A dredging apparatus comprising a floating device and a frame suspended adjustably therein. The frame supports reversing wheels 1,2 for an endless conveying member 3 provided with blades 4 for loosening and feeding upwards the soil material. The apparatus is further provided with a chute 29 for receiving the material discharged from the members. The endless conveying member 3 comprises a closed endless belt 3 flexible in at least one direction perpendicular to its surface and provided with digging blades or partitions 4 fixed thereon. The frame is provided with a tube 9 open at top and bottom. The upwards running section of the endless belt 3 runs through the tube 9 which encloses the belt 3 with blades 4 with a small clearance. Furthermore, the frame has a part 14 projecting downwards beyond the tube and supporting a reversing wheel 2 for the belt 3. The angle of that part with respect to the vertical is adjustable such that the belt section 22 can engage the bottom at the inlet of tube 9. The downwards running section 18 extends through a tube 17 as well which has its top above water level and to which air may be supplied.
A continuous-operation extraction apparatus for strip mining that is self propelled on continuous track treads. A cylindrically-shaped cutting extractor has cutting tools arranged on its peripheral surface. Recesses are provided in this peripheral surface for the transfer of extracted material through a chute to a first conveyor that is located axially within the cylinder of the cutting extractor. A second conveyor having loading carts connects with the first conveyor and receives the loosened material from the first conveyor. The first conveyor has an inside section which emerges from a front side of the cylinder and merges outside into a sloping conveyance section which extends vertically to substantially an upper edge of a chassis. An overhead ascending section is connected to the inside section and terminates in a transfer region where the extracted material is transferred to the second conveyor.
A shoe mechanism adapted for use on a dredging apparatus (10) to remove silt from under the surface of a body of water and associated method, the dredging apparatus being operative in both a forward and reverse direction of travel and including an excavating wheel assembly (16), the shoe mechanism including a pair of outer shoe assemblies (18) pivotally connected to the wheel frame assembly (24), one of the shoe assemblies being located adjacent a portion of the wheel assembly (16) on the leading side thereof and one of the shoe assemblies being located adjacent a portion of the wheel assembly (16) on the trailing side thereof, each of the outer shoe assemblies (18) being pivotally movable between an operative position wherein the shoe assembly is positioned adjacent the outermost circumference (28) of the wheel assembly (16) between the silt bed and a point above the water level, and a retracted position wherein the shoe assembly is spaced from the outermost circumference (28) of the wheel assembly (16), one of the outer shoe assemblies being positioned in its operative position and the other shoe assembly being positioned in its retracted position during a dredging operation. Each outer shoe assembly may likewise include a latching mechanism (88,94,100) for holding the shoe assembly in its operative position and a release mechanism (54,56,62,64) operative to permit the shoe assembly to pivot a sufficient distance away from the excavating wheel assembly (16) when in its operative position in the event that a foreign object becomes trapped between the excavating wheel assembly (16) and the shoe assembly (18).
