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US 4,285,546 AGranted
Tunnel profile control
AssigneeDosco Overseas Engineering Ltd.
InventorMichael Etherington
Life of this patent
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AssigneeDosco Overseas Engineering Ltd.
InventorMichael Etherington
Estimating the term…
An apparatus and method for controlling the profile of an aperture cut by a cutting head capable of traversing movement in two directions at right angles to each other, e.g. the cutting head of a mining machine, wherein means is provided to control the movement of the cutting head in said two directions and including a template for an internal profile representing that part of the aperture to be cut, a sensing device engageable with the template profile, follower means associated with the cutting head to cause relative movement between the sensing device and template in a direction related to movement of the cutting tool, movement of the sensing device into engagement with the profile operating hydraulic sensing equipment which automatically overrides the means to control the movement of the cutting head, thereby preventing the cutting head from moving beyond the desired tunnel profile. The hydraulic sensing equipment preferably comprises a series of control valves associated with respective quadrants of the profile which are connected together in such a manner as to reverse the direction of movement of the cutting head as necessary.
Apparatus for controlling the profile of an aperture cut by a cutting head capable of traversing movement in two directions at right angles to each other, comprising means to control the movement of the cutting head in said two directions, a template having an internal profile representing that of the aperture to be cut, a sensing device engageable with the profile of the template, following means responsive to movement of the cutting head to cause relative movement between the sensing device and template in a direction which is related to the direction of movement of the cutting head, said sensing device being engageable with the profile of the template when the cutting head has been traversed sufficiently in a particular direction so as to reach its desired profile extremity, and hydraulic sensing equipment which is actuated in response to said sensing device and template coming into engagement, said sensing equipment being effective to over-ride said means controlling the movement of the cutting head to ensure the head does not cut outside its desired profile.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.