As
early as the late 17th century conveyor Belts became an intricate part of making material transport. “In 1795 that conveyor belts became a popular means for conveying bulk materials. Initially conveyor belts were used for moving grain sacks to short distances”2. (Qtd.EzineArticles.com2) The
primitive conveyor belt was made with wood, leather bands and hand pulleys, and it wasn’t until 1892 that an American Inventor truly perfected the Conveyor Belt. At that time Thomas Robins
put into motion “a series of developments that ended with a conveyor belt which began to be used to carry coal, ores2" and other materials.
By
the beginning of the 20th Century, Conveyor belts were well on their
way to cementing their way into the history of production and making it easier
than our ancestors ever imagined. In 1901 a Swedish Engineering firm, Sandvik,
constructed the first steel Conveyor Belt. By 1905 a British Mining Engineer,
Richard Suttcliffe, had designed the first Conveyor Belt specifically for
mining coal, or any other underground mining”3.(qtd. Habetec.net3)
By the 1920’s Conveyor Belts were common place, by this time they were constructed
of multi-layers of cotton and rubberized covers. The longest Conveyor belt ever
built is still in use in the Western Sahara and is actually visible from space.
This belt can actually transport “2,000 metric tons of rock per hour from the
mines of Bou Craa to the port city of El-Aaiun, where cargo ships full of
phosphate rock depart for ports around the world”5. The Moroccan
protest of 2011 actually blocked the Conveyor Belt because it ” blocked a railway linking phosphate
mines and fertilizer plants”5.
“Viewed
from space, it looks almost meaningless. But the world literally depends on its
constant supply of phosphate. With only a bit of hyperbole, one could say this
massive machine is what is feeding the billions of humans who inhabit this
planet”6. Without this Conveyor belt we would be unable to mine Morocco’s
biggest export, Phosphate or Phosphorus rock.
Side
Note: Thursday Dec, 01, 2016 will mark the 103rd anniversary of Henry
Ford and his accomplishment of making the “first moving assembly line for the
mass production of an entire automobile. His innovation reduced the time it
took to build a car from more than 12 hours to two hours and 30 minutes”7.
(If you enjoyed this History Moment and have an idea of info for another intriguing history moment in the Machinery industy shoot me an email )
Also I try
(If you enjoyed this History Moment and have an idea of info for another intriguing history moment in the Machinery industy shoot me an email )
Also I try
3.http://www.habatec.net/HNet/HabaTEC.nsf/vwWebContent/B3AFDB9C92909C37C12578BE002BB553?OpenDocument
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