Free-wheeling-resistant rolls for mining roof support and the combination of a mining machine and such rolls
View Patent ↗A roll of grid material for mine roof support, and a mining machine in combination with such a roll, in which the roll has bands of adhering material injected or otherwise forced into the roll in spaced locations along the roll's width. The adhering material interconnects the overlapped layers within the roll so that the roll is self-resistant to unrolling. Also provided is a method of making such a roll including the steps of winding a length of polymeric mesh material into a roll and applying an adhering material to the mesh material. The adhering material has sufficient strength to hold the roll in a wound configuration and prevent the roll from free-wheeling or unwinding due to the roll's own physical properties.
1. A method of forming a polymeric mesh roll for mine roof and wall support that is self-resistant to unrolling, comprising winding a length of polymeric mesh material into a roll and applying an adhering material to the mesh material, the step of applying including injecting the adhering material under pressure into the using the roll using an applicator nozzle that can be inserted into the roll, said adhering material having sufficient strength to hold the roll in a wound configuration and prevent the roll from free-wheeling or unwinding due to the roll's own physical properties.
2. The method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the adhering material is applied as the mesh material is wound.
3. The method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the adhering material is applied after the mesh material has been wound into a roll.
4. The method as set forth in claim 3 , wherein the step of injecting includes applying greater pressure during a first, stage to inject the adhering material into a center of said roll, and applying a lesser pressure as the nozzle is drawn away from the center to the outside of the roll.
5. The method as set forth in claim 1 , further comprising the step of spraying or rolling adhering material onto the mesh material before, or as, the roll is wound.
6. The method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the step of applying the adhering material includes applying said adhering material in a plurality of bands spaced from one another along a width of the roll.
7. The method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein the step of applying the adhering material includes selecting an adhering material from a first adhering material having a first adhering strength and a second adhering material having a second adhering strength greater than said first adhering strength, to form a roll with a lesser or a greater degree of resistance to unrolling.
8. A polymeric mesh roll for mine roof and wall support comprising a continuous length or sheet of polymeric mesh material wound into a roll of overlapping layers and secured in a rolled configuration by a foam adhering material that interconnects the overlapped layers within the roll, said roll with said foam adhering material being self-resistant to unrolling.
9. The polymeric mesh roll as set forth in claim 8 , wherein the adhering material is sufficiently strong to prevent the roll from free-wheeling or unwinding due to its own physical properties but which is readily pulled apart layer by layer in response to sufficient manual or mechanical force applied against the roll to incrementally unwind said roll.
10. The polymeric mesh roll as set forth in claim 9 , wherein the adhering material type and/or quantity and the grid material are selected to obtain a roll that will not unwind under its own weight when the roll is suspended by its free end.
11. The polymeric mesh roll as set forth in claim 8 , wherein said foam adhering material includes a further adhesive.
12. The polymeric mesh roll as set forth in claim 8 , wherein said adhering material forms a plurality of bands spaced from one another along a width of said roll.
13. The polymeric mesh roll as set forth in claim 8 , wherein said polymeric grid material is an oriented geogrid.
14. The polymeric mesh roll as set forth in claim 8 , in combination with a mining machine used to install the rolls.
15. The polymeric mesh roll as set forth in claim 8 , wherein the self-resistance of the roll to being unwound can be increased or decreased by applying adhering material of different adhesive strengths and/or in different quantities when forming the roll, said adhering material penetrating toward a center of the roll so that substantially all of the overlapping layers are secured to one another by said adhering material.
16. The polymeric mesh roll as set forth in claim 8 , wherein the self-resistance of the roll to being unwound can be increased or decreased by selecting a grid material of lesser or greater stiffness, respectively, a grid material of greater stiffness having a greater inherent resistance to being rolled into a wound configuration.
17. A method of installing polymeric mesh rolls onto a mine roof or wall comprising:
providing a polymeric mesh roll that is self-resistant to unwinding;
supporting the roll on a mining machine used to install the roll and holding said roll against an outwardly projecting member of said mining machine;
applying mechanical force to the roll by movement of the mining machine to unwind a portion of the roll while a remainder of said roll remains intact and is held against the outwardly projecting member; and
fastening said unwound portion to said mine roof or wall.
18. The method as set forth in claim 17 , wherein said step of providing a mesh roll includes winding a length of polymeric mesh material into a roll and applying an adhering material to the mesh material, said adhering material bonding overlapping layers of said mesh material to one another to make the roll self-resistant to unwinding.
19. The method as set forth in claim 18 , wherein the step of applying an adhering material includes applying the adhering material to the mesh material before, or as, the mesh material is wound.
20. The method as set forth in claim 18 , wherein the step of applying an adhering material includes applying the adhering material to the mesh material after the mesh material has been wound into a roll.
21. The method as set forth in claim 18 , wherein the step of applying force to unwind the roll includes breaking a bond between an outer layer and a layer directly under said outer layer to form said unwound portion, and continuing to apply force to said unwound portion to incrementally unwind the roll by breaking the bond between each subsequent layer and a layer thereunder moving from the outer layer inwardly to a center of the roll.
22. The combination of a polymeric mesh roll self-resistant to unwinding and a mining machine for installing the roll on a mine surface, comprising:
a mining machine having an outwardly projecting member; and
a polymeric mesh roll held against said outwardly projecting member, said mesh roll including a continuous length or sheet of polymeric mesh material wound into a roll of overlapping layers and secured in a rolled configuration by an adhering material that interconnects the overlapped layers within the roll so that the roll is self-resistant to unrolling, said roll being rotated against the outwardly projecting member by movement of the mining machine and pushed thereby so that the adhering material securing two outermost layers of the roll is pulled apart, allowing a length of the roil to be incrementally unwound layer by layer as the machine moves, said outwardly projecting member holding the unwound length of said roll in place against the mine surface during installation.
23. The combination as set forth in claim 22 , wherein said outwardly projecting component is an upwardly directed drill rod.
24. The combination as set forth in claim 22 , wherein said mining machine is selected from the group consisting of continuous miners/bolters, roof bolters and jumbos.