Chain wear indicator

A chain wear indicator for determining wear of a roller chain having a plurality of pivotally coupled chain links, said chain wear indicator comprising:

• a body portion;
• a first protrusion extending from said body portion and having a first roller engaging surface facing in a first longitudinal direction along the roller chain;
• a second protrusion extending from said body portion and having a second roller engaging surface facing in a second longitudinal direction along the roller chain which is substantially opposite said first direction, said first and second roller engaging surfaces being configured and spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance to place a predetermined number of the chain links of the roller chain under tension therebetween;
• and
• a third protrusion extending from said body portion and having a third roller engaging surface facing in substantially said second longitudinal direction along the roller chain, said third roller engaging surface being configured and spaced apart from said second roller engaging surface by a distance corresponding to a predetermined number of the chain links plus a pre-selected amount of wear per link such that wear of the predetermined number of chain links between said second and third roller engaging surfaces is measured and roller wear is not measured to indicate unacceptability of the roller chain.

A method for determining wear of a roller chain having a plurality of pivotally coupled links arranged to form a longitudinal length with a chain wear indicator, said method for determining wear comprising the steps of:

• pressing an internal surface of a first roller against a first link bushing in a first longitudinal direction of the roller chain;
• pressing an internal surface of a second roller against a second link bushing in the first longitudinal direction of the roller chain to place the links of the roller chain between the first and second rollers under tension;
• and
• measuring wear of the links of the roller chain between a first external surface of the first roller and a second external surface of the second roller to determine the unacceptability of the roller chain, the first and second external surfaces facing in the same direction relative to the longitudinal length of the roller chain such that wear of the first and second rollers is not measured.