Patent ID: 8562077

Claim:
A method of setting an automatic level control of a plow ( 17 ) in longwall mining operations, in underground coal mining, equipped with a hydraulic shield support and a face conveyor ( 16 ) that guides a plow guide mechanism ( 18 ) disposed on the plow ( 17 ), including the steps of: by means of a boom control mechanism that is supported on the shield support, changing the position of said face conveyor ( 16 ), including the plow ( 17 ) guided thereon, in exploitation; by means of the boom control mechanism, setting a control angle ( 20 ) for setting a motion of said plow ( 17 ) in the exploitation direction as a climbing motion, dropping motion, or neutral motion; for each stroke of said plow ( 17 ), determining a cutting depth ( 21 ) and the control angle ( 20 ), which is derived as a differential angle between an inclination of a top canopy ( 11 ) of a shield support frame ( 10 ) and an inclination of said face conveyor ( 16 ) in the exploitation direction; in a calculating unit, calculating a face height change therefrom per plow stroke; in the calculating unit, associating a face height, as a projected height, with each face position of said face conveyor ( 16 ), wherein the face position corresponds to a plow stroke, and wherein the projected height is then stored in the calculating unit; when a shield support frame ( 10 ) that trails behind said plow ( 17 ) in terms of a time delay reaches a respective face position, calculating an actual height of the face on the basis of values detected by inclination sensors ( 15 ) mounted on said shield support frame ( 10 ); comparing the calculated actual height with the stored projected height; and for subsequent plow strokes, taking into consideration a height differential value ( 28 ), between the projected height and the actual height, determined for a respective face position, in the sense of a self-learning effect of the calculating unit when the control angle ( 20 ) for said plow ( 17 ) that is to be set to achieve a projected height of the face is prescribed.