US1244871A - Mining-machine. - Google Patents

Description

N. I]. LEVIN.

MINING MACHINE,

APPLICATION men SEPT. 20. 191 1.

1,244,871. r Patented 0@1;.30,1917.

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MINING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 20, 1911.

v1,244,8'7'1. Patented Oct. 30,1917.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

NILS DAVID LEVIN, 0F COLUMBUS, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE JEFFREY MANUFAC- TUBING COMPANY, A CORIPORATION OF OHIO.

MINING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 30, 1917.

Original application filed September 30, 1907, Serial No. 395,061. Divided and this application filed September To all whom it may concern: V

Be it known that I, NILs D. LEVIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Columbus, in the county of Franklin and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mining-Machines, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to mining machines and particularly to those .of the class in which the cutting apparatus and the power devices are moved bodily along the face of the material to be out while the cutting work is progressing.

One of the objects of the present improvements is to provide a flexible feeding device and a retarding or holding device adapted to be operated and controlled independently of each other, so that the flexible' feeding device, (cable, chain or the like) is capable of being used independently of the retarding device to load, and unload the machine and move it about on the; floor of the mine, while at the same time the feeding and retarding devices are adapted to cooperate with each other to automatically 'hold the machine to its work during the un-- dercutting of the coal.

A further object of the invention is the provision in a machine of the character referred to of guiding or alining devices which operate by opposing a frictional resistance to the advance of the outer end of the machine. A further object of the invention is the provision of frictional retarding devices such as last referred to adapted to automatically vary the frictional resistance to the advance of the outer end of the machine in proportion tothe resistance en' countered by the cutters.

A further object is the provision in a machine of the character referred to of feeding and retarding devices adapted to permit the machine in operation to occupy various angular positions in relation to the face of the coal, while the retarding devices are adapted to resist the angular swinging movement of the machine beyond a predetermined limit.

Another object of my invention is to provide means for adjusting the machine to different angular positions relative to hori zontal planes, whereby it is capable of be Serial No. 650,334.

ing adjusted either around horizontal lines longitudinally of the machine or around horizontal lines which are transverse thereto, thus permitting cuts in the coal to be made in either of various planes and permitting the machine to be so manipulated that obstructions in the path of the cutting apparatus can he escaped without stopping the cutting.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings,

Figure l is a plan view of a machine embodying my improvements, the top cover plate of the main frame being removed for the purpose of showing the mechanism under it.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken on the Referring in detail to the construction shown, the main structure of the. machine comprises a box or casing part 1 having bottom, side and end plates and a removable top plate 2. 3 is an interior frame structure shown as an integral casting, though not necessarily so formed, and rigidly secured as by bolts 4 to the casing part 1 of the frame. A cutter bar or frame 5 projects from the inner end of the main frame and carries a suitable endless cutter chain 6. This cutter chain passes around and is driven by a sprocket wheel 7 which is fast on the lower endof a shaft 8, which is rotatably mounted in the frame structure 3. v The machine can be driven by any suitable kind of motor, but I have indicated an electric motor 9 with a vertically arranged shaft. This is indicated conventionally, but the constructing engineer will understand that a motor of any suitable'shape, size and power can be employed. 10 is a pinion carried by the motor shaft and this. pinion meshes with a large gear wheel 11 which is sleeved upon the upper end of the shaft 8. 12 is a disk keyed to the shaft 8 and formed with a shoulder or tooth adapted to be em cutters.

gaged by a pivoted hook or dog 13 carried by the gear 11. The do 13 can be made of cast iron or other frangi le material so that it will break in case the machine is overloaded and thus serve as a safety device, preventing breakage of other more important arts of the machine.

14 1s a winding drum which is fast on a vertical shaft 15, rotatably mounted in the frame structure 3. 16 is a rope "or cable having one end secured to the winding drum and adapted to be wound thereon, and extending thence through a suitable passageway in the machine frame or bed, and the other end being adapted to be made fast at a point on the front or advance side of the machine as by a jack 17. This winding drum is driven from the motor 9 by the following train of gearing. 18 is a ratchet wheel fast on the shaft 15, and 19 is a swinging arm which carries a spring pressed pawl 20 adapted to engage the teeth of the ratchet wheel 18. A vertical shaft 21 which is rotatably mounted in the frame 3 carries at its upper end. a spur gear 22 which meshes with and is driven by a ear 23 fast on the hub of the gear 11. T e shaft 21 also carries an eccentric 24 arranged to drive an eccentric rod 25 which extends through the free end of the arm 19. The eccentric rod can be formed with a shoulder adapted to press against one side of the arm 19, and the end of the eccentric rodcarries a nut .26 between which and the pawl arm 19 is.arranged a coiled sprin 27.

It will now be seen that w en the motor 'is in operation its rotation is transmitted by gears 10 and 11 to the shaft 8 thence: by gears 22 and 23 to the shaft 21. The rotation of the shaft 21 causes the reciprocation of the eccentric'rod 25 and this reciprocatory movement of the-rod causes the oscillato swinging of the pawl arm 19. It will e seen that the forcewhich causes the workingstroke of the pawl arm 19 is transmitted through the s ring 27 and thus the amount of rotation o the ratchet wheel and winding drum and the consequent advance of the machine incident to the winding in of the feeding cable 16, is automatically proportioned to the resistance met by the That is, when the coal is hard or when hard foreign substances therein are encountered so that the reaction on the cutter frame is great, the transmission spring 27 is correspondingly compressed and the amountof the forward feed-of the machine correspondingly diminished so that the cutters are given opportunit to cut their way throughthe hard spot. en this has been accomplished and softer material is encountered, the compressin of the spring during the working stroke 0 the pawl arm will be less and the machine will then be fed forward at a correspondingly faster speed. It

'ing of the machine.

will be understood that suitable means, such, for example, as a relatively stationary pawl, is to be provided to normally prevent retrograde movement of the winding drum. Such a pawl is indicated at 18" and can be supported from the under side of the upper plate 3* of the frame structure 3.

When the machine is drawn forward by the cable 16 along the faceof the coal, the outer end of the main frame tends to swing forward on account of the reaction of the coal against the cutters. To oppose this tendency and hold the machine at a uitable angle to the face of the coal as the undercutting proceeds, I provide the following devices. 28 is a rod, beam or rail, which may, for example, be an ordinary I-beam of suitable weight and dimensions and which is adapted to be disposed on the floor of the mine adjacent the outer end of the machine and secured against endwise'move; ment. Any suitable means such as a jack 29 can be employed to thus secure the rail. It is not essential that the rail be held against lateral movement so long as it is not free to move in the machines general direction of movement. Indeed, in some cases, I prefer to secure the rail at one point only so that it will be free to swing somewhat and not interfere with, the free work- This rod or rail can be of any suitable shape in cross section and of any suitable length. Rails or rods for meetin a more or less similar purpose have been heretofore known in the art, and they have been made sometimes flat, sometimes circular in section, sometimes in long sections; and in others, of shorter lengths. And-I wish it to be understood that any of the known devices of this class can be ada ted for use in conjunction with my mec anism. I prefer to employ rails or bars of suitable lengths of the standard cross sectional shape of the track rails used in mining work, so that they can be readily obtained from the general stock of materials at the mine and can be quickly replaced in the event that renewal is required. On the outer end of the frame 1 of the machine is secured or formed a bracket 30 which is formed on its under side with jaws adapted to pass around the upper flange or head of the rail and engage the web thereof. The distance between the jaws of the bracket 30 is greater than the thickness of the web of the rail, and the faces of the iaws are formed parallel to each other. Thus the machine can swing or angle to a limited extent without the jaws engagin the rail, but any swinging of the machine beyond such limitations is prevented or o posed by a clutch-like engagement of the aws with the web of the rail. In the construction shown, the faces of the clutch jaws are dis tudinal axis of. the machine is at substantially right angles to the face of the coal and the rail and yet so as to permit the to meetyarious conditions of cutt The interaction of the bracket 30 an. rail 28 will be understood from an inspection of Figs. 3, 5 and 6; Referring to Fig. 5, it

will be seen'that the corners30 and 30 of the bracket jaws clutch the rail when the outer end of the machine swings forward to the limiting position, and that the outerend of the machinecan swing rearward (or the inner end forward), as in Fig. 6, to a considerable ex! ntbefore the corners 30 and 30 will come into clutching engagement with the rail. This capacity of the machine for angling is one of the characterizing features of my invention, as will be pointed out more fully in connection with the operation of the machine. v

If asection'of track rail is used as the rod 28 and if the bracket 30 is formed as herein shown, it will be understood that the parts of the retarding mechanism can readily be assembled by passing the rod or. rail 28 endwise through the bracket. The passageway for the rail through the bracket should be sufliciently wide to permit the machine to be angled, as setforth, above, and the bracket 'should have suitable vertical dimensions to perniitthe required vertical adjustment of the machine by means of the devices to be described. If a bar of the section of the track rail be employed, and if the jaws of the bracket 30 are spaced as herein shown, the fitting of the parts of the retarding mechanism can be readily accomplished by first passing the rail a short distance endwise through the bracket. But, in this respect also, I do not wish to be limited to any exact details so long as the essential features of. this part of the invention are maintained.

The passageway for the rail through the bracket should be sufficiently wide to permit the machine to be angled, within limits, in relation .to the bar or rail so as to get a stron bite of the bracket jaws upon it- It shoul also have sufiicient vertical dimensions to permit the required vertical adjustment of the machine by means of. the devices to be described. I

It will be seen that theclamping part on the machine, is, at its working points, very short, that is to say the jaws of the bracket are short in relation to the length of the I part which exerts leverage upon them,

binding action is powerful and quickly be- A comes effective as soon as the machine moves any material distance out of its predeterminedangular relationship to the coal face. Under normal circumstances, and while the machine is in the predetermined angular position, the clam orclutch part on the machine is practically disengaged entirely from the elongated stationary element of the retarder. Thisretarding mechanism is. I

quite different from those heretofore proposed which had elongated base lines of union between themachine and the rail element, along which lines therewere a series of rotating anti-friction rollers. In those, the proposition was to use the railand the outer end of the machine as an alining device, and the counterpart elements were normally retained constantly in close engagement over the long base of connection. In my construction, the purpose 15 not to maintain a constantly rigid connection between the-counterpart elements of the retarder; the rear end of the machine. being normally free or disengaged while in its proper working angle, but instantly caught and checked against any tendency to move beyond a certalniangula-r limit. I

The machine can be supported from the floor of the mine in any suitable manner but I have shown a shoe 31 under the inner end of the machine, and at the outer end of the machine I provide a pair of rollers 3232 which are adapted to ride upon the rail 28. These rollers are mounted on a bar 33 which in turn is mounted upon a block 34 which is slidably mounted in guides 35 on the ma chine frame. A hand screw 36, which is swiveled to the block 34' and threadedthrough a bracket 37 on the frame serves to The operation of my improved mining machine will be readily understood from the foregoing description. When the machine is brought into a room where the coal is to be undercut, it is first placed at the face of the coal near one of the ribs or side walls where the entering or sumping cut is' to be made. It has been customary in machines of this character to make the sumping cut by anchoring the feed chain or cable at a point adj a'cent the face of the coal and near the out ter frame so that the rotation of the winding drum will cause the cutterframe to be forced endwise against the eoal,' the main frame of the machine .being in the meantime guided and held against swinging. 7

After the sumpin out has been made, the feed cable is carri alon the face. and anchored as indicated in Fig. .6. The I beam or rail is then slipped through the jaws of the retarding bracket and is then secured by one or more acks upon the floor of the mine. On the motor now being started, the cutters are driven and the winding drum 14 turned so as to draw in upon the feed cable 16. As the machine advances along the face of the coal, the outer end of the frame tends ordinarily to swing forward in advance of the inner end because of the resistance which the coal offers to the cutters. But when the outer end of the frame swings forward to a certain point, the jaws of the bracket 30 clutch ,the rail 28 and by the frictional resistance thus produced counteract the tendency of the outer end of the machine to swing forward. The greater the resistance which the coal ofi'ers to the cutters and the greater the consequent tendency of the outer end of the machine to swing forward, the greater is the frictional resistance which results and thus automatically the longitudinal axis of the machine is maintained at substantially the same angle to the face of the coal as the undercutting proceeds.

In the cutting of coal, impurities are frequently encountered which constitute serious obstacles, that is to say, obstacles which it is not practical to cut through because of their extreme hardness. In such cases if the vertical dimensions of the obstacles are not great, it may be possible to direct the cutters over or under the obstruction, and such a manipulation of my improved machine is facilitated by the provision of the adjusting screws 36 and 38 by means of which the outer end of the machine can be bodilyraised and lowered and by means of which the machine can be tipped around its longitudinal axisso as to direct the cutters upward or downward. Furthermore, by reason of the capacity of my improved machine for angling forward and backward in the manner previously described, the cutters can be caused to attack the coal at various angles. Sometimes an obstruction in the form of a relatively small sulfur ball is encountered and by inclining the inner end of the machine forward, as indicated in Fig. 6, it is possible to cut more or less back of the sulfur ball and thus make it easier for the cutters to loosen and dislodge the ball so that it can be removed from the kerf. When such handling of the machine is desirable, the cutters can be swung to the desired angle through the action of the feed devices by settin a jack or the like in front of ,the outer en of the machine so as to stop the advance of said outer end, while the inner end is sw'ung forward. Such angling of the machine forward or backwardand it may be accomplished in a variety of ways as will be understood by practical machine operators-4s rendered possible by reason of the peculiar cooperative relation between the parts of the retarding mechanism.

. the ma in this case would be measured on the line from these jaws to the cutting apparatus. Consequently, the clamping bite or binding action of the jaws is very powerful. This retarding mechanism is quite different from those heretofore proposed which had elongated base lines of union between the machine and the rail element, along which lines there were a series of rotating antifriction rollers. In those, the proposition was to use the rail and theouter end of the machine as an alining device, and the counterpart elements were normally retained constantly in close engagement over the long. base of connection. In my construction, the purpose is not to maintain a constantly rigid connection between the counterpart elements of the retarder, the outer end of the machine, on the contrary, being free to take a variety of positions relative to the inner end, but being instantly caught and checked against any tendency to move beyond a certain angular limit.

The present application is a division of my earlier application, Ser. No. 395,061 filed September 30, 1907.

What I claim is:

1. In a mining machine, the combination of a main frame arranged to swing horizontally forward and back when in operation, power driven cutting apparatus projecting from the inner end thereof, power devices for feeding the machine along the face of the coal, and means for retarding the outer end of the machine comprising a stationary part secured against movement in the direction of the machines advance and a companion element on the machine arranged to be moved by the frame, when swinging as aforesaid, toward and from a position where it tends to rigidly engage said stationary part, but to loosely engage with the latter when the frame is at a predetermined angle.

2. In a mining machine, the combination of a main frame arranged to swing horizontally forward and back when in operation, power driven cutting apparatus projecting from the inner end of the maln frame, a

flexible draft device acting on the inner end of the main frame to propel the machine along the face of the coal, and means acting on the outer end of the machine for limiting its swinging movement, said last mentioned means comprising an elongated device secured aglainst movement in the direction of c ines advance, and a device on the machine engaging with said elongated device and arranged to be moved when the frame swings as aforesaid, to and from a position where it tends to engage rigidly naeasn with said device but adapted to move along the latter freely when the frame is at a predetermined angle.

3. In a mining machine, the combination of a main frame arranged to swing horizontally forward and back when in operation, power driven. cuttingv apparatus projecting from the inner end thereof, power devices for feeding the machine along tally forward and back when in operation,

power driven cutting apparatus projecting from the inner end thereof, power devices for feeding the machine along the face of the coal adapted to permit the machine to swing as aforesaid to various angular positions in relation to the coal face, and means for retarding the outer end of the machine comprising a rod extending approximately parallel to the face of the coal adjacent the outer end of the machine, means for securing the rod against movement in the direction of the machines advance, and a clutchlike device on the machine adapted to freely slide along the rod when the machine is in a predetermined angular position and to be moved by the frame, when swinging as aforesaid, to and from a position where it tends to rigidly engage said rod.

5. In a mining machine, the combination of a main frame, ower driven cutting apparatus projecting rom the inner end thereof, power devices for feeding the machine along the face of the coal, means for retarding the outer end of the machine comprising a rail secured against movement in the direction l the face of the coal, and means for retarding the outer of the machines movement, a friction device on the machine adapted to engage said rail, andmeans for directing the cutting apparatus up or down comprising a plurality of wheels carried by the machine frame in position to ride upon the said rail, and means for adjusting one of said wheels upward and downward relative to the machine.

6. The combination of a main frame arranged to sw'ing'horizontally forward and back when in operation, a forwardly projecting cutter apparatus, a means for feeding the frame along the face of the coal, a retarding. means comprising a stationary element approximately parallel to the path of the machine, a companion element on the machine adapted to move longitudinally of the stationary retarding element when the machine is in a predetermined angular position and to 'be moved by the frame, when the latter swings, as aforesaid, to and from a position Where it tends to rigidly engage the stationary element.

In a mining machine, the combination of a main frame arranged to swing horizontally forward and back when in operation, power driven cutting apparatus projecting from the inner end thereof, power devices for feeding the machine along the face of the coal, means for retarding the outer end of the machine comprising a rail secured against movement longitudinally, an element carried by the frame and engaging said rail and having limited verticalmovement, said element being adapted to permit horizontal swinging of the main frame independently of the rail, a bar Vertically adjustable on the frame, wheels carried thereby and in engagament with the upper surface of the rail, and means for vertically adjusting one end of the said bar.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

NILS DAVID LEVIN. Witnesses:

DUDLEY T. FISHER, E. P. SNIVELY.

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