Folding cartons in the food and beverage industry are fed into tray packer units using roller chains with special carriers. The corresponding machines combine finished products into multi-packs for collective onward transportation.

Roller chains, which need to be lubricated regularly, are usually used for this packaging step. This can result in the product or packaging unit becoming wet with lubricant. In addition, machine elements containing lubricant, such as this chain, act like a dust magnet. In addition to the visually dirty impression, which is particularly unacceptable in food packaging, contamination can also reduce the service life of the chain.

Dust, which is inevitably generated by the carton packaging process, can settle on the chain and penetrate the chain link. This can disrupt lubrication in the joint, which in turn promotes wear. On the other hand, the dust can contaminate the chain to such an extent that the necessary relubrication with new lubricant is not ensured. Lubrication itself requires regular maintenance intervals or an automatic lubricant supply system - and both cause costs.

The less lubrication there is in the process, the better. However, dispensing with lubrication completely runs the risk of stiffening the chain joints or causing uneven elongation of the parallel chain strands. This in turn would result in production errors and early replacement of the chain.

With this in mind, Tsubaki has developed a special tray packer chain that does not require relubrication. The chain joint lubricates itself from the inside out - by means of a sintered bush impregnated with a food-grade NSF-H1 lubricant. The chain structure prevents the lubricant from leaking out of the chain joint. In addition, the continuous internal lubrication reduces uneven joint wear and premature elongation of the chain. There is therefore no need for an additional lubrication system.

Adapted to driver

This so-called lambda chain has a narrower design because special flights open and close around the sprockets during transportation of the folding boxes. In order to be able to reuse existing carriers when replacing the chains, the chain manufacturer has developed a customized mounting pin especially for this purpose.

Several chains are operated in parallel in the tray packaging machines, which is why the carriers must feed the folding boxes exactly in parallel. Specifically, the tray packer chain guarantees a maximum deviation in chain length of 0.5 mm, regardless of the required overall length. The manufacturer ensures this by using a sophisticated device to measure the chain length ('Matchy').