ROLLWELL ROLLERS – Alerts & Benefits

How will Rollwell Rollers Benefit YOU?

1. Longer Life - minimum expected life of 40,000 hours for well designed idler, which
means…
a. Fewer purchase cycles
b. Less Inventory
c. Reduced down time for the conveyors
d. Increased plant availability
e. Minimize production losses
f. Reduced breakdown maintenance.
2. Reduction in power consumption due to one of the lowest friction factor ( as low as
0.015), which means
a. Savings in absorbed power
b. Better plant efficiency
3. Reduced maintenance costs due reliability, long life and performance.
4. Increased belt life.
5. Minimum vibration to conveyor structure due to low TIR of the rollers.
What are the Salient features of Rollwell Rollers ?

A) General

1. All Rollers are manufactured as per IS:8598 – 1987, which is a specific standard for
manufacturing conveyor rollers.
2. Total Indicated Run out (TIR) of the Idler shall not be more than 1.2 mm
3. Friction factor for Rollers shall not exceed 0.015
4. Axial float of shaft within assembled rollers shall not exceed 0.5mm.
5. Performance guarantee shall be 40,000 working hours for a well designed roller
6. Idler Sealing System should be water & dust proof.
7. Material Test Certificate shall be provided along with the supplies.
8. Established quality assurance plan for all stages manufacture and testing, along with
procedure for testing.

B) Raw Materials
Pipes
1. Pipe are of M.S. ERW Gr.YST 210
2. Pipes should be with tolerances as per IS: 9295 only. These pipes are specially made
with tight tolerances related to straightness and ovality.
3. Pipe is manufactured from coils from leading Steel manufacturers like SAIL /Essar/ Jindal
to ensure right mechanical and chemical properties.
4. Thickness as the pipe will be as agreed without any compromise.
5. Test certificate from manufacturer of pipe will be submitted for Chemical Analysis and
Mechanical Properties of the pipe.

Alert: Using regular ERW pipe as per IS 1239 may not give the desired low TIR.
These pipes are cheaper than IS 9295 pipes.

Idler Shaft
1. Spindle material will be C40 Bright bar confirming to BS 970
2. Bright bars have very tight tolerances on ovality.
3. Shafts sources directly from Steel Authority of India (Vishakhapatnam Steel Plant - One
of the best manufacturers of such shafts)
4. Test certificate from manufacturer of spindle/shaft will be submitted for Chemical
Analysis and Mechanical Properties of the shaft/spindle

Alert: Using a regular black bar may not give the required tolerances on ovality and for
bearing fitment. Some manufacturers even use MS Shaft instead of C40/C45. Black Bar/MS
Shafts are obviously cheaper that the Bright bars.
Bearing Housings
1. The bearing housings are manufactured from Extra Deep Drawn CRCA sheets.
2. These sheets are extremely ductile and ideally suited for deep drawing.
3. EDD CRCA sheets are generally sourced from Tata Steel.
4. Test certificate from manufacturer of CRCA Sheet will be submitted for Chemical Analysis
of the material.
5. Minimum of thickness of sheet used shall be 3mm and minimum thickness after
machining shall be 2.8mm.

Alert: Housings made from HR sheets look the same like EDD CRCA sheets, but develop
microscopic cracks at the bends after deep drawings which result into bearing housing
failure once the housings are under state of continuous rotation. There is a significant cost
difference in HR and EDD CRCA sheets.

Bearings
1. Bearing will be Seize resistance type Ball Bearing of Make SKF/ FAG.
2. The Seize Resistant bearings are specially designed and developed by SKF/FAG for
conveyor roller application.
3. These bearings have the largest possible ball size which crushes, mills and ejects any
contaminant that might enter the bearing and hence avid seizing of the bearing.
4. These bearings also have higher load bearing capacity compared to conventional ball
bearings due to large ball size.
5. Bearings are sourced directly from the manufacturer and can be validated by
certifications from SKF/FAG.

Alert: Sourcing bearings directly from the SKF/FAG is probably the only full proof
mechanism of ensuring the genuineness of the bearing. Similar looking non genuine
bearings are available at 20% of the genuine cost in the market.

Sealing System
1. Vertical labyrinth type sealing system is provided for the bearings. The design
prevents any water and dust from entering inside the idler.
2. The sealing system consists of Double Labyrinth Seal, made of CRCA sheet which are
extremely light weights and hence reduce the weight of rotating parts of the Roller.
3. Glass beaded Nylon seal is provided at back of the bearing to avoid grease entering in
side the pipe.
4. A neoprene rubber seal is provided on top of the outer labyrinth seal to prevent any
water and dust from entering inside the idler.
5. Idlers are packed by Hi-Lithium based grease and sealed/lubricated for life.
 Alert: Sealing is one of the most critical design parameter of the roller. Using ready seal
sets available in open market may not ensure 100% water and dust proof.

Rubber Rings for Impact Idlers

We make our own Rubber rings to ensure the right quality of Rubber.Rubber rings for
Rollers shall be of Natural Rubber and with following properties.

a). Shore hardness : 55 to 65 on Scale A

b). Specific Gravity : 1.09 to 1.13 Grams/ CC
c). Tensile Strength : 200 Kg/ S.Cm
d). Elongation at break : 400% Minimum
e). Ash Content : 3 to 5%

Alert: Rubber rings made from Tyre/Reclaimed rubber can have the same shore
hardness but will become powder within few months of operation since they don’t use
natural rubber. Natural rubber is obviously expensive than the Tyre/Reclaimed rubber.

C) Manufacturing Process

Pipes are bored at both ends simultaneously using a special purpose Double Headed
Boring machine. This will maintain concentricity of shaft at both ends of idlers and will
limit the run out of the idlers.

Alert: Boring pipes on conventional lathe machines may not give absolute
concentricity for the bored pipe and hence add to TIR.

The Bearing seating, flange diameter and back facing of the bearing housing are
machined in a single setting on a Special Purpose Machine to ensure absolute
concentricity.

Alert: Machining housing on lathe cannot give absolute concentricity for the housing,
thereby resulting in excessive TIR of the roller.

Bearing Housings are welded to the pipe at both ends simultaneously by CO2
welding. The bore diameter in the pipe and the flange diameter of housings are
maintained in such a way that the housings press fit in to pipe and concentricity is
maintained.

Welding is done in a Special Purpose Machine, where the idler is rotated slowly at
the required RPM depending on the diameter of idler and automatic and simultaneous
welding is done at both ends by SPMs.

This process of welding ensures uniform dissipation of heat during welding process.

Alert: Manual welding will lead to roller failures and add to ovality of the Roller.

Idler shaft is machined and fine ground with closest tolerance for proper fitment of the
bearing.

End details of shaft act as a tie for idler fixing brackets and machining is done on SPM (
CNC Polygon) to ensure parallelism and absolute flatness.

Ground surface is ideally suited for bearing fitment.

Alert: Normal milling at ends cannot maintain parallelism between shaft ends and
hence will lead to Roller misalignment and fitment issues on to the frames.

After the idlers are assembled each idler is continuously rotated for a minimum
period of 15 minutes for both freeing of the idler as well as testing for any heating of the
bearing.

This ensures 100% alignment of the seals and freeness of the roller.

D) Quality Checks

As per the Quality Assurance Plan, idlers are tested for Water and Dust Penetration
in specially built Jigs.

In Water Ingress Test, water is sprayed at both ends of the idler at constant pressure
and idler is rotated continuously. The test is done for a minimum period of 02 Hours.

In Dust Ingress Test, the idler is rotated continuously in a Dust Chamber, where the dust
is circulated using a blower. The test is conducted for a minimum period of 02 Hours.

The rolling resistance of Rollwell idlers is as low as 0.015 as against allowable
value of 0.03. The co – efficient of friction is tested in specially built Jig.

Total Indicated Run out ( TIR) test for 100% of the Rollers

Axial Float Check

Shore Hardness for Impact Idlers

Break Off Force test

Remote operated temperature sensor to detect temperature rise at Roller ends