Food & BeverageToday’s food and beverage manufacturers face rigorous requirements. The equipment they rely on must be of the highest quality and strong enough to withstand extreme temperatures, high moisture levels, and exposure to harsh chemicals — all while avoiding corrosion or extended downtime.

To move a product from point A to point B and deliver an optimal and predictable performance, your production components need to resist wear and tear, maintain strong production flow and reduce waste. Tsubaki products can effectively address every challenge food and beverage manufacturers face. From ovens to freezers, from processing to packing, Tsubaki roller chains, engineering class chains, sprockets and other power transmission products keep your products moving at maximum efficiency. Whatever the application or scope is, we’ll deliver a solution to meet your unique needs.

Let’s look at some of the ways Tsubaki products can help you to optimize your food and beverage industry operations.

Case Studies

Roller Chains: Unparalleled Strength for Food & Beverage

Roller chains are used across the food and beverage industry for production processes, food packaging, and bottle or can filling equipment. When manufacturers try to increase the capacity of their machines, typical roller chains may not have the capacity to meet the needs. In contrast, all Tsubaki roller chain product lines used in this special industry are highly engineered and designed to meet the needs of specific applications and processes.

  • Super Stainless™ Chain: The toughest applications require the toughest chain possible. Used for corrosion resistance, high strength, and wear resistance in clean operational environments or high-load corrosive applications with remarkably high or low temperatures, Tsubaki’s Super Stainless™ Chain offers enhanced corrosion resistance and high strength that is equivalent to carbon steel and is up to six times stronger than standard stainless steel chain.
  • Lambda® Lube-Free Chain: In operations where lubrication is impossible or not feasible due to the possibility of product contamination, Tsubaki’s patented self-lubricating chain provides longer wear life, resulting in less frequent replacement.
  • Neptune® Corrosion Resistant Chain: With enhanced corrosion resistance in wet environments, Tsubaki’s Neptune® coated chain was developed to endure harsh conditions.

In addition to a vast selection of roller chain product lines, Tsubaki has a knowledgeable team of Service, Sales and Engineering experts to help customers make the best choice possible. All the highly engineered series of products, including Super Stainless™, Lambda®, Neptune®, Titan®, and many others, are designed to increase longevity and reliability in countless applications.

Engineering Class Chains: Specialized Solutions to Engineering Challenges

For food-related processing, drying and canning applications across meat, grain, sugar, fruit, nut, and vegetable, industrial operations demand an unwavering dedication to innovation.

Tsubaki’s engineering class chains are customized and built-to-order, allowing customers to boost productivity and limit maintenance checks. These chains can withstand many of the most demanding, non-stop conditions that lead other chains to breakdown and fail from corrosion and consistent wear and tear. With the proper chains in place, manufacturers will improve operational reliability, lower total cost of ownership, and increase the likelihood of long-term, optimal, and predictable performance.

  • Engineering Class Drive Chain: Tsubaki drive chains are designed to exceed ultimate strength ratings to deliver higher yield and greater fatigue strength for the toughest production line challenges. Built from alloy steel, these chains will provide hour after hour of uninterrupted service. Quality components include high-strength sidebars, precision machined bushing, and shock-resistant rollers.
  • STAGE-1™ Industrial Dryer Series: Our newest class of premium industrial dryer/dehydrator chain, STAGE-1™, possesses a working load over 42% greater than the industry standard and was engineered to be the toughest, most durable dryer/dehydrator chain available. Complete with maximized bearing areas, thick side plates, increased pin and cotter diameters and more, this high-performance dryer chain offers greater reliability and predictability, maximized throughput and better operational uptime.

Food and beverage manufacturers can’t afford to stand around and wait for production line maintenance. Downtime is costly and a competitive disadvantage. Tsubaki offers a wide array of made-to-order (MTO) capabilities that deliver the chain design and functionality your business needs along with experienced engineers and manufacturing experts who can move quickly to keep your applications running at peak performance.

Sprockets: Quality Components You Can Trust

Sprockets are an essential component for equipment on the production line. They are used in both conveying and drive applications within the food and beverage industry. Common examples include bucket elevators, packaging/boxing machines, spiral coolers, proofer conveyers, fruit sizers and more. With the proper sprocket in place, food products can be indexed, conveyed, and packaged at slower speeds and solve the everyday challenge of getting supplies where they need to be.

A worn-down sprocket can lead to tension loss, slippage, or a jumped chain. One bad sprocket can stop your entire operation and you won’t know it needs a repair until it is too late. Tsubaki specializes in designing and manufacturing high-quality sprockets that make it easier to detect signs of wear, so replacements can be scheduled well ahead of potential critical failure.

  • Smart Tooth® Sprockets: These innovative components make it possible to identify and schedule drive system maintenance before critical component failure occurs. Strategic placement of Tsubaki’s patented Wear Indicator pins on one or more sprocket teeth provides visual indication that a sprocket is still within the allowable wear tolerance, or that it needs to be replaced. This innovative design not only allows for proactive sprocket wear identification, it also mitigates the risk of worn sprockets permanently damaging the mating chain.

All Tsubaki stock sprockets come hardened as standard, ensuring you the highest quality sprockets are interacting with the highest quality chain, keeping your application running stronger and longer. Most customers are not aware that there is a choice between soft and hardened tooth sprockets resulting in inferior products being purchased with an increased rate of replacement. Unlike many competitors’ sprockets, Tsubaki stock sprockets come hardened and made from 1045 carbon steel giving you the strength and workability that powdered metal cannot.

Tsubaki-built products are held to the highest precision tolerances regardless of application. Our culture of continuous improvement combines with an adherence to the strictest of sprocket quality standards. With options available for both domestic-made and overseas-made, any global business can benefit from better quality materials and tighter tolerances which result in reduced wear and lower overall maintenance costs.

Backstops & Clutches: Maximize Performance and Stay Safety-Focused

The robust seal designs of Tsubaki backstops brings an added level of confidence across the entire production line. Grease lubrication allows for fewer maintenance requirements and is far less likely to leak during normal operation than comparable oil-based options. Tsubaki’s premium selection of backstops & clutches will prevent conveyors from rolling backwards and reduce downtime and remove safety risks associated with roll backs.

  • BSEU Series Clutch: Developed as a user-friendly backstopping clutch, the small, compact nature of the BSEU Series prevents conveyors from rolling backwards when motor shuts down. Complete with corrosion resistant paint and non-rollover cams, these premium backstops prevent leaking lubricants that can contaminate your food products.
  • PBUS Series Clutch: With most labeling and packaging line conveyors being dual speed, the PBUS Series allows for the “unused” speed’s drive system to eliminate any torque when the other system is driving. The specialized overrun element allows for sprockets, gears, and pulleys to all be installed via a keyway setup.