Method of Setting an Automatic Level Control of the Plow in Plowing Operations of Coal Mining

A method of setting an automatic level control of a plow (17) in longwall mining operations, in underground coal mining, equipped with a hydraulic shield support and a face conveyor (16) that guides a plow guide mechanism (18) disposed on the plow (17), including the steps of:

• by means of a boom control mechanism that is supported on the shield support, changing the position of said face conveyor (16), including the plow (17) guided thereon, in exploitation;
• by means of the boom control mechanism, setting a control angle (20) for setting a motion of said plow (17) in the exploitation direction as a climbing motion, dropping motion, or neutral motion;
• for each stroke of said plow (17), determining a cutting depth (21) and the control angle (20), which is derived as a differential angle between an inclination of a top canopy (11) of a shield support frame (10) and an inclination of said face conveyor (16) in the exploitation direction;
• in a calculating unit, calculating a face height change therefrom per plow stroke;
• in the calculating unit, associating a face height, as a projected height, with each face position of said face conveyor (16), wherein the face position corresponds to a plow stroke, and wherein the projected height is then stored in the calculating unit;
• when a shield support frame (10) that trails behind said plow (17) in terms of a time delay reaches a respective face position, calculating an actual height of the face on the basis of values detected by inclination sensors (15) mounted on said shield support frame (10);
• comparing the calculated actual height with the stored projected height;
• and
• for subsequent plow strokes, taking into consideration a height differential value (28), between the projected height and the actual height, determined for a respective face position, in the sense of a self-learning effect of the calculating unit when the control angle (20) for said plow (17) that is to be set to achieve a projected height of the face is prescribed.