A leading manufacturer of heavy-duty PVC rollers is increasing production in a bid to keep up with demand. Huddersfield based Pennine Industrial Equipment, produces a range of nine standard size rollers for use in the food, beverage, pharmaceutical and material handling Industries. Sales of the rollers, which are suitable as a replacement of stainless steel units in some applications, have taken the company by storm.

Pennine attributes the surge in demand to greater awareness of health and safety legislation, where shop floor noise has to be kept to a minimum and also to meet the demands of the transportation industry.

Pennine offers the rollers with an extensive choice of different bearings.

Customer options include gravity ball race, high performance ball bearing assembly and solid lubricated UHMW-PE bearings.

The heavy-duty construction makes them suitable for even the most arduous of applications.

The company's sales manager Graham Womersley, states that Pennine can make the customer virtually any combination of tube diameter, bearing type and shaft arrangement.

Womersley says 'In addition to different bearings, we also offer a number of shaft options in various material grades, with a choice of standard PVC tube diameters range from 21.3mm to 73mm.

Innovative Pennine's rollers can also be manufactured in a variety of special materials including UHMW, which is one of the most wear resistant plastics available.

For food applications, Pennine recommends Nolus-S bearings which is manufactured from a food grade lubricant compound.

All of the company's rollers can be used in conjunction with its plastic pulleys, sprockets and guides that have been designed to replace older metal units.

Page one of three All of Pennine's rollers require minimum maintenance and do not require any lubrication.

The company says that the rollers can be used on both gravity and driven applications.

Pennine can also offer a completely plastic version that does not interfere with metal detection equipment and can be used at the end of food production lines along with those at airports.

As an optional service, rollers can be steel reinforced for increasing the load capacity, or manufactured from anti-static plastic materials for use where there is a risk of fire or static problems are great; or made of PTFE where high temperatures are involved.

The use of non-metallic material also allows the rollers to be used in hostile production areas where metal might corrode or induce fire.

Typical applications include chemical works, battery production and acid manufacturing plants.

Summarising Mr Womersley comments: 'We offer one of the largest ranges of plastic rollers in the UK.

With so many options to choose from, customers can be assured that Pennine will be able to provide the best possible solution.' In addition to a standard product range, Pennine also offers a special design and build service.

Rollers can be design and manufactured in a particular material to suit the customer's precise requirements Pennine manufactures the rollers on-site and carries extensive stocks of parts and materials, allowing orders to be completed with the minimum of delay.

Where possible the rollers utilise standard components, which enables the company to keep its pricing to a minimum.