The Mechanical Handling and Storing of Material

376 THE MECHANICAL HANDLING OE MATERIAL hearth has been dispensed with altogether. Whether this curtailing or omission is altogether a wise plan cannot be determined until installations on such lines have demonstrated their practical advantages by the test of time. Ihe Allport loader (Fig. 528) belongs to the category of installations with short ramps. Here the coke is mechanically quenched, and then slides over a bar screen (the slack falling into a truck) on to a wide band conveyor mounted on a carriage which can be moved into the loading position, and there fill the trucks. I he machine consists of a frame with its bearings b and axles c, which is raised on rails d- the conveyor has hexagonal terminals /and/p with their spindles e and ; the band is of wire construction, and can therefore be used to make a further classification of the coke, by adjusting the mesh so as to allow a certain portion to fall through into truck /z, whilst the large coke is delivered into truck i. These conveyors are preferably made in pairs when the space between them is covered by plate k. The machine is driven by a wire rope running parallel with the ramp, and engaging the wheels Z and m, which in their turn are connected by worm and worm wheel to the conveyor, and also to the gearing for the movements of the carriage; these movements are controlled by levers n and o. The first installation which was erected at the Wharncliffe Woodmoor Colliery, near Barnsley, was unfortunately not a success, as the coke was delivered into the trucks so hot as to set them on fire. Several modifications of this system have been made by the inven- tor and others, but no thoroughly satisfactory results have been obtained; the best modi- fication is a more substantial conveyor on which the coke is re-quenched and allowed to cool before it is set in motion to fill the trucks. The form of loading appliance mostly used in English cokeries for very short slopes is that at the New Brancepeth Colliery (see Fig. 529), an iron receptacle about 30 ft. long, and running on a track parallel with the coke ovens. This receptacle slopes at an angle of about 40°, and forms a continuation of the hearth, its upper edge being flush with it. 1 he sides are of iron plate, and the lower end of the receptacle is closed by two balanced lattice doors operated by worm gearing. Ropes attached to either end of the receptacle are wound on drums which can be operated alternately by motors, so as to move the machine to and fro along the battery. Where the coke is to be loaded at once, the receptacle is run up an incline to a screen over which it is emptied direct into the railway trucks. The bar screens are so arranged as to have the same slope as the receptacle, so that the coke slides down at a. uniform speed. These screens are generally 30 ft. wide, the same as the receptacle, but in large plants the screen may be twice as wide as the receptacle or conveyor truck, so that each load may rest a while for further cooling. Where space does not permit the use of an inclined track, as at South Brancepeth, a hoist is used. A similar installation to that of the New Brancepeth Colliery, but on a more extensive scale, is now in use at the cokery of the Woodward Iron Co., Woodward, U.S.A. Here the receptacle is much larger and of a slightly different form, whilst the coke is quenched by pipes with flattened nozzles placed on the top Fig. 529. Cooling and Loading Receptacle at the New Brancepeth Colliery.