GB427881A - Improvements in and connected with coal cutting machines - Google Patents

Abstract

427,881. Coal-cutting machines. JEFFREY, R. K., 8, Sessions Village, Bexley, Columbus, Ohio, U.S.A., and BRITISH JEFFREY-DIAMOND, Ltd., Stennard Works, Wakefield, Yorkshire. July 28, 1933, No. 21289. [Class 68 (i)] A coal-cutting machine comprises a main support, a supplemental support adjustable relatively to the main support on a plurality of transverse axes, a turn-over head revoluble on the supplemental support, and cutting mechanism adjustably mounted on the turn-over head. The machine may be mounted on a truck, sled or endless tracks. Undercarriage and turntable.-A truck 35 has its rear axle 39 enclosed in a housing 38, Fig. 7, connected by trunnions 37 to allow pivoting of the truck about a longitudinal axis, housing guides being provided laterally. The front axle 42 is journalled in separate housings 45, 46, Figs. 8 and 11, each provided with a rearwardly extending arm 80 pivoted to the truck body and each independently adjustable vertically by hydraulic rams 70, 70<1> ; a radius bar 91, Fig. 11, connects the housing 45 to the truck body. A brake is provided on the rear axle and the axles are connected by chain 117, Fig. 3. A turntable 53, Figs. 1 and 7, is flexibly connected to the truck and actuated by one or more hydraulic rams 60 through racks or chains as in Specification 425,100. Machine supports.-Pairs of arms 130 are pivoted rearwardly at 123, Figs. 1, 3, and 7 to the turntable and forwardly at 134, Fig. 8, to the machine body; between each pair is pivoted the cylinder 317 of a hydraulic ram by which the arms and machine may be raised &c. The rear of the machine carries the cylinder 306 of a further hydraulic ram by which the machine may be further adjusted. Machine construction.-The machine includes an electric motor M fixed to a gear case 136 to which an inclined tubular member 140, Fig. 8, is rigidly secured. A sleeve 177 is rotatable on the member 140 and is adjusted by a reversible hydraulic motor of radial piston type acting through a train of worm gearing including the worm gear 259. The sleeve 177 has a cylindrical outer end 176 in which a cylinder 208 is angularly adjustable by a hydraulic ram 233; closures fixed to the ends of the cylinder 208 carry a bracket 184, supporting the cutter jib 165 which is adjustable about a shaft 162 by a pair of hydraulic rams 237,238. A sliding plate 2461 closes a slot 244 through which shaft 162 extends. The cutter chain is driven from the motor M through bevel gears 143, 144, 146, 157, shaft 158, bevel gears 159, 161, connected by an idler bevel gear, and sprocket 163. An annular plate 195 is pressed against the sprocket 163 by springs. Truck, cable reel, and pump drives.-A rearward extension 327, Figs. 1 and 3, on the truck carries an electric motor P which from one end drives a reversible hydraulic pump 444 and from the other end, through gears 331, 332, change speed gear 333, and gears 334, 335, drives a transverse hollow shaft 336. A rod axially slidable in the shaft 336 carries at its ends clutch members 360, 437, either of which may be engaged with clutch members on the shaft 336 ; in one position of the rod, the truck is driven through chain 365, and in the opposite position, a haulage drum 425 is driven through gear 432. Through an intermediate slipping clutch 353, Fig. 3, and chain 346, a power cable drum 343 is driven; the drum 343, through chain 348 and double screw 349 reciprocates a cable guide 350. Hydraulic control system.-The reversible pump 444, Figs. 3 and 18, with flow controlled by automatic check valves 453, 454, 455 and 457, delivers from tank 451 to supply pipe S, exhaust fluid from the rams passing back to the tank through pipes E, E<1>. Excess pressure is relieved through valve 459 and when the pump is idling, a valve 4591 is opened to allow fluid to be byepassed through low pressure relief valve 459<11>. The various hydraulic rams and the motor 292 which drives the sleeve 177 are controlled by a series of valves 460 each comprising two pistons 469, 470, Fig. 19, normally held in mid-position by a spring 471, the rams then being locked ; further locking valves 477 ... 480 may be provided. By means of valves 531, 532, the rams 233, 60, may be short-circuited to allow their plungers to float freely for use as when making a straight shearing sumping cut while the truck is moving round a curve.