Roller chain is a type of chain drive used to transport mechanical power chains. It is widely used in household, industrial and agricultural machinery, including conveyors, plotters, printing presses, automobiles, motorcycles, and bicycles. It is connected by a series of short cylindrical rollers, driven by a gear called a sprocket, and is a simple, reliable, and efficient power transfer device.
Roller chains can be made into single or multiple chains. When it is necessary to bear a large load and transfer a large power, multiple chains can be used, as shown in the figure. Multi-row chain is equivalent to a few common single-row chain connected with each other with a long pin shaft, its carrying capacity is proportional to the number of rows, but the more the number of rows, the more difficult to make the row force uniform, so the number of rows should not be too much, commonly used double row chain and three row chain.
Compared with belt drive, there is no elastic sliding, which can keep accurate average transmission ratio and high transmission efficiency. The chain does not require large tensioning force, so the load on the shaft and bearing is small. No slip, reliable transmission, strong overload capacity, can work well under low speed and heavy load.