Caterpillar Global Mining Europe Gmbh

Caterpillar Inc.

Caterpillar Global Mining LLC

Euan Russell Kirkhope

Siddartha Saikia

Johannes Wesselmann

Andreas Johannes Westphalen

Peter John Broughton

Martin Teiner

Hrishikesh Ranjalkar

Nigel Peter Boswell

Bradley Michael Stanaway

Mahendra Kumar Angamuthu Ganesan

Wilfred Rozario

Joshua Bynon

Lakshminarayana Padhi

Siddhartha Saikia

Darren Anderson

Jörg Wleklik

Jason Gough

Nicolas Schöneweiss

Andreas Westphalen

A method of operating a cable handling system of a longwall mining machine having a shearer movable along a pan line to mine material along a mine face, the cable handling system including:

Cable handling system for longwall mining machines

The present invention pertains to a method for monitoring operation of a mining machine unit, particularly of a longwall mining system, having a shield unit connected to a material removing unit by means of an actuator for adjusting a distance between the shield unit and the material removing unit, the method comprises the steps of determining a position change of the shield unit during an actuating operation of the actuator; and a step of detecting a malfunction of the mining machine unit based on the determined position change.

Method and device for monitoring operation of a mining machine unit

A cable handling system for a longwall mining machine is disclosed. The longwall mining machine includes a shearer configured to move along a pan line to mine material along a mine face. The cable handling system includes a service line configured to carry one or more supply lines to the shearer for facilitating shearer operation. Further, a plurality of interconnected trays accommodates the service line. Moreover, a controller is configured to determine a profile of the pan line; detect one or more parameters associated with the service line in relation to the profile of the pan line; and determine a likelihood of at least a portion of the service line dislodging from the plurality of interconnected trays based on the one or more parameters exceeding a predefined threshold.

A system for monitoring a condition of a pan line associated with a longwall mining system includes multiple pan segments arranged in a successive manner. Adjacently located pan segments are moveably coupled by an interconnecting joint. An underside of each pan segment defines an opening whose axis is parallel to a plane of the associated pan segment. The system also includes a fiber optic shape sensing system that has a fiber optic cable disposed along the multiple pan segments and located within the opening of each pan segment. A controller coupled to the fiber optic cable detects a shape of the fiber optic cable, identifies a position of each pan segment based on the detected shape of the fiber optic cable, and determines if a fault exists in the interconnecting joints between adjacently located pan segments based on the identified positions of respective ones of the adjacently located pan segments.

System and method for monitoring fault conditions in a pan line of a longwall mining system

A shearing system includes a pan line having an end stop, a gate end, and a set of consecutively arranged pans extending from the gate end and having one or more pans disposed beyond the end stop. A shearer is stoppable at the end stop, includes a shearer arm, and is positioned on the one or more pans when the shearer arm is disposed between the end stop and the gate end. A first sensor detects an orientation of the shearer, while second sensors detect an orientation of the set of consecutively arranged pans. A control system determines a profile of the pan line between the end stop and the gate end and controls a movement of the shearer arm based on the profile of the pan line when the shearer arm is disposed between the end stop and the gate end.

Shearing system for longwall mining

An area isolation system (AIS) is provided. The AIS may include a barrier adjacent to a work area, a barrier control panel (BCP) operatively connected to and disposed proximate the barrier, the BCP including a BCP controller in communication with a BCP short-range transceiver, the BCP controller configured to control the barrier, and a machine configured to autonomously operate within the work area. The machine may include a remote shutdown module (RSM) having an RSM controller in communication with an RSM short-range transceiver, and an RSM unique identifier preprogrammed into a memory associated with the RSM controller. The RSM short-range transceiver may be configured to send signals indicative of the RSM unique identifier to the BCP short-range transceiver when a machine radio zone associated with the RSM short-range transceiver intercepts with a BCP radio zone associated with the BCP short-range transceiver.

Area isolation system

A method of controlling a shearer is disclosed. The shearer may be configured to travel along a longwall face to extract material with a first cutting drum and a second cutting drum. The method may include setting a first cutting profile including a plurality of desired positions (Di) to be approached by the first cutting drum in a first travel direction (E). Further, the method may include determining a plurality of actual advancing vectors (vi) indicating a change of a position of the shearer resulting from advancing the shearer towards the longwall face. The method may also include determining a plurality of shearer orientations (Oi) along the longwall face. In addition, the method may include generating a second cutting profile to be approached by at least one of the first cutting drum and the second cutting drum in a second travel direction (F) of the shearer.

Control method for longwall shearer

A shearer system for removing material along a mineable distance relative to a mining environment includes a rail assembly to support movement of a shearer carriage thereon. The system further includes a haulage motor structured and arranged to move the shearer carriage along the rail assembly. The system has a rotatably driven cutter that is positionable relative to the shearer carriage. The system further includes an actuator supported by the shearer carriage for changing a cutting height of the cutter. The system further includes a controller that can control a velocity of the shearer carriage based on a translation speed of the cutter, a maximum speed of the shearer carriage, a current cutter height, and a desired cutter height. Optionally, the controller can further control the velocity of the shearer carriage based on a predetermined stopping distance of the shearer carriage.

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Waratah, Australia

Euan Russell Kirkhope