Moving Loose Materials With Bucket Elevators

By Author: Carolyn Clayton
Total Articles: 497
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Early in history man realized, that it was difficult and timely to move large loads of material. Archaeologists, in their digs have found proof that bucket elevators were used in ancient Egypt. It was, of course much cruder than used today due to lack of machinery development. Their method was using clay pots pulled by hemp rope. One can imagine several thousand slaves filling the buckets with water and pulling on the rope to move them. However this is one way they kept water transported to the fields or their master's houses. Today the world is fortunate to have Bucket elevators.

It was in the sixties that the term 'heavy duty " was attached to them. Today these elevators are used throughout the world in all kinds of industry. They are used to move large loads of many different loose products. Things such as grain, coal and other materials, that need to be moved in volume, are using this method of transport.

As with the slaves of old, the principal parts of the machine are the buckets (clay pots), a belt for transporting the bucket (hemp rope) and a way to move the belt (slaves). Looking at it this way it is possible ...
... to follow the path of the development of this very useful tool which is so prevalent in today's society.

This bucket arrangement can be vertical or inclined depending on its usage. Also, the spacing or size of the buckets may be different. If going from underground to surface or from ground to a higher elevation, for example, it would have to be vertical. If inclined it would be moving materials at a slight angle, similar to an assembly line.

Because of the wide variety of uses, these elevators are now classified by variables. The purpose of their use, the size of the buckets and many other things came into play. Various accessories keep the machine running at a high efficiency level.

Basically, the fundamental principles of this device has remained the same. It is to move loose materials from one location to another in an orderly fashion. Whether it scoops up the material and then pours it on arrival at its destination or whether material is dumped into the buckets prior to transport it still remains the same basic operation.

This machine has excellent qualities for manufacturers of products that use loose materials. Inclined elevators have buckets that are relatively close together and run rather slowly. Vertical elevators, on the other hand can be run at a high or low speed depending on the material being moved. They can scoop, dump and perform any other operations needed.

These elevators are used in all areas of commerce such for moving things from frozen foods to sand. When sand, for example, must be moved several feet high in a foundry or some such operation, it would be impossible task to accomplish using manpower. This machinery handles the job very nicely.

An excellent advantage of this machinery is the small amount of floor space required to install. A vertical bucket can occupy as little as 3 feet of floor space. The inclined, while taking more floor space, would occupy a narrow width which could be easily arranged. Having a bucket elevator in any type of business, which requires moving large quantities of loose material, is a way of having a fast and efficient method of getting the job done.
For more information on Conveyor Systems and Bucket Elevators please visit Gough & Co (Engineering) Ltd.