Patent ID: 8573705

Claim:
A mining apparatus, comprising: a miner; a conveyor unit; a steering unit connecting said miner and said conveyor unit; a positioning sensor; a controller responsive to said positioning sensor; a first actuator carried on and connected to only one of said miner, said conveyor unit and said steering unit, said first actuator positioned to a first side of a midline of said miner; and a second actuator carried on and connected to only one of said miner, said conveyor unit and said steering unit, said second actuator positioned to a second, opposite side of said midline of said miner; wherein said first actuator includes a first displaceable guide element and said second actuator includes a second displaceable guide element, said first and second displaceable guide elements being extended approximately one half the length of their stroke when said miner is aligned with said conveyor unit; whereby responsive to said controller said first and second actuators adjust a connection angle between said miner and said conveyor unit either side of parallel to determine a directional heading for said miner by one of said first or said second displaceable guide elements extending and the other of said first or said second displaceable guide elements retracting.