Guide Rollers

Guide Rollers

Guide rollers, also known as idler rollers, are used to properly align parts and materials with their intended pathway or track when moving through machinery or equipment. Not only providing guidance, guide rollers also offer additional support. One common application of guide rollers is for use in conveyor systems, which are most often utilized in the industrial manufacturing industry for materials and parts handling. Other industries that benefit from the use of guide rollers include: automotive, for use in car lifts, tensioners and other power transmission applications; construction, in off-road equipment such as lift trucks and traveling cranes for material handling applications; mining, for underwater and underground applications; medical, for health imagine equipment such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans; and various processing industries, such as metal, textiles, paper, foil, film and more. Unable to make changes in direction or to provide power in the way that process rollers are able, typical materials used to manufacture guide rollers include silicone, polyurethane, urethane, nylon and vulcanized rubber. These materials are used because they provide adequate hardness, since guide rollers must be able to provide uniform surface tension in applications such as conveyor belts and web converting in order for the processes to run smoothly.

Although they can also be formed from plastic or metal, when they are formed from rubber, the two main processes used to fabricate guide rollers are compression molding and injection molding. In injection molding, the rubber material is heated to a molten state and then injected into a split die chamber/mold cavity, which is clamped shut. Next, the mold is cooled by running water over it and the cooling allows the roller to form. In compression molding, the rubber material is also heated to a molten state. However, instead of being injection, the molten rubber is placed in a mold that is also heated. The mold is closed by top force known as a plug member and pressure is applied in order to achieve the desired shape. Since guide rollers must be manufactured from hard materials, they are often encased in jackets to ensure additional tensile strength. For jacketed guide rollers, a rubber to metal bonding process is used. In rubber to metal bonding, rubber is adhered to a metal substrate, such as steel or aluminum, through the use of a bonding agent. The bonding agent generally consists of polymer/solvent solutions, a primer coat based on phenolic-style resins and a top layer consisting of a mix of polymers and other materials. Constructed with or without a shaft, guide rollers offer easy installation and maintenance, a low rotating mass, easy installation and maintenance and reduced friction.