Dust suppression arrangement for heavy excavation equipment

摘要

An excavation apparatus is disclosed. The excavation apparatus includes a chassis having a length that extends from a front end to a rear end of the chassis. The chassis also has a width oriented perpendicular to the length. A boom is pivotally attached to the rear end of the chassis. A cutting component mounted to the boom. A shroud structure at least partially covers the cutting component. A source of vacuum is in fluid communication with an interior of the shroud structure for drawing air containing dust from the interior of the shroud structure. A filter filters the air drawn from the interior of the shroud structure by the source of vacuum. A dust barrier projects downwardly from the shroud structure and extends along at least a portion of a perimeter of the shroud structure. The dust barrier has a construction that is pervious to debris generated by the cutting component and that provides gradually reduced restriction to inward air flow through the dust barrier as the dust barrier extends downwardly from the shroud structure.

主权项

1. An off-road excavation apparatus comprising:
a chassis having a length that extends from a front end to a rear end of the off-road excavation apparatus, the chassis also having a width oriented perpendicular to the length; a cutting component carried by the chassis, the cutting component including a drum on which a plurality of teeth are mounted, the drum being configured to rotate about a central axis; and a dust suppression arrangement for reducing the amount of dust emitted by the off-road excavation apparatus during mining operations, the dust suppression arrangement including
a vacuum for drawing dust laden air from a region adjacent to the drum,an air cleaner for removing dust from the air drawn from the region adjacent the drum by the vacuum, anda flexible dust barrier extending along at least a portion of the drum, the flexible dust barrier having a construction that is pervious to debris generated by the cutting component, the flexible dust barrier having an upper end and a free lower end configured to extend to a location near a ground surface when the cutting component is in an excavating position, wherein the flexible dust barrier has a height of at least 15 inches between the upper end and the free lower end.