METHOD AND DEVICE FOR MONITORING OPERATION OF A MINING MACHINE UNIT
The present invention pertains to a method for monitoring operation of a mining machine unit (30), particularly of a longwall mining system (10), having a shield unit (32) connected to a material removing unit (12) by means of an actuator (36) for adjusting a distance between the shield unit (32) and the material removing unit (12), the method comprises the steps of determining a position change of the shield unit (32) during an actuating operation of the actuator (36); and a step of detecting a malfunction of the mining machine unit (30) based on the determined position change.