Using the Power of pneumatics is a skilled job.

In retail you might wonder how they get the money out of the tills without having to have someone carry it all back to the cash office. There is a very simple system that transports the fivers, tenner’s and twenties plus all the card transaction receipts, and it is the use of a Pneumatic air compressed system. It’s also used in hospitals internally to transfer documents and can also deliver post. The documents are placed in a plastic pod where they are shot at high speed via compressed air to the office or the next station in a tube. Another great use for pneumatics is to clear blocked drains by firing compressed air down the pipe. This is a very non invasive way of sorting the problem as those with Blocked Drains Kent, Gwent or any country will testify. Look link at to see what can be done if you have this problem.

Image credit

The delivery system used by supermarkets needs to be more of an instant delivery system and it was originally invented by William Murdoch, but there were little practical applications seen in it until the capsule was invented to be propelled by it. The Victorians began to build pipelines capable of transporting Telegram messages. The entrepreneur and inventor Josiah Latimer Clark applied for and was granted a patent to develop a pressure air and vacuum system for the London Stock Exchange. At 200 metres long it was the biggest planned and was such a success that another was built for the Electric Telegraph Company.

Image credit

The technology was soon acknowledged as being a game changer for the transportation of small packages and mail. It found its greatest use in Retail and in banks as a safer way of transferring large amounts of cash straight to a vault or cash room. They were also widely used to distribute post, only being phased out in 1984 in Paris as email fax machines were starting to take over the bulk of the work. Pneumatic transportation of large goods was researched but it was never to be taken up as the power needed was too much, plus the building of tubes large enough was also prohibitive. Having said that it was suggested at its height that a human could be sent via the system and there were even some speculative tests conducted in 1866 but these were abandoned. The use of Pneumatic technology to transport people is generally only seen now in Science Fiction from the 50’s through to the 1970’s

With the development of digital technology the Pneumatic tube has a seen a decline in its use but there is one industry where it remains very prominent. In Nuclear power stations samples are needed to be regularly taken from the core and these isotopes are highly radioactive. Speed is essential in getting the samples to the lab. As this system can be worked remotely the Pneumatic tube system is perfect for the job.

 

Previous post An Introduction to Tapping Machines
Next post Is British construction being undervalued?