween spaces or chambers 172. Liquid leakage from the sides of the chambers 172 is prevented by sealing

rings

182, 184, laterally spaced apart adjacent opposite sides of each chamber 172 and encircling the shaft 130 laterally spaced apart longitudinally of the latter, biased one from the other by annular coil springs 202, 204. Liquid leakage by the one of each pair of the

rings

182, 184 most adjacent to the supporting arm 126, as will be noted from FIG. 5, flows externally of the mining head 128 through a clearance or space 186 and is therefore readily and quickly detectable. The spiral element 144 carried by each drum 136 contains an elongated longitudinal passage 190 communicating with the bore 176 in the respective element 174, such passage extending substantially the length of the spiral element 144. Discharge outlets 192 are provided at locations spaced along the length of each spiral element 144 in communication with the therein contained passage 190 for discharging liquid form the latter externally of the elements 144.

Similarly, each of the two outer supporting arms 126 contains a passage 158a communicating wit a liquid supply hose 160a, in turn, connected to receive liquid such as water from a pressurized source thereof. The passages 158a communicate with a liquid supply passage 190a, formed longitudinally in the spiral element 144 on the respective adjacent drum 138 to extend substantially throughout the length of the element 144 and at intervals along its length provided with discharge outlets 192a, through passages 162a. The connections of the passages 162a to the bores 190a are each identical to the aforedescribed connection passage 162 to one of the passages 190. Hence, in FIG. 5 reference numerals corresponding to those applied to the aforedescribed portion of the liquid supply means associated with the central supporting arm 26 followed by the suffix a have been applied to corresponding parts associated with the latter connection. Leakage of liquid from the chamber 172a past the sealing ring 182a, of course, passes externally of the mining head 128 through the space 194; and leakage of the liquid to the bearings 132 and the intermeshing gears 154, 156 is prevented due to the enclosure of the latter in a mounting housing 134.

The operation of the mining machine illustrated in FIGS. 4 through 6 is believed to be apparent from the aforegoing description.

The preceding description it will be seen that the invention provides new and improved means for accomplishing all of the aforestated objects and advantages. It will be understood, however, that, although only two embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and specifically hereinbefore described, the invention is not limited merely to these two embodiments but rather contemplates other embodiments and variations within the scope of the following claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a mining machine, a chassis, a boom mounted on said chassis for vertical movement thereto, supporting means carried by said boom, a rotary mining head including a support and cutter supporting drum means carried by said support for rotation therewith, bearing means rotatably mounting said support on said supporting means, driving means including gear means for rotatably driving said support relative to said support means, discharge means peripherally of said drum means for discharging liquid during rotation of said drum means, said supporting means being provided with first liquid supply passage means, second liquid supply passage means in said mining head connected to said first supply passage means to receive liquid discharge means for supplying liquid thereto, a plurality of sealing rings laterally spaced apart adjacent opposite sides of the connection of said passage means for preventing liquid leakage at such connection, at least one of said sealing rings preventing liquid leakage from passing externally of the mining head, and means separate from said sealing rings preventing liquid leakage by said sealing rings from flowing to said gear means and said bearing means.

2. A mining machine according to claim 1, wherein said second supply passage means is connected to said first supply passage means to receive liquid therefrom in a direction transversely of said support, and said sealing rings encircle said support and are laterally spaced apart longitudinally of said support.

3. A mining machine according to claim 2, wherein said second supply passage means comprises an elongated passage, and said discharge means comprises a plurality of discharge outlets serially connected to said elongated passage.

4. A mining machine according to claim 3, wherein said elongated passage is of spiral configuration.

5. A mining machine according to claim 3, wherein said elongated passage is annular.

6. A mining machine according to claim 2, wherein said second supply passage means comprises an annular fluid passage, and said discharge means comprises a plurality of discharge outlets connected to said annular passage at locations spaced along the length thereof.

7. A mining machine according to claim 2, wherein said drum means comprises a plurality of cutter support drums laterally spaced apart longitudinally along said support, said supporting means includes support housings between laterally adjacent ones of said spaced apart support drums, each said support housing is provided with liquid supply passages and each said support drum includes liquid supply passages connected to such passages of one of said support housings to receive liquid therefrom in a direction transversely of said support, each connection of said passages being provided with said sealing rings and such sealing rings extending peripherally around said support housings.

8. A mining machine according to claim 7, wherein said support drums peripherally carry spiral plates having longitudinally extending liquid supply passages communicating with the liquid supply passages of said drums and at locations spaced along their lengths provided with discharge outlets for discharging liquid from the passages of said spiral plates.

9. A mining machine according to claim 2, wherein said drums means carries peripheral spiral plate means having longitudinal passages forming a portion of said second supply passage means, said discharge means including discharge outlets communicating with the passages of said spiral plates at spaced locations therealong.

Claims

1. In a mining machine, a chassis, a boom mounted on said chassis for vertical movement thereto, supporting means carried by said boom, a rotary mining head including a support and cutter supporting drum means carried by said support for rotation therewith, bearing means rotatably mounting said support on said supporting means, driving means including gear means for rotatably driving said support relative to said support means, discharge means peripherally of said drum means for discharging liquid during rotation of said drum means, said supporting means being provided with first liquid supply passage means, second liquid supply passage means in said mining head connected to said first supply passage means to receive liquid therefrom and communicating with said liquid discharge means for supplying liquid thereto, a plurality of sealing rings laterally spaced apart adjacent opposite sides of the connection of said passage means for preventing liquid leakage at such connection, at least one of said sealing rings preventing liquid leakage from passing externally of the mining head, and means separate from said sealing rings preventing liquid leakage by said sealing rings from flowing to said gear means and said bearing means.