U.S. patent application number 14/456497 was filed with the patent office on 2014-11-27 for nested mine roof supports.
The applicant listed for this patent is MICON. Invention is credited to David A. HUSSEY, Stephen G. SAWYER, George A. WATSON.
Application Number | 20140348596 14/456497 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 51935486 |
Filed Date | 2014-11-27 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140348596 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
HUSSEY; David A. ; et
al. |
November 27, 2014 |
NESTED MINE ROOF SUPPORTS
Abstract
This invention is directed to a means for transporting a mine
roof support set including a plurality of nested containers. Each
container in the set has a progressively smaller cross-sectional
dimension, or a tapered, frusto-conical shape, to allow the
containers to be nested one within the other. The plurality of
nested containers allows more efficient transportation of the mine
roof support set to a mine site. The containers can be separated at
the mine site and filled with a load-bearing material. The
containers filled with the load-bearing material are then placed
with their longitudinal axis between a mine roof and a mine
floor.
Inventors: |
HUSSEY; David A.; (Glenwood
Springs, CO) ; WATSON; George A.; (Prosperity,
PA) ; SAWYER; Stephen G.; (McMurray, PA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
MICON |
Glassport |
PA |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
51935486 |
Appl. No.: |
14/456497 |
Filed: |
August 11, 2014 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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13684773 |
Nov 26, 2012 |
8801338 |
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14456497 |
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13091849 |
Apr 21, 2011 |
8851804 |
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13684773 |
|
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61563976 |
Nov 28, 2011 |
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61326847 |
Apr 22, 2010 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
405/288 ;
414/801 |
Current CPC
Class: |
E21D 15/48 20130101;
E21D 15/502 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
405/288 ;
414/801 |
International
Class: |
E21D 15/502 20060101
E21D015/502; E21D 7/00 20060101 E21D007/00 |
Claims
1. A method of transporting a mine roof support for efficient use
of the capacity of a transportation vehicle comprising: assembling
a plurality of hollow individual containers, by placing individual
open top containers together such that each individual container
fits inside of an adjacent container; placing the plurality of
individual containers on a vehicle for transportation from a
manufacturing site of the containers to an underground mine site;
transporting the plurality of containers via the transportation
vehicle to the underground mine site; and separating the plurality
of containers at the mine site to provide individual hollow
containers.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising filling the hollow
containers with a load-bearing material at the mine site.
3. The method of claim 2, further comprising positioning the filled
individual containers between the mine roof and the mine floor.
4. The method of claim 2, wherein the containers are nestable one
within another prior to filling the containers with the
load-bearing material.
5. The method of claim 4, further comprising: cutting a straight
piece of pipe to a predetermined length; positioning the straight
piece of pipe between two of the individual hollow containers, the
individual hollow containers including at least a top-most
container and a bottom-most container; and filling the straight
piece of pipe with the load-bearing material to raise the top-most
container to a predetermined height below a mine roof.
6. A transportable mine roof support comprising: a container member
having a bottom portion and a side portion upwardly extending from
the bottom portion; a support member movably received within the
container member; and a bore defined within the support member.
7. The transportable mine roof support of claim 5, wherein the
container member is substantially cylindrical in shape with a
tapering outer wall to permit ease of nesting the container
member.
8. The transportable mine roof support of claim 6, wherein the
support member defines an enclosure receiving a filler therein.
9. The transportable mine roof support of claim 7, wherein the
filler is foam cement, concrete, or crushed mine tailings.
10. The transportable mine roof support of claim 5, wherein the
bore includes: a first opening defined along a side portion of the
support member; and a second opening defined along a bottom portion
of the support member.
11. The transportable mine roof support of claim 9, wherein the
bore is sized to receive material therethrough.
12. The transportable mine roof support of claim 10, wherein the
material is sand, polyurethane foam, or pea gravel.
13. The transportable mine roof support according to claim 11,
wherein at least two containers of the plurality of containers are
filled in series by flowing the load-bearing material into said
containers, beginning with a top-most container and progressing in
sequence to the bottom-most container.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This patent application is a continuation-in-part of
co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 13/684,773 having a filing
date of Nov. 26, 2012, entitled "NESTED MINE ROOF SUPPORTS", which
application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No.
61/563,976 having a filing date of Nov. 28, 2011, entitled "NESTED
MINE ROOF SUPPORTS"; and of co-pending U.S. application Ser. No.
13/091,849 having a filing date of Apr. 21, 2011, entitled
"PUMPABLE SUPPORT WITH CLADDING", which claims priority to U.S.
Provisional Application No. 61/326,847 and having a filing date of
Apr. 22, 2010, entitled "PUMPABLE SUPPORT WITH CLADDING", all of
which applications are hereby incorporated by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The present invention relates generally to mine roof
supports and, more particularly, to a set of mine roof supports
designed to be nested.
[0004] 2. Description of Related Art
[0005] Various roof support devices in the prior art have been
designed and used to provide support to a mine roof. Deep mining
results in removal of material from the interior of a mine, thereby
leaving unsupported voids of various sizes within the mine. These
unsupported voids are conducive to mine roof buckling and/or
collapse. Thus, it has been desirable to provide support to mine
roofs to prevent, delay, or control collapse thereof
[0006] U.S. Pat. No. 5,308,196 to Frederick, herein incorporated by
reference, discloses one commonly used prior art mine roof support.
Specifically, the Frederick patent discloses a container that is
placed between the mine roof and the mine floor and filled with a
load-bearing material.
[0007] It is not economical to transport such containers for a mine
roof support from the manufacturing site to the mine because of
their overall size, which can be up to 15 feet in length and 72
inches in diameter, and weight. Because the containers are hollow,
their weight is small relative to their volume. Therefore, the
number of these containers which may be placed on a truck or
railcar for transportation is limited by the volume of space that
they occupy and not by their weight. Transportation costs are
usually computed based on the distance that a load travels and not
how efficiently it uses the available capacity of the
transportation vehicle. Thus, the inefficient utilization of the
available transportation capacity due to the combination of the
high volume and low weight of the containers for the mine roof
support results in high transportation costs relative to a load
which more efficiently utilizes the capacity of the transportation
vehicle.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a method
of transporting a mine roof support for efficient use of the
capacity of a transportation vehicle. The method includes
assembling a plurality of hollow individual containers, by placing
individual open top containers together such that each individual
container fits inside of an adjacent container; placing the
plurality of individual containers on a vehicle for transportation
from a manufacturing site of the containers to an underground mine
site; transporting the plurality of containers via the
transportation vehicle to the underground mine site; and separating
the plurality of containers at the mine site to provide individual
hollow containers.
[0009] Also disclosed is a transportable mine roof support. The
transportable mine roof support comprising: a container member
having a bottom portion and a side portion upwardly extending from
the bottom portion; a support member movably received within the
container member; and a bore defined within the support member.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a
container used in the mine roof support set according to the
present invention;
[0011] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a mine
roof support set according to the present invention showing the
mine roof support set in the nested condition;
[0012] FIG. 3 is a plan view of the mine roof support set shown in
FIG. 2;
[0013] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of one embodiment of the
mine roof support set shown in FIG. 2 taken along line 4-4; and
[0014] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of one embodiment of two
un-nested containers filled with a load-bearing material according
to the present invention.
[0015] FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of an extensible mine roof
support according to a third embodiment of the invention.
[0016] FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the mine roof support of
FIG. 8 in a partially installed state with respect to a mine.
[0017] FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the mine roof support of
FIG. 8 in a fully installed state with respect to the mine.
[0018] FIG. 9 is a schematic cross-sectional view of one embodiment
of an extensible mine roof support.
[0019] FIG. 10 is a schematic cross-sectional view of one
embodiment of an extensible mine roof support.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0020] The present invention includes a mine roof support set
comprising a plurality of containers having a longitudinal axis and
adapted to be placed in a void in a mine, with the longitudinal
axis extending between the mine roof and the mine floor, and filled
with a load-bearing material.
[0021] FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of such a container 10. The
container has a bottom end 12, a top end 13, and a sidewall 14
extending from the bottom end 12 to the top end 13. The bottom end
12 and/or the top end 13 may be substantially open or may be
covered by an end cap (not shown). The sidewall 14 defines a cavity
16.
[0022] In use, the container is placed with its longitudinal axis
18 extending between a mine roof 20 and a mine floor 22 such that
the bottom end 12 of the container 10 is in contact with the mine
floor 22. The cavity 16 is then filled with a load-bearing material
24. In one embodiment of the invention, the load-bearing material
24 is particulate and flowable which provides efficient filling of
the cavity 16. By using particulate and flowable materials, a
maximum amount of space is filled in the cavity 16, unlike if
larger rocks or objects were to be used. Exemplary and non-limiting
load-bearing materials 24 include pea gravel, sand, coal from a
mine entry, mine slack (i.e., wash plant refuse), foamed cement
(FOAMCRETE), concrete, polyurethane, and crushed mine tailings
(e.g., discarded excavated mine material). Footing material (not
shown), such as wood timber or other material, may be placed
between either or both ends 12, 13 of the container 10 and the
respective mine roof 20 and/or floor 22 to account for differences
between the height of the container 10 and the height of the void
in the mine Alternatively, a cap or a base (not shown) having a
thickness may be used in the manner of a shim to assure that the
container 10 contacts both the roof and the floor of the mine The
cap or base may be a rubber ring or of any other suitable shape
and/or material that effectively fills a gap between the mine roof
20 or floor 22 and the ends 12, 13 of the container 10. Other shims
may include pumpable containment structures (e.g., bags) or a
pumpable telescoping structure such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.
6,394,707, incorporated herein by reference.
[0023] Although the container 10 shown in FIG. 1 is cylindrical,
the container of the present invention may have any cross-sectional
shape including, but not limited to, circular, oval, square,
rectangular, and polygonal. It may be made from any suitable
material including, but not limited to, metal. It may include
features to allow it to be compressible or improve its load-bearing
capability when placed in the mine void or improve its stiffness
when being transported including, but not limited to, ribbing. The
ribbing of the container 10 may include, but is not limited to, a
continuous helical rib, a plurality of discontinuous ribs or a
plurality of spaced apart ribs. Alternatively, as shown in FIGS.
2-5, the container sidewall 14 may instead have a substantially
smooth surface. By substantially smooth surface, it is meant that
the sidewall does not include any ribs, corrugation, or the like,
although certain dents and other imperfections may be present which
do not affect operation of the present invention.
[0024] FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of one embodiment of a mine
roof support set 200 according to the present invention. As can be
seen in FIG. 2, containers 10a-10d are nested one within another
for ease of handling, such as in transportation to a mine site. The
outside dimension (for the cylinders of set 200, 10a being the
outside diameter) of each container is progressively smaller than
the next. As shown in FIGS. 2-4, container 10a has the largest
outside diameter, with containers 10b, 10c and 10d having
progressively smaller outside diameters. Four containers 10 are
shown in FIGS. 2-4, but this is not meant to be limiting. The
quantity of containers 10 nested in a set 200 may be varied
depending on the underground conditions and related logistics,
including the roof control plan.
[0025] In one embodiment, the containers 10 all possess the same or
similar sidewall 14 thickness. The outer dimension of each
subsequently smaller container 10 is determined at least in part by
the inside diameter of the larger container 10 into which it is
received, as well as the sidewall thickness. The difference in the
cross-sectional dimension between each container 10 and the next
smaller container 10 and, thus, the gap between the inner surface
of the container 10 and outer surface of the next smaller container
10 is minimized. The cross-sectional dimension of the container 10
is one factor that determines the load-bearing capability of the
mine support. Therefore, when it is desired that all of the mine
supports in the set have load-bearing capability within a specific
engineering tolerance, the difference in cross-sectional dimension
between each container 10 and the next smaller container 10 may be
minimized to allow the maximum number of containers 10 having a
cross-sectional dimension providing load-bearing capability within
the engineering tolerance to be nested. To accomplish this, the
cross-sectional dimension of each successively smaller container 10
is reduced by the minimum amount necessary to allow it to be
inserted into and removed from the container 10 having the next
larger cross-sectional dimension, without binding or getting stuck.
In one embodiment, a first container 10 is sized to be received
within a second container 10 as a frictional fit. By frictional
fit, it is meant that the respective surfaces of the first and
second containers 10 may abut each other during insertion into or
removal of the first container into the second container yet
without binding therebetween or otherwise becoming stuck. To the
extent that one or more of the smaller diameter containers 10 of
the set 200 provides reduced load-bearing capabilities compared to
other containers in the set, the roof support plan incorporating
such containers may be adjusted as necessary. For example, the
smaller diameter containers 10 may be spaced slightly closer
together or closer to other such containers than larger diameter
containers 10. The differences in the cross-sectional dimension
between one container 10 and the next smaller container 10 may be
of any magnitude and may be uniform or vary throughout the set. The
lengths of the containers 10 may also be constant or vary from
container to container. The containers may have the same
cross-sectional shape or the shape of the cross-section may vary
from container to container as long as the containers may still be
nested one inside the other. In general, when nested, the cavity 16
of each container 10 is empty. In one embodiment, the cavity 16 is
filled with the load-bearing material once the containers are
separated at a mine site.
[0026] Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the mine roof support set 200
includes the plurality of containers 10 nested one within another,
with each container 10 having a progressively smaller
cross-sectional dimension than the container 10 in which it is
nested. While no gap is shown between the inside of one container
(e.g., 10a) and the outside of a progressively smaller container
(e.g., 10b), there is at least some gap therebetween so that
container 10b may be fitted into container 10a and then removed
therefrom without becoming stuck. In FIGS. 2 and 4, the containers
10a-10d are shown as having progressively reduced heights, such
that container 10a receives all of containers 10b-10d and container
10b receives all of containers 10c and 10d. This is not meant to be
limiting. For example, the containers 10 may all have the same
height or the containers 10 may have decreasing outer dimensions
taken in the direction from the outermost container 10 to the
innermost container 10 or some other arrangement, including random
heights, provided that the containers 10 nest in each other.
[0027] FIG. 5 shows perspective views of one embodiment of
containers 10a, 10b separated from each other and filled with
load-bearing material 24a, 24b. Two containers are shown and
described here (10a, 10b) for simplicity. However, it is
contemplated that each nested set 200 could include up to ten
containers 10. The mine roof support set 200 according to the
present invention includes nested containers 10 for transportation.
This allows for more efficient use of the capacity of a
transportation vehicle. By nesting the containers 10 inside of each
other, more space on a transportation vehicle is available than if
each individual container 10 were to be transported separately. By
providing additional space on the transportation vehicle the user
is able to transport more items to the mine site with fewer trips
and at a lower cost. After the nested container set 200 has been
unloaded at the mine site, the container set 200 is transported
into the mine and the containers (e.g., 10a, 10b) are separated
from one another. Each container 10a, 10b is then filled with
load-bearing material 24a, 24b, which may be the same or different
material from each other. The load-bearing material 24a, 24b may be
flowable, thereby providing an efficient manner in which to fill
the containers 10. By using particulate and flowable material, the
user can deliver the material 24a, 24b into the top of each
container 10a, 10b with minimal effort. After the containers 10a,
10b have been filled, each container 10a, 10b is positioned with
its longitudinal axis 36a, 36b between the mine roof and the mine
floor. The containers 10 may be shimmed above and below ends 12 and
13 as needed to fit within the mine opening.
[0028] In one desired embodiment, the support member 100 defines an
enclosure having a body 322, with a top portion 13, and a bottom
portion 12 disposed at respective distal ends of the body 72.
Desirably, the support member 100 is substantially hollow to
receive a filler 328 therein. Therefore, it is to be understood,
that the support member 100 may include suitable openings or ports
(not shown) for introducing the filler 328 into the support member
100. Alternatively, the support member 100 may be partially solid
or entirely solid. A partially solid support member 100 may,
therefore, accommodate less filler 328 than a substantially hollow
support member 100. It is to be understood that the internal
structure of the support member 100 may assume various
configurations. Exemplary and non-limiting filler 328 includes
foamed cement (such as FOAMCRETE.RTM.), concrete, polyurethane, or
crushed mine tailings (i.e., discarded excavated mine material). In
the desirable embodiment as shown in FIG. 6, the support member 100
includes a bore 50 defined therein. The bore 50 includes a first
opening 52 defined along a side portion 14 of the support member
100 and a second opening 56 defined along the bottom portion 12 of
the support member 100. As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the bore 50 is
adapted to receive a material 24 therethrough. For example, the
bore 50 may be a plastic pipe that is approximately 1/2 inch to one
inch in diameter. The bore 50 may be routed through the filler 328
in any suitable configuration. Alternatively, the bore 50 may be
situated within the side portion 14 of the container member
10c.
[0029] Desirably, the shape of the support member 100 substantially
corresponds to the shape of the container member 10c. For example,
both the container member 10c and the support member 100 are
substantially cylindrical in shape, however, it is to be understood
that the support member 100 may be embodied as other shapes. For
example, with respect to a cylindrical shape, the top and bottom
portions 13, 12 may be substantially circular bases. Desirably, an
8.times.8 foot piece of 16 gauge cold roll sheet steel may be
curved, such that two opposing ends thereof are brought together to
form the body 72 of the support member 100. Thereafter, the top and
bottom portions 13, 12 are attached to the respective distal ends
of the body 72. It is to be understood that the support member 100
may be of unitary construction or may be a multiple piece
construction. Desirably, the support member 100 is constructed of
relatively rigid or other suitable material including, but not
limited to, steel. The top portion 13 of the support member 100 may
be contoured or be adapted to correspond to a specific grade or
grade variations of a mine roof.
[0030] The height of the support member 100 may be greater than the
container member 10c. For example, a desirable height of the
support member 100 may be eight feet, as compared to the three feet
height of the container member 10c. Thus, when the support member
100 is inserted into the container member 10c, the support member
100 extends beyond the opening 70 of the container member 10c. In
the exemplary use of an 8.times.8 foot piece of sheet steel, the
body 72 of the support member 100 is approximately thirty inches in
diameter. The diameter of the support member 100, or width along
the widest portion thereof, is less than the diameter or width of
the container member 10c. Thus, in the case of a thirty-inch
diameter body 72, the diameter of the container member 10c may be
anything greater than thirty inches. Desirably, the variation in
diameters differs only to the extent that there exists a minimal
sufficient clearance between the side portion 14a and the side
portion 14c.
[0031] An operation of the mine roof support 100 in accordance with
a desirable embodiment of the present invention will now be
discussed. With continuing reference to FIG. 8, the mine roof
support 100 is used in a mine 60 having a mine roof 62 and a mine
floor 64, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. In the desirable embodiment,
the container member 10c is positioned on the mine floor 64 below
the mine roof 62. Thereafter, the support member 100 is inserted
into the container member 10c. A hose 46 or suitable equivalent may
be attached to the first opening 52 of the bore 50. A pressurized
machine (not shown) may be connected to the hose 46 and operated to
introduce the material 24 into the bore 50. It is to be understood
that any suitable machine configured to entrain solids into an air
cavity may be utilized. For example, an air stream may be delivered
into a container of the material 24 with an airstream exiting the
container having the material 24 entrained therein. The material 24
is delivered through the bore 50 such that the material is
deposited via the second opening 56 into the container member 10c.
Consequently, as more material 24 is deposited into the container
member 10c, the support member 100 is increasingly moved closer to
the mine roof 62. Specifically, the support member 100 is upwardly
displaced within the container member 10c by the material 24
pushing against the bottom portion 12. An exemplary amount of
material 24 may be at least two feet. However, it is to be
understood that the raised height of the support member 100 may
vary based upon the distance of the void between the top portion 13
of the support member 100 and the mine roof 62. Other factors
determining the raised height include, but are not limited to, the
height of the container member 10c, the type of material 24, and
the amount of weight to be supported by the mine roof support 100.
It has been determined that the support member 100 may be raised
with a force corresponding to as little as 1.6 PSI and that raising
thereof may be accomplished in approximately one second. Once the
top portion 13 of the support member 100 contacts the mine roof 62,
the weight of the mine roof 62 is distributed to and supported on
the mine roof support 100. In the case of an uneven mine roof 62,
wedges (not shown) may be introduced between the top portion 13 and
the mine roof 62 to obtain a substantially even contact surface.
However, it is to be understood, that the wedges are not intended
to support the weight of the mine roof 62, as is the case in the
prior art. After installation of the mine roof support 100, the
hose 46 may be removed and the first opening 52 of the bore 50 may
be sealed.
[0032] In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, the
support member 100 may be raised substantially with air alone so
that the material 24 is introduced into the container member 10c
only after the support member 100 has been raised. It is also
envisioned that the present invention may be modified to operate as
a primarily hydraulic or pneumatic telescoping mine roof support.
Accordingly, the material 24 may be substituted by water or air,
respectively.
[0033] In some applications, it may be beneficial to provide the
underside of the bottom portion 12 (facing the material 24) with
patterning or other surface texturing. Surface texturing on the
underside of the bottom portion 12 can enhance the filling and
spreading of the material 24 entrained in air as the container
member 10c is filled. The surface texturing may be formed in the
material of the bottom portion 12 (in the steel) or may be applied
as a separate layer, such as a layer of patterned or roughened
foamed concrete.
[0034] Referring next to FIG. 9, in another embodiment a plurality
of nested containers 10a, 10b and 10c may be nested and filled with
a pumpable load-bearing material or filler 24. Container 10a is
filled to the open top end 13, and disposed on container 10b, which
is also filled to top end 13. Container 10b is disposed within
container 10c, which is partially filled with load-bearing material
24, e.g., to a predetermined height h. Height h is adjusted by
injecting or pouring load-bearing material into container 10c, thus
allowing the stacked containers 10a, 10b and 10c to form a
customized roof support member 100. As disclosed above with respect
to FIGS. 6-8, the support member 100 may include suitable openings
or ports (not shown) for introducing the filler 24 into the support
member 100. Alternatively, the support member 100 may be partially
solid or entirely solid. A partially solid support member 100 may,
therefore, accommodate less filler 24 than a substantially hollow
support member 100. It is to be understood that the internal
structure of the support member 100 may assume various
configurations. Containers 10a-10c may have a frusto-conical shape
with slightly tapered outer walls to facilitate nesting for
transportation and to allow a margin or gap around the interior of
the nested containers.
[0035] In one aspect, a support member may be constructed on site
by pumping flowable load-bearing material into nested containers
10a-10c in sequence, beginning with the top-most container 10a,
then one or more intermediate containers 10b, if any, and finally
the bottom-most container 10c. Preferably the bottom container 10c
will be used as the height adjustment container, and may be
partially empty, while the remaining containers are filled
substantially to the respective top end. Thus the roof support when
constructed in on site may be tailored in height to suit variable
roof conditions and heights in the underground mine. This method of
height adjustment of the roof support member 100 allows the
supports to be fit precisely to the desired height for loading the
support. The support may be adjusted to fit exactly from the mine
bottom to the mine roof, or alternately, may be adjusted to within
a close distance from the mine roof to allow for placement of a
yield ring or similar device for loading the roof support. Wedge
locks 15 may be provided around the periphery of each of the lower
level nested containers 10a-10c, to maintain a minimum vertical
spacing between nested containers and to provide openings 70 to
allow fill conduits for insertion of flowable material 24. Wedge
locks 15 permit upward movement of containers 10 when material 24
is introduced into a lower level container 10. Wedge locks 15 may
also laterally secure the containers 10a-10c relative to one
another, and reduce or eliminate horizontal movement of the nested
containers 10a-10c. For example, as shown in FIG. 9, one or more
wedge locks 15 may be placed in the open top end 13 of the bottom
container 10c, in the space between the intermediate container 10b
and the bottom container 10c. Likewise, one or more wedge locks 15
may be placed in the open top end 13 of the intermediate container
10b, in the space between the top-most container 10a and the
intermediate container 10b.
[0036] While the example illustrated in FIG. 9 shows three
containers 10a-10c, more or less containers 10 may be used
depending on the height of the individual containers 10 and the
roof height, which tends to vary in underground mines. For example,
a support may be comprised of two containers 10 in lower mine
seams, with one of the pair of containers serving as the height
adjustment container that is filled after the other container is
full. Also, it should be noted that with the exception of the
top-most container 10, the height adjustment container 10 may be
one or more of the remaining containers in the stack, and is not
necessarily the bottom-most container.
[0037] In order to facilitate the flow of pumpable material 24 into
the containers, each container may be provided with conduits,
ports, tubes 25, pipes, openings or other facilities for conducting
flowable material into the adjacent containers, such as those
described above with respect to FIGS. 6-8. For clarity the conduit
and related interconnections are not shown in FIG. 9.
[0038] Referring to FIG. 10, in another embodiment, nested
containers 10 may be used to construct or assemble a custom-height
support member 100. The bottom-most container 10c is inverted, such
that the open top end 13 is positioned adjacent to the mine floor
22. A pipe segment 30 is positioned between the bottom-most
container 10c and the top-most container 10a, with the bottom end
12 of each container 10a, 10c positioned adjacent to and partially
within the interior opening of pipe segment 30. The pipe segment 30
includes, for example, a straight piece of pipe cut to a desired
length, or any other conduit material that is capable of being cut
to a length that may provide a desired height 21 of the top-most
container 10a. After positioning the pipe segment 30 between the
top-most container 10a and the bottom-most container 10c, the pipe
segment 30 is at least partially filled with the flowable
load-bearing material 24 to raise the top-most container 10a to the
desired height 21. The desired height 21 may be a height that
allows positioning the top end 13 of the top-most container 10a in
direct contact with the mine roof, or alternatively, positioning
the top end 13 adjacent to the mine roof with a desired spacing to
allow for placement of yield rings or other material for loading
the support 100 when the mine roof settles onto the support member
100. In one embodiment, the top-most container 10a and the
bottom-most container 10c contain solid fill, which is not shown in
FIG. 10 for clarity.
[0039] Although the invention has been described in detail for the
purpose of illustration based on what is currently considered to be
the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be
understood that such detail is solely for that purpose and that the
invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the
contrary, is intended to cover modifications and equivalent
arrangements that are within the spirit and scope of this
specification.
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