CHAINS

FOR ALL REASONS

Chains -The Link to Productivity

From the finest jewellery to the heaviest industrial applications, chains have played an important part in our lives for thousands of years.

While RUD's products have yet to find their way into a jewellery case, it could be said that their chains are just as valuable to the key industries of mining, power generation and cement production.

During mining and manufacturing processes, various combinations of conveyors and elevators are used to transfer material from point to point These installations not only have withstand heavy attrition from abrasive rocks, dust particles and extreme temperatures, they also have to be easy to install and maintain and they have to be on 24 hours duty for the best part of the year.

RUD is very much at the forefront of heavy-duty conveying technology and is well known as the manufacturer and supplier of the chains, connectors, flight bars and sprockets that comprise the conveyors used in underground coal mining and surface conveying applications.

Day after day, year after year, these rugged, round link chain systems, which, in their case hardened versions, also see service handling bottom ash in thermal power stations, shift millions of tonnes of raw coal from the coalface to the out-bound conveyor.

Developed for the underground coal mining industry, the Dominator chain connector is a good example of the innovative components developed by RUD's engineers.

Simple to install and lock in place, the Dominator design is equally easy to remove and, with a narrow profile, this connector does not obstruct the chain in motion.

Depending on requirements RUD also offers round or flat link chains, toothed drive and reversing wheels and various profiles of scraper flight bars,. All  made of top quality high-strength steel and,  for corrosive environments, electro zinc plated.

RUD's chains and components for bucket elevators are required for the continuous handling of high volumes of hot and abrasive materials, such as cement clinker, where reliability is essential and shut down outside maintenance schedules is an unwelcome and costly business. With this in mind, RUD has applied their experience to ensure, as near as possible, faultless operation.

Drawing on their bucket elevator expertise and working closely with their customers, some five years ago, RUD's design engineers presented the heavy-side industries with a revolution in the form of their new Central Chain.

RUD's new Central Chain consists of just four elements—an inner link, an outer link, a bucket mounting attachment and a ‘floating pin’ pin - all designed so that an entire elevator chain can be quickly assembled, shortened or extended without the need for special tools.

Anyone familiar with central chain bucket elevators will know that, due to their fixed positions, conventional pins wear on only one side of the circumference. The resultant chain elongation adversely affects the elevator's operation and leads, eventually,  to complete chain replacement.

To overcome this inconvenient and costly problem RUD has developed and patented their 'floating pin’ which, by rotating freely through 360 Deg in either direction, wears evenly giving it a much longer service life than conventional pins, reducing replacement costs and extending maintenance periods.

Simplifying installation and greatly reducing maintenance costs, means that RUD's Central Chain can increase productivity wherever it is installed.

Available with breaking strains of 800kN, 1500kN, and 1800kN, and able to accommodate bucket widths from 400mm to 1000mm, RUD's Central Chain can reach lift heights of over 60 metres and, in tandem installations, achieve transfer rates in excess of 1000 tph. Designed for durability and long service, RUD's new Central Chain is proving its value in over 200 installations world-wide.

Forty years of dedication that made RUD a world leader in round-link chains is illustrated by the many innovative bucket attachments for both rear and side-wall elevators. As well as DIN attachments, probably the most widely known bucket-to-chain attachments are RUD's  "System 65" and RUD's "Clamp".

Now, in the quest for a more robust and effective solution, RUD has introduced the SWA (Side Wall Attachment).

The first of it's kind, RUD's SWA is designed for use with double chain elevators running at around 0.6 metres per second. Easily attached, the SWA supports the weight of bucket and pay-load to ensure long service life.

With RUD's Side Wall Attachment in place, the chains continue to move freely and the buckets discharge unimpeded into the centre of the elevator.

The beauty of RUD's SWA is that, for the first time in side-wall elevator history, there is a continuous  round link chain system. This facility also enables to vary elevator output by quickly and cheaply altering bucket spacing.

'Hot of the press', Powerblock is set to cut conveyor chain maintenance time in underground mining applications.

Designed to run vertically over pocket wheels, RUD's Powerblock chain connector is simple to assemble and dismantle. The short sliding distance of the two halves, enables the Powerblock to be installed with minimum chain slack. A single locking pin completes the assembly. Powerblock can be easily installed by unskilled personnel.

In bulk materials handling requirements, including power generation, mining and cement production, RUD's chains are as much an essential component in ship loading and unloading operations as they are in the recycling or chemical industry.

RUD's bucket chain technology can also be seen at the business end of giant stockpile reclaimers and, around the world, RUD's hoist chains are used to make light work of moving equipment and products around manufacturing plants.

In mining and cement manufacturing, two of our most demanding industries, RUD Chains reputation for toughness, reliability and long service has come from many years of listening to engineers and working alongside customers to develop and manufacture well thought out, well-engineered, innovative products.

Made from the very best quality steels, RUD chains and systems are designed to be quick to install and, with low maintenance, long lasting, productive lives, reduce customer's costs and increase profitability.

RUD`s complete product line is available through a network of subsidiaries in the USA, Great Britain, Australia, South Africa, China and South America and over fifty agencies worldwide. Customers have access to technically advanced products of the highest quality and first-class product support and service complimented by local knowledge & experience.

For further information on the many roles that RUD chains play in mining and heavy-duty bulk handling or to discuss your project requirements contact:

Guenter Mettmann, RUD-Kettenfabrik, 73428, Aalen, Germany,

T:+49 (0) 7361 504 0,  F:+49 (0) 7361 5041 450,

Web: www.rud.de,  E: guenter.mettmann@rud.de

RUD Chains Ltd,  Units 10-14, John Wilson Business Park,  Thanet Way,  Whitstable,  UK, CT 5 3QT, T:+44 (0)1 227 276 611,

F:+44 (0)1 227 276 586, sales@rud.co.uk, www.rud.co.uk