Underground feeder-breakers from Joy Mining Machinery can now be equipped with integrated belt tailpieces and stability jacks.  Both of these new features are designed to increase the productivity and safety of operations. There are a number of specific benefits of these design features, which include:Productivity

• Shorter conveyor belt move time
• Higher coal production due to quicker conveyor belt moves
• Improved conveyor belt-to-breaker alignment results in more productive transport of mined materials.

Lowest cost per tonne

• Improved conveyor belt-to-breaker alignment results in minimal material spillage at breaker to conveyor belt transfer point
• No need to anchor breaker tailpiece to mine roof, floor and ribs; breaker with stability jacks (roof beam supports) has sufficient traction to pull the conveyor belt
• Conveyor belt moves possible with one worker instead of the two or more workers needed to move breakers and separate tailpieces
• The two or three additional pieces of equipment that would normally be required to move a separate belt tailpiece are freed for use in other jobs during conveyor belt moves
• Easy installation of conveyor belt structure into the breaker mounted tailpiece due to replacement of manual belt handling with belt handling devices.

Safer Operation

• Safer belt moves
• Stronger anchoring method
• The belt is trained so that it runs straight, resulting in less spillage and safer operation.

Seeking to improve its longwall panel advancement rate, a mine in the US recently purchased two JOY BF-14A-59-64C feeder-breakers with mounted tailpieces and has enjoyed increased productivity due to quicker conveyor belt moves. Joy engineers in Millersburg, Kentucky designed the breakers with mounted tailpieces, which eliminate the need to anchor the tailpieces to the mine floor, roof or ribs. They are also equipped with roof beam supports (stability jacks) that stabilise the feeder-breakers and belt tailpieces and protect them from the high tension associated with moving several thousand feet of belt. When a conveyor belt needs to be moved, the breaker roof beam supports are lowered from the roof and it trams toward the mine face, pulling the panel conveyor belt as the feeder-breaker advances. When the conveyor belt has reached its new location, the Feeder-Breaker roof supports are anchored back into the roof. The feeder-breakers are processing up to 1,090 t/h.

The breakers are equipped with many other upgrades and features that are designed to allow customers to achieve lowest-possible-cost-per-ton production and increased productivity. These upgrades and features include belt spreaders and highly-rated crawlers with maximum draw bar pull, direct-drive breakers that reduce wear on components such as chains and sprockets, 460-mm reverse crawlers that provide maximum torque operation at low speed and are very well suited for conveyor belt structure pulling, three-way dumps for shuttle car unloading, 89-mm pitch conveyor chains, and umbilical remote trams.