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Chain


The chain is a tried and trusted method for driving conveyor rollers and conveyor elements in conveyor technology. Chains are characterised by their robustness and durability and are not sensitive to dirt and environmental influences. Very high levels of power can be transmitted with a chain.

Chains are not maintenance-free and are relatively loud in operation. They must be lubricated regularly in order to achieve an optimum service life. Speeds of more than 0.5 m/s are not recommended due to the seriously increasing noise level.

Tangential drive

T he tangential chain drive is characterised by its good level of efficiency and simple design.
The installation length of the conveyor roller is shorter than for a roller-to-roller drive, as the drive head consists solely of a sprocket. A single chain drives all of the rollers in a conveyor. The chain is guided extremely precisely to the sprockets by a chain guide profile made of special plastic.

The sprockets are mounted in a fixed manner on the conveyor rollers. The teeth of the sprockets mesh into the chain and only transfer the driving power required for the individual roller. The chain can be guided either along the top of bottom of the conveyor rollers. The precise positioning of the chain guide in relation to the conveyor rollers is extremely important. The maximum play in terms of height is 0.5 mm.

The motor station to be driven is installed in such a way that the driving side of the chain is as short as possible. It is advisable to provide the motor station with additional equipment for adjusting the chain tension. Return rollers, which have to carry not only the load of the material to be transported, but also the chain traction forces, must be checked specifically with regard to their permissible bearing load. The driven conveyor length is restricted by the permissible breaking load of the chain or by the weight of the material to be transported.

The roller spacing (roller pitch) can be selected as required with tangential drives. Compared with roller-to-roller drives, the conveyor rollers are easy to fit and remove with tangential drives.


Roller-to-roller drive

With this type of drive, every conveyor roller is connected to the next one by a chain. The conveyor rollers thus require drive heads with two sprockets, which require greater meshing protection than with tangential drives.
No chain guide is required. The roller spacing (pitch) is subject to tight tolerances, as the spacing depends on the pitch of the chain. The maximum conveyor length that can be driven by one motor station is limited by the permissible breaking load of the chain. The chain is subjected to its maximum load at the motor station. The tolerances for the conveyor roller pitch t and the breaking loads are shown in the following table.


Roller-to-roller drive (chain)
Chain
pitch
Inch 		P
mm 		Tolerance
for t
mm 		Breaking
load
N
3/8 9.525 0 to -0.4 9,100
1/2 12.700 0 to -0.5 18,200
5/8 15.875 0 to -0.7 22,700
3/4 19.050 0 to -0.8 29,500
1 25.400 0 to -1.0 58,000

In order to keep the chain forces as low as possible, the drive station must be positioned in the middle of the conveyor length. When designing the drive station, it is essential to ensure that the sprockets have at least a 180° deflection and that the chain can be retensioned. Chains are characterised by their robustness and durability and are not sensitive to dirt and environmental influences. Very high levels of power can be transmitted with a chain.
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