Product category:
Chains and belts
News Release from: Tsubakimoto UK | Subject: 300 Series stainless steel drive chain
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 19 October 2000
Stainless drive chain gets around
magnetic problem
Tsubaki's standard 300 Series stainless steel drive chain has enabled one of Europe's largest metal packaging manufacturers to overcome the problem of chains becoming magnetised in a curing oven
Tsubaki's standard 300 Series stainless steel drive chain has enabled one of Europe's largest metal packaging manufacturers to overcome the problem of chains becoming magnetised while operating in a curing oven at ~3500C 24hrs a day The chains carry cans on a conveying line where previous chain products had become magnetised causing cans to stick to the line
This article was originally published on Engineeringtalk on 13 Feb 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
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One third of Europe's metal packaging, excluding beverage cans, is manufactured by Impress Metal packaging Ltd, an international company with three plants in the UK.
Impress have employed Tsubaki stainless steel drive chains at their Grantham manufacturing facility where previous brands did not perform satisfactorily.
The chains form part of a magnetic conveying line that transports coated steel cylinders through curing ovens on five production lines, producing round cans for human and pet foods, including the innovative new ring-pull lid design.
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Stainless steel and plastic chain come together
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The stainless steel chains from Tsubaki replaced products from a competitive manufacturer that had become magnetised and were not releasing cans completely after the curing process.
Part of the production process for building round cans involves welding a seam down the side of the can body, this seam has to be sprayed with lacquer and cured in order to keep the food stuffs separate from the raw metal weld.
Curing is achieved by heating the sprayed seam with gas burners in a continuous process oven.
Each line processes 500 cans per minute, so the potential results of a pile up on any line could be catastrophic.
Pure grades of stainless steel such as 316L have no magnetic properties at all, but chains made of this material are extremely expensive.
Impress required approximately 500ft of chain for this application and so cost was a consideration.
Tsubaki engineers solved the problem by recommending the use of Standard ANSI 304 Series Tsubaki Stainless Steel chain.
The quality of materials used in this product would ensure that the chain stood up to 24 hour a day operation at 3500C while not becoming magnetised significantly enough to affect the removal of cans from the line.
Can production lines at Impress run continuously five days a week and so chain wear life is crucial, Tsubaki's standard stainless steel product is capable of returning an extremely long wear life in this arduous environment, working continuously at temperatures up to + 4000C Stainless Steel chain is one of a range of corrosion resistant chains from Tsubaki designed for use in arduous environments.
Other options include titanium chains for highly corrosive atmospheres such as chemical processing, engineered plastic for the food industry and lube-free variants for clean room applications. Request a free brochure from Tsubakimoto UK ...
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