TRANSMI

SSI
ONCHAI
NS

Chai
nDr
ivesandTy
pesofChai
ns

Themaindisadvant
ageof thebel
tdri
ves 
and 
theropedrives 
isthatthevel
oci
tyrat
io
doesnotr
emai nconstant
,butvar
iesonaccountofsli
p.Since 
chaindriv
es 
areposi
tiv
e
dri
vest
hereisnoslip,
hencet hev
eloci
tyr
ati
owi l
lremainconstant.

Chai
ndr i
ves 
aresui
tableforsmallcent
redist
ancesandcanbeusedgener al
l
yupto3
metersbutinspeci
alcasesevenupt o8met er
s. 
Chai
ndriv
estransmitpower 
upto
100KW andoperati
ngperipher
al 
veloci
tyupto15m/s.Thevel
ocityr
atio 
canbeashigh
as8:1.

Chai
ndr i
vesareemployedfort
hewi derangeof
 powert
ransmi
ssionappl
icati
ons,l
ikei
n
bi
cycles,motor
cycl
es,r
oll
ingmil
ls,
agricul
tur
almachi
nery,
machinetool
s,conveyor
s,
coalcutt
ers,
etc.

Achaindr
iveconsi
stsofachai
nandtwowheel
s,cal
l
edSpr
ocket
s.Thespr
ocket
sar
e
t
oothedwheelsoverwhi
chanendl
esschai
nisf
it
ted.

The 
dif
fer
entt
ypesofchai
nsusedi
npowert
ransmi
ssi
onar
e,

1.Roll
erchain
2.Sil
entchain
3.LeafChain
4.Fl
at-topChain
5.Engineer
ingSteel
Chai
n
 Regar
dlessoft
he 
typesofchai
ns,
thei
rst
ylesar
ecl
assi
fi
edasf
oll
ows.

1.Str
aightli
nkchains,whi
chhaveanalternate‘
outsi
de’and‘i
nsi
de’l
inks.
2.Off
setlinkchains,whi
chhaveal
ll
inksal i
ke.Thesei
ncludeint
egr
al l
i
nkchai
ns,
suchas
bar-
li
nk,fl
at-
top,andweldedst
eelchains,

Rollerchainsareonesthatar
ecommonl yusedi
nbicy
cles,motor
cycles,
machinetool
s,
etc.Asi l
entchainisaninv
ert
edt oothchai
nwhichi
sextensiv
elyusedforsmoothand
noiselessoperati
onsatlowvelocit
ies.

Ty
pesofChai
ns

Fr
om ani
ndust
ryst
andpoi
nt,
themaj
ort
ypesofchai
nsar
easf
oll
ows:

1.Rol
l
erChai
n(BushRol
l
erChai
n)

Thist
ypeof chai
ns 
ismostcommonl yusedfor
 tr
ansmissionof mechani
calpower 
on
manykindsofdomestic,
 
industr
ial
 andagri
cult
uralmachinery,
incl
uding 
convey
ors,
 wi
re
-and 
tube-
drawing 
machines,
 
print
ingpresses,
 
cars,
 motorcycl
es,and bi
cycl
es.

Rol
lerchainconsi
sts 
ofaser
iesofshor
tcyl
indr
ical
rol
l
ershel
dtogetherbysi
del i
nks.I
t
i
sdrivenbyat oot
hedwheelcal
leda 
spr
ocket.I
tisasi
mple,r
eli
abl
e,andeffi
cientf
or
powertransmissi
on.

Thesechai
nsaregener
all
y smal
l
erindi
amet
ert
hanthehei
ghtofthel
inkpl
atesoft
he
chai
n. 
Thel
inkplat
esserv
easguideswhent
hechai
nengagesthespr
ocket
s,
 Chai
nsareal soser
v edasaguidetosuppor
tmateri
alcarr
iedonitontracksorways,
as
i
scharacter
isti
cofconv ey
orsandsomebucketelev
ators.
 Rol
lerchai
nsareusedfor
bot
hdriveandconv eyorappl
icat
ions.

 Themostcommonl yusedchainfordr
ivesist
hesingle-st
randst
andardser
iesrol
l
er
chain.Thepowerr ati
ngcapaciti
esoft
hesechainscov erawiderangeofdr
ivel
oad
requirement s.
 Mu l
tiple-
strandrol
lerchainsareusedt
opr ovi
deincr
easedpowercapacitywit
houtthe
needf orincreasi
ngt hechainpit
chori
tsli
nearspeed.

2.Si
l
entChai
n

Thesil
entchai
nalsocal
ledinv
ert
edtoot
hchai
n,consi
stsofaser
iesoft
oothedl
i
nk
pl
atesassembledonjoi
ntcomponentsi
nawaythatal
lowsfreef
lexi
ngbet
weeneach
pi
tch.

Sil
entchai
ns ar
emadeupofst ackedrowsoff
latl
inkpl
ateswit
hgear -
typecontour
s
designedtoengagesprockett
eethinamannersimil
art
ot hewaya rackengagesagear
as 
showni nthefi
gure.
 Theli
nksareheldt
oget
herateachchainjoi
ntbyoneormor e
pi
ns, whi
chalsoall
owthechaint ofl
ex.

Si
lentchai
ns f
rom dif
fer
entmanufact
urersusuall
ycannotbeconnect
edtoget
her
.
St
andardsil
entchainsareusedi
nawi dev ar
iet
yofindust
ri
aldr
iveswher
eacompact
,
hi
gh-speed,
smooth, l
ow-noi
sedri
veisrequir
ed.

High-perf
ormancesilentchai
ns ar
eav ai
lablei
nawider angeofsizeswithpitchesandi
n
widthsandareusedonv ery-
high-
speeddr i
veswhereexcepti
onalsmoot hnessand
quietnessar
erequired.Thesechainsarecommonl yusedin i
ndustri
alequipmentwhere
ul
timat esmoothnessisrequir
ed.
LeafChai
n

Leafchai
nsaredesignedforl
i
fti
ngratherthanpowertr
ansmissi
on.Tensionsar
every
hi
gh,butspeedsareslow.
 Normall
ythechainsworkint
ermitt
ent
ly.Themain
consi
derat
ionsi
nthedesignoftheleafchainsar
etensi
leloads,
jointwear
,andl
ink
pl
ateandsheavewear .

Leafchai ndoesn’tmeshwi thsprockets,becausetheyareintendedtorunoversheaves,

sot hereisnoprov i
sionforthem toengageaspr ocket.Leafchainsmustoft
enliftver
y
l
ar geloads,andhencet heyneedhi ghyieldstr
engt
handdonotgetper manently
stretchedwhent heylif
tlar
gel oads.
 Themostcommonusef orleafchaini
sprobablyon
l
ifttrucks.

4.Fl
at-
topChai
n

Fl
at-
topchainsar
ewi
del
yusedonconv
eyor
s,mostbasi
cal
l
yusedont
hespeci
alt
ypeof
sl
atconveyor.
 TheFl
at-
topchai
nconsi
stsof
.

 Aser iesofst eeltopplateswi t

hhi nge-li
kebarrel
scurledoneachside.
 Pinsar einsertedt hr
ought hebar r
elst omakeaj oint
.Theseactasbothbeamsand
bearings.
 Pinsar eretainedbypr essf i
tsorheadi nginthebar r
elsofonetopplat
eandaref
reeto
arti
culateint hebar r
elsofthenextl ink.
 Theconnect i
ngpi nisusual l
yeitherknur l
edorenlargedononeendt oret
aint
hepini
n
onebar reloft hetopplate.
 Thusacont inuousl engthofthef lat
-topchainisformed.
 Thef lat
-topchai nisintendedonl yforconv ey
ing.

5.Engi
neer
ingSt
eel
Chai
n

Engi
neeri
ngsteelchai
nswer efi
rstdev
elopedinthe1880s 
weredesi
gnedfordi
ffi
cul
t
conveyi
ngappli
cati
ons.Mostengineer
ingsteelchai
nsareusedi
nconveyor
s,bucket
el
evator
s,andtensi
onlinkages.

Onl
yafewareusedindri
ves.Themaindesi
gnconsi
der
ati
onsfort
hesechai
nsar
e
t
ensi
lel
oads,
sever
altypesofwear
,lubr
icat
ion,
andt
he 
envi
ronment.

Wearthemosti mpor
tantpar
ameter
swhil
edesi
gninganengi
neer
ingst
eelchain.Joi
nt
wear,
rol
lerandbushi
ngwear ,
andsi
debarandt
rackwearal
lar
eofgreatconcernfor
conv
eyorchains.

TheChai
nUsedI
nBi
cycl
e

Mostbicy
clechai
nsaremadefrom pl
ain 
car
bonor
 al
l
oyst
eel
,butsomear
e ni
ckel
-
pl
ated 
toprev
entrustorsi
mpl
yforsty
li
sh.
Chaindri
vewast hemainfeat
urewhichmodifi
edthe saf
etybi
cycl
e i
ntr
oducedi
n1885,
wit
hitstwoequal-si
zedwheel
s,from t
he“hi
ghwheel er
”typeofbi
cycl
e.Thepopul
ari
ty
ofthechai
n-dr
ivensafet
yissti
ll
abasicfeat
ureofbicycl
edesignt
oday.

A 
bicy
clechainhasav eryhi
gheffi
ciency
 becauseitmovesthepointofpr
essurefar
ther
awayfrom t
heaxle, 
putt
ingl
essstr
essont hebearings,
thusreduci
ngfri
cti
oninthe
i
nnerwheel.Thehigherchai
ntensi
onwasf oundt obemor eeff
ici
ent.

Chai
nDr
ivesI
nAut
omobi
l
eVehi
cles

Achai
n-dr
ivesy
stem 
tr
ansmi
tspowerf
rom a 
dif
fer
ent
ial
 
tot
her
ear
 axl
einav
ehi
cle.

Backinearl
i
erday
softheautomobil
echaindriv
esar etheverypopul
ar 
power
tr
ansmissi
onsyst
em.Itgai
nedprominenceasanal t
ernati
vetothe 
Syst
ème
Panhard 
wit
hit
sri
gidHotchki
ss,
Dri
veshaftand uni
versalj
oint
s. 

Chai
ndr
ivesar
e si
mpl
ert
odesi
gnt
handr
iveshaf
tand 
uni
ver
sal
joi
nts.
 Becauseof
 l
essunsprungweightatt
herearwheels,i
t 
all
owsthesuspensi
ontoreact
tobumpsmor eef
fect
ivel
y.Bythi
smeansthevehiclewouldhaveasmootherr
ide.

Adv
ant
agesandDi
sadv
ant
agesofChai
nDr
ives

Adv
ant
ages

1.Theyar eposi ti
venon- saildri
ves.
2.Effi
ciencyi sveryhi gh( upt o99%) .
3.Itcanbeempl oyedf ort heshaftwhi chisatsmal landaswel laslargecent
redi
stances
upt o3m.
4.Theyper mithigh-velocityratioupto8: 1inonest ep.
5.Theycant ransmi thigherpowert hanbel tdr
ives.
6.Becauset hesprocket sarel i
ghterthanthepul l
eys,theyproducelessstr
essonthe
shaf t
scompar edt ot hebel tdri
ves.
7.Unliket hebeltdrivest heycanoper ateunderadv ersetemperatur
eandat mospheri
c
conditions.
8.Theyoccupyl essspaceandar emor ecompactt hanbeltdriv
es.
9.Mai ntenanceisl ow.

Di
sadv
ant
ages

1.Thedr i
vinganddr i
venshaftshoul
dbeaccuratelyal
ignedsothatthei
raxesareexact
ly
paral
lel.
2.Requiresmor elubri
cat
ion.
3.Highinit
ialcost.
4.Stret
chingoft hechinmakesitimpossi
bleoperati
onhavingperi
odicrev
ersal
s.
5.Velocit
yf l
uctuat
ionsaremore.