Patent ID: 7703857

Claim:
A continuous miner including a horizontal support frame having a support frame front, a sumping frame mounted on said support frame for forward and rearward movement relative to said support frame, said sumping frame having a sumping frame front, a cutting drum pivotally mounted on the sumping frame, said cutting drum being positioned near said sumping frame front, gathering means for gathering mined minerals pivotally mounted on the sumping frame front, means for pivoting and fixing said gathering means relative to said sumping frame in both the raising and lowering directions, a first drilling platform pivotally mounted for vertical movement on the support frame front, a second drilling platform pivotally mounted for vertical movement on the support frame front and spaced apart from the first drilling platform, means for pivoting and fixing said first drilling platform relative to said support frame independently of said second drilling platform, and means for pivoting and fixing said second drilling platform relative to said support frame independently of said first drilling platform.