Dortmund-based company Komotzki Bergbaubedarf GmbH has come up with a new solution for an old problem. In the past, the armoured face conveyors that are used in underground operations have been plagued with problems caused by the bolts on the pusher dogs coming loose, either due to vibration, being struck by fragments of rock or as a result of energy acting on them in crushers. Neither elastic stop nuts nor the use of high torques have been able to prevent this. The solution that Komotzki Bergbaubedarf GmbH has come up with is to insert a steel sheath into each of the pusher dogs, which encapsulates the bolts and prevents them from coming loose. Initial trials in one mining operation at the Ibbenbüren mine owned by RAG Anthrazit Ibbenbüren GmbH confirmed that this solution was an effective one. It allowed over 750,000 tonnes to be conveyed there up until May 2015, without the threaded connections on the pusher dogs being compromised.
Further information:
Komotzki Bergbaubedarf GmbH
www.komotzki.com
