They extend the conveyor roller series 135 and KRO, which were previously only available in 50 mm diameters, to include variants with a 20 percent smaller diameter. As a result, even smaller goods can be conveyed via actively driven roller conveyors, as the minimum distance between the rollers can be reduced accordingly. If a roller is fitted every 50 millimetres and three rollers per item are assumed to be the minimum requirement, products from a size of 150 mm can be conveyed with these new rollers. With 50 mm rollers, the minimum size was 170 mm. Theoretically, even smaller installation distances of up to 42 mm are possible for even smaller products, but Rulmeca does not currently have the appropriate Poly-V belts in stock and installation is becoming increasingly challenging with increasingly small distances.

During the development of the new conveyor rollers, a new Poly-V drive head was created, which can also be used with the previous 50 mm rollers. Users of these larger conveyor rollers benefit from more space for covers to protect the belts and easier maintenance thanks to the greater distance between the drive heads.

According to the company, a unique selling point of Rulmeca's drive rollers is the design of the drive head for ISO 9981 DIN 7867-compliant Poly-V belts: It is connected to the roller tube without additional couplings. For this purpose, the tube end is compressed and cold-pressed to create a form-fit connection without significant tolerances between the roller tube with a diameter of 40 or 50 mm and the plastic bushing of the transmission system. The construction of previous designs was more complex and therefore more expensive.

"Our customers appreciate this, because every component is a cost factor in the construction of unit load conveyors with Poly-V belt-driven rollers. Those who can offer high quality in a particularly cost-efficient design are ahead in the series production business with conveyor system manufacturers. However, those who neglect quality in favor of price will be rejected. We experienced this with one of our major German customers during the first lockdown. When we were unable to deliver in spring 2020 due to the government-ordered lockdown, an alternative manufacturer was brought in. However, their rollers have now been replaced by ours because they run too smoothly and are too loud. Quality is therefore crucial despite the favorable pricing, and we are leaders in this area," explains Andreas Flies, Sales Manager Unit Handling at Rulmeca Germany.

The new 40 mm castors in the 135 and KRO series are available in steel and stainless steel versions. In stainless steel, they are also suitable for corrosive environments and particularly hygienic food production. The new KRO series cam followers with conical polypropylene laggingare used with Poly-V belts for driven curves.