The Mechanical Handling and Storing of Material

THE MECHANICAL HANDLING OF MATERIAL 700 are adopted for each conveyor. The conveyors in the third section are provided with travelling throw-off carriages for use near the extreme end where the tunnel opens out into a spacious chamber near the granary basement. Here the grain is weighed by automatic weighing machines and discharged into the boots of . the four main elevators, each capable of lifting 100 tons per hour to the top of the floor of the granary. The main elevators deliver the grain to the four bands traversing the whole length of the granary over the heads of the silos and grain floors, and by means of travelling throw-off carriages provided on each of the bands the grain is discharged into any one of the seventy-eight silos or upon any of the grain floors. The four weighing elevators and four main elevators are driven each by a 30 B.H.P. motor, each motor at the same time driving a length of conveyor band. The grain floors are fitted with 12-in. diameter steel shoots, continuous through all the floors down to the sacking-off platform, valves being fitted for receiving and discharging the grain at any floor. An interesting feature in connection with this machinery is the arrangement of “ re-elevating ” bands in two small subways constructed under the granary. By means of these conveyors grain can be taken from any silo or any part of the floor granary, reweighed and re-elevated to another silo, or placed upon any other floor as may be desired, or heated grain can be circulated from silo to floor or vice versa, and small parcels of grain can be removed from the silo to a floor to make room for incoming grain. Each of these bands is driven by a 15 B.H.P. enclosed type motor. For the dispatch of grain to coasting steamers or to other small craft a special conveyor for carrying loaded sacks or loose grain has been erected in an overhead gallery. The inner end of this conveyor extends below the sacking-off platform. The sacks or loose grain are passed through openings in the platform on to the band, and are delivered at the dock side through shoots into various craft. This conveyor is fitted with two-speed gear, the band speed for loose grain being 650 ft. per minute, and that for sacks 200 ft. per minute. The band is in two sections of unequal length. The inner section of 450 ft. is driven by a 30 B.H.P. motor and the outer length of about 220 ft. by a 15 B.H.P. motor placed in a house below. All the elevators and conveyors are driven from their respective motors by cut gearing and roller chains. Immingham Dock Granary.—The general arrangement will be seen from the illustrations, Figs. 1003 and 1004. Figs. 1005 and 1006 give two cross sections; whilst the granary itself is represented in plan by Fig. 1007 ; the top floor in Fig. 1008. The dimensions of the building are about 127 ft. by 137 ft. 6 in. Of the latter dimension 74 ft. are occupied by the silos, whilst the remaining 63 ft. 6 in. constitute the floor granary, which extends to six floors above the ground floor. The silo portion of the granary consists of 82 silos, each 10 ft. square in the clear, and the height from the hoppered silo outlet to the floor above the bins is approximately 50 ft. The walls of the silos are 6 in. thick, reinforced with horizontal and vertical rods in both faces. The bins are designed to act independently, that is to say, one bin may be full of grain and the adjoining bins empty without causing undue stress to the structure. All internal angles are finished with a 3-in. splay, and f-in. rods are provided at 12-in. intervals across the corners to form ladders for access to the bins. The bottoms of the bins are splayed to the outlet and have reinforced concrete varying from 4 in. to 51-• in. in thickness, with beams formed in the angles under the walls, practically of triangular form, with a width of 3 ft. at the bottom. The bars from the walls and the sloping bottoms are carried well into these beams, which are in turn connected to the columns which serve to support the bins. The silo bottoms are of cast iron. The external walls of the silo portion of the building are formed of 8 in. of concrete