Bucket Elevators Specifications

A bucket elevator is the most efficient and widely used material handling equipment. A bucket elevator is used to elevate the material vertically with the help of buckets. It consists of:

1.Buckets to contain the material.
2.A belt to carry the buckets and transmit the pull.
3.Means to drive the belt.
4.Accessories for loading the buckets or picking up the material, for receiving the discharged material, for maintaining the belt tension and for enclosing and protecting the elevator.

A centrifugal discharge elevator may be vertical or inclined. Vertical elevators depend entirely on the action of centrifugal force to get the material into the discharge chute and must be run at speeds relatively high. Inclined elevators with buckets spaced apart or set close together may have the discharge chute set partly under the head pulley.

Nearly all centrifugal discharge elevators have spaced buckets with rounded bottoms. They pick up their load from a boot, a pit, or a pile of material at the foot pulley.

The buckets can be also triangular in cross section and set close to on the belt with little or no clearance between them. This is a continuous bucket elevator. Its main use is to carry difficult materials at slow speed.

Early bucket elevators used a flat chain with small, steel buckets attached every few inches. While some elevators still are manufactured with a chain and steel buckets, most current bucket elevator construction uses a rubber belt with plastic buckets. Pulleys are used at the top and bottom. The top pulley is driven by an electric motor.

The bucket elevator is the enabling technology that permitted the construction of grain elevators. A diverter at the top of the elevator allows the grain to be sent to the chosen bin.

The bucket elevators can be divided into three main parts as following

1. Elevator Top:-
It is the topmost section of an elevator which consists of a Pulley (Rubberized). This pulley rotates the elevator belt & buckets over it. The pulley is driven with a suitable geared motor. The lifted material is transmit through the outlet shoot of the Elevator Top.

2. Elevator Casing:-
This is the middle fabricated part of an elevator. It generally covers the moving belt & buckets. An inspection window, a sight glass & a large service window is given in it for any maintenance.

3. Elevator Boot(Bottom):-
This is the bottom part of an elevator though which the material enters the elevator and buckets continuously lift it. It consists of a bottom Pulley (Rubberized). This couple of pulleys (Top & Bottom) rotates the whole belt system of elevator. It is s fabricated body having adjustment of pulley/belt tension