Self-Lube bearings offer a ready engineered solution, optimising build times and costs on revolutionary new swing bucket elevator

Citation

(2003), "Self-Lube bearings offer a ready engineered solution, optimising build times and costs on revolutionary new swing bucket elevator", Industrial Lubrication and Tribology, Vol. 55 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/ilt.2003.01855dab.003

Self-Lube bearings offer a ready engineered solution, optimising build times and costs on revolutionary new swing bucket elevator

Self-Lube bearings offer a ready engineered solution, optimising build times and costs on revolutionary new swing bucket elevator

Keywords: Lubricants, Bearings

A new design of bucket elevator developed by British Company, Carier Bulk Materials Handling Ltd, is set to revolutionise the conveying of all types of processed foodstuffs requiring gentle handling. Key to the new design is a patented "Clip-in Clip-out" mechanism, for time saving bucket replacement, and disposable bucket liners, which are ideal for fast order changes. Also crucial to the design are RHP self-lube housed bearing units, which reduce build costs on the new elevator by providing a ready-engineered solution that speeds-up and simplifies both assembly and installation.

Carier Bulk Materials Handling Ltd is a UK success story. From its base, in Braintree Essex, the company has established an enviable reputation as a solutions provider to UK industry for the handling of lightweight, solid or semi-solid products. Carier routinely provides grain stores, feed mills, and food companies conveying and storage equipment – and even buildings – as part of its full service package to the medium and heavy ends of the bulk materials handling market.

Although highly successful in its markets, Carier is always looking at ways to develop its business into new areas. Recently, this objective resulted in the company launching a new type of swinging bucket elevator, the Ele-Flow, which is aimed specifically at the processed food industry. The Ele-Flow incorporates innovative features new to the market. It offers a patented "Clip-in Clip-out" bucket mechanism for users, for an easy and time saving bucket replacement, and disposable hygienic bucket liners that allow fast batch changing with minimum cleaning – the latter especially important with frozen foods.

Another attractive feature is the patented automatic shredder, which "cams" the buckets to automatically overlap at the load position, thus preventing any spillage of product onto the production line.

Underpinning these features and ensuring reliability of operation in the pressurised production environments that are routine in the processed food industry, is the Self-Lube range of housed bearing units. These bearings – flange mounted types, are used in all the main areas of the Ele-Flow elevator: on the drive rollers, tail rollers, and intermediate rollers.

"We use NSK bearings on all our machines," said Simon Whyte, Materials Manager at Carier. "Even with the many new features we are providing on the Ele-Flow, we still have to be competitive, and the RHP Self-Lube bearings contribute towards this, enabling us to reduce costs, and to optimise our build times by being easy to fit and assemble onto the elevator".

With its modular design, the Self-Lube range is the ideal product for OEMs such as Carier who need to ensure optimised build times for their machines in competitive markets. The housed bearings unit overcome bearing mounting and component complexity problems by incorporating all the elements needed to assemble a bearing, and the facilities for relubrication and sealing of the bearing unit. Supplied with flanged or pressed steel housings or in pillow blocks, Self Lube bearings are easy to fit and replace, factors which translate into simplified machine assembly for machine builders and reduced maintenance costs for machine users (Plates 2 and 3).

Plate 2 Self-Lube^® bearings offer a ready engineered solution, optimising build times & costs on revolutionary new swing bucket elevator

Plate 3 Self-Lube^® bearings offer a ready engineered solution, optimising build times & costs on revolutionary new swing bucket elevator

To provide protection against contamination, the Self-Lube range is available with three progressive sealing regimes. These include the S type seal, which is designed to retain grease within the bearing insert and to keep dirt out: the Flinger seal, developed to operate in hostile environments and to act as an initial barrier to contamination and, finally, the Triple Lip seal, a highly efficient component having three nitrile sealing lips bonded to a robust steel pressing.

Protection of another kind, against the dangers posed by rotating shafts is also provided by the Self-Lube range in the form of the Protector, a simple, but robust mild steel end cover, which simply slots into a groove in the spherical outer ring of the standard Self-Lube bearing insert.

For further information contact: Michelle Reed, NSK Europe Ltd, European Bearings Business Unit, Northern Road, Newark, Nottinghamshire, NG24 2JF UK. Tel: +44(0)1636 605123; E-mail: info-uk@ nsk.com; Web site: www.eu.nsk.com