A failure of conveyor chain links in a production process can cause unscheduled shutdowns,which increase the throughput time coupled with damaged buckets and chain links, which increasemaintenance and repair costs. Since failures of conveyor chains are inevitable, this research aims tomodify the design of the chain bucket elevator by incorporating a ratchet mechanism, which will preventthe chain bucket assembly from dropping to the bottom of the chain bucket elevator whenever there isa chain-link failure and also avoid the jamming of the bucket chain assembly against one another whendropping to the bottom of the elevator during failure. The number of damaged buckets and chains willbe minimal, thereby reducing the maintenance and repair costs. Also, the time required for replacingthe failed chain link will be reduced, which in turn, will reduce the down-time, thereby increasing theproduction rate. The ratchet mechanism, which can withstand a maximum load of 38.10 kN, comprisesa toothed wheel, a pawl, and a spring. An analytical method was employed for the initial analysis andthe results were verified using the FEM. Topology Optimization was carried out on the beam and leverwith results showing a 20 % and 26 % weight reduction from the original, respectively. The stressesinduced in the beam and lever increased significantly by 36 % and 47 %, respectively, because of theoptimization, however, they remained within the acceptable limits.
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