Swing arm plow apparatuses and methods

1. A longwall mining swing-arm plow, comprising:

a longwall mining walker-shield having a base and a base lift advancing mechanism to move the longwall mining walker-shield;

a longwall mining walker-shield connecting bar attached to the walker-shield; and

a swing-arm plow attached to the walker-shield connecting bar, the swing-arm plow having:

a plow panel attached to the walker-shield connecting bar by a hinge; and

a sweeping actuator attached to the walker-shield connecting bar at a first end and the swing-arm plow at a second end to push the swing-arm plow in an arc around the hinge.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the hinge is a metal rod placed through holes in the walker-shield connecting bar and the swing-arm plow.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the swing-arm plow is adjacent to the ground.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a sliding plow panel, that includes:

a fixed plow panel attached to the walker-shield connecting bar by the hinge;

a sliding plow panel adjacent to the fixed plow panel in a first position and extending lengthwise from the fixed plow panel in a second position; and

an extending actuator attached to the fixed plow panel at a first end and the sliding plow panel at a second end, the extending actuator moving the sliding plow panel to the first and second positions.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 , further comprising a plurality of guides attached to the fixed plow panel and extending around at least a portion of the sliding plow panel to maintain the sliding plow panel in alignment with the fixed plow panel in both the sliding plow panel retracted position and the sliding plow panel extended position.

6. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the extending actuator includes a first tube and a second tube, the second tube sliding within the first tube.

7. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the plurality of hinge pin brackets attach the extending actuator to the fixed plow panel and the sliding plow panel.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 , the extending actuator further comprising a first tube and a sliding tube, the sliding tube sliding at least partially within the fixed tube, the fixed plow panel attached to the first tube and the sliding plow panel attached to the sliding tube.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 , further comprising a swing-arm bracket attached to the sliding plow panel and attached to the sliding tube by a hinge pin.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 , further comprising a plurality of guides attached to the sliding plow panel and extending at least partially around the fixed plow panel to maintain the sliding plow panel in alignment with the fixed plow panel in both the sliding plow panel retracted position and the sliding plow panel extended position.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the swing-arm plow panel is attached to a tube that is coupled to the sweeping actuator.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , further comprising a plurality of hinge pin brackets attaching the swing-arm plow panel to the tube.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the swing-arm plow panel contacts the tube, preventing the swing-arm plow panel from rotating toward the tube when the sweeping actuator is extended.

14. A longwall mining swing-arm plow, comprising: a longwall mining walker-shield connecting bar for attachment to at least one walker-shield; and

a swing-arm plow attached to the walker-shield connecting bar, the swing-arm plow having:

a fixed plow panel attached to the walker-shield connecting bar by a hinge;

a sliding plow panel adjacent to the fixed plow panel in a first position and extending lengthwise from the fixed plow panel in a second position

an extending actuator attached to the fixed plow panel at a first end and the sliding plow panel at a second end and having a first tube and a second tube, the second tube sliding within the first tube, the first tube and the second tube have a keyed cross-sectional shape that minimizes rotation of the first tube in relation to the second tube, the extending actuator moving the sliding plow panel to the first and second positions; and

a sweeping actuator attached to the walker-shield connecting bar at a first end and the swing-arm plow at a second end to push the swing-arm plow in an arc around the hinge.

15. A method of removing a shield from a shield panel in a longwall mining operation, comprising:

arranging a walker-shield perpendicular to the shield to be removed;

attaching the walker-shield to a walker-shield connecting bar;

attaching a swing-arm plow to the walker-shield connecting bar by a hinge;

removing the shield to be removed; and

operating a swing-arm plow to push debris away from the vicinity of the shield being removed.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising attaching the walker-shield connecting bar to the walker-shield by a chain and hook fastened along a long side of the walker-shield connecting bar.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:

returning the swing-arm plow to its original position;

moving the walker-shield; and

repeating operation of the swing-arm plow.

18. A method of operating a swing-arm plow, comprising:

attaching the fixed plow to a walker-shield using a bar, the fixed plow attached to the bar by a hinge, such that the sweeping actuator moves in an arc from the bar

actuating an extending actuator to extend a sliding plow in alignment with a fixed plow;

actuating a sweeping actuator to sweep debris with the fixed and sliding plows;

retracting the sweeping actuator; and

retracting the extending actuator.

19. The apparatus of claim 18 , further comprising returning the swing-arm plow to its original position, moving the walker-shield, and repeating actuation of the swing-arm plow.