Advance mechanism for a mine roof support assembly

摘要

The invention relates to an advance mechanism for a roof support assembly constituted by a plurality of roof support units positioned side-by-side along, for example, a longwall face of a mineral mining working. The advance mechanism comprises a pair of hydraulic advance rams and a pair of resilient, generally parallel guide rods. The guide rods are interconnected at one end by means of a head-piece which is attachable to a conveyor extending along the longwall face. The other end of each guide rod is attached to a respective slide piece which is slidably guided on a respective guide rail which is attached to a floor girder of a roof support unit. The hydraulic advance rams are each pivotally attached to one of the slide pieces and to one of said floor girders. The guide rods are provided, adjacent said one end, with outwardly projecting alignment members each of which co-operates with one of said floor girders to align an associated roof support unit during its advance.