Cutter-chain machine for use in mining coal and other minerals

512,443. Screw conveyers. MAVOR & COULSON, Ltd., MUNRO, A. M., and SPROUL, J. C. March 4, 1938, No. 6779. [Class 78 (i)] [Also in Group XXI] In means for removing cuttings from the cutter-chain of a mining machine comprising a conveyor carrier embodying power transmission gear and attachable to the machine body to receive a drive from a connection thereon and hold the conveyer clear of the floor, the carrier is reversibly attachable to the machine according to the side on which the machine is cutting, the drive being taken from said connection in both positions of said carrier. In Figs. 1 and 2, an auxiliary gear box D is fitted to the rear of the machine and carries a shaft 4, driven through gear 6 from the wheel 1 which drives the cutter-chain sprocket 2, and driving through gears 7 aligned shafts 5 with dog couplings 8 at their outer ends. A reversible carrier C, connected by arms 12, 13, to the casing 9 of a helical conveyer 10, has tubular parts 11 spaced to receive the gear box D between them, one part 11 having a telescopic part 11a adapted to be adjusted by a screw 17 to clamp the carrier in position; the carrier contains a shaft 14 with a dog coupling 16 adapted to engage the dog coupling 8 of either shaft 5 and convey the drive to the conveyer through gears 15. The conveyer casing 9 has opposite openings for entry of cuttings, the opening remote from the machine being closed by a cover 19. A guard plate is hooked to the casing 9 adjacent its outlet and is secured to the machine by a turnbuckle and hooked connection. The helix 10 has a push fit on its shaft 24 to permit it to be replaced by one of opposite hand after reversal of the carrier. A shaft with a series of propellors may replace the helix; further a tubular extension may be flexibly connected to the casing 9 and contain an auxiliary helix or a rotary agitator to carry the cuttings to a face conveyer. The reversible carrier of a rearwardly-delivering helical conveyer as described in Specification 512,442 may be similarly attached to the gear box D. The device may be applied to overcutting machines; in Fig. 7, the driving end of an overcutting chain K is enclosed in a casing M delivering cuttings by a chute 45 to the conveyer L. Specification 329,837, [Class 78 (i)], also is referred to.