Patent ID: 9605539
Date: 2017-03-28
CPC Classifications: E21D

Claim:
1. A roof support system for a longwall system comprising: an armored face conveyor; a relay bar coupled to the armored face conveyor; an advancing ram having a cylinder end hingedly coupled to the relay bar and a thrust bar linearly movable with respect to the cylinder end; a retaining pin extending through a free end of the thrust bar and having first and second opposite ends; a roof support base; a retention plate rigidly affixed to the roof support base, the retention plate having a channel for receiving the free end of the thrust bar, the retention plate including first and second notches on opposite sides of the channel; and first and second retainers supported in the respective first and second notches, the first and second retainers each including a pin receiving slot for receiving the respective first and second ends of the retaining pin; wherein: the retention plate includes first and second oppositely-facing surfaces; the first and second retainers each include a main body, a first flange, and a second flange, wherein the main body, first flange, and second flange give the first retainer the cross-sectional shape of an I-beam; the main bodies of the respective first and second retainers extend through the retention plate in the respective first and second notches; the first flanges of the respective first and second retainers extend over the first surface of the retention plate; and the second flanges of the respective first and second retainers extend over the second surface of the retention plate.