Longwall installation with carrier for water and electric supply and propulsion rock

A mineral winning installation employs a longwall scraper chain conveyor at the mineral face with roof supports arranged at the goaf side of the conveyor. A winning machine, such as a shearer or plough, moves back and forth alongside the mineral face to skim or cut mineral. The machine carries its own drive means which is electrically powered and which drives a pinion, for example, meshing with a toothed rack. An independent constructional assembly arranged at the roof or floor has a multi-sectioned rail or plate carrying the toothed rack. In addition, the rail or plate supports a sealed guard housing containing an electric live track and a further sealed housing containing pressurized water. The machine has a pick-up arm which engages with a contact sliding along the electric track to supply electric power to the drive means and a conduit which has a water collector displaceable along the water housing to supply water to the machine for dust suppression.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to mineral mining installations. 
For winning mineral, and especially coal, it is well known to use a winning 
machine, such as a plough or a shearer, which is moved along the mineral 
face and a scraper-chain conveyor. It is usual to provide one or more 
guides on the conveyor to guide the winning machine. In some installations 
the machine is driven by a chain which runs at one side of the conveyor. 
The conveyor can also accommodate other facilities for the machine, such 
as hydraulic pressure fluid conduits and water supply conduits. 
It is also known to provide a different form of propulsion for the machine. 
In this regard, the machine employs it own drive system which moves a 
rotatable member or chain, for example, which engages with a fixed track 
extending along the working. Examples of this form of drive system are 
described in German Pat. No. 2,547,826 and in U.S. Pat. No. 3,753,596. 
To supply power to the mineral winning machine it is also known to utilize 
a live electric rail in a guard housing. A sliding contact moves along the 
rail and supplies electric current via a pick-up arm to the machine. An 
example of this arrangement is described in German Pat. No. 1,515,340. It 
is also known to supply water to the machine with the aid of a similar 
arrangement wherein a housing contains water and a collector moves along 
the housing and supplies water to the machine through a conduit. An 
arrangement of this type is descibed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,072,355. 
In general, the known systems for the supply of facilities to the winning 
machine are not readily adaptable to enable both shearers and ploughs to 
be employed and it is not readily possible to have several winning 
machines supplied simultaneously. 
A general object of this invention is to provide an improved installation. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
In a mineral mining installation employing a conveyor and a winning machine 
movable along the mineral face and conveyor, the invention provides a 
constructional assembly composed of displaceable carrier means supporting 
water supply means for the winning machine, electric supply means for the 
winning machine and a propulsion track which co-operates with a driven 
component of the drive means of the machine. 
An installation made in accordance with the invention enables different 
winning machines to be employed and the drive and supply means are 
essentially independnent of the conveyor. The machines can work by 
skimming or cutting. The term "independent of the conveyor" means that the 
component parts are not attached to the conveyor even although, in certain 
embodiments, the conveyor may rest on the carrier means of the 
constructional assembly. Forces which result from the propulsion and 
winning work performed by the machine are thus not fully transmitted to 
the conveyor. The constructional assembly can also supply and propel and 
guide separate winning machines operating in different regions of the 
working thereby increasing the mineral output. 
The electric supply means capable of supplying propulsive energy to one or 
several winning machines preferably comprises a housing containing an 
electric live track engaged by contact means which is carried by a pick-up 
arm extending between the or each machine and the housing and supplies 
electric power to the drive means of the or each machine. The housing 
advantageously contains a pressurized safety gas and resilient sealing 
means seals off the housing and permits the passage of the or each pick-up 
arm. In a similar way, the water supply means can take the form of a 
housing sealed with resilient means containing water under pressure and a 
collector leads from the housing interior via a conduit to the or each 
machine. 
In one form the propulsion track for the or each machine is a toothed rack 
and the component driven by the drive means of the or each machine is a 
pinion or toothed wheel meshing with the track. 
The constructional assembly may be disposed at the roof or floor of the 
working. In the former case, the carrier means, which may be composed of 
articulated plates or rails, is conveniently suspended from roof bars or 
similar structures of roof supports of the installation. The 
constructional assembly may be displaceable as a unit independently of 
other components of the installation or, alternatively, the assembly may 
be connected for movement to one or more components such as certain roof 
bars or floor rails or the like. 
It is possible to provide one or more guides for the machine or machines on 
the constructional assembly. Such a guide or guides may in fact be a 
separate component or components or the housing(s) of the supply means or 
of the propulsion track. It may be useful to mount the latter propulsion 
track on a guide rail supported directly by the carrier means. In another 
design, the propulsion track and/or the supply means can be located within 
a guide rail. 
Where the constructional assembly is mounted at the floor the propulsion 
track can be located adjacent the mineral face side of the conveyor while 
the electric and water supplies are then located at the opposite side of 
the conveyor. The conveyor can then rest on the carrier means and lie in a 
channel or trough defined between the supplies and the propulsion track. 
Additional devices can also be provided on the constructional assembly. For 
example, a passage may be defined for receiving hydraulic conduits or for 
conveying fresh air or for creating a suction to remove gases. Brackets or 
coupling members can also be built onto the basic assembly. 
In one preferred design the present invention provides a conveyor arranged 
alongside a mineral face, a mineral winning machine; guide means for 
guiding the machine for movement alongside the mineral face; water 
conveying means carried by the machine; electric conveying means carried 
by the machine; drive means powered via the electric conveying means, the 
drive means being carried by the machine and including a rotatable driven 
member; a drive track extending alongside the mineral face and engaging 
with the rotatable member so that rotation of the latter propels the 
machine along the track; an electric supply comprising a housing 
containing an electric track; the electric conveying means extending into 
the housing and slidably contacting the electric track; a water supply 
comprising a housing containing water, the water conveying means extending 
into the housing; and a carrier supporting in common the drive track; the 
water supply and the electric supply.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 a longwall mineral mining installation employs a 
longwall scraper-chain conveyor 17 extending alongside the mineral, e.g., 
coal face. A series of chocks or roof supports are disposed at the side of 
the conveyor 17 remote from the mineral face. The supports may extend 
along the entire length of the conveyor or along regions, e.g., at the 
ends thereof. Each support has a floor-engaging sill 12 and a 
roof-engaging structure such as a cap 10. One or more hydraulic props 13 
are interposed between the floor sill 12 and the roof cap 10 and the, or 
each, prop 13 is connected to the sill 12 and to the cap 10 with a pivot 
or articulation joint. A goaf or stowage shield 11 screens off the stowage 
or waste. The shield 11 is directly pivoted to the roof cap 10 and is 
connected via pivot levers 14 to the floor sill 12. A hydraulic piston and 
cylinder unit 15 is connected with pivot joints to the shield 11 and to 
the roof cap 10. A hydraulic ram 18 is used to relatively displace the 
support and a section of the conveyor 17. The ram 18 is mounted with pivot 
joints to the floor sill 12 and to a bracket or plate at the goaf side of 
the conveyor 17. 
A mineral winning machine serves to win the mineral from the face or seam 
and in this installation the machine takes the form of a shearer which 
attacks the face with swinging cutting cylinders 30,30'. (FIG. 2) as known 
per se. The machine 19 is movable back and forth along the face and is 
guided directly on the conveyor 17 and/or on a separate guide 20 as shown. 
As depicted in FIG. 2, the machine 19 can also have skids 35 which 
slidably engage the floor of the working or the conveyor 17. The machine 
19 carries its own drive means which is electrically powered. 
In accordance with the invention, an independent composite constructional 
assembly is provided for supplying facilities to the machine 19. In this 
embodiment, the assembly comprises carrier means in the form of a 
multi-sectional carrier rail or plate 21 suspended beneath the roof caps 
10 of the supports. Slidable guide means is provided between rail 21 and 
each roof cap 10 to permit the rail 21 and thereby the constructional 
assembly to be moved towards or away from the mineral face. As shown in 
FIG. 2, the guide means between the rail 21 and the caps 10 take the form 
of T-shaped recesses or grooves 34 on the underside of the caps 10 and 
corresponding shaped guide elements formed on the rail 21. A hydraulic 
piston and cylinder unit 22 is mounted beneath each roof cap 10 and is 
connected with pivot joints to the associated cap 10 and to the 
constructional assembly. At the side nearest the mineral face, the rail 21 
carries a propulsion track 23, such as a toothed rack, disposed between 
side walls forming a protective channel. The machine 19 has a driven 
member such as a pinion 33 which meshes with the track 23 so that rotation 
of the pinion causes the machine 19 to move along the conveyor 17. The 
track 23 may, however, take a variety of forms other than a toothed rack 
as mentioned. For example, the track 23 can be formed as a slotted or 
perforated member receiving the pins of a pin wheel instead of the pinion 
33. Alternatively, the pinion 33 can be replaced by an apertured wheel 
meshing with spaced pins constituting the track 23. At the side nearest 
the goaf, the rail 21 carries an electric supply means 24 for the machine 
19. This supply means 24 takes the form of a housing 27 containing a bus 
bar or the like constituting an electrically live track 26. A pick-up arm 
29 conveying electric power to the machine 19 extends into the housing 27 
through an opening between resilient seals 28. The seals 28 normally close 
together to seal off the interior of the housing 27 but open and close 
progressively as the arm 29 moves along the housing 27. 
The arm 29 has a contact shoe which is in sliding contact with the live 
track 26. The interior of the housing 27 contains gas, which may be air, 
at a pressure in excess of the surrounding atmosphere to thereby prevent 
the ingress of hazardous gas, particularly methane, into the housing 27. 
The electric supply means 24 supplies electric power to drive both the 
pinion propelling the machine 19 as well as the cutting cylinder 30. 
Between the propulsion track 23 and the electric supply means 24 there is a 
further housing 31 constituting water supply means for the machine 19. The 
housing 31 contains water under pressure and the machine 19 has a conduit 
or the like 32 which extends into the housing 31 via an opening again 
provided with resilient seals which act in a similar manner to the seals 
28 of the electric supply housing 27. The conduit 32 terminates in the 
housing 29 at a water collector 25 and the water thus supplied feeds water 
spray nozzles on the machine 19 for dust suppression purposes. During 
operation, the machine 19 is driven along the conveyor 17 to detach 
mineral from the face 16 and the constructional assembly and the conveyor 
17 can be advanced by the desired cutting depth by operating the rams 18 
and the units 22. The individual roof supports can then be drawn up from 
time to time by relieving the roof support pressure and by retracting the 
associated ram 18. Instead of utilizing a shearer as a mineral winning 
machine, it is possible to utilize a plough which would be similarly 
equipped with electric drive means. FIG. 4 depicts part of a modified 
installation constructed in accordance with FIGS. 1 and 2 but utilizing a 
plouth 48 instead of a shearer 19. 
In the installation depicted in FIG. 3, a shearer 19 is again propelled 
along a conveyor 17 and the constructional assembly 21, 24, 25 (as 
described above) is again suspended beneath the roof-engaging parts of the 
roof supports of the installation. The roof supports are however of 
modified form as will now be described. 
In this embodiment, each support is composed of an angularly-rigid 
framework 40 with a pair of upstanding props 41 near the conveyor 17 and a 
pair of upstanding props 41 remote from the conveyor. Bracing beams 
interconnect the heads and the feet of the props 41. The props 41 of each 
unit carry a roof-engaging structure which is composed of a number of, 
usually from three to ten, narrow planks 42 lying closely side-by-side in 
parallelism. The planks 42 are guided by slidable guides 43 provided at 
the tops of the props 41. The planks 42 have downwardly-projecting rear 
portions which are coupled with piston and cylinder units 44 to the rear 
of the framework 40. The planks 42 can thus be moved individually or in 
groups with the aid of the units 44 and this can be accomplished without 
full relief of the props 41. The floor-engaging structure of the support 
is constructed in a similar fashion to the roof-engaging structure and is 
again composed of a number of planks 45 arranged side-by-side in 
parallelism. The planks 45 are guided by slidable guides 46 provided at 
the bottoms of the props 41. The planks 45 have upwardly-projecting rear 
portions which are coupled with piston and cylinder units 47 to the rear 
of the framework 40. Thus, the planks 45 can also be shifted individually 
or in groups and again this can be accomplished under load. 
The carrier means or rail 21 of the constructional assembly 21,24,25 is, in 
this embodiment, fixed to one or more of the roof planks 42 of each unit 
so that it is shifted up therewith. The conveyor 17 rests on the forward 
regions of the floor planks 45 and is connected with at least one of the 
planks 45 of each unit so that a section of the conveyor 17 can be shifted 
up with this plank or planks 45. Hence, during operation the planks 42,45 
can be progressively advanced thereby shifting the conveyor 17 and the 
constructional assembly and the framework 40 of each support can be drawn 
up by retracting all the units 44,47 in unison. 
In the installation depicted in FIGS. 5 and 6, the roof supports are 
constructed in a similar manner to FIG. 4 but the shifting units 44,47 are 
here disposed between the front and rear props 41 and are coupled to the 
front props 41. 
The assembly providing facilities is in this installation positioned at the 
floor rather than the roof. 
A somewhat wider support plate 50 constitutes the carrier means analogous 
to the rail 21, and rests on the forward region of the floor planks 45. 
The plate 50 is connected to at least one plank 45 of each support. The 
electric supply means 24 and the water supply means 25, constructed as 
described above, are arranged on an additional support member formed as a 
hollow housing 51. This housing 51 can serve for accommodating additional 
cables or conduits pertaining to the installation or for passing fresh air 
or for sucking out mine gas. The propulsive track 23 is here separated 
from the electric and water supplies 24,25 and the conveyor 17, which also 
rests on the planks 45 and is connected to certain of the planks 45, is 
disposed in a trough or channel 52 formed between the track 23 and the 
supplies 24,25. The winning machine again takes the form of a shearer 19 
additionally guided by skids 35 slidably resting on the conveyor side 
walls, although a plough could again be adopted. 
In all the installations described, it is feasible to provide several 
winning machines of the same or different types instead of the single 
machine as illustrated. 
In the case of certain winning machines, additional guidance at the roof 
may be desirable and in the case of the FIGS. 1-4, constructions such as a 
guide can be conveniently incorporated with the constructional assembly 
carried by the rail 21. 
In a further modification, the conveyor is not used at all for the guidance 
of the machine used for the winning work and can thus be of somewhat 
lighter construction.