A cutter head for excavating hard rock materials in rock face includes a carrier attachable to a cutter arm of a cutter machine and a drive shaft rotatably supported by the carrier. The drive shaft is rotatable about a drive axis and has at one end a support portion for mounting disc cutters. A plurality of disc cutters are mounted on the support portion and configured to perform undercutting against the rock face. Each disc cutter is rotatable about a respective support axis, the respective rotational axis of each disc cutter being configured to be substantially transverse to the rotational axis of the cutter head. A mining machine including the cutter head is also disclosed.

A “Riser Concept” Method and Apparatus includes the bottom-up construction of vertical risers from underground passes through the soil, using a pipe jacking equipment. The pipe jacking equipment vertically push the riser pipe from underground pass upwards through soil formations to waterbody, air intake, terrain surface or like. The method and mechanism can be applied either in traditionally bored tunnel or in tunnel bored by tunnel boring machine.

A “Riser Concept” Method and Apparatus includes the bottom-up construction of vertical risers from underground passes through the soil, using a pipe jacking equipment. The pipe jacking equipment vertically push the riser pipe from underground pass upwards through soil formations to waterbody, air intake, terrain surface or like. The method and mechanism can be applied either in traditionally bored tunnel or in tunnel bored by tunnel boring machine.

A mobile tunnel boring unit is disclosed, comprising a support body driven by first drive means, the first drive means including a pair of spaced apart crawler tracks in contact with the tunnel floor and related track driving means to move the tracks. A cutter head drive means is located at an operatively front end of the boring unit, to which a rotatable cutter head can be fitted and rotatingly driven, in use, the cutter head comprising a full face cutter head fitted with cutters to bore a tunnel face. The cutter head is arranged to allow cuttings to pass through the cutter head for discharge into a muck hopper and onto a first conveyor arrangement, the cutter head drive means and a rear portion of the cutter head defining aligned central apertures to accommodate the muck hopper and a front part of the first conveyor arrangement. A telescopic shield arrangement is provided to shield the boring unit.

The invention relates to a method (S10) for optimizing the characteristics of a tunnel boring machine, particularly a tunnel boring machine of the slurry pressure or VD type, said method comprising the following steps: S0: determining a ground/machine interaction model, S11: instantaneous measurement of the set of specific boring parameters of the tunnel boring machine, S13: determining the group of individuals corresponding to the boring parameters measured in step S11 by means of the ground/machine interaction model, S14: optimizing the characteristics of the tunnel boring machine as a function of the group of individuals thus determined.

An automatic coal mining machine and a fluidized coal mining method are provided. A first excavation cabin is configured to cut coal seam to obtain raw coal and to be transported to a first coal preparation cabin for separating coal blocks from gangue. Then, the obtained coal blocks are transported to a first fluidized conversion reaction cabin. The first fluidized conversion reaction cabin converts the energy form of the coal block into liquid, gas or electric energy, which is transported to a first energy storage cabin for storing. Coal mining and conversion are carried out in underground coal mines, so it is not necessary to raise coal blocks to the ground for washing and conversion, thereby reducing the transportation cost of coal, improving the utilization degree of coal, and avoiding the pollution of the ground environment caused by waste in the mining and conversion process.

A plasma tunnel boring machine including a plurality of plasma torches on the cutting head, and a plurality of nozzles on the cutting head to provide a stream to cool an area while the plasma torches are active, and a tractor providing propulsion to the cutting head, the tractor to move the cutting head to cut a tunnel.

A cutting assembly for a rock excavation machine including a frame. The cutting assembly includes a boom supported on the frame and a cutting device. In some aspects, the boom includes a first portion and a second portion, and the first portion includes a first structure and a second structure slidable relative to the first structure. The second portion includes a first member pivotably coupled to the second structure, and a second member pivotably coupled to the first member. The cutting device is supported on the second member. In some aspects, a material handling device is supported independently of the boom and movable between a retracted position and an extended position independent of the boom.

An automatic scanning system for tunnel walls constructed by open-type TBM, to realize the automatic, accurate, rapid and omnidirectional scanning of tunnel wall. The system comprises a three-dimensional laser scanner, a walking unit, a circumferential track, several connecting rods and a remote-control unit; wherein the three-dimensional laser scanner is fixed on the walking unit. The walking unit is provided on the circumferential track and configured to walk on the circumferential track at a set speed and a set number of walking cycles according to a control instruction. The circumferential track is fixed on the main beam of open-type TBM through the connecting rods and located between the roof bolter and cylinder of gripper shoe. The remote-control unit is configured to issue the control instruction and control the three-dimensional laser scanner to scan the tunnel wall and transmit the scanning data using set scanning parameters.

An automatic scanning system for tunnel walls constructed by open-type TBM, to realize the automatic, accurate, rapid and omnidirectional scanning of tunnel wall. The system comprises a three-dimensional laser scanner, a walking unit, a circumferential track, several connecting rods and a remote-control unit; wherein the three-dimensional laser scanner is fixed on the walking unit. The walking unit is provided on the circumferential track and configured to walk on the circumferential track at a set speed and a set number of walking cycles according to a control instruction. The circumferential track is fixed on the main beam of open-type TBM through the connecting rods and located between the roof bolter and cylinder of gripper shoe. The remote-control unit is configured to issue the control instruction and control the three-dimensional laser scanner to scan the tunnel wall and transmit the scanning data using set scanning parameters.