Automatic excavating machine and method of operating the same

• US 4,008,921 A
• Filed: 06/19/1975
• Issued: 02/22/1977
• Est. Priority Date: 06/21/1974
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Ruhrkohle AG
• Original Assignee: Ruhrkohle AG
• Inventors: Lubina, Siegfried, Klimek, Karl-Heinz, Czauderna, Norbert, Schonrock, Bernhard, Fenske, Gunther, Malinowski, Fritz
• Primary Examiner(s): Purser, Ernest R.
• Application Number:
  US05/588,518
• Time in Patent Office: 614 Days
• Field of Search: 299/1
• US Class Current: 299/1.1
• CPC Class Codes: E21C 35/08 Guiding the machine

Abstract

Mineralogical measurements are performed at a plurality of locations along the face of an excavation to determine the shape of a mineral interface along such face. An interface-shape program is set up in a programmable control arrangement operative for causing an excavating machine to excavate in accordance with the program during at least one working trip. Only after the program has been set up in the control arrangement is the excavating machine caused to perform at least one working trip under the automatic control of the control arrangement. When the excavation is such that the actual interface shape is not well-defined, continuous and smooth, the interface-shape program set up in the programmable control arrangement is made to correspond to an interface which is well-defined, continuous and smooth by comparison with the actual interface, to make possible automatic working of an excavation not capable of being worked by automatic excavating machines of the type which automatically detect the physical interface during a working trip and excavate in dependence upon such automatica detection.

Claims

1. A method of controlling the operation of an excavating machine of the type which during a working trip works the face of an excavation, particularly a cutter loader mounted for movement along the length of a face conveyor, or the like, comprising, in combination, the steps of determining the shape of a mineral interface along the length of the face of an excavation by performing mineralogical measurements at a plurality of locations along the length of the face;

setting up an interface-shape program in a programmable control arrangement operative for causing the excavating machine to excavate in accordance with the program during at least one working trip; and

thereafter causing the excavating machine to perform at least one working trip under the automatic control of the control arrangement, wherein said step of determining the shape of the mineral interface along the length of the face includes determining the inclination of the interface along the length of the face;

further including the steps of detecting the discrepancy between the inclination of the interface and the inclination of the cut made by the excavating machine along the length of the face during one working trip and registering corresponding information in an information storage device; and

compensating for the discrepancy by causing the control arrangement to modify the operation of the excavating machine during the next working trip in dependence upon the stored information.

2. A method as defined in claim 1, the excavation being such that the mineral interface is not well-defined, continuous and smooth, wherein said step of setting up an interface-shape program in the programmable control arrangement comprises setting up in the programmable control arrangement an interface-shape program corresponding to an interface which is well-defined, continuous and smooth by comparison with the acutal interface, whereby to make possible automatic working of an excavation not capable of being worked by automatic excavating machines of the type which automatically detect the physical interface during a working trip and excavate in dependence upon such automatic detection.

3. An automatic excavating machine of the type which during a working trip works the face of an excavation, particularly a cutter loader mounted for movement along the length of a face conveyor, or the like, comprising, in combination, cutting means;

moving means for moving said cutting means;

information storage means operative for storing simultaneously information representative of the shape of a mineral interface at a plurality of locations spaced along the length of the face of an excavation; and

control means operative for causing said moving means to move said cutting means in dependence upon the information stored by said information storage means during movement of the excavating machine along the face, wherein said information storage means comprises means operative for storing simultaneously information representative of the inclination of the mineral interface, measured in direction transverse to the direction in which the machine moves during a working trip, at a plurality of locations spaced along the length of the face, and wherein said control means comprises means operative during a working trip of the machine for continually determining the location of the machine relative to the ends of the face, inclination-measuring means operative for determining the inclination of the cut, measured in direction transverse to the direction in which the machine moves during the working trip, and inclination-error-correcting means operative for correcting inclination errors by causing said moving means to effect compensatory changes of the position of said cutting means.

4. A machine as defined in claim 3, wherein said inclination-error-correcting means comprises storage means operative for registering the inclination errors detcted during one working trip and means for compensating for such errors by causing said moving means to effect compensatory changes of only the height of said cutting means during the next working trip.

5. A machine as defined in claim 3, wherein said inclination-error-correcting means comprises storage means operative for registering the inclination errors detected during one working trip and means for automatically effecting compensation of such errors during but not until the next working trip and then by effecting compensatory changes of the position of said cutting means during such next working trip.

6. A method of controlling the operation of a cutter loader mounted for movement on a face conveyor along the face of an excavation and provided with a position indicator mounted on the cutter loader for indicating where the cutter loader is relative to the conveyor and provided with an inclinometer mounted on the loader for detecting improper transverse climbing of the face conveyor and cutter loader, comprising, in combination, the steps of performing manual mineralogical measurements prior to the first working trip of the cutter loader and from those determining, relative to a reference plane constituted by the face conveyor, the desired heights for the upper and lower cuts and the desired transverse inclination of the cut, and registering such desired-cut information in the storage of a computer;

thereafter causing the cutter loader to perform a first working trip under the automatic control of the computer and in accordance with the desired-cut information;

during the course of said first working trip using the inclinometer to detect discrepancies between the transverse inclination of the cut made by the cutter loader and the desired transverse inclination, and registering such inclination discrepancies;

causing the cutter loader to perform a second working trip; and

during the performance of said second working trip causing the computer to automatically control the operation of the cutter loader in accordance with both the desired-cut information registered prior to said first working trip and furthermore in accordance with the inclination discrepancies registered during the performance of said first working trip.

7. An excavating arrangement, comprising, in combination, a face conveyor defining a reference plane;

a cutter loader mounted on said face conveyor for movement along the length of said face conveyor, said cutter loader including adjustable-position cutting rollers;

a position indicator mounted on said cutter loader for generating a signal indicative of the position of said cutter loader relative to said face conveyor;

an inclinometer mounted on said cutter loader for generating a signal indicative of the transverse inclination of the cutter loader and face conveyor; and

an adjustable-program process computer connected to said position indicator and to said inclinometer for receiving said signals and operative for automatically adjusting the positions of said cutting rollers in dependence upon said signals and upon an adjustable program.