Mining Chain Guide Pressure Roller Wear Reduction
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing chain guide elements for mining machines, particularly those used in plow chains, experience high wear due to significant contact pressure and speed, leading to frequent replacements and increased downtimes.
Innovation Solution
A chain guide element featuring a pressure roller that rotates at the same speed as the drive chain, minimizing sliding contact and wear, with a design allowing for easy replacement and quick assembly/disassembly, including the use of exchangeable bearing blocks and a pressure roller mounted on a roller axle for reduced maintenance downtime.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a chain guide element with a pressure surface is used to guide the drive chain, then the chain can be properly guided, but the chain guide element experiences high wear due to contact pressure and speed
Solution Approach 1:
The invention replaces the flat pressure surface with a pressure roller that has a curved surface. This curvature allows the roller to rotate while in contact with the chain, converting sliding friction into rolling friction. The roller surface is designed to match the enveloping surface of the chain links, ensuring proper contact and guidance while minimizing wear through rotational motion.
Solution Approach 2:
The pressure roller acts as an intermediary between the stationary chain guide structure and the moving drive chain. Instead of the chain directly contacting a stationary pressure surface, the rotating roller mediates the interaction, reducing wear on both the chain and the guide element through its rotational motion.
2Loss of time
If the chain guide element is designed for easy replacement, then downtime can be minimized, but the structural complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The chain guide element is segmented into modular components: the pressure roller, the roller axle, and the mounting structure. The pressure roller can be independently removed from the roller axle, and the entire assembly can be quickly replaced in the chain guide. This segmentation allows for rapid replacement of worn components without replacing the entire chain guide structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The pressure roller is designed to be exchangeable and removable, transforming a previously static, fixed component into a dynamic, replaceable one. This allows the operational state of the chain guide to be quickly restored by replacing only the worn pressure roller rather than the entire assembly.
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
Significantly reduces wear on the chain guide element, extending its service life and minimizing downtimes by preventing excessive wear and allowing for quick replacement of the pressure roller and bearing blocks, thus maintaining efficient operation of the mining machine.
Implementation Method 1
the pressure roller rotates at the same peripheral speed as the throughput speed of the chain, against which it presses to guide it
Implementation Method 2
a sliding contact between this and the drive chain is at least largely prevented
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
The invention relates to a chain guide for a driving chain of a mining planing machine or the like, provided with a chain guiding element (21) arranged on a driving or guiding station (17), transversally to the direction of movement of the chain, against same. According to the invention, the chain guiding element comprises at least one pressure roller (22) arranged against the chain links of the driving chain, significantly reducing the wear on the chain guiding element.