Improvements in and relating to loading machines, particularly adapted for use in coal mines

摘要

485,160. Portable conveyers. GEWERKSCHAFT EISENHUTTE WESTFALIA. Nov. 9, 1936, Nos. 30567, 30568, 30569, 30570, 30571, and 30572. Convention dates, Nov. 8, 1935, Nov. 16, 1935, Nov. 16, 1935, Nov. 16, 1935, Nov. 16, 1935, and Dec. 27, 1935. [Classes 78 (i) and 78 (ii)] A loading machine, particularly for use in coal mines, having a scoop or shovel 10 at the front and a conveyer 15 by which the material to be loaded is carried from the scoop rearwards and discharged over the end 14 into tubs, is advanced into the brokendown material by haulage on a rope or chain 18 anchored at the front, the arrangement being characterized by the feature that the point of anchorage 20, the front edge of the scoop and the point of engagement of the rope or chain with a guide pulley or drum 31 on the machine all lie in the same horizontal or substantially horizontal plane. The scoop 10 and the rearwardly extending conveyercarrying arm 13 are bolted to the central body part 11 of the machine by means of flanges 45 to allow of detachment for passage down mine shafts. The body 11 is pivoted to a wheeled undercarriage 29 about a transverse axis 28 coinciding with the axis of the guide pulley 31, being adjustable thereabout, by means of a screwbolt 30 or a pinion and toothed segment, to raise or lower the scoop. By such adjustment, the front wheels 27 may be raised off the rails when the machine is in action so that the scoop bears on the ground, an adjustable skid 44 being provided under the scoop to prevent it digging into the ground. The anchored hauling rope 18, passing round the guide drum 31, is connected to a winding drum 22 driven by ratchet gearing which may comprise a driving pawl 23 eccentrically mounted on a shaft 52 driven through a worm wheel and worm shaft 51 from a motor 33 which also drives the conveyer hand 15 and a supplementary winding drum 25. The rope 26 from the drum 25 may be used for drawing the machine along under its own power until it approaches the working face, being, for this purpose, anchored to pit props or other fixed points ahead of the machine. When the machine is in use, the rope 26 may be led over overhead pulleys and utilized to draw away the tubs as they are loaded. During these operations, the driving pawl 23 and also a holding detent 37 may be held out of action by catches 38, 381. The pawls may also be withdrawn to allow the conveyer to carry away an accumulation of material on the scoop. Alternatively, the driving pawl may be operated by a compressed air motor which ceases to drive on meeting excessive resistance. The front of the scoop is considerably wider than the conveyer band, the sides narrowing towards the rear and sloping inwards towards the band, Fig. 7. The machine may be provided with a buffer 24. The Specification as open to inspection under Sect. 91, comprises also means for transferring the loading machine or the tubs from one set of rails to an adjacent set, and alternative means for advancing the machine into the broken-down material. Transfer of the loading machine is effected by raising it and then lowering it on to a pair of wheeled carriages 401 riding in channel beams 39 placed across the tracks, Fig. 10 (Cancelled). The tubs may be transferred by traversing means of known type, connected by chains to a bar projecting laterally from the loading machine, or by a turning plate. The buffer 24 may comprise a piston and be utilized either for propelling the tubs or, by engagement with a braked or chocked tub, for pushing the loading machine towards the working face. This subject-matter does not appear in the Specification as accepted.