Many industries operate a variety of belt-driven machinery such as HVAC equipment, milling machines, compressors and camshafts. The accurate alignment of belt and chain drives, while seemingly a fairly insignificant task, can in fact make a considerable contribution to a plant’s overall production levels and subsequent profitability.

Precise alignment will reduce wear on belts, pulleys, chains and sprockets and minimise machine vibration, thus improving machine performance, cutting down energy costs and extending belt and pulley life for maximised plant availability.

“SKF has a very simple solution,” says SKF Product Manager – MaPro, Eddie Martens. “The SKF TKBA series of Belt Alignment Tools has been especially designed to accurately align pulleys and sprockets and to also allow for corrections for various types of misalignment. The versatile TKBA 11, TKBA 21 and TKBA 31 devices can be applied to most machines that use V belts, banded and ribbed belts, including those with chain sprockets.”

The tool is extremely user-friendly: the two components on the TKSA 11, a laser-emitting unit and three passive targets, can be quickly and easily attached to the inside or outside face of a belt pulley or chain sprocket using a powerful magnet. A laser line is projected from the emitting unit to the passive targets which are mounted on the opposite pulley. The tool then allows for correction for vertical and horizontal angles and parallel misalignment as well as combinations of all three. The TKSA 21 and 31 have two laser emitting heads as well as passive targets which allow for very accurate alignment. The sturdy housings, made from ABS and 2K polymers and an aluminium base, helps to ensure stability during assembly and accuracy during alignment.

The TKBA 11 Precision and TKBA 21 Advanced tool operate effectively over distances of up to 3m, using one and two red diodes respectively. The TKBA 31 Pro advanced tool uses a highly visible green laser diode which is effective up to 6m; this model can also be used for outdoor applications in sunny conditions.

The TKBA 11 runs on three AAA batteries for 32 hours of continuous operation while the TKBA 21 and TKBA 31, each using six AAA batteries, respectively deliver 32 and six hours of continuous operation. All TKBA components, including the laser transmitter/receiver units, three passive targets and batteries, are supplied in a sturdy carrying case with a total weight of only 1,88kg for easy, safe portability. The TKBA 31 is also supplied with a wear check/pulley groove gauge and tension checkers as standard.