Rotary cutter heads for mineral mining machines

Claim 2

A rotary cutter head for a mineral mining machine having a drive shaft extending towards the working mineral face, comprising a hub assembly drivably mountable on the said drive shaft of the machine, a cylindrical component secured around the hub assembly, a plurality of cutter tool holders provided around the periphery of the cutter head, and ventilating means remote from the axis of rotation of the cutter head and including air flow guide means and air flow inducing nozzle means for directing fluid along the said air flow guide means.

Claim 3

A rotary cutter head as claimed in claim 1, in which the ventilator means is arranged to induce an air flow through the cylindrical component.

Claim 4

A rotary cutter head as claimed in claim 1, comprising a distributor for feeding fluid fed along the machine''s drive shaft to the air flow inducing nozzle means.

Claim 5

A rotary cutter head as claimed in claim 3, in which the cylindrical component provides a plurality of angularly spaced chambers, fluid being fed from the distributor to each chamber.

Claim 6

A rotary cutter head as claimed in claim 4, comprising dust suppression nozzle means, the fluid being fed from one of the said chambers to the air flow inducing nozzle means and to the dust suppression nozzle means.

Claim 7

A rotary cutter head as claimed in claim 1, in which the air flow guide means extends through the hub assembly to define a passage which extends between the machine side and the working face side of the hub assembly.

Claim 8

A rotary cutter head as claimed in claim 6, in which the air flow inducing nozzle means is arranged for directing fluid along the passage defined by the air flow guide means so that an air flow is induced away from the machine side of the hub assembly towards the working face side of the hub assembly.

Claim 9

A rotary cutter head as claimed in claim 6, in which the air flow inducing nozzle means is arranged for directing fluid along the passage defined by the air flow guide means so that an air flow is induced away from the working face side of the hub assembly.

Claim 10

A rotary cutter head as claimed in claim 8, in which a baffle is provided on the machine side of the air flow guide means.

Claim 11

A rotary cutter head for a mineral mining machine having a drive shaft extending towards the working mineral face, comprising a hub assembly drivably mountable on the said drive shaft of the machine, a cylindrical component secured around the hub assembly, a plurality of cutter tool holders provided around the periphery of the cutter head, ventilating means remote from the axis of rotation of the cutter head and including air flow guide means and air flow inducing nozzle means for directing fluid along the said air flow guide means, and an air flow guide plate assembly provided on the working face side of the hub assembly.

Claim 12

A rotary cutter head for a mineral mining machine having a drive shaft extending towards the working mineral face, comprising a hub assembly drivably mountable on the said drive shaft of the machine, a cylindrical component secured around the hub assembly, a plurality of cutter tool holders provided around the periphery of the cutter head, ventilating means remote from the axis of rotation of the cutter head and including air flow guide means and air flow inducing nozzle means for directing fluid along the said air flow guide means, and an air flow guide plate assembly provided on the working face side of the hub assembly.

Claim 13

A rotary cutter head as claimed in claim 10, in which the air flow guide plate assembly comprises a circular plate defining an annular passage adjacent to the inner periphery of the cylindrical component.

Claim 14

A rotary cutter head as claimed in claim 10, in which the air flow guide plate assembly includes a circular plate which defines a plurality of angularly spaced passages.

Claim 15

A rotary cutter head as claimed in claim 12, in which the air flow gUide plate assembly includes shield means arranged over the working face end of each of the said angularly spaced passages, the shield means defining an access to the passage which faces in a direction opposed to the direction of rotation of the rotary cutter head.

Claim 16

A rotary cutter head for a mineral mining machine having a drive shaft extending towards the working mineral face, comprising a hub assembly drivably mountable on the said drive shaft of the machine, a cylindrical component secured around the hub assembly, a plurality of cutter tool holders provided around the periphery of the cutter head, and ventilating means including a plurality of air flow guides angularly spaced around the cutter head, each of the air flow guides having an air flow inducing nozzle, the zone between the hub assembly and a circular plate being divided into a plurality of compartments, each compartment being associated with one of the air flow guides.

Claim 17

A rotary cutter head for a mineral mining machine having a drive shaft extending towards the working mineral face, comprising a hub assembly drivably mountable on the said drive shaft of the machine, a cylindrical component secured around the hub assembly, a plurality of cutter tool holders provided around the periphery of the cutter head, and ventilating means including a plurality of air flow guides angularly spaced around the cutter head, each of the air flow guides having an air flow inducing nozzle, the zone between the hub assembly and a circular plate being divided into a plurality of compartments, each compartment being associated with one of the air flow guides.

Claim 18

A mineral mining machine having a drive shaft extending towards the working face, and a rotary cutter head comprising a hub assembly drivably mounted on the said drive shaft, a cylindrical component secured around the hub assembly, a plurality of cutter tool holders provided around the periphery of the cutter head, and ventilating means remote from the axis of rotation of the cutter head and including air flow guide means and air flow inducing nozzle means for directing fluid along the said air flow guide means.

Claim 19

A mineral mining machine having a drive shaft extending towards the working face, and a rotary cutter head comprising a hub assembly drivably mounted on the said drive shaft, a cylindrical component secured around the hub assembly, a plurality of cutter tool holders provided around the periphery of the cutter head, and ventilating means remote from the axis of rotation of the cutter head and including air flow guide means and air flow inducing nozzle means for directing fluid along the said air flow guide means.