Abstract: Conveying apparatus for use in conveying mineral ore employs a curvilinear channel section or pan which joins straight groups of similar channel sections joined end-to-end together. A scraper-chain assembly circulates along the channel sections in upper and lower runs. A unit with a hollow housing is combined with the curvilinear channel section and this unit has an upstanding hollow pillar forming a hub on which two rollers are mounted for independent rotation. The rollers are shaped to engage with the scrapers of the scraper-chain assembly to guide the latter during its passage along the curvilinear channel section. To enable the roof of the mine working to be adequately supported over the zone in which the curvilinear section and unit are installed, a roof support with alternately shiftable hydraulic props is located within the hollow hub of the unit. The props are connected to a multi-part roof bar and extend through an elongate aperture in the housing top wall.

Abstract: A scraper-chain conveyor comprises a series of pans joined end-to-end and a scraper-chain assembly circulated along the pans in upper and lower runs. Each of the pans is sub-divided into upper and lower sections of especially reinforced construction. The upper section of each pan is composed of shaped side pieces connected by a floor plate while the lower section is composed of smaller side pieces connected to a base plate. The side pieces of both the upper and lower sections combine to form sigma-shaped profiles with upper and lower flanges and inwardly-extending V-shaped intermediate portions. The lower section is built up vertically with side structures overlapping the side pieces of the upper section and bolted connections are established between the side structures and the upper section and with lateral accessories, such as barrier plates and guides.

Abstract: Apparatus for use in driving tunnels or the like has a main shield composed of elongate drive members supported and guided on a rigid frame as known per se. Rams serve to advance the drive members and the frame in alternative to effect the driving operation. A rear shield or cover is located behind the main shield. This rear shield is composed of elongate rear extension members connected with some of the drive members over the roof and part of the side walls of the tunnel. Supports fixed to the rear of the frame of the main shield engage beneath the lowermost rear extension members to support the rear shield. The supports, disposed symmetrically at either side of the axis of the tunnel, have brackets engaging with the lowermost rear extension members and these brackets can be displaced by piston and cylinder units to raise or lower the entire rear shield.

Abstract: A transmission for transmitting drive from a motor to a drive sprocket wheel for driving the drive chain of a mineral mining plough has a housing which is attached to a side plate of the drive frame of a mine conveyor. The housing is formed with a recess sized and shaped to accommodate the sprocket wheel. The recess is open at one end to permit the plough drive chain to enter and leave the sprocket wheel. The housing is provided with connector flanges adjacent to the end remote from the recess opening, and with a spacer adjacent to the end adjacent to the recess opening. The spacer is detachably secured to the housing and to the drive frame, or to an intermediate channel section which joins the drive frame to a scraper-chain conveyor. The spacer and the flanges are bolted to the drive frame and/or the channel section.

Abstract: A longwall mineral mining installation comprises a scraper-chain conveyor having a scraper assembly, a first straight conveyor portion extending along the longwall working, a second straight conveyor portion extending along a roadway positioned at one end of the longwall working, and a curved conveyor section connecting the two straight conveyor portions. A guide assembly is provided for guiding the scraper assembly around the curved conveyor section. A guide is fixed to the face side of the first straight conveyor portion, and a winning machine is reciprocable along the guide. A drive station is mounted on the goaf side of the first straight conveyor portion in the region of the curved conveyor section. A drive sprocket is rotatably mounted on the face side of the first straight conveyor portion in said region. The drive sprocket drives the winning machine via a drive chain. A drive shaft drivably connects the drive station and the drive sprocket.

Abstract: Metallic anode holders are suspended by a conveyor, and moved in succession above a table supporting induction-heating coils. The coils can be raised to surround lower depending parts of the holders which may be optionally previously coated with a separating agent to prevent direct contact with the grouting subsequently applied. The associated anode carbon blocks with recesses are conveyed successively beneath a beam supporting induction-heating coils which can be lowered into the recesses which subsequently receive the parts of the holders for grouting therein. It is possible to heat the recesses and the parts of the holders in situ and simultaneously, in which case the grouting operation can be performed without letting the components cool down. Metallic cathode busbars previously installed in a recess of a carbon block are likewise conveyed beneath a beam supporting an induction-heating coil, which serves to heat the busbars and the recess prior to grouting the busbars in the recess.

Abstract: A scraper-chain conveyor sprocket drum is rotatably mounted in a drive frame by means of roller bearings at each end of the sprocket drum. A respective slide ring seal is provided between each bearing and the adjacent end of the sprocket drum. Lubricant is supplied to both bearings and both seals, a respective lubricant path being provided for the bearing and seal at each end of the sprocket drum. Each lubricant path includes a lubricant supply passage leading to a bearing space surrounding the respective bearing, and a lubricant discharge path leading from a seal space surrounding the respective seal, each seal space being connected to the associated bearing space.

Abstract: A mine roof support has a main roof bar which is pivotably connected to an auxiliary forwardly-extendible bar. A piston and cylinder unit serves to swing the auxiliary bar about the main bar to bring the auxiliary bar into a roof-contacting position aligned with the main bar or into a stowed position beneath the main bar or into some intermediate position. Pivotable guide members connect between the main and auxiliary bars respectively and a pivot joint linked to the piston and cylinder unit. The guide members can take the form of simple straps or levers but an additional piston and cylinder unit can also be used as one of the guide members.

Abstract: Apparatus for crushing fragments of mineral material comprises a rotary crusher mounted above, and co-operating with, a scraper-chain conveyor. The rotary crusher has a cylindrical body provided with a plurality of first, second and third rows of chisels. The chisels are detachably mounted in holders fixed to the cylindrical body. The chisels are all the same, but the holders are of different sizes so that the chisels of a first set have a longer radial reach than the chisels of second set, which in turn have a longer radial reach than the chisels of a third set. Each first row has chisels of the first and second sets, and each of the second and third rows has chisels of the third set. The provision of the chisels of the first and second sets having longer radial reaches enables the mineral material to be drawn into the crushing gap between the rotary crusher and the scraper-chain conveyor and broken up more efficiently.

Abstract: Apparatus is disclosed for regulating the capacity of a tunnelling machine. The tunnelling machine is of the type having a rotatable cutting head mounted at one end of an arm. The other end of the arm is pivotally mounted on a carrier about a pivot pin whose axis extends transversely to the axis of the arm. A hydraulic rotary drive is provided for rotating the arm about the axis of the tunnel being formed. The regulation apparatus includes a regulator for regulating the rotary drive of the arm in dependence upon the capacity of the cutting head drive. An angle/current transducer is provided for measuring the angle between the axes of the arm and the tunnel. The regulation apparatus is such that the capacity of the cutting head drive decreases as said angle decreases, the reduction in capacity being effected by a reduction in the force applied by the cutting head to the working face.

Abstract: A tunnel drive shield has an arcuate support frame constituted by a pair of foot segments, a pair of wall segments supported by the foot segments and a ridge segment connecting the tops of the wall segments. The foot segments engage the tunnel floor, and the wall segments are braceable outwardly towards the tunnel walls. Each foot segment is provided with a pair of longitudinal floor skids displaceably mounted on the base thereof. Each foot segment is also provided with a pair of longitudinally-spaced, vertically-movable support feet, which are movable into contact with the tunnel floor to relieve, at least partially, the load on the floor skids. The support feet are used to support the shield while the floor skids are removed. The rest of the shield can then be dismantled within the confines of the tunnel.

Abstract: A coupling device for connecting a mineral mining machine, such as a plough, to a drive chain. The coupling device is intended to locate within a channel inside a slotted guide containing the drive chain. The device is composed of coaxial tubular members secured together axially. The inner tubular member supports a swivel-mounted shackle connecting with the chain and a rigidly-mounted shackle connecting with the machine. One or both tubular members are shaped or relieved at the end nearest the swivel shackle to provide a cleaning nose which forces dust or the like from the channel as the chain draws the machine along the guide. A lateral projection on the outer tubular member engages in the slot and co-operates with the nose to guide the material away through the slot.

Abstract: Apparatus for controlling the position of a mineral winning machine, such as a plough, movable along a guide at one side of a scraper-chain conveyor employs cantilevered beams extending between the conveyor and roof supports as known per se. Brackets are provided at the goaf side of the conveyor and these brackets are pivotably coupled to the cantilever arms by way of flat pan-like components. Upstanding piston and cylinder units are positioned close to the conveyor goaf side wall preferably within protective walls of the brackets. These units are pivotably connected at their upper ends to the brackets and to extensions of the pan-like components so that the beams are effectively pivotably coupled to the units at positions offset towards the conveyor relative to the pivot connections with the brackets. The space between the conveyor and the supports is relatively unrestricted. The units are extended or retracted to tilt the conveyor and the guide whereby to control the cutting position of the machine.

Abstract: A longwall mineral mining installation has a longwall conveyor and a plurality of roof support units positioned side-by-side at the goaf side of the conveyor. The hydraulic appliances of the roof support units, such as their hydraulic props, hydraulic advance rams and hydraulic control valves, are supplied with pressurized hydraulic fluid from hydraulic supply lines which run along the goaf side of the conveyor. A plurality of flat, plate-like intermediate members are provided at the goaf side of the conveyor. These intermediate members are formed with internal ducts for feeding the hydraulic fluid from the supply lines to the hydraulic appliances of the roof support units.

Abstract: Apparatus is disclosed for supporting the lowermost roof support unit of a series of roof support units positioned side-by-side in an inclined longwall working. The support apparatus comprises a beam mounted for pivotal movement in a plane parallel to the floor of the working. The beam can be held in any given angular position. A support plate is provided for engagement with the side of the lowermost roof support unit. The support plate is movable towards, and away from, the beam by means of hydraulic rams, which also constitute means for holding the support plate and the beam at any given spacing within a predetermined range of spacings.

Abstract: A hydraulic coupling device hydraulically couples a multi-line hose to a connector having a plurality of sockets. The coupling device comprises a screw cap, a plurality of plug pins, housed within the screw cap, and an annular holding disc for holding the plug pins. The plug pins are each connectible to a respective line of the hose. Each plug pin is engageable within a respective socket of the connector. One of the plug pins is of a larger diameter than the other plug pins, and constitutes an alignment pin for accurately aligning all the plug pins with the corresponding sockets of the connector.

Abstract: A machine for use in mining or tunnelling has a chassis supporting a mobile arm provided with rotary cutters. A shovel beneath the arm serves to transfer material onto a pair of conveyors mounted alongside the machine chassis. This shovel is supported for vertical pivoting displacement on a beam which is itself linked via a central pivot joint to the machine chassis. Piston and cylinder units effect tilting and vertical adjustment in the shovel position.

Abstract: A pressure-relief valve device, especially for use with hydraulic props, has a main hollow housing containing a guide piece with a through bore in which a cylindrical shank of a valve or piston member is received. The shank is slidable within the guide piece bore and is held, by a spring force applied to a head thereof, in a closed position. The shank has a blind axial bore leading through five, or preferably six radial borings to outlets at is periphery. An O-ring held in a groove in the wall of the guide piece bore engages on the peripheral surface of the shank. An elastic deformable thrust disc is located in the groove and contacts a wall of the groove adjacent the head of the valve member as well as the O-ring. The thrust disc serves to prevent creep of the O-ring during use whereby excess fluid pressure acts to displace the valve member against the restoring force of the spring to move the outlets of the shank of the valve member passed the O-ring to allow pressure-relief.

Abstract: A scraper-chain conveyor has a scraper assembly and plurality of channel sections defining upper and lower runs for the scraper assembly. The scraper assembly passes round sprocket drums positioned at the ends of the conveyor, and is constituted by two drive chains and a plurality of scrapers connected thereto. The conveyor has first and second straight portions joined by a curved portion. The upper run of the curved conveyor portion is at a lower level than the upper run of the adjacent end of the first straight conveyor portion. The scraper assembly passes between the upper runs of said end of the first straight conveyor portion and the curved conveyor portion via upper and lower deflector rollers which direct the scraper assembly in a Z-shaped path. The upper deflector roller is provided with a drive, whereby the chain tension of the scraper assembly is negligible when the assembly passes round the curved portion.

Abstract: A unitary hydraulic control device, especially for use with mining apparatus, has a main housing carrying replaceable individual valves arranged in bores. The valves are operated by tappets which engage on cams provided on one of three relatively rotatable coaxial parts forming a multi-part cam shaft. The rotatable parts have hand levers external to the housing permitting the parts to be partly-rotated in either direction, together or separately, to operate selected groups of valves. Each rotatable part has its own "dead man's" handle safety or restoring system which automatically return the rotatable part to a neutral position upon release of its hand lever and after part-rotation in either direction. Each such system is composed of a pair of spring-loaded plungers guided in casings fitted in the housing and engaging on diametrically-opposed cam surfaces of an additional cam on the associated rotatable cam shaft part.