Plough for use in mineral mining
United States Patent Hauschopp et a1.  
 [ 1 Apr. 15,1975  
 1 1 PLOUGI-I FOR USE IN MINERAL MINING [73] Assignee: Gewerkschaft Eisenhutte Westfalia,  
 Wethmar near Lunen, Westfalia, Germ any 22 Filed: Oct. 15, 1973 21 Appl. No.: 406,427  
 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 4/1970 United Kingdom 299/34 Primary Examiner-Ernest R. Purser Attorney, Agent, or FirmSughrue, Rothwell, Mion, Zinn &amp; Macpeak [57] ABSTRACT A coal plough having an articulated sword plate with a central section bearing a main plough body and end sections hinged to the central section and having guide blocks for reception in a guide channel of a longwall conveyor. The main body has sets of cutters at its ends which are staggered in position. Guide members which are curved in a convex sense in relation to the floor of the mine working are located for sliding in correspondingly-shaped guideways in the main body. The guide members support floor cutters and the ends of the guide members can move along a path defined by the guideways projecting inwardly of the cutters relative to the body. Cotter pins locate in selected holes in the body to delimit the movement of the guide members and thereby define the operating positions of the floor cutters.  
 7 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PLOUGH FOR USE IN MINERAL MINING BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a plough for winning mineral from a mineral face or seam in a mine working. The invention is particularly, but not solely, concerned with a plough for use in mining coal.  
  Coal ploughs are well known in the mining art. Such ploughs are normally guided for movement along a longwall conveyor arranged along the coal face or seam to be won. In our U.K. patent specification 1,188,254 a plough is described which utilizes floor-level cutters carried by arcuate-shaped movable guide members supported by the end sections of an articulated sword plate. These guide members can be moved into selected positions to set the floor-level cutters into various operation positions.  
  A general object of the invention is to provide an improved form of coal plough.  
  The present invention is particularly directed towards improvements in, or modifications to, the plough described in the aforementioned specification.  
 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention there is provided a plough for winning mineral from a mineral face; said plough having a main body with sets of cutters at or near each end for engaging the mineral face as the plough is moved along the face, floor-level cutters carried by guide members, the guide members being slidably displaceable in relation to said body to control the position of the floor-level cutters and along paths which extend inwardly of at least some of the cutters on the main body in relation to the body.  
  As with the plough described in U.K. patent specification 1,188,254, the plough of this invention is preferably provided with an articulated sword plate composed of three sections with the main plough body being disposed on the central section. In contrast to the earlier specification, however, the guide members are provided on the central section of the sword plate and not on the end sections. In contrast to the plough described in U.K. patent specification 1,188,254 the overall length of the plough can thus be made considerably shorter and inter aliathis is advantageous in reducing wear where the plough is moved over a curved part of the longwall working.  
  As with the plough described in U.K. patent specification 1,188,254 the guide members and their paths of displacement are preferably arcuate in shape with a curvature which is convex in relation to the lower part of the plough. The guide members can be conveniently located within guideways provided on the main body, the guideways and corresponding parts of the guide members having a T-shaped cross-section.  
  The cutters arranged in the Zone at the upper ends of the guide members preferably project outwardly from the body by a greater distance than the cutters therebeneath and can be supported by pivotable carriers. The body can accordingly be of greater length in the region of the upper ends of the guide members.  
  In order to vary the operating position of the floorlevel cutter or cutters carried by each guide member it is preferable to provide a stop member, such as a cotter pin, engageable with the upper end of the guide member and locatable in one of a number of holes in the body, which are staggered in position.  
  Further according to the invention the main plough body can have a superstructure thereon composed of further bodies bearing cutting tools. At the top of this superstructure there is preferably a roof-cutter head carrying cutting tools which is adjustable to enable the plough to cut the coal face or seam right up to the roof of the working. Preferably the head has a guide portion located in a guideway of the uppermost further body, the guideway being inclined outwardly from the main body in a direction extending towards the lower part of the plough, the guide portion of the head being movable along the guideway to effect said adjustment. This enables the seam to be cut to a specific defined contour. As with the guide members a cotter pin located in selectively-aligned holes in the guide portion of the head and the support body thereof can be used to secure the head in its desired position.  
  The invention may be understood more readily and various other features of the invention may become apparent from consideration of the following description.  
 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:  
  FIG. 1 is a plan view of a coal plough made in accordance with the invention;  
  FIG. 2 is a plan view, of the central part of the plough shown in FIG. 1, but on a somewhat larger scale;  
  FIG. 3 is a side view of the plough shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the view being taken from the coal face;  
  FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic end view of a modified coal plough made in accordance with the invention;  
  FIG. 5 is an enlarged side view of the roof cutter head of the plough represented in FIG. 4; and  
  FIG. 6 is a sectional end view of part of the roof cutter head, the view being taken along the line Vl-VI of FIG. 5.  
 DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring initially to FIGS. 1 to 3, the plough has a sword or base plate composed of three parts, namely a central section 10 and end sections 12. The central section 10 is pivotably connected to each end section 12 with the aid of hinges 11. Each of the end sections 12 of the sword are provided with guide blocks 13 which in known manner are received and guided with a channel arranged at the goaf side of a longwall scraperchain conveyor (not shown). The plough would then be disposed at the coal-face side of the conveyor with the sword extending beneath the conveyor. The guide blocks 13, as shown, are connected to a chain also guided within the aforesaid channel and used to drive the plough back and forth along the conveyor to win the coal from the coal face. The end sections 12 are also provided with adjustable devices 14 on the coalface side which limit the depth that the plough cuts into the coal face. Such devices 14 are well known per se.  
  The central section 10 of the sword supports the main plough body 15 provided with various coalcutting tools. As shown more particularly in FIGS. 2 and 3, the body 15 is provided with sets of cutters 16 at each end. These cutters 16 are arranged in an echlon configuration with the cutting faces of the cutters 16 being disposed successively outwardly from the body 15 in a downward direction such as to leave a generallyy unobstructed trapezoidal space inwardly of the body. Each cutter, l6is a detachable item retained in a fixed tool holder. Above each set of cutters 16 there are provided tool carriers 17 which are pivotably connected to the body by means of a vertical pivot pin 18. These carriers 17 support further detachable cut ters denoted 19.-As shown in FIG. 2, when the carriers 17 are swivelled towards the coal face the carriers 17 support the cutters 19 in a position considerably closer to the coal face than the cuttersl6. The carriers 17 are each arranged to abut aganist a stop means formed on the main body 15 when the plough is moved in the direction causing the cutting face of the cutters 19 to penetrate the face as shown at the lefthand side of FIG. 2. If the plough is moved in the reverse direction the carrier 17 can swivel away from its associated stop means as shown at the right-hand side of FIG. 2.  
 Beneath each set of cutters 16 there are provided floor-level cutters 20 which serve to control the move ment of the plough along the coal face. These floor cutters 20 at each end of the body 15 are detachably supported on a guide member 21 which is generally constructed in accordance with UK. patent specification 1,188,254. More particularly, eachguide member 21 is of arcuate shape having a convex curvature in relation to the floor of the working. The upper sides of the members 21 have a T-shaped profile denoted 23. The body 15 is provided with members which extend across the space left within the body and define correspondingly curved guideways 22 receiving the members 21.,  
 These guideways 22 have a T-shaped cross-section to match that of the upper side of the members 21. The guide members 21 can be moved along the guideways 22 so as to swivel the cutters 20 in a vertical plane and about a pivot axis extending transversely of the plough body 15. In this way the cutters 20 can be adjusted to conform withthe level of the floor of the working can thereby to define the path taken by the plough. The operating position of each member 21, and hence of its cutters 20, is set with the aid of stop members which limit the movement of the members 21. These stop members take the form of cotter pins 24 which can be inserted into selected ones of groups of holes 25 in the plough body 15. The holes 25 are arranged inwardly of the carriers 17 and, as shown in FIG. 3, each group of holes 25 is composed of four holes separated by small distances vertically and horizontally to enable the position of the cutters 20 to be adjusted in relatively small steps. Obviously, the numbers of holes canbe varied to provide more or less operating positionsfor the cutters 20. The cotter pins 24 are inserted into the selected,  
 holes 25 from the goaf side of the plough and the upper ends of the guide members 21 will then abut against the pins 24 to delimit the displacement of the guide members and thereby define the operating position of the cutters 20. The body 15 is provided with hinged flaps 26 which can be moved over the cotter pins 24, as  
 shown in FIG. 2, to preventthe latter from becoming detached inadvertently. The flaps 26 can be swivelled outwardly when it is desired to remove and re-locate the pins 24.  
  The plough body can also be provided with additional attachments with cutters designed to operate on various other parts of the coal face seam. In particular, it may be desirable to provide cutters which act at the roof or upper part of the seam. FIGS. 4 to 6 depict such a plough construction. As shown in FIG. 4, the plough, which is constructed generally as described above in connection with FIGS. 1 to 3, is provided witha superstructure built up from separate detachable bodies30 31, 32 disposed one upon another and carried by the main plough body. The bodies 30, 31, 32 can be conveniently interconnected to one another by means of cot.  
 ter pins or the like and support further cutters as discussed hereinafter. A roof cutter head 33 is supported by a further body, not shown in FIG. 4 but denoted by reference numeral 34 in FIG. 5. This further body 34 is mounted on the body 32 and is again connected thereto by means of cotter pins or the like. Referring to FIG. 5 in conjunction with FIG. 4, the head 33 isprovided with a tool or blade 36, which is designed tocul at the roof of the seam, and with shearing tools 37, 38.  
 The head 33 has a guide portion which is located in a guideway 39 formed on the body 34 and the guideway the head 33 in its desired setting. To this end, the guide portion of the head 37 and the body 34 are provided with a series of holes 40. The holes 40 of the body 34 I penetrate the guideway 39 and the holes 40 of the body I 34 and the head 33 are arranged in two corresponding rows as shown in FIG. 6 with the holes of one row being offset from the holes of the other row. A cotter pin 45 can be introduced from the goaf side of the body 34 to locate in corresponding selected holes 40 of the body 34 and the guide portion of the head 33. By having the holes 40 in two rowsoffset from one another airelatively fine adjustment of the head 33 in small steps in the direction of arrows P is possible. The actual displacement of the head 33 relative to the body 34 is accomplished by means of an implement 42 which resembles a crowbar. This implement 42 is adapted for insertion into one of a series of recesses 41 at the goaf side of the guide portion of the head 33 so that with the pin 45 removed the implement 42 can be used to raise or lower the head 33 to the desired position whereupon the pin 45 is relocated in the relevant holes 40.  
 Referring back to FIG. 4, it can be appreciated that the plough can firstly act on the face 37 with the aid of,  
 cutters 43 which are disposed more forwardly of the other cutting tools and supported on the body 30 of the superstructure. In this way a gap around the centre of the coal face 37 can be produced. This initial gap 44 is advantageous in relieving stresses inthe face. Thereaf-. ter the plough is moved up to bring the other cutting tools into operation so that the zones of the face near,  
 f. floor-level cutters carried by the guide members, said floor-level cutters being capable of adopting various operating positions depending on the movement of the guide members along said guide paths; and  
 g. means for engaging the guide members to define a range of permitted movement along said guide paths for said members whereby to set the operating positions of the floor-level cutters.  
  2. A plough as claimed in claim I, wherein the lastnamed means consists of cotter pins insertable through bores passing through the plough body to the rear side thereof.  
  3. A plough as claimed in claim 2, wherein each arcuate guide member is associated with a group of such bores, each at a respective different height from the ground.  
  4. A plough as claimed in claim 3, including hinged flaps for covering the rear ends of the bores.  
  5. A plough for winning mineral from a mineral face, said plough having a main body with sets of cutters located at the ends of the main body for cutting the face as the plough is moved, adjustable floor-level cutters arranged on guide members which are slidably displaceable in relation to said body to control the position of the floor-level cutters and along paths which extend inwardly of at least some of the cutters on the main body in relation to the body, a superstructure assembled from further bodies disposed one upon another and arranged on the main body, the further bodies carrying further cutting tools. the uppermost further body carrying a roof-cutter head having at least one cutting tool adapted to cut the mineral face at the upper part thereof, the roof-cutter head being adjustable in relation to the uppermost further body, said head having a guide portion located in a guideway of the uppermost further body, the guideway being inclined outwardly from the main body in a direction extending towards the lower part of the plough, the guide portion of the head being movable along the guideway to effect said adjustment.  
  6. A plough according to claim 5, wherein the guide portion of the head and the uppermost further body are provided with holes and a cotter pin can be inserted into selected aligned ones of the holes to secure the head in its desired position.  
  7. A plough for winning mineral from a mineral face, comprising:  
 a. a sword plate constituted by a plurality of articulated sections, one of which is a central section; b. a main body supported by the said central sword plate section;  
 c. a set of cutters carried by said body at each end thereof, certain of said cutters in each set being disposed successively outwardly from the body in a downward direction such as to leave a generally unobstructed trapezoidal space inwardly of the body;  
 d. means extending across said space and defining two curved guideways;  
 e. arcuate guide members bearing floor-level cutters,  
 each guide member being supported by a respective guideway;  
 f. a structure associated with the upper end of each guide member, said structure being traversed by a plurality of bores extending perpendicularly to said face; and  
 g. a pin positionable in a selected bore to limit the extent of movement of each guide member in its guideway.