Abstract: A roller cutter assembly for use in hard rock tunneling machines comprises a rectangular saddle having a rectangular recess with V-shaped mounting surfaces. Support plates are secured against these mounting surfaces, and the support plates have a shaft extending between them with a non-rotatable head in one plate, and the circular nut in the other plate. The shaft mounts a pair of inner races for tapered roller bearings which run directly on the roller cutter inner surface which forms the outer race for the bearing assembly. Rotation of the circular nut in the recess and on the shaft sets the preload for these bearings. Between the nut and its recess on the adjacent support plate is an annular groove formed in both the support plate and the nut, and an elastomeric diaphragm fits across this groove.

Abstract: The cutter head of a tunnelling machine is mounted for rotation about the axis of the tunnel and has a face extending on a plane perpendicular to that axis. The cutter head serves as a mount for a plurality of roller cutters, each of which is mounted in a box like saddle member fixed to the cutter head. Each roller cutter includes a frame having a shaft on which the roller cutter is journalled and a pair of end members which fit in recesses on the inside of the saddle member. These recesses open toward the rear of the cutter head to allow removal and replacement of cutters and cutter frames from the rear face of the cutter head. Each cutter frame is held in place by a wedge member on each side of the saddle and wedge members, one on each side, engage mating wedge surfaces on the saddle and the adjacent end member of the cutter frame so that movement of each wedge member by a jack screw in a direction transverse to the axis of the roller forces each end member forwardly in its recess.