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US 6,027,175 AGranted
Method and apparatus for highwall mining
AssigneeCutting Edge Technology Pty Ltd
InventorsPeter Kenneth Seear, Bret Edward Leisemann
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method of highwall mining, the method includes providing a continuous miner (11) connected to a car train (12) extending to a launch vehicle (13). As the miner (11) progresses down an inclined mine tunnel (15) additional cars are added to the train (12) at the launch vehicle (13). The launch (13) applies a force to the end car so that the car adjacent the mine (11) provides a reaction force for the miner (11).
Claims13
A method of highwall mining comprising the steps of:
- providing a continuous miner for movement in a predetermined direction and having a chassis with a cutter head mounted for movement generally transverse of and generally parallel to said direction relative to said chassis;
- attaching to the miner a train of cars to receive mined material provided by the miner, the cars extending from the miner in a direction opposite the normal mining direction of travel of the miner;
- applying a force to the train at a position remote from the miner so as to provide for advancement of the train down an inclined mine tunnel;
- providing a hydraulic ram extending between a lowermost one of the cars and said miner to move the miner relative to the lowermost car so that the lowermost car provides a reaction force for forces generated by the miner;
- and wherein
- the cutter head is moved generally parallel to and then transverse to said direction to mine said material.
3 more elements
A miner comprising:
- a chassis;
- non driven tracks supporting the chassis on a ground surface;
- a cutter head supported on the chassis for movement in a direction generally transverse and longitudinal of the intended direction of movement of the miner;
- a first hydraulic ram operatively extending between the chassis and cutter head to cause the transverse movement of the cutter head;
- and
- a second hydraulic ram connected to the cutter head for attachment to an end car of a mine car train to cause the longitudinal movement of the cutter head.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.