Medium Duty Ball Transfer Units

Medium Duty Ball Transfer Construction:

Most top caps (covers) are precision machined from solid steel to protect from misaligned items or impact damage during service. Ball units with a main ball of 22mm (7/8”) diameter or larger, incorporate a felt wiper seal to reduce contaminants and debris entering and damaging the unit.

The Omnitrack series MX, MV & MW air cargo ball transfer units are designed with several patented additional drain channels for fast-flowing drainage and expulsion of fluids and contaminants, and therefore do not have wiper seals. 

In addition, the MI76 series ball units are user-serviceable with replacement service kits available, but other Medium Duty ball units are lubricated & sealed for life.

Save Time by Using Fixing Clips

Where only single-sided access to the conveying plane is available, fixing clips provide a convenient, fast fixing method for both our M Push Fit series and MG Plain Fitting series ball transfers. This spring clip can be fitted to punched or laser cut bores, and the spring clip will compensate for irregularities in bore diameter and ovality. This eliminates costly machining of a precise seating bore for ball transfer unit retention.

Clips can be reused & are available for most sizes. Also consider tolerance rings for retention. If you’re unsure about which clip or tolerance ring sizes you require for your specific product, do get in touch and one of our experts will walk you through exactly what you need. 

Ball Transfers for Wet, Dirty Operating Environments

Operating in a clean, dry environment is always best if possible. Standard material specification utilises a case-hardened ferrous carbon steel housing & chrome steel balls & are ideal in clean, dry operating environments.  

However, arduous operating conditions may require other materials to better suit the environment. Wet, dirty, high-temperature and otherwise corrosive environments, require stainless steel which better resists these conditions. It’s therefore important to select our “SS” or “A” suffix material options.

Suffix “SS”: Stainless Steel Ball Transfer Units

All parts are made of stainless steel for maximum resistance to difficult operating conditions.

Suffix “A”:

These contain stainless steel balls only.

Our MW30 standard material and MW45 standard material products incorporate stainless steel balls and internal stainless steel liner cups (ball race) as standard.

Remember that AISI420 Stainless Steel has a lower hardness than standard materials, so please reduce maximum carrying capacity as specified.

Medium Duty Ball Transfer Units: Frequently Asked Questions

Why Specify Plastic balls?

Plastic Ball Transfer Units use softer POM plastic balls, which are made from Delrin (sometimes also referred to as Nylon, Nylon 66 or Acetal), and can be specified by adding suffix “D” (for example M14D).

Whilst the softer plastic material will reduce the load carrying capacity of the ball unit, it will provide a softer point of contact with the conveyed item and therefore reduce potential marking of delicate or painted surfaces.

At Omnitrack, we also offer ball materials (including Teflon, Acrylic, Phenolic resin, Alumina) custom built to your application. To discuss a bespoke build further, please contact our expert team.

Why do M series (medium duty), L series & LP series units all look very similar?

All 3 types are dimensionally equivalent.

Our M series products are machined from solid bar, and so have higher shock resistance and greater service life.

L series & LP series feature in the light duty range; L series are assembled from stamped pressings & LP series machined from solid Acetal bar for resistance to chemical attack.

Why should I consider Heavy Duty Ball Transfer Units?

In some circumstances, your application may be better suited to using heavy duty ball transfer units rather than their medium duty transfer counterparts.

If your application requires:

1. Full load/maximum carrying capacity in the inverted (ball down or castor) position.
2. Lowest coefficient of friction 1:005 μ (0.5%) break away point of inertia. 
3. Operating temperature of less than -30 degrees centigrade (C/F) or higher than 100 degrees.
4. Operating speed greater than 1.5 meters per second (3 feet/second).
5. Shock loading – consider spring loaded and pre-stressed spring heavy-duty ball units.
6. Arduous conditions requiring tailored material specifications.

Typical Applications for Medium Ball Transfers

Four MX30 units are used in each Omnitrack ball skate. These ball transfer skates engage with cantilever supermarket shelving legs, allowing entire (laden) aisles with each train section weighing up to 3,000 kg (6720 lbs) each to be moved quickly. Once the train of aisles has been moved, they can be securely locked using the parking brake / locking unit.

The MI76 transfer units have been specially engineered for mining industry pipe stands. The high profile 3” (76.1mm) ball allows differing pipeline diameter tubing to be handled for assembly and welding. Typical oil, gas and oilfield applications require large debris channels to expel dirt and debris easily, and in the most difficult environments for users to reinstate function quickly and on-site in the event of failure. The unit is easily dismantled for user servicing and cleaning within minutes using our available service kits. Otherwise known as Pipe Handling Ball Transfer Units, our MI76 fit all standard 3.5” BSP (British Standard Pipe) pipe and ball stands which are widespread in fabrication and tube handling industries.

Our MV30 air cargo ball transfers feature a low noise moulded scraper cap and patented drain channels, allowing improved fast flow drainage of fluids and debris. 350 kg (800 lbs) load capacity facilitates easy handling of Aluminium ULD air cargo pallets over airport ball mats.