Use Of Vibrators On Grey Wharf: Tests This Week

Greymouth Evening Star, 14 October 1948, Page 7

Use Of Vibrators On Grey Wharf: Tests This Week

The use of electric vibrators to dislodge coal which has jammed in hoppers about to be unloaded into the holds of colliers working the port of Greymouth, is being investigated this week. Coal jamming .is one of the causes of delays in loading operations on the Grey waterfront, some trucks, taking up to 10 minutes to empty in .spite of the “hammering” carried out by the watersiders.

The vibrator, which'*has never been used before in ports 'in New Zealand, though a number are in operation in Indian coal, ports, was demonstrated on an empty truck on the Grey wharf on Monday’ morning. Weighing 351 b and attached to a starter contained in a box, the vibrator is clamped onto the side of the truck and when’ the power is turned on shakes the truck at the rate of 3600 vibrations a minute. The machine is extensively used on cement and wheat bins where the even flow of the commodity held in the bins is often checked by choking at the mouth of the chute. There are many technical difficulties in the way of the installation of the equipment with each crane on the Greymouth wharf, that of obtaining adequate power connections being a major one, while the time required to attach the unit to hoppers and the need, perhaps, of an extra man to take charge of this work may nullify an.y speed-up gained jn loading operations. It is expected that the vibrator will be given a severe test tomorrow, when a hopper of “sticky” coal will be selected for the demonstration. If the experiment-proves to be successful and other difficulties are overcome, the use of the units, which cost in the vicinity of £lOO each, should reduce the time taken to load colliers and facilitate the quicker turn-round-of ships.