CHAIN DRIVES

INTRODUCTION

A chain drive consists of an endless chain wrapped around sprocket wheels (shown in Fig. 3.1.1). The
chain has a number of links connected by pins. The sprockets have teeth of special profile. Chains are
used for power transmission and as conveyors. The chain drives have some features of both belt
(flexibility of location of driver and driven) and gear drives (ruggedness). Chain drives are
recommended for velocity ratio below 10:1, chain velocity 1550 m/min and power transmission up to
100 kW.

Fig. 3.1.1 Chain drive

CONSTRUCTION OF ROLLER CHAIN

Roller chain is made up of alternate link plates (inner and outer), pins, bushes and rollers as
shown in Fig. 3.2.1.

Fig. 3.2.1 Construction of a roller chain

The pins, bushes and rollers are made of alloy steels. The pins are press fitted to the outer link plates.
The bushes are press fitted to two inner link-plates. The bush and the pin form a swivel joint and the
outer link is free to swivel with respect to the inner link. The rollers are loosely mounted on the bushes
so that they rotate when they are engaged with the teeth of the sprocket wheels. This results in rolling
friction between the roller and sprocket teeth, reduces friction and results in less wear on them. The
pitch of the chain ‘p’ is measured between the axes of adjacent rollers. The width of the chain (b1) is
defined as the space between the two inner link plates along the axis of the pin.
CLASSIFICATION OF CHAINS
Chains are classified as roller chains and silent chains (inverted tooth or side guide chains). Single
roller chain (or simple chain) drives are shown in Fig. 3.3.1. Figure 3.3.2 shows both the single and
double roller (duplex) chains. The construction of single roller chain is already explained in the earlier
section. A duplex roller chain can be visualized as having two single roller chains placed side by side
mounted on same set of pins. The silent chains are heavier, more difficult to manufacture and
expensive compared to roller chains, hence their applications are limited.

Fig. 3.3.1 Single roller or simple chain on bale opener

Fig. 3.3.2 Simple and duplex roller chains on opening and cleaning machine

LUBRICATION OF ROLLER CHAINS

Roller chains must be lubricated to achieve long and trouble-free life. A drop-feed
lubrication or lubricant in a shallow bath can be used. A medium or light mineral oil, without
additives can be used as lubricants. Heavy duty oils and greases which are highly viscous do
not enter the small spaces in the chain parts; and hence they are generally not
recommended.

CHAIN TENSION AND BENDING FORCE ON SHAFT

Fig. 3.5.1 shows a pair of chain sprockets transmitting power. The upper part of the chain is in
tension and produces the torque on either sprocket. The lower part of the chain is slack and exerts no
force on either sprocket. Therefore the total bending force on the shaft carrying the sprocket is equal
to the tension on the tight side of chain.
 Fig. 3.5.1 Forces acting on chain sprockets

GEOMETRICAL RELATIONSHIPS IN CHAIN DRIVE

Fig. 3.6.1 shows a sprocket rotating in counterclockwise direction drives a chain. The
symbols p, γ , d and z denote for the pitch, pitch angle and pitch diameter and number of teeth on the
sprocket respectively.

Fig. 3.6.1 Geometry of a chain drive

CHARACTERISTICS OF CHAIN DRIVES

The advantages and disadvantages of chain drive compared to belt and gear drives are summarized below:
(1) They can be used for short to medium distances. Gears need additional idler gears.
(2) They can be used for transmission of higher loads compared with belt drives.
(3) The power transmission efficiency of chain drives may be as high as 99%; higher compared to flat and V
belts. A chain drive does not slip and to that extent, it is positive drive.
(4) Due to the polygonal effect and wears in the chain joints, they are not suitable for precise speed control.
(5) They have longer life, no creep, and the ability of driving several shafts from a single source of power
compared to belt drives.
(6) They can only be used for transmitting motion between parallel shafts. Crossed flat belts, bevel gears,
worm gears, and some crossed helical gears can be used to transmit motion between non-parallel shafts.

(7) The location (center distance) and alignment tolerances need not be as precise as with gear drives, but
require precise alignment of shafts, compared to belt drives. The best services can be expected when both
the input and output sprockets lie in the same vertical plane.
(8) They require proper maintenance, particularly lubrication, when compared to gears.
(9) A number of parallel shafts with sprockets in the same plane can be driven in the same or opposite direction
by a chain from a single driving sprocket as shown in Fig. 3.8.1a & b. This is not possible with gears
without idler. This type of drive is used to drive various rotors (feed rollers, plain and perforated rollers) on
the fine cleaner in blow room.

APPLICATIONS OF ROLLER CHAINS

Few applications of roller chains are listed below:

Pedal roller of scutcher.
Drives from beater to plain and perforated drums and feed rollers on fine cleaner are through duplex roller
chains.
Drive from inclined lattice to feed apron and creel apron of bale opener through clutch.

Motor to feed-roller, lap winding-roller, and tuft-feeder in high production carding machine.
Duplex roller chain transmits motion from main shaft to lap rollers via bottom calender roller on sliver lap
machine.
Drive to shafts driving the flyers and bobbins on conventional roving machines.

Drive to ring rail on ring spinning machines.

Drive to creel rollers on drawing machines, and hank meters ( Fig. 3.9.1).

Drive to brush roller shaft on comber.

Drive to drafting rollers that feed sheath fibres on friction spinning machine.

A drive to creel or table rollers (C, E, G and H) of conventional drawing machine is shown in Fig.
3.9.2. Initially, the drive originates from a driving sprocket, ‘A’ (behind the back drafting roller) to a
sprocket, ‘B’ mounted on the shaft of first table roller through a tension sprocket wheel. The sprocket
C compounded with the sprocket B drives the sprocket D mounted on the second table roller through a
tension sprocket wheel (not shown in the figure) and so on to other table rollers. In high speed
drawing machines, chains have been replaced by timing belts.
V BELT DRIVES

The V belts are the probably the most common means of transmitting power between fractional horse
power motors to machines (Fig 2.12.1). Mostly, the driver and driven pulleys lie in the same vertical
plane. There is an upper limit on the center distance or belt length. Long center distances are not
recommended, because the excessive vibration of slack side flutters and shorten the belt life. In
general the center distance should not be greater than 3 times the sum of diameters of input and
output pulleys. Since the V belt is short, it is subjected to the action of load and fatigue a greater
number of times. Further, its ability in absorbing the shocks is poor.

The V belts work better in the speed range 300 to 1500 m/min. V-belts are widely used in variable
speed drives using adjustable sheaves. By moving the sheaves axially the pitch diameters of the
driving and driven pulleys could be varied to get variable output speed. This type of drive is common
on ring spinning and rotor spinning machines. Quarter-turn drives are used to transmit motion
between horizontal and vertical shafts using deep groove pulleys and relatively long center distances.

CONSTRUCTION OF V BELT
V belts are available without any joints. The cross-section of V belt is trapezoidal (shown in Fig.
2.13.1 ). V beltsare designed to mesh in the trapezium shaped groove of pulleys. The groove angle
(β) of the sheave is made somewhat less than the belt-section angle (θ). This causes the belt to
wedge itself into the groove, thus increases the friction. This increases greatly the frictional resistance
to slipping, for a given maximum tension, compared to flat belt. The V belt does not rest on the
bottom of the groove but wedges itself into the groove.

Fig. 2.13.1 Geometry of a V belt

The thickness ‘b’ ranges about 8 to 23 mm and the width ‘a’ is about 13 to 38 mm. The belt section
angle is generally around 40° . The V belts are available in sections as A, B, C, D, E. The width and
thickness of belt and minimum sheave diameter increase from section A to E, in other words, belts
become heavier from section A to E. To select a V belt for different speeds and power transmission
combination, one must refer to belt manufacturer’s catalogue. For high power transmission, heavy V
belts are preferable. For high speeds, light belts are preferred.

V belts are made of fabric and cords which are moulded in rubber. It consists of three elements, viz.,
a central load carrying layer of cords made from high tenacity fibre or steel, a surrounding layer of
rubber to transmit pressure from cords to side walls and an elastic outer cover to provide friction as
shown in Fig. 2.13.2.
APPLICATIONS OF FLAT BELTS

Some of the applications of flat belts are given below:

Drives to beaters on conventional blow rooms.
Crossed flat-belt transmits drives from cylinder to flat on old cards.
Drives in high production cards such as the drive from motor to lickerin and cylinder; drive to cleaner
roller at the delivery side; drive from motor to flat-stripper roller and crossed-flat-belt drive from
cylinder to a pulley from where further drive proceeds through double stage speed reduction using
worm and worm gears and a mechanical clutch to the driving-shaft of flat.
Drive to drafting rollers and other rolling elements on a single delivery drawing machine.
Drives to opening rollers, friction drums and take-off rollers on friction spinning machine.
Drive to rotor on rotor-spinning machine.
Main drive on draw-texturing machine.
Drive to creel-rollers of a high speed drawing machine.