By Frank H. K neelan d
A s s o c i a t e E d i t o r , C o a l A g e N e w Y o r k C i t y
M
ANY IN T E R E S T IN G pieces of equipm ent applicable to coal m ining w ere on exhibition in th e M usic Hall a t C incinnati, Monday to F rid ay , May 25-29, inclusive. In all, approxim ately 125 m an u fa ctu rers showed th e ir products to the coal m ine operators. An excellent a ttendance showed a keen in te re st in th e various m echanical and electrical devices. Space here available fo r
bids any attem p t a t a complete de
scription. I t is ra th e r the “h ig h lig h ts” th a t will be touched.
The tre n d tow ard m echanization of th e m ines w as evidenced every
w here. T hus th e en terp rise Wheel and C ar C orporation showed a p a r
ticu larly larg e steel car intended specifically, b u t no t necessarily ex
clusively, fo r use w ith loading m a
chines. The inside dim ensions of th e ca r body w ere 7x10 ft. w ith a h e ig h t of 26 in. Level full, th is car will hold 168 cu.ft. of coal. Y et it stan d s only 31 in. high above th e rail.
By placing extension or “sideboards”
on th is car, its depth could be f u r
th e r increased by 17 in. giving an added capacity of 119 cu.ft. or a total of 287 cu.ft. w a te r level m easure.
T his car was of th e solid-body type, w ith one low end m aking it suitab le fo r operation in conjunction w ith a Coloder and fo r discharge in a ro ta ry dump. The coupling con
tain s a swivel so th a t these cars m ay be discharged one a t a tim e w itho ut uncoupling from th e balance of the trip .
New Ty p e Ru n n i n g Gear
The ru n n in g g e a r of th is car is a more or less radical d ep artu re from stan d ard practice in m ine car con
structio n. Each ca r is fitted w ith fo u r wheels, each of which is carried on an independent axle which is p ro vided w ith a jo u rn al box on each end.
These jo u rn al boxes are bolted to the fram e securely. T hus each wheel is fre e to revolve independ
ent of all th e others, m aking th e ca r easy to handle aroun d tra c k curves. Above each wheel in th e bot
tom of the ca r is a sw aged
cover-plate. These p ro ject upw ard several inches, b u t do not in te rfe re in th e least w ith th e discharge of coal in a ro ta ry dump. The in te rio r of th e bed is braced w ith heavy angles.
Band brakes are provided on all fo u r wheels. These consist of a stra p p assing over th e top of th e wheel and fitted w ith a “h a lf sole."
T his is a f-in. steel brake shoe which takes th e w ear of braking. T here are no gusset plates inside of the ca r box, b u t 4x l-in. belts are p ro vided on th e outside. On e ith e r end, th is car is fitted w ith a steel casting draw -head which operates on a heavy sprin g, like th e draw head of a ra ilro ad ear. The to tal w eig ht of th e car is approxim ately th ree tons, while th e sideboards w eigh 400 to 500 lb. additional. Tim ken roller bearing s are used on th e journals.
I t is believed th a t th is ca r will hold five and one-half tons of coal as de
livered from th e conveyor of a m a
chine in a 4 ft. bed w itho ut trim m ing. F itte d w ith sideboards and given a f a ir topping w ith hand loading, i t would doubtless hold a t least te n tons.
A nother ca r of low design and larg e capacity was th a t exhibited by th e A m erican C ar and F ou nd ry Co.
This was of a composite wood and steel construction, th e inside dim en
sions o f the box being 6x10 ft., 6 in. w ith a depth of 16 i in. The to tal h eig h t above the ra il to the top of th e sides is 29 in., and the w ater- level capacity 85 cu.ft. These dim en
sions may, of course, be altered to su it th e specific needs of th e purchaser.
One of th e ch ief ends in view in designing th is ca r was to obtain ease of re p a ir. A ttain m en t o f th is end p e rm its th is c a r to be kep t in p rac
tically continuous service, which m eans th a t few er cars a re necessary to equip a m ine fo r any given Big Car Intended for Machine Loading
T h i s s h o w s t h e c a r f i t t e d w i t h l o w s i d e s ; I t s c a p a c i t y c a n b e g r e a t l y I n c r e a s e d b y u s i n g “ s i d e b o a r d s . ” N o t e t h a t t h e e n d i s e v e n l o w e r t h a n t h e s i d e s o f t h e c a r . T h i s i s t o a l l o w e a s y l o a d i n g b y m a c h i n e o v e r t h e e n d .
838 C O A L A G E VOL. 2 7 , N o . 2 3
Low Car That Can Be Repaired Easily
T h i s c a r i s o f c o m p o s i t e c o n s t r u c t i o n a n d s o d e s i g n e d a s t o b e r e p a i r e d e a s i l y . T h u s t h e r e m o v a l o f a f e w b o l t s w i l l p e r m i t t h e w i t h d r a w a l o f a n y f l o o r b o a r d . T h e s i d e s c a n b e r e n e w e d w i t h e q u a l e a s e . O f c o u r s e i t i s n o t t h e i n t e n t i o n t h a t c a r s s h a l l b e i n j u r e d a n d r e q u i r e r e p a i r s , y e t s u c h m i s h a p s o c c u r a n d a t s u c h t i m e s e a s e o f r e p a i r is d e s i r a b l e .
anticip ated daily or weekly production.
In th is car also th e wheels are covered w ith th e px-essed plate hous
ing. The under fram e is of steel while the sides and bottom are of both steel and wood construc
tion. Thus the car lacks the rig id ity som etim es unavoidable w ith all-steel construction -and which m ay be th e cause of trouble on an uneven track.
All wooden portions of th is car, how
ever, m ay be renew ed readily w ith out removal of riv ets and w ithout any necessity fo r jack in g th e car up. The side of th e floor is a steel sheet flanged up over th e outside of th e sideboard and down und er th e wooden bottom section of th e floor.
T hus it is approxim ately a Z-section.
Five belts encircle th e car body a t each of which a s tra p spanning th e inverted U-section draw -bar form s v irtu ally a tru s s adding stren g th .
T his car reg ularly is equipped w ith open-hub self-oiling wheels on 3-in., h ea t-treate d axles carried in jo u rn al boxes th a t are bolted thro u g h both the bottom and top flanges of th e Z-shape floor sheet. The-wheels are fitted w ith A m erican C ar &
F ou n d ry Co. sp rin g oilers fo r eith er oil or grease lubrication. A ny sta n d a rd ro ller or ball-bearing wheel m ay be applied. The side sill angles of the ca r box a re flanged up over th e wheels so th a t any wheel m ay be removed o r replaced w ithout the necessity of jack in g th e ca r up much and w ith o u t tu rn in g it on its side.
B and brakes norm ally are applied to two wheels only, b u t th ey can be fitted to fo u r wheels if th e p u rch aser so desires.
As stated, th is car was designed
especially to obtain ease in repair.
The removal of only eleven bolts on each side of th e car will p erm it th e repairm en to renew any or all of the floor boai-ds. New side pieces m ay be replaced w ith equal ease.
Two small models of th e typ e of m ine ca r which has been adopted by the P ittsb u rg h Coal Co. in its mod
ernization prog ram w ere displayed in Booth 19 by th e Allen & G arcia Co., Chicago, 111. This ca r is con
stru cted en tirely of s te e l; has a capacity of fo u r tons (10-in. top
p in g ) ; stan ds 40 in. above the rail and w eighs 4,800 lb. em pty. Its ends a re bowed to give it g re a te r s tre n g th and b ig g er capacity fo r a given body length. As m easured on its center line, the body of th e ca r is 11 ft.
long; its sides are 10 ft. long, estab lishin g a 6-in. bow on each end. The roller-bearing wheels a re of 16-in.
diam eter and are m ounted on 21-in., h ea t-treated alloy steel axles. L u b ri
cation of th e wheels is fa cilitated by self-closing No. 2 grease plugs fu
r-New-Type Car and Coupler
T h i s c a r , d e s i g n e d b y A l l e n &
G a r c i a a n d a d o p t e d b y t h e P i t t s b u r g h C o a l C o . i n i t s m o d e r n i z a t i o n p r o g r a m , c o m b i n e s g r e a t s t r e n g t h w i t h l a r g e c a p a c i t y a n d i s s p r i n g - s u s p e n d e d t o r e d u c e s h o c k . T h e s e m i - a u t o m a t i c c o u p l e r r e q u i r e s t h e o p e r a t i v e o n l y t o c o c k t h e p i n o v e r t h e h o l e . T h e i m p a c t d o e s t h e r e s t .
nished by th e Lincoln Steel & F o rg e Co., St. Louis, Mo.
The body of th e ca r is supported by two sp rin g s on each jo u rn al box to elim inate th e obvious im pact w hich otherw ise occurs betw een the ru n n in g g ear and th e body of th e m ine car on th e one hand, and the wheels and tra c k equipm ent on th e other. The design of th is fe a tu re is such th a t under all conditions accu
ra te wheel-and-axle alignm ent is m ain tain ed and side play is elim i
nated.
The floor of th e car projects over and clears th e wheels by th e incor
poration, as p a r t of th e floor, of two inverted channels. The floor is one- piece of |-in . steel plate, which, to g eth er w ith channel and angle-iron stiffeners, provide am ple tension and com pression stren g th .
One of th e distinctive fe a tu re s of th is car is th e com bining of a sp ring draw head and a sem i-autom atic coupler. Its chief m erits are th ese:
I t relieves th e locomotive and m ine cars of excessive b u m p in g ; it does aw ay w ith th e dan gers incident to th e coupling-up operation, an d it pro
vides a sim ple a rran g e m e n t fo r coupled-up dum ping in a ro ta ry dump.
The fem ale of th e coupler rides in a single two-way sp rin g . T his m em ber, of course, is always on center.
The m ale m em ber is provided w ith a tru n n io n in w hich th e swivel action is centered, and on each side of which are bu ffettin g sp ring s. T his tr u n nion rid es in two guide plates which are engaged by tw o sta tio n a ry cheek plates. The guide plates are fu r th e r
Ju n e 4, 1925 C O A L A G E 839
fasten ed by bolts to stub channels under th e floor of th e car.
S elf-centering is derived by an elongated convex surface on th e bot
tom of th e tru n n io n body and a com
plim entary depression in th e upper su rface of th e lower guide plate.
The w eight of the male m em bei, w hich is counterbalanced, m aintains th e la tte r on center fo r coupling.
All th a t is required of th e haulage operative is to cock th e coupling pin in its hole. The im pact betw een two cars will drop th e pin into place.
F o r . places w here more light is necessary th a n is afforded by the o rdin ary types of m ine lamps or w here open flames would be unsafe, the Concoi-dia E lectric Co. had on exhibition w h a t m ig h t be term ed a sto rag e b a tte ry flood light. This is fitted w ith a reflector and fo u r bulbs
Portable Floodlight
Low Trolley and Cable-Reel Locomotive
m ^ h ! ^ S c a n T b ^ h o " w i u f ™ i n .
T h o r o a d c l e a r a n c e i s o n l y 3 à i n .
T h i s s h o w s t h e r e f l e c t o r w i t h I t s f o u r l i g h t b u l b s a t t h e e n d o f i t s f o r k e d s w i n g i n g a r m , a l s o t h e f r o n t o f t h e s t e e l b a t t e r y c o n t a i n e r .
a t th e end of a vertically sw inging arm th a t m ay be raised and lowered, being pivoted a t the opposite end n e a r the cen ter of the storage b a t
te ry w hich energizes th e lights. T his arm m ay be swung th ro u g h an angle of about 220 deg.
T his flood lig h t is fitted w ith a 4-volt, 2-cell, dry electrolite b attery , w eighing about 40 lb. The fou r bulbs a re capable of giving a m axi
m um of about 25 cp. They are con
nected in p a irs and e ith e r p a ir can be tu rn e d off and on a t will. The b a tte ry will fu rn is h c u rre n t fo r all fo u r lam ps fo r about 12 hr.
The b a tte ry of th is outfit is p ro tected by a rectangu lar, w aterproof, steel casing th a t is m agnetically locked, to p reven t tam p erin g by an unauthorized person. The locking device is sim ilar to th a t employed on th e hand, cap and trip lam ps b u ilt by th is m an u fa ctu rer. The b a tte ry case is provided w ith a bale fitted w ith a swiveling, steel hook so th a t the out
fit m ay be suspended fro m a post,
m ine tim b e r or other suitable sup
port. T his lamp is suited not only to m ines b u t also to power plants, g ra in elevators, oil refineries, ships, contract w ork and elsewhere.
A low, compact locomotive in tended fo r g ath erin g was on exhibi
tion by th e G eneral E lectric Co. T his was a 6-ton, trolley-and-cable-reel m achine fitted w ith type M con- tactor-control and overload relay.
This m achine has a to tal length of 175 in., a wheel base of 46 in., a rail clearance of 34 in., d riv ers of 25-in.
diam eter, a gage of 42 in., and a total w idth of 59 in. The total h eig h t of the m achine exhibited was 28 in. above th e rail, b u t it is pos
sible to build th is m achine w ith a m inim um h eig h t of only 26 in.
The type of control employed on th is locomotive will n o t p erm it cu r
re n t to be applied th ro u g h th e m otors too rapidly. A no ther fe a tu re of th is m achine is oil-gun lu brica
tion of th e m ain jo urn als th ro u g h th e d riv er hubs. T his p erm its ready and easy lu brication of th e m ain bearings which are accordingly not liable to be neglected. A general view of th is locomotive is shown in one of th e illustrations.
F o r m otor applications about the m ines and elsew here re q u irin g a constant-speed, polyphase m otor ^ of h ig h sta rtin g torque and employing e ith e r autom atic, sem i-autom atic or m anual control th is company exhib
ited a 15-hp. m otor, type FT R . The special construction of th is m achine gives a s ta rtin g to rq u e equivalent to th a t of a slip -rin g m otor, b u t a cu r
re n t volume th a t will not exceed the N. E . L. A. requirem ents. The roto r which is cast ‘is provided w ith two w indings, one of high and th e o th er of low resistance. W hen c u rre n t is first applied, i t passes th ro u g h the h ig h er resistance w inding, b u t as the m achine comes up to speed, th e flux autom atically sh ifts to th e low re sistance o r ru n n in g w inding.
T his m otor h as practically the
sam e efficiency and power fa c to r as a stan d ard induction m achine of the same size. I t may, however, be throw n directly across the line by a push
button. No ce n trifu g al m echanical devices are employed in th e control.
A nother in te re stin g piece of equip
m en t shown by th is company w as an autom atic sw itching device fo r sec- tionalizing and protectin g 275-volt, d irect c u rre n t m ining and in d u strial circuits. T his equipm ent is adapted especially fo r sectionalizing trolley and feeder circu its supplying power to m achinery a t o r n e a r the w orking face. By p ro p er selection and appli
cation of these u n its it is possible to isolate a defect in the w irin g and m inim ize its effect on the electrical equipm ent. They also obviate sh u t
downs arisin g from overloads.
In case of trouble, only the section affected is disconnected. As soon as the cause of the difficulty has been removed, service is restored. This equipm ent may be readily installed,
Autom atic Switching Equipment
T h i s u n i t i s b u i l t f o r i n s t a l l a t i o n i n s i d e t h e m i n e , b e i n g p r o v i d e d w i t h a d r i p - p r o o f c a s e . I t i s v i r t u a l l y a s e c t i o n a l i z i n g a n d r e c l o s i n g u n i t n o r m a l l y b u i l t f o r 2 7 5 v o l t s a n d i n v a r i o u s c a p a c i t i e s .
8 4 0 C O A L A G E Vol. 27, No. 23 as it has been, designed fo r service
underground. •. All p a rts have been given corrosion-preventative tr e a t
m ent, and the over-current relay, line contactor and th e various reclosing devices are m ounted in a drip-proof steel housing. The control section m ay be operated from th e outside, thus m aking it possible to disconnect . th e feeder w ithout opening th e hous
ing door.
These control equipm ents, b uilt fo r 275 volts, m ay be supplied in sizes ra n g in g fr'om 300 to 1,500 amp. By placing a dem and device in a sub
statio n so a rran g e d as to trip one or m ore sectionalizing equipm ents upon application of a pre-determ ined load, the to tal load on th e system m ay be cut down. W hen demand falls off, these equipm ents will re close, re sto rin g service on th e c ir
cuits controlled by them .
To dem onstrate th e an ti-frictio n ch a rac te ristic s of ball bearings, th e S trom Ball B earin g Mfg. Co. ex
h ibited a stan d from w hich two 200-lb. w eights w ere suspended by cables from bearin g housings. One s h a ft w as on ball and th e o th er on plain bearings. C ranks of equal length w ere attached to th e ends of th e sh a fts and people w ere invited to note th e difference in torque nec
essary to tu rn these sh afts. Need
less to say th is difference was appreciable.
A no th er exhibit of th is firm con
sisted of a dust-proof m otor m ounted on ball b earings and inclosed in a tig h t glass case. A small fa n on the end of th e m otor s h a ft constantly m aintained a cloud of fine saw dust d riv in g it th ro u g h and around th e m otor, its bearin g s and housings.
The m otor itse lf was lite rally buried in a heap of th is fine dust, which, because of th e th orough
dust-proof-Runs Buried in D ust
T h i s p i c t u r e d o e s n o t d o j u s t i c e t o t h e s e v e r e c o n d i t i o n s u n d e r w h i c h t h i s m o t o r o p e r a t e d . A h e a p o f d u s t c o v e r e d t h e m a c h i n e w h i l e t h e l i t U e f a n o n t h e e n d o f t h e m o t o r s h a f t k e p t a c l o u d o f I t i n c o n s t a n t c i r c u l a t i o n .
ness of th e en tire m achine, had no effect upon its operation. T his m a
chine w as b u ilt by th e A m erican E lectric M otors, Inc., of Milwaukee, Wis. and w as Strom -equipped.
In th e booth of th e K oehler M fg.
Co., of M arlboro, Mass., th re e in te r
estin g devices w ere shown. The first of these was a one-lamp charg ing panel. By th is device a rectifier changes a lte rn a tin g to direct c u r
ren t. The arran g e m e n t is such th a t a single belt b a tte ry m ay be slipped between th e contacts fo r charging.
The b a tte ry receives its charge a t about 5 \ volts, and cannot be charged a t a ra te h ig h er th a n one am pere no r low er th a n 4 amp. I t m ay th u s be charged in a sh o rte r or a longer tim e, b u t never a t a dangerous or destructive ra te .
A new W heat electro m ag net a r ran ged fo r operation on altern atin g c u rre n t was exhibited. T his device is intended to open Koehler and other
Individual Battery Charger
T h i s d e v i c e t a k e s a l t e r n a t i n g c u r r e n t t h r o u g h a r e c t i f i e r a n d c h a r g e s o n e l a m p b a t t e r y a t a t i m e . C h a r g i n g is p e r f o r m e d a t a p r e d e t e r m i n e d s p e e d — n e i t h e r t o o f a s t n o r t o o s l o w .
flame safety lamps. I t has a v ib ra t
in g m agnetic action and will u n fa ste n lamps, th e locks of which m ay be stuck or corroded.
A 100-lamp, W heat ch arg in g panel w as also shown. T his tak es a lte r
n a tin g c u rre n t th ro u g h a W heat elec
tric m ine lamp rectifier, w hich is built especially fo r lam p ch arg in g and possesses high efficiency. The sta n d a rd equipm ent of th is ty p e is m ade fo r 220 to 250-volt, 60-cycle cu rren t, b u t th e rectifier can be sup
plied fo r o ther poten tials and f r e quencies.
The W estinghouse E lectric & Mfg.
Co., showed its im proved universal line of m agnetic control fo r m ine locomotives. As is well known, one of th e chief difficulties encountered w ith m anual control of m ine locomo
tives is excessive m aintenance. I t is, th erefo re, being replaced by semi- m agnetic control w herein th e m ain m oto r connections come to th e re verse drum of th e controller, and th e line sw itch and accelerating points are un der th e control of th e accele
M agnetic Locomotive Controller
T h i s s h o w s t h e " g u t s ” o f t h e c o n t r o l m e c h a n i s m . T h e u s e o f m a g n e t i c c o n t a c
t o r s i n p l a c e o f c o n t a c t f i n g e r s t o t a l l y o b v i a t e s a r c i n g w i t h i n t h e c o n t r o l l e r a n d s a f e l y l i m i t s t h e I n p u t o f c u r r e n t t o t h e m o t o r .
ra tin g drum . W ith th is ty pe of con
trol, no load arcs are form ed in th e controller. R etu rn of th e control drum to th e off-position de-energizes th e contactors th u s opening the mo
to r connections.
T his equipm ent is of th e sam e size fo r locomotives ra n g in g fro m fo u r to fifteen tons, and can be arran g e d fo r series, parallel or series-parallel operation e ith e r w ith or w ith o u t dy
nam ic b ra k in g and one, two, th ree
nam ic b ra k in g and one, two, th ree