The Mechanical Handling and Storing of Material

PICKING BELTS OR TABLES i°5 return belt on the under side has to clear the side of the wagon. The terminal drum of necessity occupies a considerable space, unless the belt is composed of very narrow plates and short links. In the second place, the return belt on the same side has to make a bend forming an obtuse angle at the top of the jib end, and if the plates have a normal amount of lap there is the danger of their being stripped off the links. This latter difficulty may be met by making the links so that the centre of the pins coincide with the line of the plate (see Fig. 135). In this case the belt bends equally well in either direction; but wear and tear in Fig. 136. Everett’s Loading Device. the joints will gradually cause gaps between the plates and the pins through which small coal may drop, this being an objection to an otherwise good design. A much better plan is the provision of a separate lowering belt with shorter links, so that terminals of smaller diameter can be used, which may be four-sided only. This belt may be provided with a plain shoot in which the chains travel with the angle-bars between them at intervals, the angles serving to prevent the coal from running down the belt. Even under these conditions the hinder part of the wagon cannot be reached, and at the front end some drop of the coal is inevitable, for, if the cross-pieces are steeply