Elevator conveyors move materials vertically without transporting them. They can be powered by electricity, petrol engines or hand crank. They are used in mining, warehouse shipping, grain storage and shipping, and were once used to move people.
An elevator conveyor is a continuous belt that can move materials from one height or elevation to another. These conveyors can be powered by electricity, petrol engines or even hand crank. They are useful whenever materials need to be moved vertically up or down in storage or processing without transporting them.
Many materials can be transported on an elevator conveyor and many system designs reflect this. Small parts can be moved in metal or plastic buckets secured to the tape. The buckets will automatically unload the parts into other belts or storage bins when they reach the top of the conveyor. These belts run continuously on cylinders located at each end. This motion causes the tape to roll up and back down upside down or upside down.
The conveyor can be a belt with vertical separators to catch materials and move them up or down. For heavier materials that can damage pails or separators, however, the belt can be manufactured with pads or pads that add friction and keep the material from sliding. The belt can be smooth and slanted or angled at a smaller angle to prevent the material from sliding back.
Mining and ore processing are a common use of a lift conveyor. Raw ore can be moved from the mine over long distances and different elevations to processing plants. Processing normally includes several stages of crushing or grinding and belt systems are used to move the ore through the dry parts of the process to the extraction stage. Waste rock can also be moved via conveyor belts to landfill areas.
Warehouse shipping operations use these systems to move packages in and out of the warehouse and to prepare parts or products for shipment. Electronic controls can be installed to remotely bring products to shipment via automatic sorting equipment. A computer can tell a robot to pick a product from the warehouse and place it on the elevator conveyor. Sorting equipment can read codes or chips embedded on boxes or parts and automatically transfer the part onto several belts that run to designated shipping zones.
Grain storage and shipping use elevator systems to transport product to and from storage silos, through sizing or inspection equipment, and on to shipment. Shipping ports typically use large conveyors to load grain cargo directly into ships. Grain processing factories can move grain directly into rail cars with conveyors, with scales and computers to weigh, automatically load and unload the grain.
Until the mid-1800s, a lift conveyor was often used to move people. Vertical elevators ran between floors in the factory with a platform and handrail at regular intervals. Employees can step onto the footrest, hold the handrail, and be carried up or down as needed. The invention of the electric safety lift by Elisha Otis in the 1850s finally made elevators obsolete. A descendant of the conveyor remains in the 21st century as the escalator, which is an inclined escalator with metal steps running in a continuous loop.
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