A bucket elevator is designed to transport heavy materials to different levels within a building. It is also known as a grain leg and it contains some buckets which are meant to hold the material being transported. Pull is transmitted through the belts and they therefore facilitate movement in the system. Bucket elevators are used in different fields ranging from mining to agriculture.

These kinds of elevators are designed to handle materials in large scale as they comfortably move huge volumes every hour. Basically the elevators are like conveyor belts although they have some buckets attached. The devices are designed in a manner that they can move goods vertically, horizontally and also at an angle.

The buckets rotate to different positions trying to maintain an upright posture in order to avoid spillage. The edges of the elevator are scooped to enable them pick materials when dragged through them. The devices move different materials ranging from fertilizers, grain and even ore. A vertical working system moves the goods up, dumps them at the top and then returns with empty buckets to pick another load.

The elevators are highly mechanical and this enables them to do much work within a short period. This factor makes them reduce human labor leaving only a few to issue instructions and change their settings when necessary. Technology has really advanced as the elevators are nowadays programmed to load and offload automatically. These devices are covered to improve safety as they can cause damage especially when they operate on chains.

Bucket elevators are designed to work continuously as the start and stop operations damage the device and decrease its efficiency. In companies the devices run for a set period of time on a daily basis. The elevators are fitted with emergency stop settings which can be turned off in case of any problem. Others sense danger in time and turn off automatically.

The buckets can also have a triangular shape but are set close to the belt with a minimum clearance between them. The early elevators were operated on a flat chain together with steel buckets which were closely fixed. The current constructions are fitted with a rubber belt and some plastic buckets.

Pulleys are fitted at the top and bottom of the bucket elevator in order to enhance the system movement. Those fitted at the top are powered by an electric motor. Grain elevators were constructed with the help of the bucket technology. The devices operate at different speeds depending on the type of material to be transported.