Straight and Offset Link Chains

There are some applications, mostly with rollerless chains on conveyors or bucket elevators, where offset chains give excellent wear life when operated open end forward. The user should carefully follow the manufacturers recommendations for those applications. 

To a user, the presence or absence of rollers is probably of far greater interest than whether straight or offset links are present in a chain being considered for an application. The major piupose of rollers is to reduce friction, but the rollers in chains have two separate functions, the two fimctions usually being provided by the same roller. These functions are 

FIGURE 2-3 Double-pitch roller chain with small rollers. 

FIGURE 2-4 Engineering steel chain with large carrier rollers. 

The carrier rollers in most chains are also used to engage the sprockets. However, carrier rollers, equipped with antifriction bearings, are sometimes used as outboard rollers on rollerless chains. 

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Figure 2-1 illustrates typical straight and offset link chains. The configuration of the tension members of these chains (in this case, sidebars, as these are engineering steel drive chains) may be the only difference in the construction of the two chains. If pitch and joint details are identical and the sidebar cross sections are identical, so that the only differraice is straight or offset link construction, the chains can be operated over the same sprockets and for the same purpose. But they should not be mixed by intercoupling Unks of one into the otha- unless the manufacturer specifies that this is permissible. 

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