Bases on Design features and operational characteristics, material handling equipment may be broadly classified as:
Hoisting Equipment’s:
It constitute a group of equipment which are employed mainly for lifting or lowering of unit load or piece goods in batches. This group of equipment’s can be further sub classified into:
1. Pure Hoisting Machineries
- Jack
- Winches
- Hand Hoists
- Pulley Blocks
2. Cranes
- EOT Crane
- Jib Crane
- Cantilever Crane
3. Elevators
- Lift
- Bucket Elevators
Conveying Equipment’s:
It comprises of a number of equipment which are employed for handling principally bulk load (occasionally piece goods or unit load may also be handled) in continuous flow. Such machines do not have separate lifting or lowering gear. This group of equipment also can have further sub classifications as:
1. Belt Conveyor
2. Hydraulic Conveyor
3. Pneumatic Conveyor
4. Apron Conveyor
5. Screw Conveyor
6. Flight Conveyor
Surface/ Overhead Equipment’s:
These are the group of equipment’s which are employed for handling unit load or bulk load in batches on a horizontal surface. This group of equipment may be further sub classified into:
1. Truck and Lorries
2. Railway Cars and Wagons
3. Fork Lifts
4. Overhead mono-rail / Equipment
5. Scrapers and Skidders
Types of Material Handling Equipment Loads:
It usually classified into:
1. Unit Load
2. Bulk Load
Unit Load:
Unit loads are those which are counted by numbers or units. A component of a machine, a complete machine, a structural element, a beam, a girder, building block are some examples of unit load.
Sometimes certain quantities of free flowing materials can be placed in a container and can be handled as unit load. Hoisting equipment are primarily used for handling unit load. Unit loads are usually specified by it’s weight.
Bulk Load:
When the load is in the form of particles or lumps of homogeneous materials or powder like materials, which can not be counted by numbers, it is called as “Bulk load”.
Examples are:
Sand, Cement, Coal, Mineral, Stone, Clay etc.,
A bulk material may be classified by it’s:
1. Bulk Density
2. Lump-Size
3. Flowability
4. Abrasiveness
5. Miscellaneous Characteristics
