Abstract: A conveyor elevator system having an endless conveyor belt in which guide rollers are provided to contact and guide the side edges of the belt to prevent lateral shifting thereof. A discharge plate is provided at the lower end of the vertically upwardly moving reach of the conveyor belt for receiving particulate material that escapes from the upwardly moving reach of the belt and falls downwardly. The discharge plates guide the escaped material into the carrier plate passage so that the escaped material is recycled. The skirt plates that define the sides of the carrier plate passage having seal elements that cooperate with projecting elements on the conveyor belt to form a labyrinth passage to reduce the amount of material that escapes.

Abstract: A feed mechanism for use with a bucket conveyor in which spaced-apart buckets are supported between spaced-parallel conveyor chains. The mechanism has a cylindrical trough with a feed auger extending across the chains. The trough has a discharge slot in its bottom coextensive with the width of the bucket. Materials fed to one end of the auger are advanced along the length of the trough. The discharge slot is adjustable in width so that it may be reduced for the major part of its length but is fully open at its remote end. A hollow cylindrical drum surrounds the auger to be rotated in synchronism with the chains. The drum has openings around its circumference to register with the open tops of the buckets, and skirts are provided between the discharge openings and the drum openings to direct the material from the discharge openings through the drum openings.