LECTURE 31

AERIAL ROPEWAYS V

DR. ANUP KUMAR TRIPATHI

DEPARTMENT OF MINING ENGINEERING

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY KARNATAKA (NITK)
SURATHKAL − 575025, INDIA

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 AERIAL ROPEWAYS V

 Loading Terminal
 It consists of a steel structure supporting the return rope sheave.

 On arrival at the station, buckets automatically disengaged from the rope and continue running on
the rigid shunt rail under the control of auxiliary heavy duty chain haulage and controller system

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Figure 9: General arrangement of a loading station.

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 Incorporation of auxiliary means of automatically controlling the bucket movement ensures their
correct spacing and movement to and from the loading position.

 On arrival at the selected feeder, the bucket is automatically disengaged from the haulage and
mechanically held in position for loading.

 To avoid overloading, on modern systems, the bucket rests on the weight rail of an electronic
weighing machine.

 Arrival of the bucket automatically starts the feeder mechanism and after a pre-set quantity has
been loaded, stops the feeder.

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 After a brief pause, bucket is re-connected to the auxiliary haulage which propels it to the automatic
spacer

 With multiple loading, spacer releases the first bucket, holding the second for the appropriate
interval before releasing it.

 On leaving the spacer, bucket travels down the accelerating grade at the bottom of which it
engages with the rope to start its journey to the unloading point.

 Rotary loading system generally employed in case of high-capacity operation

 For bucket loading on smaller capacity systems, expense of a rotary loader may not be considered
justifiable, in which case hopper and chute loading may be employed.

 Chutes either hand operated or power controlled

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Figure 10: Rotary loading system.

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 Drive Terminal
 Drive terminal may incorporate a discharge arrangement or unloading may be effected at some point
before the terminal.

 For systems embracing a mainly descending load, a loading feature is often included.

 Drive terminal embracing a discharge function more common

 Structurally, drive terminal is generally similar to the loading terminal in terms of:

 Means of detaching buckets from the rope

 Their control around the outer track

 Means of controlled reattachment to the rope

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Figure 11: Loading station and driving gear.

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 Requirement of structural strength equally applies here

 Means of discharging the bucket content will depend on their design.

 Means available for automatic tipping and relatching of all types of buckets

 Bucket contents normally discharged into a bunker or hopper ready for the next cycle of
operations

 Driving gear shown with a rope angle of lap of 180º or a surge-wheel with an appropriate
number of laps

 A brake path provided on each side of surge-wheel

 Thruster brakes also fitted to prevent reversal of movement or for more rapid stopping in
the event of an emergency

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Figure 12: Driving gear of aerial ropeway.

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Divide Station
 It splits the length of the ropeway into convenient sections.

 Embraces both a drive and a terminal feature

 Sometimes also embraces elements of an angle station

 Buckets unclipped from the rope as they approach the drive sheave, then pass round it, travelling on the
outer track to be aligned with, and coupled to, rope of the next section

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Figure 13: Plan and elevation of a typical mono-cable divide station.

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