Tunneling machine having swinging arms carrying cutter discs

Claim 2

Rock cutter mechanism for a tunneling machine, comprising: a cutter carrier mountable at the forward end of the tunneling machine, for bidirectional swinging movement about a swing axis that extends transversely of the tunnel; a disc cutter including a peripheral cutting edge; means mounting said disc cutter onto said cutter carrier radially outwardly from the swing axis, for free rotation about an axis that extends across the path along which the disc cutter moves during swinging movement of the cutter carrier, with its cutting edge directed towards the tunnel face; motor means for driving said cutter carrier through swing strokes to roll the disc cutter along an arcuate path across the tunnel face, with its cutting edge penetrating into the tunnel face and cutting an arcuate kerf therein; means for shifting the disc cutter in position axially at the end of a stroke of the cutter carrier, so that when the cutter carrier is moved through its next stroke the disc cutter will be positioned to cut a new kerf in the tunnel face which is offset from the previous kerf cut thereby; and wherein said disc cutter has a generally V-shaped sectional shape at its cutting edge, whereby it exerts a lateral force on the material between a kerf being cut by such cutter and a previously cut adjacent kerf, to fracture such material and dislodge it from the tunnel face.

Claim 3

Rock cutter mechanism according to claim 1, including meanS for advancing the cutter carrier forwardly in the tunnel between strokes of the disc cutter, by increments corresponding to the depth of cut of the disc cutter.

Claim 4

Rock cutter mechanism according to claim 1, wherein said disc cutter is swung by said motor means back and forth between two end positions which are across the tunnel from each other and are both located rearwardly of a plane which is perpendicular to the axis of the tunnel and includes the swing axis of the cutter carrier, each time through a 180* cutting arc which is located forwardly of said plane, wherein said disc cutters are within the tunnel and make no contact with the tunnel wall when in their end positions, and wherein said disc cutter is shifted in position axially only when it is in an end position.

Claim 5

Rock cutter mechanism according to claim 1, including a plurality of disc cutters mounted on said cutter carrier radially outwardly from the swing axis, each for free rotation about an axis that extends across the path along which it moves during swinging movement of the cutter carrier, and each with its cutting edge directed towards the tunnel face, so that during each stroke of the cutter carrier each disc cutter will roll along an arcuate path across the tunnel face.

Claim 6

Rock cutter mechanism according to claim 1, wherein said cutter carrier comprises a rotor including support shaft means having an axis coinciding with the swing axis, and a disc cutter support arm having an inboard end connected to the rotor and an outboard end onto which the disc cutter is mounted.

Claim 7

Rock cutter mechanism according to claim 5, wherein the inboard end of the disc cutter support arm is pivotally attached to the rotor, for swinging movement about an axis that is perpendicular to said swing axis, and said mechanism includes means interconnected between said disc cutter support arm and the rotor for adjusting the disc cutter support arm in position about its axis, to in that manner establish the path of travel of the disc cutter.

Claim 8

Rock cutter mechanism according to claim 6, including a plurality of spaced apart disc cutters mounted on said cutter carrier radially outwardly from the swing axis, each for free rotation about an axis that extends across the path along which it moves during swinging movement of the cutter carrier, and each with its cutting edge directed towards the tunnel face, so that during each stroke of the cutter carrier each disc cutter will roll along an arcuate path across the tunnel face, and indexing means for the disc cutter support arm operable to establish adjacent positions of the disc cutter support arm the spacing of which is smaller than the spacing of the disc cutters.

Claim 9

Rock cutter mechanism according to claim 5, wherein the motor means for driving said cutter carrier through swing strokes is attached to and acts on said rotor.

Claim 10

Rock cutter mechanism for a tunneling machine, comprising: a rotor including support shaft means mountable at the forward end of the tunneling machine, to support said rotor for movement about a swing axis that extends transversely of the tunnel; a pair of disc cutter support arms symmetrically mounted on the rotor, each said support arm having an inboard end and an outboard free end, means pivotally attaching the inboard end of each support arm to the rotor for pivotal movement of such arm about an axis that is perpendicular to the axis of said swing axis; each support arm carrying at least one disc cutter which includes a peripheral cutting edge; means mounting each disc cutter onto the outboard end of its support arm, for free rotation about an axis that extends across the path along which the disc cutter moves during swinging movement of the rotor, with its cutting edge directed towards the tunnel face; motor means for driving said rotor and the support arms carried thereby through swing strokes, to in that manner roll the disc cutters carried by the support arms along arcuate paths across the tunnel face, with the cutting edge of each disc cutter penetrating into the tunnel face and cutting an arcuate kerf therein; means interconnected between each support arm and the rotor for adjusting the support arm in angular position relative to the swing axis, to in that manner establish the paths of travel of the disc cutters; and wherein each said disc cutter has a generally V-shaped sectional shape at its cutting edge, whereby it exerts a lateral force on the material between a kerf being cut by such cutter and a previously cut adjacent kerf, to fracture such material and dislodge it from the tunnel face.

Claim 11

Rock cutter mechanism for a tunneling machine, comprising: a rotor including support shaft means mountable at the forward end of the tunneling machine, to support said rotor for movement about a swing axis that extends transversely of the tunnel; a pair of disc cutter support arms symmetrically mounted on the rotor, each said support arm having an inboard end and an outboard free end, means pivotally attaching the inboard end of each support arm to the rotor for pivotal movement of such arm about an axis that is perpendicular to the axis of said swing axis; each support arm carrying at least one disc cutter which includes a peripheral cutting edge; means mounting each disc cutter onto the outboard end of its support arm, for free rotation about an axis that extends across the path along which the disc cutter moves during swinging movement of the rotor, with its cutting edge directed towards the tunnel face; motor means for driving said rotor and the support arms carried thereby through swing strokes, to in that manner roll the disc cutters carried by the support arms along arcuate paths across the tunnel face, with the cutting edge of each disc cutter penetrating into the tunnel face and cutting an arcuate kerf therein; means interconnected between each support arm and the rotor for adjusting the support arm in angular position relative to the swing axis, to in that manner establish the paths of travel of the disc cutters; and wherein each said disc cutter has a generally V-shaped sectional shape at its cutting edge, whereby it exerts a lateral force on the material between a kerf being cut by such cutter and a previously cut adjacent kerf, to fracture such material and dislodge it from the tunnel face.

Claim 12

Rock cutter mechanism according to claim 9, wherein a plurality of disc cutters are mounted at the outboard end of each support arm, each for free rotation about an axis that extends across the path along which it moves during swinging movement of the support arm, and each with its cutting edge directed towards the tunnel face, so that during each stroke of its cutter arm each disc cutter will roll along an arcuate path across the tunnel face.

Claim 13

Rock cutter mechanism according to claim 10, comprising a pair of disc cutters at the outboard end of each support arm, with the general plane of each disc cutter intersecting the swing axis at a perpendicular and being separated from the general plane of the other disc cutter by an acute angle.

Claim 14

Rock cutter mechanism according to claim 11, including indexing means for the support arms operable to establish adjacent positions of the support arms which are separated by acute angles which are smaller than the acute angular spacing of the disc cutters.

Claim 15

A tunneling machine, comprising: a frame movable forwardly in a tunnel; a cutter carrier mounted onto the forward portion of the frame, for bidirectional swinging movement about a swinging axis that extends transversely of the tunnel; a disc cutter including a peripheral cutting edge; means mounting said disc cutter onto said cutter carrier radially outwardly from the swing axis, for free rotation about an axis that extends across the path along which the disc cutter moved during swinging movement of the cutter carrier, with its cutting edge directed towards the tunnel face; motor means for driving said cutter carrier through swing strokes to roll the disc cutter along an arcuate path across the tunnel face, with its cutting edge penetrating into the tunnel face and cutting an arcuate kerf therein; means for moving the frame forwardly by increments corresponding to the depth of cut of the disc cutter; means for shifting the disc cutter in position axially at the end of a stroke of the cutter carrier, so that when the cutter carrier is moved through its next stroke the disc cutter will be positioned to cut a new kerf in the tunnel face which is offset from the previous kerf cut thereby; and wherein said disc cutter has a generally V-shaped sectional shape at its cutting edge, whereby it exerts a lateral force on the material between a kerf being cut by such cutter and a previously cut adjacent kerf, to fracture such material and dislodge it from the tunnel face.

Claim 16

A tunneling machine, comprising: a frame movable forwardly in a tunnel; a cutter carrier mounted onto the forward portion of the frame, for bidirectional swinging movement about a swinging axis that extends transversely of the tunnel; a disc cutter including a peripheral cutting edge; means mounting said disc cutter onto said cutter carrier radially outwardly from the swing axis, for free rotation about an axis that extends across the path along which the disc cutter moved during swinging movement of the cutter carrier, with its cutting edge directed towards the tunnel face; motor means for driving said cutter carrier through swing strokes to roll the disc cutter along an arcuate path across the tunnel face, with its cutting edge penetrating into the tunnel face and cutting an arcuate kerf therein; means for moving the frame forwardly by increments corresponding to the depth of cut of the disc cutter; means for shifting the disc cutter in position axially at the end of a stroke of the cutter carrier, so that when the cutter carrier is moved through its next stroke the disc cutter will be positioned to cut a new kerf in the tunnel face which is offset from the previous kerf cut thereby; and wherein said disc cutter has a generally V-shaped sectional shape at its cutting edge, whereby it exerts a lateral force on the material between a kerf being cut by such cutter and a previously cut adjacent kerf, to fracture such material and dislodge it from the tunnel face.

Claim 17

Rock cutter mechanism according to claim 13, wherein said disc cutter is swung by said motor means back and forth between two end positions which are across the tunnel from each other and are both located rearwardly of a plane which is perpendicular to the axis of the tunnel and includes the swing axis of the cutter carrier, each time through a 180* cutting arc which is located forwardly of said plane, wherein said disc cutters are within the tunnel and make no contact with the tunnel wall when in their end positions, and wherein said disc cutter is shifted in position axially only when it is in an end position.