Gob canopy for a mine roof support
OwnerJay H. Kelleyinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A support for the roof in longwall mining operations includes a gob canopy at the rear of a roof canopy. The gob canopy can move about a vertical pivot and a horizontal pivot by operation of a hydraulic actuator. To stabilize the support, the gob canopy moves into or out of contact with the roof at the rear of the roof canopy. The actuators can move the gob canopy to the left or right side of the roof canopy about a vertical pivot so that a skeg member on the upper surface of the gob canopy drags along the mine roof for steering the roof support when it is advanced toward the mine face. Gaps between the gob canopies of side-by-side roof supports function in the manner of grizzly bars to permit recovery of small pieces of gob roof rock.
Claims10
A mine roof support including the combination of a base for support by a mine floor, a roof canopy generally overlying said base with a forward roof canopy portion extending forward beyond a forward toe portion of said base, hydraulically-extendible prop means between said base and said roof canopy to support and move said roof canopy relative to a mine roof above said mine floor, gob canopy means extending rearward of said roof canopy in a generally planar fashion for forming a roof-bearing rearward extension to said roof canopy, hinge means including horizontal and vertical pivots interconnecting said gob canopy means with a rear portion of said roof canopy which is opposite said forward roof canopy portion for cantilevered pivotal movements of said gob canopy means at a rear portion of said roof canopy, and hydraulic actuator means between said gob canopy means and said base for angularly adjusting the gob canopy means to move about said pivots toward and away from said mine roof and generally parallel thereto relative to said roof canopy.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.