The feed alley scraper is, like the other Kemp feeders, capable of swivelling 70 degrees, left and right. Because the slide swings 70 degrees, the feed can be slide well towards the cows and it will not start to accumulate. In addition, it is important that the feed is placed next to the vehicle, so that the vehicle does not drive over the feed. Therefore, it is important that the scraper can pivot. Pivoting 70 degrees is possible through the use of two hydraulically driven cylinders. The second advantage of these two cylinders is that there is more power to pivot the scraper during feeding.

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The next advantage of the Kemp feed scrapers is that they can oscillate. This means that the rubber strip can move with respect to the mounting frame. The advantage is a good ground adaptation and uniform wear of the rubber.

It is important that the feed is pushed next to the vehicle. The slider is thus available in several sizes, so that there is a suitable scraper for every vehicle.

The core task of the feed sliders is of course the feeding of feed, however, the slide can also be used as a mud slide, snow blade, to slide away any residual feed or to push the sand away on the silage pit.

Description

The feed scraper is available in two types and five different sizes. The two types are RVSABM and RVSAB. The RVSABM is available in the sizes 1,800, 2,200 and 2,500 mm. This smaller feed slider is ideal for a mini loader, skid steer loader or forklift truck. The width of these vehicles may not exceed 1,600 mm, if it is wider, the slide can no longer place the feed next to the vehicle.

The RVSAB is suitable for larger vehicles such as a shovel, telehandler or tractor. The RVSAB is available in the sizes 2,500, 2,800 and 3,200 mm. Due to these broader dimensions, the working width is, of course, larger. Therefore, a stronger construction is required. Thus, the pivot point and the cylinders are improved with respect to the smaller sizes. The RVSAB comes standard with a rubber that is 500mm high and 50mm thick. In this rubber two rows of holes are drilled, allowing you to turn over or lower the rubber when one side is worn.

The feed alley scraper is available with the attachments that belong to your vehicle (for the attachment parts, see the document: Kemp attachment parts).

For additional specifications, see the document: product specifications.

Options:

Adjustable angles (manually): The feed scrapers are standard equipped with a straight beam, however it is also possible to choose for manually adjustable angles. These angles can be adjusted 35 degrees with respect to the beam. The adjustable angles give you more control to keep the feed near the rubber and thus slide away in the direction of travel.

Extra rubber strengthening: When you choose adjustable angles, you also have the option of adding an extra rubber reinforcement to the corner. This makes the corners firmer and reduces the chance that the rubber bends over and tears later.

Shock valve: a shock valve is needed with vehicles above 4,000 kg. The shock valve provides protection when the scraper collides with something. In this case, the shock valve ensures that the oil from the cylinder, which has come under pressure, is moved to the other cylinder. As a result, the scraper swings past the obstacle and the chance of damage is reduced. The shock valve is of course only possible with two cylinder scrapers.

Pilot operating non return valve: Needed at open centre and internal leakage control valve. Duo to the open centre, the oil can’t be blocked and the scraper can’t stay in one position. The pilot operating non return valve, takes over this function by blocking the oil flow, allowing the scraper to stay in one position.

Another possibility is a throttling to control the speed of pivoting. This gives you more control when hydraulically slewing the scraper.

Engineered steel chains are the main group of chains used for conveying applications and are found in many conveying systems. This range of chains can be manufactured to move heavy loads, absorb shock loadings and work in abrasive or corrosive environments, with minimal protection from the conveyed materials or the environment. 

Conveyor chains can accomplish a wide range of tasks, such as carrying heavy loads through undesirable environments in an automotive wash test system or absorbing heavy shock loads in abrasive environments on tipper truck unloaders/feeders for mining applications.

Types of Conveying Applications

The range of applications for engineered steel conveyor chains is incredibly large and diverse, however they can normally be categorized into a handful of conveying types.  How the applications are categorized can vary, either by the type of product they convey like bulk materials (sand, ash, cement) or units (pallet, washing machine, television) or it can be how the product is conveyed such as carried, pushed or scraped.

A way to combine the considerations of material and conveying type is to consider how this material would be loaded and unloaded from the conveyor. If it is a unit item that can be slid on and off the conveyor, then it is likely the product will be carried on a slat, floor, or carrier conveyor. If the product to be handled is in bulk (i.e. coal, sawdust etc.) and relies on gravity for loading/unloading then the conveyor type will most likely be a carrier, slat, or trough (using a pusher or drag type chain).

Below are basic discussions about the most common types of chains, attachments and furniture that are used for each conveyor type.

Plain Chain Conveyors

Numerous types of objects can be moved using plain engineered chains without any attachments or additional fixtures. Examples include tree/log conveyors where a rollerless bush chain is used, cutting bench feeders with small roller chains and tree debarking where a wide gauge welded bush chains is used.  These examples have the chains sliding on their link plates which can cause a large amount of friction.  Deep link roller chains are commonly available and increase the length of the link plate above the pin which extendeds the link plates above the roller, allowing items such as pallets to be conveyed with relatively low friction.

The chains most commonly used on plain chain conveyors are welded steel chains, block and bar chains, deep link chains, bush chains (no rollers) and small roller chains.  Standard chains with a large roller cannot be used on these types of conveyors as the large roller protrudes above the top of the chain/link plates where it interferes with the products or materials being conveyed.

The conveyors arrangement usually involves two or more stands of chain running horizontally or slightly downhill towards the main head shaft. Upward inclination is generally avoided to prevent product or materials sliding back down the chain to the point of loading. Lubrication is often kept to a minimum to prevent product contamination and maintain friction between the chain and product being conveyed.

Pusher Chain Conveyors

Pusher conveyors are a method for giving an item motion by pushing it using a chain without carrying the weight of the item or material.  The weight of the item can be supported in numerous ways, such as with rollers, carriages, chain guide walls/rails and troughs. 

An example would be a car paint line, where the car chassis is mounted to a carriage that runs on rails.  A pusher chain with a ‘pusher dog’ running below the level of the rails would engage with the carriage at the start of the line and disengage from the carriage at the opposite end. 

Pushing type attachments can be firmly fixed to the chain, rising from the top of the link plates and disengaging from the item when they move around the head shaft sprockets.  It is also possible to furnish chains with moveable pushers that can automatically disengage from the item that they are moving before the chain moves around the head shaft sprockets.

Carrier Chain Conveyors

Carrier chains, as the name suggests, are designed to carry the weight of the items they are moving.  The items carried generally take the form of individual objects such as a box of fruit or an ingot of steel, rather than bulk materials like ash and sand.

Unlike plain chain conveyors, carrier chains are equipped with attachments and fixtures which can consist of simply adding a top plate over the top of the rollers to form a continuous conveying surface using a deep link chain, or specially designed around the item they are required to carry, such as a curved and formed attachments every 8 pitches to securely seat beer kegs on a washing line.

The base chains are generally a standard large roller chain or block and bar chain (often with an outboard roller to minimize friction). Conveyors can be designed for standard horizontal conveying, declines, inclines, moving around bends or complex multi sprocket paths (such as in a drying oven). Carrying capacities can range from a few grams on a yoghurt carton conveyor up to multiple tons when carrying large steel ingots from a recycling plant.

Slat Conveyors

This type of conveyor consists of flat cross-members, usually made from wood or steel, attached between two or more strands of large roller chain creating a flat moving surface. 

The cross members/slats take a simple rectangular form and do not interlock with each other.  They are usually fitted every pitch to A or K type attachments.  For operator safety and to prevent product falling into the chain’s assembly, the slats usually sit above and cover the chains.  If the loading on the cross members is high or the conveyor is very wide, further strands of chain can be fitted at different spacings under the slats to prevent deflection and support the product weight.

These conveyors are generally used for moving unit items, such as packages for shipping.  They are also often found on assembly lines, where a slow-moving conveyor moves an item between different stations until assembly is completed.

It is generally uncommon, but slat conveyors can be found moving bulk products, but these products need to be relatively large and resistant to being damaged i.e. potatoes and coconuts.

Apron Slat or Pan Conveyors

Apron or Feeder conveyors consist of formed, interlocking slats with sidewalls which create a continuous trough for conveying loose or bulk materials such as sand, coal, rocks etc. These materials can range from small particles up to larger irregular sized lumps.  Depending upon the tolerances between each slat and sidewall piece, the slats can prevent material loss, even for fine powders. These conveyors are often found where abrasive materials, high impact loading or elevated temperatures are present.

The apron conveyors can be very heavy duty using reinforced slats, heavy duty roller chains and reinforced slat attachments.  Chains may sometimes be rollerless bush chains with external/outboard rollers.

Apron conveyors can also be used as heavy-duty continuous elevators by adding cross members or flights to the top of the slats, preventing material rolling back down the inclines while being conveyed. These inclined conveyors are often seen elevating coal to boilers or feeding mined materials from tipper/dump trucks into a crusher.

Material is discharged from the conveyors when the chains and slats loop back around the head shaft sprockets, where the material simply falls from the slats via gravity. For sticky or wet materials, brushes can be added at the head shaft to clean the slats and prevent caking, whilst ensuring material is discharged at the correct location.

Scraper Conveyors

Scraper conveyors usually use a single strand or double strand arrangement.  Large flights are attached to the chain and these chains scrape the material, usually along a trough.  The chains do not travel through the material as they run above the trough, with the return strand running above this.

The idea behind these conveyors is to use the chain and flights to slide the material through the trough between an inlet and outlet.  Material can be loaded either through the sidewall of the trough, or it can be dropped between the chains.  The outlet is usually a hole in the bottom of the trough, just in front or below the head shaft.

Several different chains are usually used in these conveyors including roller conveyor chains, bush chains, block and bar chains and welded steel chains.  A, M and G type attachments are usually used to secure the flights to the chain, with the flights themselves manufactured from a wide range of materials included cast and fabricated steel, cast iron, various plastics and wood. The type of flight material used depends upon the type of material being conveyed.

Scraper conveyors are mainly used for conveying free flowing bulk materials such as animal feed, potash and lime.

Drag Conveyors

Drag conveyors are like scraper conveyors, are similar in function, and are used to handle free flowing bulk materials. The main difference is that chains within drag conveyors run at the bottom of the trough.

Single strand systems generally use a bush/rollerless chain or a forged link chain.  For the bush chains, an F-type attachment is often used and the flights bolted to the chain attachment.  Flights can be manufactured from steels and plastics and it is also common to see cleaning flights mixed throughout the flight arrangement.  For both bush chains and forged link chains, the flights can be either integral and part of the original chain or welded.  Sometimes scraper plates are bolted to the flights if a different flight material is required or to accommodate cleaning flights.

For twin strand systems, the chains are generally on top of the scraper flights and are of a bush type chain.  The chains weight is used to keep the scrapers on the bottom of the trough with the flights attached to the chain using A or K type attachments.

It is also worth noting that there are a few welded steel bush chains that are designed with a very long bush (ranging from 5” to 13” long).  In these systems the chains themselves act as both the chain and scraper flights. A common example would be WD102 chain. As these types of chains are standard, specifically designed for this type of application and require no additional attachments or fixtures, their initial costs are relatively low but they offer a good service life even in harsh conditions.

Drag conveyors can be found in many industries that handle bulk materials that are free flowing and can be discharged via gravity.  They are also often found in harsh environments conveying materials such as sand and cement.

Crossbar Conveyors

Crossbar conveyors come in several different forms but basically consist of 2 strands of chain connected by circular cross bars. The chains used for these applications are hollow pin roller chains, with the chains hollow pins allowing the cross bars to be passed through the chain.

Typical applications include coating, painting and finishing lines where the items are hung from the cross rails so that they may be dipped into a tank and dried through an oven, without having to be removed from the conveyor.

Other fixtures can be added to the cross rails.  For example pottery ovens using tipping tray, which keep the product facing vertically as it passes through an oven.  The chains generally snake back on themselves using multiple sets of sprockets at either end of the oven, gaining height within the oven as the process moves towards completion.  

One final common application is adding a piano hinged slat to the crossbars which create a solid flat surface like apron conveyors discussed previously. Unlike apron conveyors, the piano hinge slats hinge (similar to a door hinges) when passing around sprockets so they do not create an opening and closing gap within the slats.  This makes piano hinge slats a good choice when material could potentially get into the gaps causing jams when the gap between the slats closes as the chain leaves the sprockets.  Common applications include swarf conveyors and waste/recycling conveyors.

In Floor Conveyors

In floor conveyors are found in a wide number of industries.  The chains generally run at or below floor level and are used to move large objects such as trolleys, transfer boxes and vehicles.  This type of conveyor is often required to traverse complex paths and negotiate tight corners leading to the adoption of chains running on their sides.

The types of chains used can vary.  If the pathway is a straight line than standard engineered conveyor chains would be suitable.  For heavy duty applications with gentle curves, a side bow chain might be used.  If the chain route involves tight corners, then block and bar chains running on their sides with outboard rollers are often selected. The final type of commonly used chains are heavy duty bush chains, with outboard rollers using low friction bearings.  These bush chains are often found on floor slat conveyors that move heavy objects i.e. vehicle assembly and testing lines.

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Selection Guidelines for Engineered Steel Chain Conveyors

Type Of Conveyor

Numerous types of conveyors were covered in the last section.  Each type of conveyor falls into one of two categories.

Material supported and carried by the chain.

• Carrier Conveyor
• Apron/Pan Slat Conveyor
• Crossbar Conveyor
• In Floor Conveyor

Material not supported but is moved by the chain.

• Pusher Conveyor
• Drag Conveyor
• Scraper Conveyor

Keys points to consider while deciding on a conveyor type include.

• Type of product or material to be conveyed
• Material properties i.e. corrosive, abrasive
• Material loading and unloading requirements
• Installation and operating costs
• Conveyor operating speeds
• Conveyor length and layout (i.e. inclined)

The simplest method for selecting a conveyor is to look at existing installations which have been cost effective, provided good performance, offered a good service life and had minimal issues.  There are also numerous conveyor manufacturers who can assist with conveyor selection and design decisions.

Width and Height

There must be enough height to transport the item or material without obstruction, handle the return chains and fixtures and accommodate any loading and unloading peripherals such as chutes.

The width is generally decided by the size of individual items or the required capacity of the conveyor.  Again, physical constraints about the space available should be considered and it should also be noted that the conveyor drive and loading/unloading fixtures can also increase the overall width.

Length and Shaft Centre Distance

The length of a conveyor is restricted by friction from the chains weight and the chains maximum working load. As the conveyor’s length increases, so does the frictional resistance due to the increased total weight of the chains.  This increased friction decreases the amount of product weight that can be conveyed.  Uprating the chain adds extra weight and friction which can result in diminishing returns.

Materials elastically stretch under load and return to their normal state when the load is released, assuming this load does not exceed the materials yield strength. If the conveyor is relatively long (20-30 meter shaft centre distance for bush chains) then the chains yield point could be reached by only the chains drag. Exceeding the chains yield can lead to mis-alignment between chain strands and in extreme cases the chain may ‘jump’ the teeth on the tail sprockets.

Care should be taken to avoid a low number of teeth on conveyors where the centre distance is relatively long, as it can cause chain surging and excessive vibrations.  Excessive vibration is caused if the natural frequency of the chain matches the chains engagement timings with the sprocket teeth.

Conveyor Loading

It is advisable to minimize excessive impact loading by placing the product as gently as possible.  Rough loading can cause surging and pulsing which has the possibility of exceeding the chains yield point and therefor damaging the chain.

If hoppers or chutes are used for loading, these should discharge at the central point of the conveyor to minimize the risk of loading one chain more than the other, thus producing un-even chain wear. Baffle plates can be used in chutes or hoppers to help minimize impact loading by slowing down the product.

Conveyor Speed

The amount of material per unit length of the conveyor and its speed determines its capacity.  The type of conveyor, material or product properties, how the product/material behaves on the conveyor and loading/unloading methods often determine the conveyors speed.

Approximate speeds for various conveyors are listed below.

• Drag and scraper conveyors. 15 – 30 meters/min.
• Carrier conveyors. 15 – 45 meters/min.
• Production line conveyor. 1 – 5 meters/min.
• Slat and flat top conveyors. 15 – 45 meters/min.
• Apron slat conveyor. 3 – 20 meters/min.

Capacity of Conveyors

For packaged items and parts, the capacity can be calculated by simply multiplying the number of items in a 1 meter section of the conveyor by the speed of the conveyor in meters per hour. This would result in the hourly conveyor capacity.

For bulk materials a simple formula can be used.

W = Weight (in Kg) of the product per Meter of conveyor

S = Conveyor Speed (Meters/Minute)

T = Required conveyor capacity (Tons/Hour)

W = (16.7 × T) / S

Chain Guides and Supports

Engineered steel conveyor chains generally need supporting on both the working strands and return slack strands.  Return strands can be left unsupported if the conveyor centre distance is less than 5 meters, although it is still advisable to support the return strands as the catenary sag can increase the chains load.  It is also worth remembering that as the chain wears and the unsupported sag increases, it can get caught up on items that were once clear when the chain was first installed.  Supporting the return strand also has the advantages of ensuring correct chain/sprocket engagement, minimizing pulsation and reducing chain whip.

The working strand or load carrying strand generally runs on tracks or guides.  Sometimes spaced rolling elements are used or the chains run directly on the conveyors main working face (such as scraper chains running in a trough). A selection of different support methods are shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1 – Examples of chain support methods for the carrying and return strands of chain.

Conveyor Drives

How and where to apply the conveyors power are important factors to consider during a design phase.  Generally, the power would be applied at the head shaft which is often the conveyors discharge. It is common to use an electric motor with a transmission roller chain drive to power engineered steel conveyor chain conveyors, ideally with the motor placed ahead of the main shaft and both the conveyor chain and roller chain running their tension spans in parallel to reduce the forces on the head shaft bearings.

Drives are sometimes placed on the tail shaft of the conveyor.  This practice is quite uncommon as it keeps both the working strand and return strands of chain loaded, leading to increased wear rates and therefore a shorter chain life. The life of a conveyor chain is a function of the load and time under load, so it is considered best practice to drive conveyors at the head shaft where possible.

Conveyor Sprockets - Sprocket Sizes

The ideal sprocket size can be calculated when initially designing the conveyor, however if the space is restricted and the recommended sprocket size will not fit, then use the largest sprocket possible.  It should also be noted that sprockets on the head and tail shafts are normally the same size.

Matched Sprockets / Bored & Keyed as Pairs

If multiple chain strands are employed, then sprocket alignment is essential for keeping the chains aligned to correctly accomodate attachments and fixtures such as slats etc. Head shaft sprockets should be bored and keyed with the keyways centerline matching the centerline of the sprocket tooth (it is not advisable to place keyways in line with the tooths root).  On the tail shaft it is recommended to bore and key only one sprocket, which will then turn the shaft.  Other sprockets should be free to rotate and held in place by locking collars. By allowing free rotation, the sprockets can automatically align themselves and adjust for uneven chain wear.

Chain Tension and Slack Take-ups

Most conveyors require a method for managing tension and reducing slack build up as the chain wears during operation. Chain tensioners and slack take ups enable the shaft centre distances to be adjusted and are usually situated at the tail shaft/loading end of the conveyor rather than at the drive shaft.  For best results, it is advisable to adjust the shaft centre distances while the conveyor is operating so that the extra tension is transferred to the working and return/slack strands. Take-ups should be able to increase the centre distances to take up slack but also reduce the centre distances to assist with chain installation or maintenance.

Figure 2 – Basic forms of chains tension take ups

There are several different types of take ups available with basic types including gravity, spring, screw and catenary.  These are shown in Figure 2.

A gravity system consists of small v grooved disks which have one end of a wire attached to the disk and the other end to a bearing housing on the tail shaft.  The tail shaft bearings are free to move forwards and backwards within a framework.  A larger central disk has one end of a wire attached to the disk and another end attached to a weight.  The disks attached to the bearings and the weighted disk run on a common shaft.  As the chain wears, the bearings are pulled toward the smaller disks which collect the wire.  For the large disk with a weight, as the chain wears the disk releases wire and the weight slowly makes its way towards the ground.

A spring tensioner uses a tension spring which is attached to bearing housings on the tail shaft.  The bearings are free to move forwards and backwards within a framework.  When the chain is installed, the tension springs are attached in tension.  The tension from the springs transfers its force to the shaft which keeps the chains tensioned.  As the chain wears, the tension begins to reduce in the springs as the shaft bearings are pulled toward the spring anchors.

Screw take-ups are similar to spring take-ups except the springs are replaced by a threaded bar.  As the chain wears, the length of the threaded bar is reduced using a locking nut which increases the shaft distances and re-tensions the chains.

It should be noted that both the gravity and spring tensioner take-up systems allow the tail shaft to move forwards and backwards automatically.  This functionality is useful on conveyors that experience severe shock loadings, as some of the load can be transferred away from the chains and into tensioning the springs or raising the weight away from the floor.

Catenary Take-up

A standard design feature of most conveyors is supporting both the working span and return span along most of its length.  With a catenary system, part of the return span is left unsupported.  The conveyor is designed to allow ample space for this slack chain to accumulate as the chain wears throughout its operational life.

The weight of the unsupported chain creates tension, which acts in the same way as the take-ups mentioned previously.  The catenary system must be included within the initial design calculations as it increases the working load on the chain. It is also important to maintain the correct amount of sag.  Too little sag and loads are increased on both the conveyor bearings and the chains themselves.

With the correct amount of catenary sag, the tensional load helps to prevent the chain jumping under heavy loading.  The amount of sag (Figure 3 – ‘D’)  should be at least 3% of the unsupported sections length (Figure 3 – ‘L’) although there are procedures for calculating catenary sag and tension.

Figure 3 – Complete layout of a typical catenary sag system.

Matching Chain Strands

Handed Chains

For simplicity, most chains have attachments that are equally spaced around the chains centre point.  This means that whichever strand of chain is selected, it can be used on either the left hand side or right hand side of a twin strand conveyor with the attachments remaining correctly aligned.

Right and left handed strands are required if the attachments are not symmetrical around the chains centre point, for example, an attachment that had only one hole and it was 15mm past the chains centre point.  If the chains were not manufactured as handed, during installation it would be found that on one side of the conveyor the hole was 15mm past the chains centre point, while on the other side it was 15mm behind the same centre point.

Matched Lengths

Matching chain lengths is a method used to ensure the best possible alignment between multiple chain strands during operation.  It is more commonly used on transmission roller chains, but it can sometimes be found on applications using through rods or scraper flights. If chains are operating significantly out of alignment it can cause a greater load on one of the chain strands, leading to more rapid chain wear or potential fatigue failure of the attachments.

Chains are manufactured with tolerances on the pins and bushes.  This leads to a variation in total length over a standard 5-meter strand when the +/- tolerance of each individual pin and bush is combined. If matched lengths are specified, the factory will measure the exact length of each 5 meter strand so that chains with a similar total tolerance can be run side by side. These strands are then generally tagged with a numbering system such as ‘A1’, ‘A2’, ‘A3’, ‘B1’, ‘B2’, ‘B3’.  Using this system, ‘A1’ would be connected to ‘A2’ and ‘A2’ to ‘A3’. After installation, ‘A1’ would run side by side with ‘B1’ and ‘A2’ with ‘B2’ etc.

Environmental Considerations

Temperature

Standard engineered steel conveyor chains are designed to operate at temperatures from around -20°c up to 150°c. If higher or lower temperature ranges are expected then special materials, part tolerances and lubricants will be required.  Requirements should be discussed with a manufacture and standard off the shelf chains should not be used.

Abrasion, Corrosion and Dirt

Standard engineered steel conveyor chains are designed to work in slightly abrasive and corrosive environments.  Increased clearances between round parts also enable conveyor chains to function in mildly dusty and dirty conditions.  For extreme conditions, special conveyor chains should be obtained.

Conveyor Chain Selection Procedure

Obtain Basic Design Specification

To select the correct conveyor chain for a conveyor, the design specification must be established by considering the following points.

• Conveyor type i.e. apron slat, scraper etc.
• Conveyor layout i.e. horizontal, inclined, swan neck etc.
• Conveyor length between shafts/shaft centre distance.
• Conveyor width.
• Conveyor chain speed.
• Material details.
• Conveyor throughput per hour or weight of material per meter/foot length of conveyor.
• Method for loading and unloading including possibility of shock loads.
• Attachment type and attachment spacings on the chain.
• Estimated weight of chain attachments and additional fixtures such as slats and scraper bars.
• Approximate/expected shaft and sprocket details.
• Environmental factors such as temperature, dust/dirt, corrosion etc

Example Method for Engineered Steel Conveyor Chain Selection

There are numerous methods for specifying the correct conveyor chain for a given application.  The most thorough but complex method uses a range of formulae and calculations, which is the method generally used by chain manufacturers as it accommodates non-standard materials and dimensions. The following method is a simplified table-based system given in “Chain Association, American. Standard Handbook of Chains: Chains for Power Transmission and Material Handling, Second Edition”.

General chain selection and weight estimation

From the initial conveyor specification, Figure 4 can be used to find a chain suitable range of chains for the specified application. An approximation of the expected chain weight can be found in Figure 5 but it is advisable to consult a manufacturers catalogue to confirm working loads, weights and dimensions.

Figure 4 – Chain types for various types of conveyors

Figure 5 – Expected chain weights for standard conveyor types.

Chain Support Consideration

Referencing Figure 1, consider the type of supports required for the chain strands.  For very short conveyors the return strand may not need support, but the increased working load due to the catenary sag should be checked.

Select the Correct Coefficients of Friction

Chain Sliding

From Figure 6, select the coefficient of friction that applies to the materials used for the chain and conveyor structure.  If the chain is carrying the load, then the coefficient is applied to the total weight of the chain and the carried material. If they chain is pushing the material, then the coefficient only needs to be applied to the weight of the chain.

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