Patent ID: 7455367

Claim:
A longwall support control for controlling the movements of a plurality of longwall support units in the longwall of a mine, comprising: a central control system; and a separate mining shield control device locally and operationally associated to each longwall support unit, the mining shield control devices connecting to the central control system and serially connected to one another by means of at least one bus line, through which each of the mining shield control devices, for inputting a control command, can be called up from the central control system or an adjacent mining shield control device, and with each mining shield control device being programmed such that it is possible to deliver for execution to its associated longwall support unit control commands that are received via the one bus line, and with each mining shield control device storing a code word uniquely associated with the respectively called up mining shield control device, and wherein the mining shield control devices connect via a parallel second bus line to the central control system and to one another, and the mining shield control devices are programmed such that signals that are received via one of the bus lines, and which do not include a code word associated with the respectively called up mining shield control device, are retransmitted to the adjacent mining shield control device.