Coal caving cycle
AssigneeYancoal Technology Development PTY Ltd
InventorsMaohu Matthew Wang, Steven Chandler
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Abstract
A coal caving system (1) including a plurality of shields (3) with canopies (6) which are selectively operated to allow coal to cave onto a rear conveyor (37). In one aspect, the invention provides a shield control method including controlling the shield (3) to automatically open a door (6) associated with a rear canopy of the shield (3) responsive to a position of a shearer of the system.
Claims10
A method of operating a coal caving system which includes a plurality of shields, each with a rear canopy and a caving door, a front and rear conveyor extending beneath the shields, and a shearer to cut a web of coal along the front conveyor in a first and second pass, the method comprising operating the rear canopies in a first and second cycle associated with the first and second pass of the shearer and varying the volume of coal caving onto the rear conveyor during the second cycle, dependent upon the coal delivered to the front conveyor by the shearer during the first cycle.
A caving system, comprising:
- a front and rear conveyor extending beneath shields which include canopies that are operable to allow caving onto the rear conveyor;
- and
- a controller configured to automatically open the canopies in a first and second cycle associated with a first and a second pass of a shearer to vary the volume of coal caving onto the rear conveyor during the second cycle, dependent upon the coal delivered to the front conveyor by the shearer during the first cycle.
A controller for a long wall top coal caving system that includes a shearer and a front and rear conveyor extending beneath shields which include rear canopies with caving doors, wherein the controller includes a processor configured to automatically open the canopies to allow caving onto the rear conveyor, wherein:
- the processor is configured to compare a position of the shearer, based on sensor outputs, against one or more position thresholds, stored in memory of the controller, to determine if one or more of the canopies require opening in either a first or second cycle of coal caving;
- the processor is configured to determine, based on the position of the shearer, if one or more of the open canopies need to be closed, wherein in response, the processor actuates a drive of the canopy to close the respective one or more canopies accordingly in order for the canopies to open and close a predetermined distance from the shearer position;
- and
- the processor is configured to open or close the canopies to vary the volume of coal caving onto the rear conveyor during the second cycle of coal caving, dependent upon the coal delivered to the front conveyor by the shearer during the first cycle of coal caving.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.