Chain lubrication

In many industrial sectors, chains are used for force transmission or for transport purposes. In all situations were components move in opposite directions, friction is generated, which results in development of heat and wear. Chains generally require lubrication to minimise wear and tear of the chain links. Therefore, lubricants that decrease friction resistance are widely used.

Chain lubrication is required in any situation where chain bolts, chain pulleys or support pulleys of transport chains need to be supplied with lubricants in a controlled manner.
Chain lubrication is a  central lubrication system that is designed for operation with oil or grease,  depending on the type of application. Chain lubrication using oil is characterised by the fact that particularly low oil quantities are supplied to the lubrication points per lubrication cycle. Chain lubrication using grease is preferably used in conveyor systems and only requires a small number of moving components. In this context, the purpose of chain lubrication is to ensure continuous lubrication at the chain pulley during the deflection phase. Possible fields of application are apron conveyors or sugar beet conveyors. Depending on the type of control (continuous, temporary or counting) lubrication is precisely dosed and applied to the joint area through the chain lubrication system. With fast operating bearings and chains or with large-area friction points (as are frequently encountered in the steel industry), the bearings can be supplied by the chain lubrication system using oil-air mixtures.

A favourable side effect of this method is that the air flow generates slight positive pressure, which prevents ingress of dirt and dust particles.

Depending on the conditions of use, the chain lubrication unit is equipped with an oil application brush. The mode of operation of a chain lubrication unit with oil application brush is similar to that of conventional chain lubrication systems. As a general rule, the dosed oil quantity for the oil application brush can be metered by means of timer settings. The challenge of chain lubrication systems is precise lubrication during running operation, i.e. with moving lubrication points, in order to prevent extended and redundant downtime.

The individual lubrication points are supplied with the correctly metered lubricant quantity, either continuously or in pre-defined operating cycles.