IMPROVEMENTS IN ELEVATING AND CONVEYING APPARATUS, CHIEFLY DESIGNED FOR DISCHARGING GRAIN FROM SHIPS
Year: 1881

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Herbert Garland at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents on the 20th August 1881.
HERBERT GARLAND, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster.
"IMPROVEMENTS
IN ELEVATING AND CONVEYING APPARATUS, CHIEFLY DESIGNED FOR DISCHARGING
GRAIN FROM SHIPS."
My Invention relates to improvements in elevating and conveying apparatus,
chiefly designed for discharging grain from ships and the like, and consists in
various novel features hereinafter described. By these improvements I render such.
elevators much lighter and consequently more portable than elevators as heretofore.
constructed. They are therefore capable of being more readily placed in poitions
for work.
In carrying the said Invention into practice I employ in combination with what
I term a main elevator a series (preferably four) of auxiliary elevators, frames, or
legs, which extend downward from the said main elevator into the grain in the
ship's hold, and on each side of the screw shaft tunnel. These frames or legs are
designed to convey the grain or other material to the main elevator, and instead of
being rigid as in elevators as heretofore constructed are hinged or jointed at their
upper ends to the said main elevator in such a manner that they may be expanded
fore and aft of the vessel's hold so as to pick up the grain or other material at a
considerable distance from the main elevator. By this means I am enabled in a
great measure to dispense with scrapers.
I construct the main elevator in two parts or halves, each of which is provided
with endless ropes and buckets or pockets as hereinafter described, and which,
when desired, may be disconnected so that each part may be used separately or in
two different holds at the same time. This arrangement moreover permits an
elevator constructed for discharging grain or other material from a large vessel to
be readily adapted for smaller craft when required, as by separating the said parts
two separate and distinct elevators will be formed. Each of the said parts is
provided with two of the aforesaid auxiliary elevators, frames, or legs which
convey the grain or other material into the same as above described.
To convey
or raise the grain or other material from the lower to the upper or discharge end
071

page_text: of the main elevator, I employ in each part or half of the latter endless steel wire
ropes lined with hemp, and having secured to them a series of collapsible pockets.
To prevent these ropes from slipping when in motion and when passing around
the pulleys, wheels, or rollers, at the top and bottom of the elevator I provide the
said rope with small pieces of metal at certain distances apart, which pieces enter
recesses in the said wheels or rollers. The aforesaid collapsible pockets are formed
of two plates, preferably of steel, connected by canvas, the front plate being hinged
and so arranged that when the said pockets commence their upward movement
they will fill and be expanded by the grain or other material, whilst in their
descent and after they have discharged the grain or other material their hinged
face plate will come in contact with the side of the elevator and will cause the said
pockets to collapse. The aforesaid steel wire ropes (one arranged at each end
of the pockets) are connected by small metal brackets or arms to the back plate
of the said pockets, and will be found much cheaper, lighter, and more flexible
than the chains ordinarily used, and the collapsible pockets will also be found
much lighter than the ordinary rigid buckets or pockets; and although my
improved pockets are of the same capacity I am enabled to reduce the width or
size of the main elevator by reason of the fact that when collapsed, that is to say,
in their descent, the said pockets require much less space to travel in.
facilitate the movement or collapsing of tho said pockets I prefer to provide the
same with small friction rollers.
To
To convey the grain or other material from the main elevator and discharge it
in two opposite directions, say, for instance, onto a quay and into a lighter or into
two floating vessels, prefer to employ two endless bands arranged in close
proximity to the discharge openings of the said main elevator.
In some cases I provide the said main elevator with apparatus for weighing the
grain or other material prior to its delivery upon the said endless bands.
"
The aforesaid main elevator may be stationary or may be made movable to
enable it to be lowered into a ship's hold as desired, and may be suspended from a
ship's derrick.
In some cases the aforesaid frames or legs may be made separate from the.main
elevator so that they may be adjusted independently of the same, and instead of
employing endless bands for conveying the grain or other material to a quay,
wharf, or the like as above described, I sometimes employ in combination with
the main elevator an auxiliary elevator which conveys the grain or other material
from the said main elevator and deposits it in a suitable hopper or receiver from
which the grain falls through a canvas or other chute onto the quay, wharf, or
the like.