Auger car bearing support

1. A support for the shaft of a high wall mining machine, comprising:

an outer bearing, defining a cylindrical inner surface and a partial spherical outer surface, said inner and outer surfaces being symmetrical about a longitudinal axis;

said outer bearing also defining at least one diametrically oriented lubrication opening extending from said inner surface to said outer surface along a first diameter;

said outer bearing also defining forward and rear thrust surfaces for supporting loads in the direction of said longitudinal axis, said forward thrust surface having an arcuate contour;

wherein said outer bearing comprises first and second outer bearing halves which are substantially mirror images of each other;

each outer bearing half defining:

first and second substantially planar edges lying along a plane extending through said longitudinal axis and through a second diameter at right angles to said first diameter;

a first outer-bearing-securement opening extending parallel to said first diameter from the outer surface to the respective first planar edge; and

a second outer-bearing-securement opening extending parallel to said first diameter from the outer surface to the respective second substantially planar edge, wherein the first outer-bearing-securement opening of the first bearing half is aligned with the second outer-bearing-securement opening of the second bearing half at a first aligned pair of planar edges, and the first outer-bearing-securement opening of the second bearing half is aligned with the second outer-bearing-securement opening of the first bearing half at a second aligned pair of planar edges.

2. A support for the shaft of a high wall mining machine as recited in claim 1 , wherein each of said first and second substantially planar edges defines a recess, and further comprising first and second inserts, said first insert being received in the recesses between the first aligned pair of first and second planar edges, and the second insert being received in the recesses between the second aligned pair of first and second planar edges, wherein said inserts define insert-securement openings aligned with the respective outer-bearing-securement openings extending through their respective planar edges.

3. A support for the shaft of a high wall mining machine as recited in claim 2 , wherein said outer-bearing-securement openings are at least partially internally threaded.

4. A support for the shaft of a high wall mining machine as recited in claim 3 , said rear thrust surface including a planar surface.

5. A support for the shaft of a high wall mining machine as recited in claim 4 , each outer bearing half defining at least one anti-rotation flat.

6. A support for the shaft of a high wall mining machine as recited in claim 5 , and further comprising:

an inner bearing rotatably supported inside said outer bearing, said inner bearing defining a cylindrical inner surface and a cylindrical outer surface, said inner bearing inner and outer surfaces being symmetrical about said longitudinal axis; said inner bearing outer surface defining a plurality of lubrication grooves, wherein at least one of said grooves is in fluid communication with said diametrically oriented opening of said outer bearing at least once during each complete rotation of said inner bearing about said longitudinal axis within said outer bearing.

7. A support for the shaft of a high wall mining machine as recited in claim 6 , said inner bearing also defining forward and rear thrust surfaces for supporting loads in the direction of said longitudinal axis, said inner-bearing-forward-thrust surface having an arcuate complementing said arcuate contour of said outer-bearing-forward-thrust surface; and wherein said inner bearing comprises first and second inner bearing halves which are substantially mirror images of each other.

8. A support for the shaft of a high wall mining machine as recited in claim 7 , and further comprising:

a housing defining a reverse-partial-spherical-inner surface for oscillatingly supporting said inner bearing, and a housing outer surface;

said housing also defining at least one diametrically oriented lubrication opening extending from said housing inner surface to said housing outer surface along said first diameter;

wherein said housing comprises first and second housing halves;

each housing half defining:

third and fourth substantially planar edges lying along a plane extending through said longitudinal axis and through said second diameter at right angles to said first diameter;

a first housing-securement opening extending parallel to said first diameter from the housing outer surface to the respective third planar edge; and

a second housing-securement opening extending parallel to said first diameter from the outer surface to the respective fourth substantially planar edge, wherein the first housing-securement opening of the first housing half is aligned with the second housing-securement opening of the second housing half at a first aligned pair of planar edges, and the first housing-securement opening of the second housing half is aligned with the second housing-securement opening of the first housing half at a second aligned pair of planar edges.

9. A support for the shaft of a high wall mining machine as recited in claim 8 , and further comprising cap screws, each cap screw extending through at least one housing-securement opening and contacting at least one of said anti-rotation flats of said outer bearing.

10. A support for the shaft of a high wall mining machine as recited in claim 9 , and further comprising a shaft mounted for rotation about said outer bearing, said shaft fixedly secured to said inner bearing.

11. An auger shaft bearing support for use in auger cars used in high wall mining, comprising:

an axially split inner bearing including at least first and second inner bearing portions each having an inner surface defining a radial direction for mounting to the auger shaft and an outer surface;

an axially split outer bearing including at least first and second outer bearing portions, each having an inner surface with a profile which closely matches and provides rotational support for said outer surface of said inner bearing;

wherein said inner bearing is harder than said outer bearing, is made from a heat treated low alloy steel and has a Rockwell hardness of at least 50 C and is polymer-coated, and said outer bearing is made from spinodal bronze with a Rockwell hardness of approximately 30 C; and

a bearing housing including at least first and second housing portions defining a saddle which supports said outer bearing, said saddle having a partial-reverse-spherical contour.

12. An auger shaft bearing support for use in auger cars used in high wall mining, comprising:

an axially split inner bearing including at least first and second inner bearing portions each having an inner surface defining a radial direction for mounting to the auger shaft and an outer surface;

an axially split outer bearing including at least first and second outer bearing portions, each having an inner surface with a profile which closely matches and provides rotational support for said outer surface of said inner bearing, wherein said inner surface of said inner bearing portion is cylindrically-profiled, said outer surface of said inner bearing is cylindrically-profiled, said inner surface of said outer bearing is cylindrically-profiled, and said outer surface of said outer bearing is partial-spherically-profiled; and

a bearing housing including at least first and second housing portions defining a saddle which supports said outer bearing, said saddle having a partial-reverse-spherical contour.

13. An auger shaft bearing support for use in auger cars used in high wall mining as recited in claim 12 , wherein each of said outer bearing portions further defines at least one thrust load-receiving face.