Did You Know...
...that Robert Adler has the dubious distinction of being the Father of the Couch Potato? Back in 1955 Adler was employed by what was then Zenith Radio Corp., where he was charged to invent something that would allow viewers to turn down the TV volume without leaving their chairs. After a series of flops (such as a wired contraption that people tripped over), Adler hit on the idea of using sound waves. Thus the Remote Control was born...
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7712838 | Ground support insertion tool An improved ground support member insertion device comprising means for attaching the device to a jackleg drill, a clutch assembly disposed adjacent to the attaching means and adapted for holding a ground support member while it is being inserted into a first drill ... | 05/11/2010 |
| 7438506 | Jack for carrying and installing mine panels A jack includes a base, a guide extending from the base, and an extensible member having an extensible fit with the guide and extending from the guide to have a free end. A support is located at the free end of the extensible member. An actuator is capable of extend... | 10/21/2008 |
| 7357458 | Boring rig A boring rig (14) for underground boring for excavating purposes and including a substructure (21, 22), a propulsion device, a stabilizing device (31, 32, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 42), and a boring unit (20) having a cutter head (29) an... | 04/15/2008 |
| 7331735 | Apparatus, system, and method for supporting a gate entry for underground full extraction mining An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for supporting a gate entry or a connecting entry. The apparatus includes a support member, a controller, and a vehicle. The support member is configured to selectively engage a mine roof and a mine floor within a gate ... | 02/19/2008 |
| 7316456 | Roadheading or mining machine with roof bolt drilling and setting devices In a roadheading or mining machine including cutting tools movable over the mine face and roof bolt drilling and setting devices, at least two roof bolt drilling and setting devices are pivotally connected with the machine laterally outside the longitudinal central ... | 01/08/2008 |
| 7232103 | Load-bearing pressurized liquid column A load-bearing, pressurized-fluid column apparatus and method for supporting a load or mine ceiling with respect to a support surface or mine floor includes an elongated, flexible sleeve and bladder retain a substantially incompressible liquid. The sleeve and bladde... | 06/19/2007 |
| 7207632 | Shield system for coal mining A mining system for remotely mining ores and minerals which protects against falling rock and allows evacuation of a miner and conveying system in the case of a cave in. A shield is advanced into a mine. Within the shield, the miner and conveying system are also adv... | 04/24/2007 |
| 7166349 | Grid of synthetic material The invention relates to a grid of synthetic material with two groups of parallel, load-bearing strands, wherein the strands of the first group extend in the longitudinal direction of the grid and the strands of the second group extend transversely to the longitudin... | 01/23/2007 |
| 7152349 | Dragline bucket rigging and control apparatus A large electric dragline having a housing (35) and boom (37) is provided with spaced apart in-line sheaves (34) and (36) at boom point to separate hoist ropes (31) and (32) which are led to the front and rear of bucket (... | 12/26/2006 |
| 7128375 | Method and means for recovering hydrocarbons from oil sands by underground mining The present invention is directed generally to the combined use of slurry mining and hydrocyclones to recover hydrocarbons, such as bitumen, from hydrocarbon-containing materials, such as oil sands, and to selective mining of valuable materials, particularly hydroca... | 10/31/2006 |
| 7097389 | Forklift movable cribbing column A prefabricated cribbing column for supporting a mine roof. The column includes a plurality of concrete cribbing elements the majority of which are interleaved with load transfer disks. Two of the cribbing elements are interleaved with a handle element. The column a... | 08/29/2006 |
| 7097255 | Method and means for processing oil sands while excavating The present invention is directed to the separation of bitumen, such as by the Clark process or by a countercurrent de-sander, in an underground excavation machine, such as a tunnel boring machine. ... | 08/29/2006 |
| 6966610 | Treatment of rock surfaces A method for providing a protective coating in a mine comprising spraying onto the rock surfaces of the mine a hot melt adhesive in an amount to form a coating at least 1 mm, preferably at least 2 mm in thickness and allowing the coating to solidify. The hot melt ad... | 11/22/2005 |
| 6957166 | Method and apparatus for load rate monitoring A system for real-time monitoring of the dynamic loading rate on support systems used in underground mines and other situations is provided. The load rate monitoring apparatus uses a programmable microcontroller to monitor and calculate the loading rates on the supp... | 10/18/2005 |
| 6942301 | Method for boring and placing bolts for imbedding adhesively and device for carrying out this method A method and device for drilling and setting adhesive anchor bolts close to the mine face during the cutting operation of a tunneling or mining machine which is capable of being displaced on a traveling mechanism and includes a cutting cylinder or cutting head rotat... | 09/13/2005 |
| 6929330 | Method and system for mining hydrocarbon-containing materials The present invention is directed, inter alia, to devices and methods for excavating valuable materials, particularly soft ores such as oil sands, oil shales, and the like, that use one or more of a number of features, including backfilling for ground support, a sma... | 08/16/2005 |
| 6910834 | Mine prop A mine prop is comprised of an elongate tube having a slenderness ratio that would generally allow buckling or kneeling of the elongate tube when exposed to a sufficient axial force. A plurality of elongate support members having a length less than the elongate tube... | 06/28/2005 |
| 6851757 | Mining method A method of mining an underground ore body includes the steps of: excavating a plurality of laterally spaced first, ventilation tunnels in the ore body using an auger mining machine; excavating a plurality of laterally spaced second tunnels in the ore body, each sec... | 02/08/2005 |
| 6796616 | Mining system A method for extracting mineral deposits. First, a predetermined surface is contour mined in a mineral seam, such as a mountain, to provide an elongate active mining area and a highwall. Next, a sealable intake and return canopy is placed at substantially opposing e... | 09/28/2004 |
| 6785988 | Driving or mining machine A driving or mining machine includes a pivotable cantilever arm that is hinged so as to be pivotable in the height direction to a pivoting mechanism capable of being pivoted about a substantially vertical axis and on its free end carries rotationally mounted excavat... | 09/07/2004 |
| 6729806 | Crib platform device, kit and method of using A crib platform device, kit and associated method of using for building a temporary buttress underneath an overhanging obstruction. The crib employs a two platforms, and a lock bar for reversibly locking together the platforms. Alternatively, the platforms may be ma... | 05/04/2004 |
| 6695543 | Method for filling voids with aggregate material A method for filling a void using an aggregate material, such as mine tailings, the fill material being pumped from a site which is located remote from the void. A fluid, aerated material is formed by mixing the particulate solid material with finished fo... | 02/24/2004 |
| 6655877 | Yielding column A yielding column for support mine roofs or the like includes a tube provided with one or more circumferential rows of slots which provide a preferred locus for buckling. A reinforcing sleeve within the tube prevents inward buckling, so that the buckled p... | 12/02/2003 |
| 6586497 | Transport of solid particulates A method is provided for incorporating a foaming agent into mixtures of particulates and then forming a foam within the mixture to increase the flowability of the particulates. A method is also provided for excavating solid particulates, incorporating a f... | 07/01/2003 |
| 6520718 | Sardine-bone construction method for large-section tunnel This invention relates to a method for boring a large-section tunnel safely and quickly by reinforcing and improving in advance the ground over the full length of the tunnel section, which includes; boring a top drift (2) through the full length of the tu... | 02/18/2003 |
| 6481933 | Powered support frame for large seam thicknesses with controlled gap sealing plates It is provide in a powered support frame, for large seam thicknesses with controlled gap sealing, that double acting gap cylinders (16, 27, 30) of several gap sealing elements (15) on a powered support frame are connected to a common pressure feed line (3... | 11/19/2002 |
| 6428107 | Heat added to underground cemented fill to obtain both early and long term strength increases A method and apparatus for increasing the early and long term strength of underground cemented backfills includes adding heat to the backfill. A cementitious binder is mixed with a sand component and water to form the mine backfill that may be a slurry or... | 08/06/2002 |
| 6352392 | Mine roof support crib having only two or three planes, and method A mine roof support crib. The crib includes a plurality of chocks that are connected together through notches in the chocks to form only three planes with at least two of the planes in perpendicular relation with each other and able to support at least fi... | 03/05/2002 |
| 6322292 | Backfilling underground voids A method for filling an underground void, such as a mine stope, without danger of causing mud slides therein, with the material being pumped from a site which is located remote from the void. A fluid, cementitious material is formed by mixing hydraulic ce... | 11/27/2001 |
| 6322293 | Method for filling voids with aggregate material A method for filling a void using an aggregate material, such as mine tailings, the fill material being pumped from a site which is located remote from the void. A fluid, aerated material is formed by mixing the particulate solid material with finished fo... | 11/27/2001 |
| 6297295 | Transport of solid particulates A method is provided for incorporating a foaming agent into mixtures of particulates and then forming a foam within the mixture to increase the flowability of the particulates. A method is also provided for excavating solid particulates, incorporating a f... | 10/02/2001 |
| 6196635 | Method of installation of cuttable mine support A method and apparatus are provided for installing a mine support (pillar, or pillar and grout bag) in a mine. The following are practiced: Locating a form in the mine where it is desired to provide support, the form being composed of a plurality of engag... | 03/06/2001 |
| 6109700 | Mine roof bolting apparatus and method of using the same A modular roof bolting apparatus adapted to be installed on a face conveyor track of longwall mining equipment. A roof drilling assembly is rotationally mounted on a platform to an operating position and an installation position. The roof bolting drill is... | 08/29/2000 |
| 6086289 | Mini drainage immobilization system and method The present invention relates to an apparatus and in-situ method for immobilizing mine drainage from spent mine works. This apparatus and preferred method are readily adapted for use in any mine, but particularly well-suited for mines which are located on... | 07/11/2000 |
| 5836089 | Excavating equipment fitted with surface clamps Excavating equipment comprising a rigid support structure with articulately mounted surface clamps, an excavating device downstream of the surface clamps in a direction of excavation and an urging device for urging the excavation means in a direction of e... | 11/17/1998 |
| 5782539 | Wall-to-wall surface mining process A mining process that consists of a combination of surface mining and underground mining techniques carried out in a novel extraction sequence. The coal seam is first mined by surface-mining stripping methods to produce a highwall. Roadways to a predeterm... | 07/21/1998 |
| 5769504 | Equipment for shortwall mining useful for extraction of pillars in underground coal mines Shortwall mining equipment for extraction of some pillars in an underground coal mine has a series of self-advancing powered roof supports (1) for placement along the pillars (2) under extraction, the pillars under extraction being located within a panel ... | 06/23/1998 |
| 5746547 | Mine support cribs The invention is concerned with a mine support crib of the type which comprises a series of superimposed layers of elongate chocks. There is a plurality of parallel, spaced apart chocks in each layer with the chocks in one layer arranged transversely to t... | 05/05/1998 |
| 5669739 | Prestressing of mine props The mine prop prestressing device (10) has a tube (12), a cup-shaped member (14) inside the tube which has a base (18) and a cylindrical side wall (20) fixed internally to the wall of the tube. A counter-member is also fixed to the tube in opposition to t... | 09/23/1997 |
| 5584611 | Roof support for underground excavations The present invention is directed to a movable load support used for supporting the roof in underground excavations. The load support includes a primary roof support carried on a base frame and an auxiliary roof support also carried on said base frame but... | 12/17/1996 |
