The Mechanical Handling and Storing of Material

TRANSPORTERS, BRIDGE OR CANTILEVER CRANES 439 In the single purchase form of traveller there is, of course, no fall-block, the load being lifted direct on the lifting rope, which is provided with a ball for the purpose of actuating the mechanism in the same way as is done by the fall-block in the double purchase form. The arrangement of the system of interlocking links, etc., remains the same, but the method of suspending the sustaining hooks is modified to suit the conditions. In this traveller the bell is articulated transversely and longitudinally, permitting of a universal movement which allows the load to swing or be lifted from any point considerably removed from the point vertically underneath without chafing the rope. Fig. 615 shows a Temperley Tower Transporter, which, in addition to the ordinary motions of lifting and lowering, transporting and travelling, is fitted with slewing gear. The tower is mounted on a carriage on which is a track for the slewing wheels to run on, and this enables the whole superstructure to revolve. The advantage of this, when picking up goods from several railway lines and placing them in any part of a barge or small vessel, is obvious. The principal dimensions of this transporter are :— Total transporting distance - - - - - 139 ft. Maximum overreach over water to centre of track - 96 ,, Maximum overreach over land to centre of track - - 43 ,, Gauge of track - - - - - - 26 „ Working load ------ tons. Temperley Transporter at the Vizcaya Works, Bilbao.—A typical installa- tion of the Temperley transporter may be seen at the Vizcaya Works, Bilbao, in Spain, where it is used for discharging coal to be converted into coke for the blast-furnaces. This transporter is of the travelling tower type. The transporter works at a speed of 700 to 800 ft. per minute along the beam. On reaching the point at which it is desired to lower the load, the driver stops his engine and throws the hoisting drum out of gear. Thereupon the traveller commences to run down the beam and automatically engages with the first stop it meets as already described. By continuing to pay out rope, the skip and its contents are lowered by the brake, until it is a foot or two from the ground or at the top of the stock heap. Then, on commencing to lift, the bucket will automati- cally discharge its contents. As the driver reverses the engine, the traveller with the empty skip runs down the beam under the control of the brake at a speed of from 800 to 1,000 ft. per minute. On reaching the bottom stop over the vessel, the traveller automatically engages and releases the fall-block, the driver continuing to pay out rope until the skip has reached the bottom of the vessel. The cycle of operations with a 1-J-ton load occupies one minute. Temperley Transporter at the West Middlesex Waterworks.—The West Middlesex Waterworks, Hammersmith, have also a modern installation of this type for unloading coal. It is illustrated in Fig. 616, and consists of a fixed transporter for loads of 30 cwt., lifting at the rate of 150 ft. per minute, and transporting along the beam at a speed of 800 ft. per minute, the total length of the beam being 328 ft. The travelling transporter is for the same load and speed, and the total length of the beam is 100 ft. The fixed transporter takes its loads from the barges and conveys them over a public footpath and two boiler houses, and delivers either to these boiler-houses or to the store yard beyond. The travelling transporter can command the whole length of the yard, and is also used for bringing the coal to the fixed transporter which conveys it to the boiler-houses.