Mine Stopping Jack With Toggle Press And Yield Spring
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing mine stopping systems face challenges in efficiently extending and securing mine stopping panels across passageways, particularly in maintaining a seal against mine convergence and withstanding pressure differentials, due to limitations in existing jack technologies that incrementally extend panels but lack robust mechanisms for secure engagement and yieldability.
Innovation Solution
A jack system comprising a column with upper and lower stopping panel supports, an extendible post, and a press mechanism with a toggle linkage, which allows for single-throw extension and secure holding of mine stopping panels, featuring a yieldable biasing spring to prevent over-crushing and maintain engagement, enabling efficient panel extension and resistance to pressure differentials.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If existing jacks (ratcheting jack, bottle jack, gripping system jack) are used to extend mine stopping panels, then the panels can be extended across the passageway, but the extension process requires multiple incremental throws of the lever and lacks robust secure engagement mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The press mechanism uses a periodic lever-actuated cycle where the lever moves between actuated and non-actuated positions to incrementally extend the extendible post, achieving panel extension through repeated periodic actions rather than continuous motion
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces traditional ratcheting or gripping mechanical systems with a press mechanism that uses lever-actuated telescopic extension, substituting the incremental ratcheting action with a different mechanical approach that achieves extension through controlled telescoping of the post segments
2Reliability
If existing jacks incrementally extend panels, then the panels can be extended to seal the passageway, but the systems lack robust mechanisms for secure engagement and yieldability against pressure differentials and mine convergence
Solution Approach 1:
The extendible post uses a dynamic telescopic structure with segments that can extend and retract relative to each other, allowing the post to adapt its length and provide yieldability against pressure differentials and mine convergence while maintaining secure engagement through the press mechanism
Solution Approach 2:
The extendible post changes its physical parameter (length) through telescopic extension and retraction of segments, allowing the system to adapt to varying passageway dimensions and maintain reliable sealing while providing the necessary yieldability under stress
3Force
If the jack extends the panel to press the seal member against the wall, then the passageway is sealed, but existing systems lack mechanisms to prevent over-crushing and maintain engagement during mine convergence
Solution Approach 1:
The press mechanism incorporates a yieldable biasing spring that acts as a cushioning element, preventing over-crushing of the seal member by providing a yieldable connection between the lever and the extendible post, thereby protecting the seal from excessive forces while maintaining adequate sealing pressure
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The jack system effectively extends and secures mine stopping panels with a single lever throw, maintaining the seal and resisting pressure differentials, while allowing panels to yield during mine convergence, ensuring robust and reliable operation in harsh mine environments.
Implementation Method 1
the biasing spring is operative to yield in compression to prevent over-crushing of the seal and to bias the extendible post away from the column
Implementation Method 2
The press includes a lever movable relative to the extendible post to a non-actuated position and to an actuated position. The press is connected to the first and second post segments such that movement of the lever toward the actuated position moves the first post segment relative to the second post segment to extend the length of the extendible post
Data Source
AI summary
A jack for installing a mine stopping panel includes an extendible post and a press for extending the extendible post. The press can have a lever movable between an actuated position and a non-actuated position and operative to extend the post as it moves toward the actuated position and retract the post as it moves toward the non-actuated position. A yieldable biaser yields when the post is extended to extend the mine stopping panel and the mine stopping panel engages a mine surface with sufficient force to crush a stopping seal and anchor the stopping panel. The press can comprise an over-center toggle linkage.