Patent ID: 7392896

Claim:
A conveyor pan for face conveyors in underground mining systems, comprising: an outward race and a return race for guiding a scraper chain, between which a conveyor bottom is disposed, a securing means for a connecting component that links adjacent conveyor pans together is located on a goaf side and on a wall side, guide means for a mining machine which may be moved along a wall, and a static loading ramp connected to the conveyor pan on the wall side and extending from a floor to a level of the outward race, by means of which muck may be loaded into the outward race as the face conveyor is advanced, said loading ramp comprising a curved or angled guide plate, a lower section of which is steeper relative to an associated floor or to the conveyor bottom than an upper section thereof, wherein the lower section and the upper section of said angled guide plate are generally flat and include an angle therebetween of approximately 150°-170° and an apex line of the guide plate defined by the lower and upper sections is disposed at a level of the conveyor bottom.