Stock Drive Products/Sterling Instrument (www.sdp-si.com) has unveiled the ultra-miniature inch and metric 3.117mm pitch molded chain drive series, dubbed as the A 6M 7M12.

The series is designed for uses where weight factors and limited space are important, including pen carriages in recorders and X-Y plotters or servo drives to stylus, counter drives and chart roll drives. The series is used in business machines, communication equipment, cameras and other electro-mechanical or electronic devices.

Made of non-magnetic black acetal, the drives are designed to operate in a wide range of temperatures from -40 degree Celsius to +121 degree Celsius. The series features a unit-link design, eliminating the need for a master link. Every unit-link measures 4.12mm wide and 2.08mm high. A length of 321 links snapped all together will equal one meter and a five-meter chain weighs only 0.031kg. Maximum operating loads of up to 0.9kg of tension, chain operating speeds of up to 5.1m/s and smaller eight-tooth sprockets are recommended.

Stocked in 14 sizes from eight to 48 teeth, the new A 6M 7M12 sprockets feature three bore sizes, which are stocked for press fitting the sprockets to 3mm, 4mm, and 6mm shafts. The sprockets have 24 teeth or more that are molded with a spoked configuration. Its diameters range from .371″ (9.4mm) to 1.939″ (49.3 mm) and pitch diameters from .318″ (8.1mm) to 1.865″ (47.4mm).