Expansion shell assembly

1. An expansion shell assembly for mine roof bolts, comprising:

an expansion member threaded onto an associated mine roof bolt;

a support device annularly disposed around the associated mine roof bolt; and

an expansion shell annularly disposed around the associated mine roof bolt between the expansion member and the support device, the expansion shell having at a first end a circular base ring having a portion with no slots formed therein configured to engage the support device and fingers formed by longitudinal slots located only at a second end of said shell opposite the first end configured to engage the expansion member, wherein said support device is engaged by said shell and said expansion member is received by the shell wherein the shell is configured to expand to anchor said associated mine roof bolt in an associated bore hole wherein said support device has at least a portion of said support device configured to extend in an axial direction into said shell for tensioning said associated mine roof bolt, without cracking said shell.

2. The expansion shell assembly of claim 1 wherein contact between the base ring and the support device only permits the axial traverse movement at a predetermined axial force.

3. The expansion shell assembly of claim 1 wherein contact between the base ring and the support device only permits the axial traverse movement at a predetermined bolt torque.

4. The expansion shell assembly of claim 1 wherein the base ring of the expansion shell has a precisely controlled inner diameter corresponding to a diameter of the support device to facilitate the axial traverse movement.

5. The expansion shell assembly of claim 1 wherein the base ring of the shell expands upon application of a sufficient force by the support device to facilitate the axial traverse movement.

6. The expansion shell assembly of claim 1 wherein the support device is positioned on an unthreaded portion of the roof bolt between a threaded portion of the roof bolt and a shoulder of the roof bolt prior to threads being rolled on the threaded portion to generally restrict axial movement of the support device.

7. The expansion shell assembly of claim 1 wherein the support device is unthreaded and slidably received on the bolt adjacent a shoulder of the bolt.

8. An expansion shell assembly for securing a mine roof bolt, comprising:

an expansion shell having an aperture for receiving an associated elongated bolt, a base portion formed at a first end of the expansion shell comprising a ring without any slots formed therein and a plurality of fingers formed by longitudinal slots located only at a second end of the shell;

an expansion member disposed at said second end of said expansion shell configured to expand the expansion shell fingers to engage a rock formation; and

a shell support disposed at said first end of said expansion shell in contact with said base portion of the expansion shell configured to provide relative axial movement between the shell support and the expansion shell and said shell support is configured to axially extend at least partially into said shell without cracking said shell when the associated elongated bolt is tensioned.

9. An expansion shell assembly for mine roof bolts, comprising:

an expansion member threaded onto an associated bolt;

a support device annularly disposed around the associated bolt; and

a shell annularly disposed on the bolt between the expansion member and the support device, the expansion shell having a circular base ring having a surface without slots formed therein at a first end of said shell which matingly engages a corresponding surface on the support device and fingers formed by longitudinal slots located only at a second end of said shell configured to engage the expansion member wherein said shell is configured to expand and said expansion member is configured to extend into said shell wherein said support device is axially fixed relative to said shell in a first position and said support device is configured to move axially relative to and within said base ring without cracking said base ring in a second position for tensioning said associated bolt.