Patent · US Expired

Electrical control system for apparatus and method for continuous underground mining

US5967616A · kind A · utility

32Cited by
29References
12Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateMar 10, 1998
Grant dateOct 19, 1999
Priority date
Expiry dateMar 10, 2018

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC E)Fixed Constructions
  • CPC primaryE21C35/302
  • WIPO fieldCivil engineering
  • WIPO sectorOther fields

Abstract

Apparatus for controlling the operation of an underground mining system including a continuous miner, a roof bolting machine, a tramming conveyor and a control cab operatively connected to the tramming conveyor. The apparatus includes a master computer processor on the continuous miner and at least one slave computer processor under the direction of the master computer processor for controlling elements of the mining system other than the continuous miner. A pair of parallel data communication highways connect the master computer processor and the slave computer processor and the functional status of the data communication highways is monitored. A radio communication path is provided between the master computer processor and the mining system. The master computer processor operates the mining system in an automatic mining mode of operation when both data communication highways are functional and operates the mining system in a reverse mode of operation if either data communication highway fails to function. In the reverse mode, all mining operations stop and the mining system can be reversed out of a mine hole. The master computer processor operates the mining system in a manual, r…

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.