Mind the gap!

Finding a window of opportunity to repair or just maintain sprockets on industrial machinery is often a difficult & daunting task. Are split sprockets the answer?

Split sprockets come into their own when the engineering time taken to remove sprockets involves the dismantling of large parts of the drive or when multiple sprockets are fitted on the same shaft. When it comes to conveyor chain sprockets which are often large and heavy this may require the use of a crane to get the sprocket into place. All these issues can lead to increased downtime.

Many manufacturers produce this type of product by splitting an existing sprocket and then joining the two sections together again. For the engineer this often results in a poorly assembled component leading to uneven loading in operation and increases wear to the sprocket teeth, bore and keyways. As a result many maintenance managers are reluctant to fit them.

UK chain and sprocket manufacturer FB has a better solution. The company manufacture the high quality sprocket as two separate segments. The two mating sections align perfectly ensuring long and trouble free operation. The fit is so good one recent customer who had ordered split sprockets from FB rang the company to complain that they had received normal sprockets, but were reassured they had in fact received split sprockets.

FB split sprockets are manufactured from special grade alloy steels. The tooth profiles are CNC machined for close engagement, not flame cut as with some manufacturers and benefit from localised induction hardening in order for the sprockets to cope with demanding environments.  Unlike off the shelf sprockets, through discussions with customers FB can add design solutions such as special dirt clearance grooves at the base of each tooth profile to ensure there is little or no built up of the conveyed material. This type of sprocket design is advantageous in many high wear industries such as cement or recycling.