Excavating – Beneath a body of water – Suction
Reexamination Certificate
2002-04-24
2004-09-07
Pezzuto, Robert E (Department: 3671)
Excavating
Beneath a body of water
Suction
C299S011000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06785988
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a driving or mining machine including a pivotable cantilever arm which is hinged so as to be pivotable in the height direction to a pivoting mechanism capable of being pivoted about a substantially vertical axis and on its free end carries rotationally mounted excavation tools, in particular cutter heads, and including a traveling mechanism and a frame carrying the traveling mechanism, on which frame a haulage means and a suction means as well as anchor boring and setting devices are arranged.
2. Prior Art
Driving machines of the initially defined kind have become known in various designs. In accordance with the set object, which resides in securing the driven track against falling-down material, different configurations have already been proposed as a function of the nature of the respective rock. In detail, DE 33 34 975 A1 discloses a driving machine in which anchor boring and setting devices are hinged to the cutting machine and laterally connected with the cutting machine via rod assemblies, wherein the respective connection is designed as a horizontally movable holding means. In the respective operating position, the anchor boring and optionally setting machine in that device was braced against lateral walls and roofs by means of a prop, whereby the machine, upon bracing of the anchor boring and setting device, could be moved on in conformity with the horizontal mobility of the holding means. Due to this lateral articulation, such an anchor boring and setting device naturally renders feasible the provision of an anchor bore, or the setting of an anchor, only laterally beside the machine, thus preventing the realization of, in particular, central roof anchors as well as anchor bores in the region of the floor by means of such a device. In other types of construction it has already been proposed to brace the anchor boring and setting device not separately between roof and floor, and a configuration is known, particularly from EP 216 506, in which anchor boring and setting devices are arranged in the lateral region of the machine above the machine frame substantially in the horizontal mass center of gravity of the driving machine. Yet, not even such lateral devices allow the setting of bores distributedly about the total periphery of the floor and roof, wherein the haulage means on the site of the center of mass projects already relatively far over the floor in the region of the longitudinal central axis of the machine such that impediments of the pivotal movements have to be taken into account.
Special devices in which the anchor boring and setting devices were arranged in the region near the mine face and were again braced between the front end of the machine and, in particular, the loading device, and the roof were proposed for extremely short-structured machines. Again, a plurality of anchor boring and setting devices were distributed over the pallet of the machine and braced against the roof, yet such devices did not allow the realization, in particular, of bores close to the floor. In all known cases anchor setting patterns are limited, because only either individual anchors or a plurality of anchors can be introduced perpendicularly into the roof. The known machines are designed for special purposes of use and, if the anchor boring and setting devices are not arranged on the rear end or behind the rear end of the traveling mechanism, as a rule comprise special short-structured excavation tools and are not readily adaptable to cantilever arms offering universal mobility.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention aims to provide a driving or mining machine of the initially defined kind, in which the flexibility of excavation will not be impeded in any manner whatsoever by using a pivoting arm capable of being pivoted about a substantially vertical axis and hinged so as to be pivotable in the height direction in order to enable the driving of different rocks by one and the same machine and facilitate the maneuverability of the machine to move the same to different sites of excavation. In a machine of this type, the invention aims to do without any separate bracing of anchor boring and setting devices and, at the same time, enable the setting of any desired bores from the floor over the roof by means of such an anchor boring and setting device without having to put up with machine-related restrictions. The driving and mining machine according to the invention is, thus, to enable anchoring for the universal use of a driving machine comprising a cutter boom and a cutter head or cutting roll, since anchors can, in fact, be introduced also during the cutting procedure and set over the total track section. At the same time, the structural height of the driving machine is not to be substantially exceeded despite additional devices such as, for instance, the anchor boring and setting device and suction means, in order to safeguard the displaceability of the machine. To solve this object, the driving or mining machine according to the invention essentially consists in that the frame carrying the traveling mechanism on its side facing away from the cantilever arm behind the pivoting mechanism is designed as a lowered platform, that the anchor boring and setting device is arranged substantially in the longitudinal center of the frame above the platform and pivotally mounted on a rollover whose pivot axis crosses the vertical axis of the pivoting mechanism, and that the pivot angle of the anchor boring and setting device is larger than 180° and extends to below the horizontal plane containing the pivot axis of the rollover, wherein means preferably arranged below this horizontal plane and, in particular, the suction means are designed to be pivotable in the pivoting range of the anchor boring and setting device or to be reducible to smaller cross sections. Due to the fact that a lowered platform is formed behind the pivoting mechanism on the side facing away from the cantilever arm, the space required to arrange an anchor boring and setting device with a large pivotability is created in a relatively stable region of the hewing machine, thus enabling bores to be provided in a distributed manner both near the floor and over the roof. By the anchor boring and setting device being arranged substantially in the longitudinal center of the frame above the platform and steerably mounted on a rollover, it is feasible to set also central roof anchors in a simple manner, whereby the accordingly lowered platform enables the rollover to be positioned relatively closely above the plane of the floor such that the lateral walls and the roof can be swept over completely. Since the rollover is designed in a manner that the pivot axis crosses the vertical axis of the pivoting mechanism, it has become feasible to make the pivot angle on the boring and setting device be larger than 180° and extend to below the horizontal plane containing the pivot axis of the rollover, thus enabling bores near the floor to be realized by means of the same anchor boring and setting device. By that pivotal movement to below said horizontal plane it may be ensured that other, laterally arranged devices will not collide with the anchor boring and setting device, to which end the configuration preferably is devised such that means arranged below said horizontal plane, particularly the suction means, are designed to be pivotable within the range of pivotability of the anchor boring and setting device or reducible to a smaller cross section. The platform arranged behind the pivoting mechanism provides the space required by the operating personnel and, at the same time, an accordingly large manipulation space, to which end the configuration advantageously is devised such that further means, particularly energy supply means, are arranged on the platform behind a free space provided for the operation of the manipulator of the anchor boring and setting device.
Since the anchor boring and setting device is not coupled to the existing support of the driving
Grief Ralf
Lammer Egmont
Lerchbaum Karl
Neuper Reinhard
Chapman and Cutler LLP
Pezzuto Robert E
Voest-Alpine Bergtechnik Gesellschaft m.b.H.
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