National Mine Service Company

Marsh Company

Donald L Freed, Jr

Gerald L Baum

Kevin W Kuester

A pair of ink jet print heads are arranged on opposite sides of a conveyor to apply ink markings to the opposed surfaces of material conveyed on the conveyor. The print heads support ink jet nozzle blocks having at least one ink jet nozzle and are pivotally biased out over the conveyor in the path of the conveyed material. A pair of cams positioned on opposite sides of the ink jet nozzle blocks maintain a critical spacing between the nozzle block and the surface of the material. Ramp surfaces and an exit cam control the rate at which the ink jet print heads are pivoted away from and toward the path of the conveyed material as the material is conveyed before the ink jet print heads.

Ink jet print head support

A bulk ink restraint comprises a restraint base, a column, an ink hose support, and a clamp assembled for maintaining positional stability of a bulk ink container and simplifying bulk ink container change out after depletion of the ink supply.

Bulk ink restraint assembly

An ink jet head holder supported from a frame and includes a transversely movable rod supporting an ink jet print head with a similar print head holder on the opposite side of the frame. A conveyor for conveying an object having opposed print-receiving surfaces between the print heads. Longitudinal channels are supported by the frame on opposite sides of the conveyor. The print heads are supported on the longitudinal channels and side guide rails are also supported on the channels. The channels are laterally movable to vary the width of the path of packages on the conveyor. The side guide rails are also adjustable laterally relative to the print heads. The print heads have cam faces for contacting the packages at a predetermined transverse distance from the print head nozzles. Biasing means hold the print heads with the cam faces bearing against the print-receiving surfaces that are printed by ink from the nozzles.

Ink jet head holder

A continuous mining machine includes a body portion mounted on endless tracks and a boom member extending forwardly from the body portion with a cutter drum member rotatably mounted on the front end of the boom member. The cutter drum member has an intermediate drum section and a pair of end drum sections. A pair of driven input shafts are drivingly connected to the pair of end drum sections respectively. Intermediate drive shafts extend from the end drum sections into the ends of the intermediate drum section. The intermediate drum section is formed by a pair of releasably connected housing sections. A connecting plate is positioned within and nonrotatably secured to each housing section. Each connecting plate includes planar faces that engage corresponding planar faces provided on the end of the respective intermediate drive shaft. With the intermediate drum sections assembled on the drive shafts, the connecting plates are nonrotatably connected to the drive shafts to transmit rotation from the drive shafts to the housing sections to rotate the intermediate drum section. Pairs of connecting plates are releasably connected to one another surrounding the drive shafts to facilitate efficient assembly and disassembly of the intermediate drum section.

Cutter drum assembly for a continuous mining machine

A mining machine includes a mobile body and an endless conveyor for conveying rearwardly on the body the material dislodged by the mining machine. A gathering platform extends forwardly from the conveyor. Oscillating gathering arms positioned laterally of the receiving end of the conveyor on the gathering platform feed the dislodged material rearwardly on the gathering platform. A plow-like forward edge portion extends transversely across the front of the gathering platform and opposite side portions extend rearwardly from the forward edge portion. Deflector plates are pivotally mounted on the gathering platform adjacent the opposite side portions at the gathering platform forward edge portion to deflect the loose material deposited on the mine floor along the mine wall onto the gathering platform. The deflector plates are biased laterally outwardly from the forward edge portion toward stops mounted on the gathering platform which limit their outward pivotal movement.

Material gathering device for a mining machine

A mining machine having a body portion mounted on propelling tracks includes an endless conveyor mechanism that extends longitudinally on the body portion. The conveyor mechanism is rotatably supported at the front and rear end portions thereof by roller assemblies. The rear roller assembly is longitudinally movable and driven by a hydraulically operated motor to advance the conveyor mechanism from a receiving end portion to a discharging end portion. The discharging end portion is supported for lateral swinging movement relative to the main conveyor portion. Hydraulically operated take-up devices are connected to the rear roller assembly and maintain a preselected tension on the conveyor to prevent slack developing therein. Each take-up device includes a cylinder with a rod having a shoulder portion of a preselected differential area against which fluid pressure is applied to extend the rod from the cylinder. The fluid pressure in each cylinder is supplied from the hydraulic circuitry of the conveyor drive motor. Thus, the cylinders are load sensitive so that an increase in the load on the conveyor drive motor, as when the conveyor is swung laterally, results in an increase in force upon the rear roller assembly to take-up the slack in the conveyor. This avoids excessive tension on the conveyor when the conveyor portions are aligned. Only that force required to prevent slack from developing is applied to the conveyor by the take-up devices.

Mining machine conveyor and apparatus for controlling the tension thereon

A mining machine having a body portion mounted on propelling tracks includes an endless conveyor mechanism positioned on a conveyor support frame that extends longitudinally on the body portion. The conveyor support frame includes a main conveyor section connected by a link member to a conveyor boom section arranged for lateral swinging movement relative to the main conveyor section. The main conveyor section and the conveyor boom section each include an integral gear member. The gear members of the respective sections are maintained in meshing relation by pivot pins interconnecting the link member with the respective sections. A hydraulic cylinder having an extensible piston rod preferably connects the conveyor boom section to the link member. Actuation of the hydraulic cylinder extends or retracts the piston rod to laterally swing the pivot connection of the conveyor boom section in a preselected direction relative to the pivot pin connection on the main conveyor section. Movement of the pivot pin connection on the conveyor boom section contemporaneously rotates the boom section gear member in the same preselected direction relative to the main conveyor section gear member, such that the conveyor boom section moves through twice the angle of rotation of the pivot pin connection of the conveyor boom section. Thus, the pivotal movement of the link member and the rotation of the conveyor boom section gear member laterally swings the conveyor boom section relative to the main conveyor section through an expanded arc.

Swivel assembly for a conveyor

A mining machine for dislodging solid material from a mine face includes a body portion mounted on endless tracks and a boom member extending forwardly from the body portion with a cutter drum member rotatably mounted on the front end of the boom member. An endless conveyor mechanism is positioned in a longitudinal trough member and conveys dislodged material from the front of the mining machine. A gathering platform extends forwardly from the body portion and the conveyor mechanism and is positioned rearwardly of the cutter drum member. A plurality of rotatably mounted gathering disc members are positioned rearwardly of the forward transverse edge portion on the gathering platform. The gathering discs include a first pair of large discs that are positioned oppositely of the longitudinal axis of the conveyor mechanism. A second pair of smaller gathering discs are positioned laterally of the large gathering discs adjacent the lateral edge portions of the conveying platform. A drive mechanism mounted on the gathering platform is drivingly connected to the gathering discs so that the small gathering discs rotate in a direction opposite to the corresponding large gathering discs. The dislodged material is directed onto the gathering platform and is fed by the small gathering discs onto the large gathering discs and therefrom into the trough member and onto the conveyor mechanism. The gathering discs may be driven by a single motor connected to a large disc with the remaining discs connected by meshing spur gears. In another embodiment, each of the large discs may be driven by separate motors with drive trains connecting the small discs to the respective motors.

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Belleville, IL, United States of America

Donald L Freed, Jr