There is no society with any sort of industry, imports and exports, or connection to the modern world that does not find conveyor uses invaluable. Although this technology was not brought into practicality until the twentieth century, the idea behind it is ancient. Many people knew that a group of individuals could do more transporting of a commodity when each one stood in place and passed the item to the next person.
Think of stevedores unloading freight. The man in the ship does not hoist the bag or bale onto his shoulder and clamber onto the dock. He passes it to one already on land, who often hands it off to another. People fighting a fire fill buckets and pass them along a line in order to speed up delivery.
A conveyor was first used in the mining industry, which today has the longest ones in existence. A moving belt is the easiest way to move loose ore up from underground and then to storage piles and loading areas. Trucks and railroad cars are also loaded by moving under hoppers or chutes filled by the same method.
Basically the system is a loop of material that is pulled along between two pulleys, rotates over the end, and goes back underneath to begin the process over again. One or both pulleys will be powered by an electric motor (although many areas without electricity use another fuel.)
Henry Ford made history in 1913 when he introduced the assembly line to industry, using the conveyor to revolutionize the way things were manufactured from that point on. The system lets an item move from one area of assembly to another, allowing workers to perform the same task over and over with no need to change equipment or use other skills. This reduces the number of workers needed, since a machine does the fetching and carrying, and speeds up production.
For more information on Rebuilt Conveyor Chain or Chain Conveyors in general, please visit Blue Water Manufacturing.
Think of stevedores unloading freight. The man in the ship does not hoist the bag or bale onto his shoulder and clamber onto the dock. He passes it to one already on land, who often hands it off to another. People fighting a fire fill buckets and pass them along a line in order to speed up delivery.
A conveyor was first used in the mining industry, which today has the longest ones in existence. A moving belt is the easiest way to move loose ore up from underground and then to storage piles and loading areas. Trucks and railroad cars are also loaded by moving under hoppers or chutes filled by the same method.
Basically the system is a loop of material that is pulled along between two pulleys, rotates over the end, and goes back underneath to begin the process over again. One or both pulleys will be powered by an electric motor (although many areas without electricity use another fuel.)
Henry Ford made history in 1913 when he introduced the assembly line to industry, using the conveyor to revolutionize the way things were manufactured from that point on. The system lets an item move from one area of assembly to another, allowing workers to perform the same task over and over with no need to change equipment or use other skills. This reduces the number of workers needed, since a machine does the fetching and carrying, and speeds up production.
Farmers use chain conveyors to get hay bales up to a loft, making it possible for only two people to empty a wagon efficiently. Grain and other loose material is often loaded and unloaded with a moving belt. A chain is often used to support a stretch of rubber or other material, or a series of raised ribs that can move items that might slide on a smooth surface. Chains are also very strong and require little maintenance.Other types of traditional systems use flat pans to support the belt, or a series of rollers. These systems are in general slower than a chain-drive, but smoother and quieter. Modern modifications have made it possible to move things around corners, up very steep inclines or vertically using a sandwich of belts, and line objects up in a row with automatic stops when the space is filled.
Many hands were needed to move things in the old days, but thanks to the wide range of conveyor uses the process is now done in large part by machinery.For more information on Rebuilt Conveyor Chain or Chain Conveyors in general, please visit Blue Water Manufacturing.
