The Mechanical Handling and Storing of Material

702 THE MECHANICAL HANDLING OF MATERIAL passage of railway trucks along the dock side, being raised on legs, which is a novel feature. The leg of the elevator can not only be raised and lowered, but it can also be swung from side to side, thus enabling a large area to be covered without it being necessary to change the position of the boat which is in course of unloading. The ship elevator, when not in use, can be raised out of the way, and this raising and lowering is effected by means of an electrically driven winch in the tower, and the elevator is balanced by weights, which greatly facilitates the operation. The elevator is capable of dealing with 150 tons of grain per hour. Vessels in any position on the quay side can be dealt with, and the following sequence of operations briefly explains the method of unloading. The ship elevator is lowered into the hold, and the grain elevated, weighed, and passed on to 27-in. wide band conveyors in the gantry parallel to the wharf, which feed on to either of the two bands, one 27 in. and the other 36 in., in the other gantry. The grain is then elevated by one of two 150-ton per hour elevators to the top of the silo building, and from thence it is distributed to any required bin or storage room. The front gantry, alongside which the ship elevator travels, is 530 ft. long, and grain is taken in from the ship elevator at any point along this distance. The approach gantry leading to the receiving house is 300 ft. long. There are eighty-two bins and six storage floors, and these latter are each arranged with thirty-six floor spouts, which are fitted with sliding sleeves at the top and bottom, by means of which the grain may be fed to or taken from any floor. By raising the top sleeve and placing a conical cap or spreader on to the spout, the grain may be distributed over the floor to any required height. To discharge the grain it is necessary to raise the bottom sleeve and to lower the same when sufficiént grain has been drawn off. For taking out sacks from the granary, they are carried on the bands in the approach gantry to an outside conveyor in the centre of the front gantry, delivering direct to ships and barges. This conveyor may be housed in a tower in the centre of the front gantry. The band is completely enclosed, and there is thus no risk of the grain being damaged when being loaded out. This band may also be used for loading out in bulk. On the first floor of the building are six Avery portable grain weighers with sacking- off appliances. The grain, when sacked off, can be delivered by sack shoots either into trucks or on to sack bands, which extend along both gantries and thence through shoots into boats. The outgoing grain can also be handled in bulk with equal facility. On the ground floor a number of conveyors are placed, and these are fed from the silos, and delivery of the grain is effected to either of the elevators. These conveyors aie used for turning over purposes. The bands, over the silos and floor storage, are capable of dealing with 300 tons of grain per hour. The machinery equipment includes twenty-two motors with an aggregate of 270 H.P. The majority of the motors are back-geared, and the band conveyors and elevators are driven by chains, thus obviating the use of the large gear wheels generally found on elevator heads. This method of drive is stated to have proved very satisfactory, light, and remarkably free from noise. The power is transmitted to the travelling ship elevator through a series of plugs placed along the front gantry, a loud speaking telephone being meanwhile connected up by the single plug. In conclusion, it may be said that the buildings were constructed by Stuait s Granolithic Co., Ltd., of Bedford Row, W.C., and the gantries and grain-handling machinery were manufactured and erected by Henry Simon, Ltd., of Mount Street, Manchester—all to the requirements of Mr J. B. Ball, M.Inst.C.E., the engineer-in- chief of the Great Central Railway Co.