Guide arrangement for a drum-type mineral cutting machine

A mineral mining installation comprising a conveyor extending alongside a mineral face, a drum-type cutting machine with a body adapted to move back and forth over the conveyor to strip mineral from the mineral face which is transported by the conveyor, a drivably rotatable sprocket wheel supported on the machine body which meshes with a track on the conveyor in order to propel the machine along the conveyor and a guide arrangement for guiding the cutting machine along the conveyor, the guide arrangement comprising a guide rail mounted on the conveyor on the side thereof remote from the mineral face, vertical guide arms provided at the ends of the machine body relative to its direction of travel, a guide block mounted at the lower end of each of the arms and having a guide projection slidably engaging in a channel in the guide rail, said channel extending along the conveyor, a pocket in each guide block and defined by lateral walls, the pocket receiving the lower end of the associated guide arm with inner surfaces of the lateral walls providing contact faces for engaging with the guide arm, a transverse coupling member which extends through a bearing bore in the lower end of the guide arm, the coupling member defining a longitudinal horizontal axis about which the guide arm is pivotable, the coupling member having first and second end regions, the first end region of the coupling member forming a pivot journal head with curved guide faces and flattened upper and lower faces, a pivot journal socket with complementary curved surfaces in one of the lateral walls of the pocket remote from the mineral face and adjacent the guide projection, the pivot head being engaged in the pivot journal socket, for pivoting about a vertical axis, the second end region of the coupling member forming a sliding block of rectangular configuration, a slot in the other of the lateral walls of the pocket adjacent the mineral face, the sliding block engaging in the slot and being guided for horizontal displacement whereby each guide arm can move relative to the associated guide block about the longitudinal horizontal axis extending transversally of the conveyor and the direction of movement of the machine and defined by the coupling member and the vertical axis offset from the guide arm and defined by the pivot journal head and socket and in a horizontal plane defined by the sliding block and the slot and limited by engagement of the contact faces of the lateral walls of the pocket with surfaces of the guide arm.