Self-powered bolt-on dust filter for underground continuous
This technology is a vibration-powered dust filter designed to mount directly onto a continuous miner — the large machine that cuts rock in underground coal and hard-rock mines. Instead of requiring a separate power source or motor to shake the filter clean, the system harvests the vibration the mining machine already produces during normal operation and uses it to continuously agitate the mesh, preventing dust from clogging it. The result is passive, self-cleaning filtration that captures respirable dust particles at the source without adding mechanical complexity or energy draw.
What you could build
A bolt-on filter module sold as an OEM accessory or aftermarket retrofit for continuous miners, targeting mining equipment manufacturers like Sandvik and Komatsu Mining, as well as underground coal and hard-rock mining operators subject to MSHA dust exposure regulations.
Who in Virginia should care
Virginia has active underground coal mining operations in the southwestern coalfields (Buchanan, Dickenson, Wise counties) where MSHA compliance costs are a persistent pressure — regional mine operators and safety equipment distributors would be a natural first audience.
Readiness: Concept
Concept — described but not yet demonstrated. Lab validated — supported by experimental results in the patent. Prototype likely — the text describes a built, working embodiment.
Readiness is inferred from the patent text, not from a lab visit.
The record
- Inventors
- Sunghwan JUNG, Lei PAN, Hassan AMINI, Aaron NOBLE, Shima SHAHAB
- Filed
- Patent pending — filed January 17, 2025
- Status
- Application
- Publication number
- US20260028909A1
Ready to talk?
Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties handles licensing for this technology.
Prosim summaries are generated from public patent text and are not legal advice.