LG BALAKRISHNAN & BROS - INDUSTRIAL AND MOTORCYCLE CHAINS

L.G. Balakrishnan & Bros. (LGB) has been the leading manufacturer of industrial and motorcycle chains in India for the past five decades. Today, we hold 60% OEM of the Indian market share. We are the exclusive supplier to several four-stroke motorcycle manufacturers in India of drive chains and cam (or timing) chains (engine-mechanism chains).

We manufacture around 650,000 motorcycle drive chain units and half a million cam chain units per month. All our manufacturing plants and central functions are registered to ISO/TS 16949 by Underwriters Laboratories Inc. USA.

Our annual turnover is about US$100 Million, around 10% to 15% of this is our export turnover.

As well as chains, we also supply sprockets, auto-tensioners and belts based on customer requirements and specifications. Our major OEM customers include Honda, Larsen & Toubro, Jacob & Muller, Bajaj, Tvs-Suzuki, Tata Motors, Brakes India, LML, Kinetic and Kawasaki.

CSB (CROSS SLIT BUSH) THE PATENTED TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPED BY LGB

The bush is an important part of the chain that gives it the required strength and rigidity to ensure a long service life. In cross slit bush chains the slits are cross-constructed to ten (+/- one) degrees. These new patent pending bushings are produced in strip steel that is formed and die-sized around a precision mandrel to create bushing with excellent roundness, superior strength and very little wall thickness variation.

THEORY BEHIND THE CROSS SLIT BUSH

LGB has developed the manufacturing process that creates a chain demonstrating an outstanding ability to resist wear. Considering the different criteria for measuring drive chain quality, we can see that LGB's CSB chain offers the best possible solution through its techniques and exclusive process.

The bearing area is the contact surface between pin and bush, Chain strength will be distributed evenly over this bearing surface. Chain wear is directly proportional to bearing pressure - the lower the bearing pressure, the longer the chain life. The high precision of the cross slit bushes of the LGB chain ensures a uniformly distributed load.

LGB CSB CHAINS HAVE LONGER LIVES

In regular chains, the wear is more because:

• The roofing effect on the chain where the pin seating over the bush is not uniform
• During the articulation the bearing area is not uniform throughout the wearing area
• The chance of point wear will be more in regular slit bush chains
• If the straight slits are located towards the tension side of the pin, the wear will be greater
• Chain articulates as it enters and leaves the sprocket tooth, and 'bearing action' occurs, this results in chain elongation
• The articulation as the chain enters and leaves the sprocket results in relative movement between the pins and the bushing in the chain joints
• In CSB chain, the smooth articulation at the bearing area is optimum; the bearing pressure is minimised, lessening the wear on the chain. Also the slit area is spread, eliminating the point of contact.

ADVANTAGES OF CSB CHAIN

The patent pending bushing with its angular seam is revolutionary in both design and function. Some of the immediate and direct benefits are as follows:

• Reduced joint wear
• Improved bushing endurances
• Reduced sprocket wear
• Smoother sprocket / chain engagement
• Reduced drive system vibration
• Improved chain fatigue resistance
• Improved bushing retention inside chain bar
• Reduced drive system noise

BLANKING COMPONENTS AND FORGINGS

We also manufacture fine blanking components for automobile parts to our international customers. Our business has also diversified into a metal forming company and we produce cold, warm and hot forgings and supply to esteemed companies in the US and Europe. Our forged products include steering linkage parts like ball rods, ball pins and ball sockets. We also export coupling shaft forgings and machining components.