Modern Gasworks Practice

I III ' • 1 328 MODERN GAS WORKS PRACTICE Telpherage possesses characteristics differing from those of any oth.cr type of conveyor. These may be enumerated as follows:— 1. The telplier is a combination of conveyor and elevator, and it will, therefore, perform the double duty of lifting and carrying. 2. The points of loading and discharge are variable within the range of its terminals to an infinite degree ; material can, therefore, be “ picked up,” conveyed or dropped anywhere. 13. The control may be (a) directly at the load by means of an operator travelling with the machine, (b) from one fixed point, or (c) from several independent points at any distance apart. Generally the direct control is adopted, as it is the simplest, cheapest, and most positive. 14. The ratio of cost of wearing parts to that of fixed structure is very low indeed, and, therefore, the niaintenance and depreciation costs are considerably less tlian for any other conveyor. lllJ I 5. Telpliers of the high-speed type require an operator per machine, whereas in the case of conveyors of the “ belt,” “ push-plate ” or “ bucket ” type one operator can attend to the running of two or more conveyors if they are not far apart, and the discharge points do not require frequent alteration. Conveyors of this type cannot, however, be run, as is sometimes supposed, without attention. ' 6. A telpher can be automatically loaded from a heap and also similarly dis-charged by fitting any of the well-known types of grab, or, if the material to be dealt with is more conveniently and quickly håndled by a skip, there are simple and effective means of loading the skip automatically from a storage hopper. 7. Any material conveyed. by a telplier can be easily and accurately weighed and totalized in transit. It is rather costly to do this automatically ; but there are many cases where automatic weighing is essential. 8. The telpher conveyor is not confined either to straight lines or, indeed, to any particular direction. The route may be curved to almost any extent within reason, and branch tracks can be run off in any direction from a main line. A brauch track can even be made to travel and maintain contact with a fixed main track when circumstances demand it. The main constructional features of these machines will best be followed from the accompanying illustrations. For a standard telpher of about 35 cwt. gross capacity the travelling motor is of about 6 h.p., and the hoisting motor of 12 h.p. The power, of course, varies with the load to be dealt with and the speed, required. I The whole machine travels along a single track usually formed of a stiil joist with a rail section bolted to the tipper flange. The two bogies on which the carriage is supported are pivoted to allow the machine to traverse curves of small radius, and in some cases they are made to run on the bottom flange of the track girders instead of along a rail. Machines for handling botli coal and coke liave been built to take loads up to 4 or 5 tons at a lifting speed of 80 feet per minute. In such cases the lifting motor is of 35 to 40 h.p. The system of dealing with hot coke direct from the retorts by means of lattice or bar skips attached to the lifting ropes is probably an ideal one. The coke is discharged from the retort direct into the skip, which is hauled up, con-