Chain Drive Roller Conveyor Systems.

Typical Industries: Warehousing, palletising.

Description: Chain Drive Roller systems are ideal for moving bulky and heavy packages, such as palletised goods.

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The chain-driven roller conveyor is the "four wheel drive" of the roller conveyor world !

Whereas the lighter-weight lineshaft-drive conveyors can allow individual rollers to 'slip' if the load is high enough (a useful characteristic if accumulation is desired), the chain-driven roller is all about power and traction. These rollers simply cannot slip, making it the application of choice for moving very heavy packages. It is a particularly popular solution for moving pallet loads.

detail shot showing chain connections on conveyor rollers
Detail shot showing chain interconnects between rollers

In a chain-drive conveyor, each roller is bound to its neighbour by a chain-and-sprocket arrangement, terminating in a pair of "driver rollers", which also connect to the motor by chain. This arrangement ensures that no roller can 'slip' under load, and gives positive drive to all of the rollers on the bed simultanously.




chain drive roller conveyor showing centre-mounted motor
Centrally mounted motor helps distribute torque evenly over the roller bed

Unlike most conveyors, the motor on a chain-drive roller conveyor is usually centrally-mounted, as this allows a more even distribution of torque across the roller bed as a whole. It is still possible to create an accumulation system with this technique, merely requiring that the roller bed be divided into seperate sections, each with it's own drive motor, and suitable sensors.



chain driven roller bend unit
A stainless-steel chain driven roller conveyor bend
At medium weights and package size, it is still possible to have bends and loops, but these become increasingly impractical and expensive as weight/size increases. Instead, a right-angle transfer station or turntable can be used to accomplish the same effect.
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