WO1992005339A1

WO1992005339A1 - A mining machine with roof bolting attachment, and roof bolting attachment therefor

Info

Publication number: WO1992005339A1
Application number: PCT/GB1991/001463
Authority: WO
Inventors: John Howatson; George Papageorgiou
Original assignee: Anderson Group PLC
Current assignee: Anderson Group PLC
Priority date: 1990-09-22
Filing date: 1991-08-30
Publication date: 1992-04-02
Anticipated expiration: 1993-03-22
Also published as: AU8528891A; GB2263120A; ZA917025B; GB2263120B; GB9020701D0; CN1059954A; CN1027827C; GB9302811D0

Abstract

A road header mining machine has a boom (6) and a cutter head (7) mounted at its forward end. The boom (6) also mounts a roof bolting attachment (5 or 5'). In one embodiment (9) roof bolting attachment (5) is mounted on each side of the boom and each attachment comprises a base and mast assembly (11, 12) mounted on a support means (20-26) attached to a side of the boom (6). The support means (20-26) pivots the base and mast assembly between a rear stowed position and a forward use position. In another embodiment the roof bolting attachment (5') is mounted on top of the boom (6) and comprises a pair of base and mast assemblies (11, 12) mounted on support means in the form of a platform (50) slidable between a rear stowed position and a forward use position. When the roof bolter (13) is in use it is positionally adjustable by slewing the boom and fine adjustment of the base (11) enables a straight line pattern of bolting across the roof of the roof.

Description

A MINING MACHINE WITH ROOF BOLTING ATTACHMENT, AND ROOF BOLTING ATTACHMENT THEREFOR.

This invention relates to a mining machine with a roof bolting attachment and to a roof bolting attachment thereof.

It is known to mount roof bolting attachments on mining machines having boom cutter heads but to date they are located on top of the machine behind the boom thereof. Thus they may suffer the disadvantage of being so high that they cannot be used in low ceiling areas, but their location is so far behind the cutter head that the distance of the nearest bolts with respect to the coal face is dangerously lengthy.

An object of the present invention is to obviate or mitigate the aforementioned disadvantages.

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a mining machine having a cutter head mounted on a boom and a roof bolting attachment mounted on the boom, said attachment including a mast which is pivotal between a stowed position alongside the boom and a working position extending away from the boom.

Preferably, the roof bolting attachment includes an elongate base which is connected to the boom in a generally fore and aft disposition and carries at its forward end the mast, pivotally mounted on the base.

Preferably also, the roof bolting attachment is mounted on the boom via support means which is positionally adjustable on the boom between a rearward stowed position and a forward use position.

Preferably also the base is length variable and preferably also rotatable about its longitudinal axis to adjust the angle of the extended mast with respect to the vertical.

Preferably also, a roof bolting attachment is mounted on each side of the boom, the forward ends of the attachments locating a short distance behind the cutter head in the stowed position and moveable forwardly to reduce that distance. Preferably also, in the stowed position the leading end of the roof bolting attachment is tucked in close to the surface of the cutter boom so as not to hinder operation of the cutter head when the boom is swivelled to the side corresponding to the side on which the attachment is mounted.

Alternatively, the roof bolting attachment is mounted on top of the boom, the forward end of the attachment locating a short distance behind the cutter head in the stowed position and moveable forwardly to reduce that distance.

Preferably a pair of roof bolting attachments are mounted on top of the boom, in parallel.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a roof bolting attachment comprising an elongate base member, a length adjustable mast pivotally attached to one end of said base member and adapted to carry the apparatus for inserting bolts into a strata, and means for mounting the attachment to a mining machine having a boom and cutter head at the end thereof.

Preferably, said means for mounting the roof bolting attachment comprises a bracket mounted on the side of the boom of the mining machine, a carrier rotatably mountable on said bracket about an upright axis and a bed plate carried by the carrier and rotatable thereto about an upright axis, the elongate base having a mounting bracket for attachment to the bed plate.

Alternatively, said means for mounting the roof bolting attachment comprises a platform slidably mounted on top of the boom of the mining machine and carrying said roof bolting attachment.

Preferably means is provided for connection to a power supply, when the attachment is mounted on a boom whereby the carrier can be moved to move the roof bolting base and mast assembly between the stowed and use positions.

Embodiments of the present invention will,now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:- Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a mining machine (partly shown) excavating an underground roadway and having mounted thereon a roof bolting attachment according to the invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the roof bolting apparatus to an enlarged scale shown in the stowed position but with the mast illustrated erected in the use position;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a roof bolting attachment mounted on the mining machine and located in the use position;

Fig. 4 is a similar view to Fig. 3 but showing the attachment on the stowed position;

Fig. 5 is a front view of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of a mining machine (partly shown) having a roof bolting attachment mounted on top of the boom;

Fig. 7 is a plan view of Fig. 6; and

Fig. 8 is a front view of Fig. 6 showing one mast raised.

Referring firstly to Figs. 1 to 5 of the drawings, a roof bolting attachment 5 is shown mounted on each side of the boom 6 of a road header mining machine , a cutter head 7 being carried at the forward end of the boom 6. The machine is shown excavating a roadway into which supporting arches 8 are erected at e.g. one metre centres and bolts 9 are inserted into the roof and sides of the roadway between adjacent arches.

An operative 10 (Fig. 5) controls the mining machine and two operatives (not shown) each operate a roof bolting attachment; one of these may be operative 10.

The roof bolting attachment 5 comprises an elongate length variable base 11, a length variable mast 12, which carries roof bolting apparatus 13 parallel therewith , nd support means to be described in detail hereinafter for mounting the base and mast assembly 11,12 and moving the base and mast assembly 11,12 between a forward use position (Fig. 1) and a rearward stowed position (Fig. 2) . In the forward position the front end of the assembly is alongside the cutter head 7 and the mast 12 can be erected for operation, while in the stowed position it is folded against to the base and the front end is located to the rear of the cutter head.

The mast 12 has a telescopic section 12' which is moveable by a mast jack 14 located at the lower end of the mast. At the upper end 15 of the mast a cap 16 is provided which locates at the upper end of the roof bolter 13, and a motor 17 is provided at the lower end of the roof bolter to drive bolts into the strata.

In the stowed position, as shown in Fig. 4, the mast and base assembly 11,12 is angled relative to the longitudinal centre line of the boom 11 so that the front end of the assembly is tucked in behind the cutter head 7; this will enable the cutter boom 6 to slew to its extreme outer limit without the roof bolting attachment 5 on that side of the boom fouling the side wall of the roadway.

In Fig. 5 the masts 12 are shown erected, but numerals 11, 14 and 17 are shown with chain lead lines to the respective parts, the base 11, the mast jack 14 and the bolter motor 17 as they are in the stowed position of the attachment 5.

The support means is so arranged that the assembly 11,12 can be manually positioned in the 'tucked in' position or parallel to the boom, as hereinafter described.

Thus, before the roof bolting attachments 5 are moved to their use position, each assembly is moved into the 'working' position which in this embodiment is parallel with the boom. Once the attachments are in the use position each mast 12 is erected by its operator to the vertical for roof bolting purposes but the elongate base 11 can rotate about its longitudinal axis so that the mast can be rotated through 90° for inserting bolts into the side of the roadway.

As shown in Fig. 5 roof bolts 9A are inserted in rows into the roof. This is done by erecting the two masts 12 to the vertical after lowering the boom 6, via jack 18 so that the cutter head 7 rests on the floor. The masts 12 are extend*- ^J until caps 16 at the upper ends 15 firmly engage the of of the tunnel, after which two bolts are driven in, one by each attachment, after which the masts are retracted. The boom of the machine is then slewed to one side by jacks 19 (Fig. 5) to bring the masts to new locations and the roof bolting process is repeated.

In order that the row of roof bolts 9A are on a transverse axis, i.e. a straight line pattern of bolting the base 11 of the attachment can extend as hereinafter described to increase its length and thus provide a fine adjustment for the position of the mast.

For seven roof bolts, the cutter boom 6 is adjusted (and also the base 11 if required) so that each attachment inserts three roof bolts, and one inserts a middle bolt above the centre line of the machine.

The masts 12 can then be rotated to point towards the resj tive side of the tunnel wall and bolts 9B can be inserted at an angle to the horizontal; also bolts 9C can be inserted horizontally. The boom can be raised to enable a second pair of horizontal bolts 9D to be inserted above the bolts 9C.

The support means of one roof bolting attachment will now be described in more detail.

A bracket 20 is provided for attachment to the side of the boom and comprises a plate 21 (Fig. 3) which is bolted upright to the boom and a hollow cylindrical boss 22 which is disposed upright when the plate is bolted on to the boom.

An L-shaped carrier 23 has a hollow vertical limb 24 and a horizontal limb 25. The hollow vertical limb 24 cooperates with the boss 22 and a hinge pin 22A locates in the hollow members 22, 24 to mount the carrier 23 on the bracket 20. A hydraulic piston and cylinder 26 mounted on the machine is connected to the carrier 23 to rotate it about the hinge pin 22A.

As illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4, the horizontal limb 25 of the carrier pivots from approximately 45° behind the transverse axis to about 45° ahead of the transverse. The horizontal limb 25 of the carrier 23 carries above it a substantially rectangular bed plate 27 which is pivoted about a vertical pivot pin 27A on the carrier limb 25.

The bed plate 27 is swivelably adjustable manually (as the mast assembly 11,12 moves between the stowed position and the working position) and a locking pin 28 is provided to lock the bed plate 27 in one or other position relative to the carrier limb 25.

In this embodiment the carrier limb 25 has a lug 30 and 31 on each side each lug having a hole 30' , 31' . (In a modification the two lugs are joined to form a single lug with two holes 30, 31).

The bed plate 27 also has a lug 32 on its outerside with a hole 32' therein and that hole 32' registers with either hole 30' (Fig. 3) or hole 31' (Fig. 4) for convenient location of the locking pin 28. Thus, before the carrier 23 is pivoted between its forward and rearward dispositions (Figs. 3 and 4) the locking pin 28 is removed and re¬ inserted on completion of the carriers movement.

The mast and base assembly 11,12 is mounted on the bed plate 27 and the base 11 has a base plate 35 for bolting to the bed plate 27. The base plate 35 has three semi¬ circular ribs 36 which partially surround a cylindrical casing 37 of the base 11. The.casing 37 acts as a bush and contains bearings for a piston and cylinder 38, 39 which extends forwardly from the casing. From the rear of the casing extends the housing 40 of an actuator which extends and retracts the piston 38 and also rotates the piston and cylinder 38, 39. The piston 38 carries a bracket 41 which is pivotal about a horizontal axis. The bracket 41 carries the mast 12. Hydraulic lines (not shown) enable the piston 33 to extend and retract and also to rotate.

The roof bolting attachment has been illustrated in use on the boom of a road header machine, one on each side of the boom, but the attachment may be used on other machines such as continuous miner machines either in pairs or separately. Indeed, if the base 11 of the attachment could be further extended so that the mast was ahead of the cutter head 7, only one attachment may be required, the mast being able to insert each roof bolt and be rotatable tnrough 180° to apply the side bolts to each side of the tunnel.

A further embodiment is illustrated in Figs. 6 to 8 and is intended particularly for arched roadways where movement of side-mounted masts to the vertical would be hindered by the shape of the arch 8' .

Thus in this embodiment the roof bolting attachment 5' is mounted on top of the boom 6 of the road header and comprises two base and mast assemblies 11, 12 mounted fore and aft in parallel, on support means which comprises a platform 50 slidably carried on a pair of -shaped rails 51 (Fig. 8) fixed to top of the boom, the platform having plates 52 which trap the rails 51. The platform is moveable, by a pair of side-by-side extension cylinders 53, between a rear stowed position as shown in Fig. 6 and a forward, use position which brings the platform closer to the cutter head 7 of the boom 6.

At the front of the platform 50 are two plates 54 each pivoted about a longitudinal hinge 55 to overlie . e platform, as in Fig. 8, or to extend beyond each side of the platform to form wings, as shown in Fig. 7, to accommodate operatives during working of the roof bolting apparatus. A platform support 56 may be mounted on the boom 6 as illustrated in Fig. 6.

The two roof bolting base and mast assemblies 11, 12 are attached to the platform, one at each side on an L shaped bed plate 57 which is secured to a side of the platform and supports the base 11.

Each assembly 11, 12 comprises a length variable base 11 having , as in the previous embodiment, a casing 37 which carries a forwardly extending piston and cylinder 38, 39 and a rearwardly extending housing 40 of an actuator which extends and retracts the piston 38 and rotates the piston and cylinder 38, 39. The piston 38 carries a bracket 41 at its forward end, the bracket 41 being pivotal about a horizontal axis. The bracket 41 carries the length variable mast 12 and the mast 12 carries the roof bolting apparatus 13.

As is illustrated in Fig. 6, the mast 12 can pivot from a horizontal stowed position through 110° as indicated by chain line 58 for selective positioning.

When it is desired to locate bolts into the strata, the boom 6 is lowered so that the cutter head 7 rests in the floor.

The platform 50 is extended to its forward position and the masts 12 raised to the vertical. If desired, the masts 12 can be angled transversely to insert bolts at an angle to the vertical through an arc of, e.g. 110°, e.g. just past the vertical to just beow the horizontal as illustrated by chain lines 59, 60 of Fig. 8.

The masts are extended to locate against the roof or wall and the roof bolting apparatus 13 is then operated.

The forward position of the platform brings the masts to a location just to the rear of the cutter head 7. As in the previous embodiment the base 11 can be extended or retracted as the boom is slewed by jacks 18 to adjust the position of the roof bolter 13 so that a straight line pattern of bolting can be achieved.

In Fig. 8 one mast 12 is shown raised and the other in the stowed position in which the drive motor 17 of the roof bolting apparatus is shown uppermost. The base 11 however, can be rotated through 90o, arrow 61 to bring the πust assembly to a posiion where the drive motor lies on a horizontal axis.

The roof bolting attachment may be used on a continuous miner machine in which case it is likely to be positioned on the top of the boom. In a modification, only one cast assembly 11,12 is provided transversely moveable across the boom, e.g. on a track.

Claims

CLAIMS .

1. A mining machine having a cutter head mounted on a boom and a roof bolting attachment mounted on the boom, said attachment including a mast which is pivotal between a stowed position alongside the boom and a working position extending away from the boom.

2. A mining machine as claimed in claim 1, in which the roof bolting attachment includes an elongate base which is connected to the boom in a generally fore and aft disposition and carries at its forward end the mast, pivotally mounted on the base.

3. A mining machine as claimed in claim 1 or 2, in which the roof bolting attachment is mounted on the boom via support means which is positionally adjustable on the boom between a rearward stowed position and a forward use position.

4. A mining machine as claimed in claim 2 or 3 in which the base is length variable.

5. A mining machine as claimed in any one of claims 2 to 4 in which the base is rotatable about its longitudinal axis to adjust the angle of the extended mast with respect to the vertical.

6. A mining machine as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5 in which a roof bolting attachment is mounted on each side of the boom, the forward ends of the attachment locating a short distance behind the cutter head in the stowed position and moveable forwardly to reduce that distance.

7. A mining machine as claimed in claim 6, in which in the stowed position the leading end of the roof bolting attachment is tucked in close to the surface of the cutter boom so as not to hinder operation of the cutter head when the boom is swivelled to the side corresponding to the side on which the attachment is mounted.

8. A mining machine as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5 in which the roof bolting attachment is mounted on top of the boom, the forward end of the attachment locating a short distance behind the cutter head in the stowed position and moveable forwardly to reduce that distance.

9. A mining machine as claimed in claim 8 in which a pair of roof bolting attachments are mounted on top of the boom.

10. A roof bolting attachment comprising an elongate base member, a length adjustable mast pivotally attached to one end of said base member and adapted to carry the apparatus for inserting bolts into a strata, and means for mounting the attachment to a mining maching having a boom and cutter head at the end thereof.

11. An attachment as claimed in claim 10 in which said means for mounting the roof bolting attachment comprises a bracket mounted on the side of the boom of the mining machine, a carrier rotatably mountable on said bracket about an upright axis and a bed plate carried by the carrier and rotatable thereto about an upright axis, the elongate base having a mounting bracket for attachmen t to the bed plate.

12. An attachment as claimed in claim 10, in which said means for mounting the roof bolting attachment comprises a platform slidably mounted on top of the boom of the mining machine and carrying said roof bolting attachment.

13. A mining machine as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 9 in which means is provided for connection to a power supply, when the attachment is mounted on a boom whereby the carrier can be moved to move the or each roof bolting base and mast assembly between the stowed and use positions.