Squirrel Cage Pulley for bucket Elevators & conveyors

Elevator drum pulley for bulk handling

In 90% of cases, a tail or a return pulley is a Squirrel Cage pulley or Self-cleaning pulley In fact, they are usually installed to handle bulk materials, such as cereals in the agricultural sector. Installed in a vertical bucket elevator, the tail pulley is at the bottom. Part of the conveyed material therefore falls back onto the drum pulley. The Cage pulley design prevents product agglomeration. In this case, the evacuation cone design also prevents retention by evacuating the material on both sides.

Cage drum pulley execution

There are 2 ways to design a cage pulley :

• The so-called standard design comprises two flanges with large holes on each side and a cylindrical “surface” made up of bars, allowing the material to pass through. This then drains through the holes in the flanges.
• The other design is identical in terms of the bars, but also includes a discharge cone at the pulley shaft to aid product discharge.

three methods for installing the bars:

• Round bars welded to the flanges of squirrel cage pulley
• Square bars
• Rectangular steel plates

In all 3 cases, the cage drum pulley can be machined in a curved shape (or the bars are bent when technically possible).