Latest News from Rolltek

Rolltek International Ltd supplies a range of anti-static wheels and anti-static castors.

Rolltek’s anti-static castors include an anti-static wheel made of antistatic material, also known as conductive material which provides electrical resistance, and therefore allows static build up within a unit to be dispersed. It is important to reduce the level of static build up, to reduce the risk of static shock, this static shock is known as Electrostatic Discharge; the small spark sometimes felt when touching certain items. These may seem insignificant but the Electrostatic Discharge has to reach 3000volts before it is felt by humans, as little as 10 volts can seriously damage items such as computer chips, sensitive electronic equipment, microprocessors etc. Clean rooms, medical environments, surgical theatres, supermarkets and the electronics industry are majorly affected by these little static shocks therefore have to put several measures in place to try to alleviate them.

Rolltek can help with one of these solutions, with the supply of antistatic castors and wheels. Applying anti-static castors to a unit can help to solve the problem of Electrostatic Discharge, as the conductive material conducts (passes) static electricity and has low resistance to electrical flow, making it much harder for the static to transfer.

Rolltek’s anti-static castors are used widely in many different industries, including the following:

RETAIL

Rolltek supply an anti-static wheel designed for shopping trolleys and trolleys used in the Retail sector.  Some flooring can cause static charge to build up in shopping trolleys causing a transfer of shock to the user; this is a major concern in the Retail sector as the trolleys are being used by customers as well as staff. Installing an antistatic castor will reduce the risk of a static shock occurring.

INDUSTRIAL

Static electricity is a major cause of fires and explosions in many industries. The hazard of electrostatic spark ignition of flammable vapour can be minimized by taking actions to limit the accumulation of electrostatic charges to safe values. Using Rolltek’s antistatic castors can help to reduce the chance of these risks occurring.

For many years anti-static wheels have only been available in a black rubber material, which would mark light coloured flooring and make them and unattractive option for use in clean rooms and in medical or laboratory areas. Today, Rolltek International are offering a grey rubber tyred anti-static wheel which is non-marking, perfect for hospital and retail flooring. This non-marking material has a high load capacity with abrasion, tear and chemical resistance, balanced with a soft ride. The anti-static castor wheels we supply have less than 10⁴ ohm electric resistance. Each individual wheel is subjected to electrical testing. The temperature range of Rolltek’s anti-static castors is -20°c to +70°c.

You can purchase our antistatic castors by calling our sales team on 01327 313125, who will be happy to help with any enquiries or requirements you may have.

Flightcase Castors Available at Rolltek International

A flightcase is a container used for safely packing and transporting anything that requires protecting whilst being moved by either sea, air or on the road. Initially the primary users of flightcases were musicians and bands on tour to transport their sound and lighting equipment and their instruments. These are now used much more widely by industries such as Television, Film, The Military, Medical and many more.

The construction of a flightcase is usually sheets of plywood with a phenolic or plastic layer held together using aluminium extrusion profile and rivets; the handles and catches are often recessed. On the larger and heavier flightcases, manufacturers fit flightcase castors.

Flightcase castors are made up of a pressed steel bracket fitted with a blue elastic rubber tyre wheel. The advantage of using blue rubber wheels on flightcase castors is a fantastic material that provides a higher load capacity than standard rubber wheels, and provides good wear resistance. These are quiet running, non-marking and provide the user with a smooth soft-cushioned ride, perfect for flight cases when noise levels are a concern.

The flight case castors Rolltek supply for the flightcase industry are blue elastic tyred castors, offered in a medium duty bracket with 125mm overall height, and heavy duty bracket with 132mm overall height. Rolltek’s flightcase castors have a 200kg load rating, spread across 4 castors, this will provide you with 600kg capacity. All wheels have roller bearings and are fitted with matching blue plastic threadguards.

It is worth considering that most flightcases are custom made, if you need to refresh your flight case castors, 132mm overall height is the ‘industry norm’ for the flight case market, although we do suggest that if you are replacing flightcase castors you check the overall height (Distance from the floor to the top of the bracket).

Rolltek’s sales team can advise you on any requirement you may have for flightcase castors or alternatively if you know what you require then flight case castors can be purchased from www.rolltek.co.uk 

Rolltek’s Consultancy Capabilities

Consultancy

Rolltek International can bring added value to clients in the form of consultancy. Having in excess of 60 years experience within a multitude of markets, we can offer customised proposals for all types of mobile equipment. These include the following:

Design, development and product solutions

For all mobile equipment related to distribution, retail and automotive industries. Rolltek can make arrangements to customise each product to the needs of the end user, resulting with ‘exact’ solutions, both practically and commercially.

Distribution

• - Rollcages
• - Dollies
• - All loose equipment
• - New Projects/Solutions
• - Maintenance

Retail

• - Shopping Trolleys
• - In-store Equipment
• - Shop-fitting
• - New Projects/Solutions

Automotive

• - Boggies
• - Line-side Racking
• - Mobile Storage

Testing procedure / Health & Safety

All products will be fully compliant with associated health and safety requirements, including:

• - Documented test procedures
• - Associated warranties
• - Emphasis of safety critical items
• - Manual handling regulations
• - Equipment compatibility
• - Liaison with engineering representatives
• - Liaison with designated maintenance departments/companies

Third party procurement

Providing cost breakdown of material, transport, import duties and delivery.

National/International tendering processes

Rolltek International has a close association with worldwide castor and wheel manufacturers. With our ‘global’ knowledge we can source the best product from the most suitable manufacturer.

The Rolltek Plastic Shelf…..

In 2007, Tesco commissioned Rolltek to develop a plastic shelf, able to replace the existing metal shelf currently fitted to their fleet of roll cages. Tesco has a ‘Good Neighbourhood’ policy of wishing to reduce transmitted noise associated with logistical equipment whilst delivering to store, especially to those outside of normal working hours.

The overall effect of fitting the plastic shelving, combined with Rolltek’s composite wheel castors, reduced overall noise levels by between 5db and 7db.

The plastic shelf is maintenance free and considerably lighter than its metal derivative. Added benefits include the reduced chances of cuts or abrasions occurring to operators hands when in use. The shelf is made from high grade HDPE and approved to take a ‘safe working load’ of 200kgs, in both ambient and freezer temperatures.

During 2008/9, the plastic shelf was subsequently ‘retro-fitted’ to over 200,000 Tesco cages, and today forms part of the overall specification for Tesco roll cages.

Rolltek can bring added value to clients in the form of consultancy, as highlighted above. Having 60 years of experience within a multitude of markets, we can offer customised proposals for all types of mobile equipment. To find out more, contact our office on 01327 313125.

Composite wheels / Sandwich Castors – The ultimate noise reduction wheel for use on distribution equipment in food retail, aviation, automotive and health service industries.

Rolltek’s sandwich castor is to feature in Tesco’s December newsletter; an advert will be published in Tesco’s internal news letter next month, the news letter is distributed within the organization to personnel working within the ‘Facility Management’ departments.

This wheel is commonly referred to as a composite sandwich wheel or sandwich castor, this is because the wheel has a rubber ring sandwiched between two polymer layers.  Comprehensive tests carried out have confirmed that fitting our composite/sandwich wheel reduces transmitted noise considerably, by at least 7db.  This has had a significant benefit within distribution centre’s and warehouses when noise levels have been investigated by Health and Safety Personnel.  This also benefits the local community, providing noise reduction when roll cages, trolleys and dollys are moved in residential/office environments, especially during unsociable hours…hence the strap line: Sleep tight…when delivering at night.

PROPERTIES OF A SANDWICH WHEEL

• · High impact resistance
• · Polymer tread
• · Non-marking
• · Low starting efforts
• · Roller bearing
• · Material and construction of wheel allow for operating temperatures: -29°C to 50°C

BENEFITS OF COMPOSITE SANDWICH WHEEL, COMPARED TO A NYLON WHEEL 

• · Comprehensive tests carried out have confirmed that fitting our composite/sandwich wheel reduces transmitted noise considerably, by at least 7db. 
• · Provides high impact resistance due to rubber infill whilst maintaining the requirement of sideways movement due to the polymer tread
• · Life expectancy of the sandwich wheel is increased as its ability to absorb impact is increased due to the material/construction of the wheel
• · Cushioning effect makes this wheel suitable for various floor surfaces, it is more operator friendly as this composite wheel construction significantly reduces vibrations transmitted to the operative when compared to other polymer wheels

If you would like further information on our sandwich wheels, please do not hesitate to contact the sales office on 01327 313125 or buy online.

Rolltek’s Christmas Shutdown

Good Afternoon All.

As Rachel has put the tree up in the office this afternoon, we thought we should let you all know the dates of our Christmas Shutdown.

The Rolltek offices will close on Thursday 22nd December at 1pm. Please place any orders requiring delivery before Christmas on the 22nd or sooner. We will reopen in the new year on Tuesday 3rd January at 8.45am

The 2012 Catalogue is Now Available to Download

We are pleased to share with you our new 2012 Catalogue. The catalogue is currently available for you to view or download from our website as a PDF. Included in the catalogue is our range of light duty castors, medium duty castors and heavy duty castors, you will also find a selection of the wheels we have available. A range of our popular everyday items are also available to purchase via our recently launched web shop.

The catalogue is going to be printed in 2012 at which point we will be happy to send you are hard copy upon request.

If you have require any further information about the products in our catalogue, please do not hesitate to contact our sales team on 01327 313125

The Castor and Wheel Guide

Do these questions sound familiar to you …What bearing do I need? How do I calculate the load rating? Which wheel should I go for? If so, you are not the only one. We are often asked by customers how to calculate load ratings for various castor configurations, we have therefore decided to write a concise guide to help you.

The Castor and Wheel Guide provides information on wheel types, bearings, choice of mountings as well as formulas for calculating load capacities for normal castor configurations. The technical data sheet has been added to our website as a PDF for you to download or refer back to. It is our intention to add this to our catalogue when it is reprinted in 2012.

We at Rolltek endeavour to make sure our products are safe and will not cause risk to health when used correctly, according to the guidelines laid out in our technical guide and maintained in an appropriate manner. This guide can be used as a reference point, but if any any time you are unsure or have a specialist application you require advice for then please contact the sales office on 01327 313125 and a member of our sales team will be happy to help you. Remember it is better to be safe than sorry.

Microcellular Wheels

Mobile units are normally fitted with wheels that have either a solid rubber tyre or pneumatic tyre (air filled). However, a third option is now available … A “microcellular wheel”, also known as a puncture proof wheel behaves in a similar way to a pneumatic wheel but has a microcellular infill which allows the wheel to keep its bounce without the risk of puncturing.

These wheels are 260mm diameter with 2 roller bearing options, 20mm or 25mm, they can be used on their own (fitted to an axle) or supplied by Rolltek in a fixed or swivel castor bracket. These wheels / castors are used regularly in the leisure industry on products such as cricket covers, goal posts etc, as they perform very well on grass. These are also suitable for use on garden trolleys etc.

Rolltek’s Wheelbarrow Wheels are Featured by The Telegraph

The Edible Garden Show at Stoneleigh set a bit of a trend starting; Rolltek shared a stand at the show, choosing to display their puncture proof, micro cellular and solid wheels, all suitable for use as replacement wheels for wheelbarrow. Wheels such as these are also suitable for refurbishing old garden trolleys, flat bed trolleys, stable barrows and sack trucks.

Whilst at the show, Jean Vernon columnist for The Telegraph’s garden section visited the stand and spoke at length with staff, the confidence she gained in the products made her decision to include Rolltek’s wheels in the recent article “The great autumn tidy-up : wheelbarrows” very easy.

The article was printed in The Telegraph on Saturday 1^st October 2011 and also features on their website. The coverage in the paper has prompted many people to contact the sales team at Rolltek to enquire about replacing the wheels on their barrows. A small problem was highlighted with these calls; many people are unsure of exactly what they require when phoning up. The information required to identify a suitable wheel is as follows

• The overall diameter of the wheel
• The bore size and bearing type (plain bore or roller bearing)
• The hub length

Without this information, it is very difficult to identify individual requirements, but finding these measurements is not always clear, therefore we have generated a self-help sheet to provide guidance on the measurements required and where these points are on the wheel. “The Wheel Barrow Wheel Guide” is available for download from the site www.rolltek.co.uk . People interested in the wheels can also purchase online if they are confident they have the correct information.