WO2022038201A1

WO2022038201A1 - Link-plate chain

Info

Publication number: WO2022038201A1
Application number: PCT/EP2021/072969
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jörg MANSKE; Jochen SCHÄPERKLAUS; Rainer BASFELD; Jörg GRAEFE; Birgit HEIN; Marco Hoffmann
Original assignee: KettenWulf Betriebs GmbH
Priority date: 2020-08-18
Filing date: 2021-08-18
Publication date: 2022-02-24
Also published as: WO2022038201A8

Abstract

The invention relates to a link-plate chain (1), in particular a bush chain or a bush conveyor chain, comprising a plurality of outer plates (2) which lie opposite each other in pairs parallel to a chain pull direction, a plurality of inner plates (3) which lie opposite each other in pairs parallel to the chain pull direction, a plurality of link pins (4), each of which is rotationally fixed to two outer plates (2) lying opposite each other parallel to the chain pull direction, and a plurality of link bushes (7), each of which is rotationally fixed to two inner plates (3) lying opposite each other parallel to the chain pull direction, wherein each link bush (7) at least partly surrounds one link pin (4) and together with the link pin (4) forms a chain link, and the link-plate chain (1) has wear detection means which are integrally formed with the outer plates (2) and/or with the inner plates (3).

Description

link chain

The present invention relates to an articulated chain, in particular a bush chain or bush conveyor chain, according to the preamble of claim 1.

[0002] Chains, in particular articulated chains, are used in very different technical fields of application. An articulated chain comprises a plurality of outer link plates, two of which are opposite each other parallel to a chain pull direction, a plurality of inner link plates, two of which are opposite each other parallel to the chain pull direction, a plurality of pivot pins, each of which is non-rotatable with two parallel to the chain pull direction opposite outer link plates are connected, as well as a plurality of joint bushes, which are each non-rotatably connected to two opposite inner link plates parallel to the direction of the chain pull, one joint bush in each case surrounding a joint pin at least in sections and forming a chain joint with the joint pin.

[0003] Bush chains are intended to refer to all chain designs that include a chain link made of a link pin and a link bush. Bush conveyor chains are intended to describe all chain designs that are bush chains and have the task of moving or conveying goods of all kinds in conveyor systems and transmitting the total chain tensile force required for this. Bush conveyor chains may or may not have rollers. Bush conveyor chains can have fasteners for attaching additional components, but do not necessarily have to have fasteners. Bush conveyor chains can be used, for example, as escalator chains, or as pallet chains, or as step chains, or as scraper chains. Basically Various applications of bush conveyor chains are possible in all industrial areas.

Irrespective of their function, such as conveying, driving, lifting or positioning, continuous wear and tear of the individual chain components of an articulated chain cannot be prevented even by regular maintenance and good care.

[0005] When used correctly, the service life of a link chain is determined by its natural wear limits. Among other things, wear occurs on the surfaces of the components, which experience a relative movement to one another. The surface of the hinge pin and the surface of the bush bore of the hinge bush are the first to be mentioned here. Another wear-prone position is the outer cylinder surface of the pivot bushing. A roller is often installed at this point, which, due to the rotary movement, leads to constant sliding friction between the joint bushing and a roller bore of the roller.

These two positions mentioned above, where wear can often occur, are completely covered during operation of the articulated chain and are therefore not accessible for a visual wear check. The assessment of the state of wear of the articulated chain thus requires the disassembly of a chain section and the dismantling of the individual components of this chain section. This type of wear test therefore requires the machine or technical system equipped with the articulated chain to be idle for a longer period of time and consequently represents an enormous effort. [0007] Different measuring devices for determining a wear condition of a chain are already known from the prior art. These include, for example, chain gauges. These are used, for example, in the field of cycling or motorsport. A certain number of chain links is pushed onto the chain gauge. If this works, the length of the chain has already worn down to such an extent that the chain needs to be replaced.

[0008] Furthermore, there are, for example, chain measuring gauges that output a wear percentage that is averaged over a number of joints. In this case, however, one does not get - as would be desirable in itself - no exact statement about the condition of individual chain links and the respective chain components. In addition, no information is provided about the exact wear position (between the pivot bushing and the chain pin or between the pivot bushing and the roller or protective roller) and the orientation of the wear direction (perpendicular to the chain pull direction or in the chain pull direction).

The present invention therefore sets itself the task of remedying this problem mentioned above and further developing an articulated chain in such a way that a wear test can be carried out very easily.

[0010] The solution to this problem is provided by an articulated chain, in particular a bush chain or bush conveyor chain, with the features of the characterizing part of claim 1 . The dependent claims relate to advantageous developments of the invention.

[001 1] An articulated chain according to the invention, which can be designed as a bush chain or as a bush conveyor chain, has Wear detection means which are formed integrally with the outer plates and/or integrally with the inner plates.

The articulated chain according to the invention thus makes it possible to indirectly determine the state of wear of the inaccessible chain components by means of suitable measuring methods and wear detection means specially attached to the outer link plates and/or to the inner link plates within the system without a complex dismantling of the chain strand.

[0013] Due to the wear within a chain, the wear-prone individual chain components shift against one another. This relative movement of the components is also transferred to the elements that are firmly connected to the components that are subject to wear.

In a preferred embodiment, it is proposed that the wear detection means comprise at least one wear marking, which is formed on an outer side of the inner link plate in the vicinity of at least one of the two joint bushings of the inner link plate in question and is set up to indicate the degree of wear of the link chain to visualize in this area.

In a particularly preferred embodiment, there is the possibility that the at least one wear marking is a wear indicator that becomes visible as the degree of wear increases, or several wear indicators that represent different degrees of wear and are designed in such a way that they gradually change as the degree of wear increases become visible. . [0016] The wear indicators can, for example, be linear and extend parallel to one another, orthogonally to a longitudinal axis of the relevant inner plate.

In a further advantageous embodiment it can be provided that the wear markings is associated with a label that is formed on the outside of the inner plates.

[0018] A flattening can preferably be formed on at least one tab head of the outer tabs.

In a preferred embodiment it is proposed that the wear markings are in the form of stickers, embossing, engraving or laser markings.

In an alternative embodiment, there is the possibility that the wear detection means comprise cutouts or bores that are formed in the inner link plates in the vicinity of at least one of the chain links of the inner link plate in question and are designed to measure the degree of wear of the link chain in this area visualize. When the articulated chain is new, the cutouts or bores are preferably covered by the plate heads of the outer plates and are therefore not accessible and also not visible to an observer. As wear and tear continues to progress, these cutouts or bores then become visible to an observer from the outside. A fully visible section or a fully visible bore indicates that the maximum joint wear of the relevant chain joint of the link chain has been reached.

In a further alternative embodiment it can also be provided that the wear detection medium Outer plates include radius contours or wedge-shaped contours on the tops and/or the bottoms of the outer plates.

[0022] The wear detection means of the inner link plates can preferably be formed by edges which are arranged in such a way that they correspond to the radius contours or the wedge-shaped contours of the outer link plates.

Each of the radius contours or wedge-shaped contours is designed in such a way that when new it lies on one side of the beginning of the contour coaxially to the corresponding edge of the inner link plate in the transition between the bolt head radius and the upper edge of the link plate or the lower edge of the link plate and with this edge flees. During the operation of the link chain and the continuously developing wear between the link pin and the link bush, the edge of the inner plate shifts within the associated radius contour or wedge-shaped contour of the outer plate.

The radius contours or wedge-shaped contours can preferably be designed in such a way that exactly when the maximum wear limit of the chain joint is reached (defined by the hardened layers of the friction partners, the joint pin and the joint bush), the edge of the inner plate has completely passed through the associated radius contour or wedge-shaped contour and then is oriented coaxially to the other end of this radius contour or wedge-shaped contour and is aligned with it.

In an advantageous further development it is proposed that the articulated chain has a plurality of rollers which are rotatably mounted on the articulated bushings, the rollers having wear detection means which are integral with the rollers are trained. In principle, embodiments are also conceivable in which only the rollers have appropriate wear detection means, but the inner link plates and/or the outer link plates do not.

In a preferred embodiment, it is proposed that the wear detection means of each of the rollers comprise at least one annular hub contour, which is formed in one of the end faces of the roller in question, or comprise at least two annular hub contours, which are formed in at least one of the end faces of the roller in question are formed, are arranged coaxially to one another and have different outer diameters. In this case, for example, the diameter of a first hub contour lying axially further outside is selected such that when the link chain is new, an upper edge of the inner link plate is flush with the first hub contour. The diameter of the second hub contour can be selected, for example, so that it corresponds to the diameter of the plate head of the inner plate. Due to the progressive wear, the position of the first hub contour now shifts relative to the upper edge of the inner plate. This dimension describes the overall wear between the joint bushing and the roller. For example, the current degree of wear in this area can be determined very easily using a caliper gauge with a depth gauge.

When worn, the roller can be moved in the chain pull direction. This dimension can be measured by the distance between the second hub contour and a tip radius of the inner plate. This then largely corresponds to the wear on the inner diameter of the roller. The difference between the two recorded dimensions consequently describes the maximum wear of the joint bushing in the contact area between the roller and the joint bushing. The radial arrangement of the hub contours on the Roller can be flexibly adjusted to the depth of the hardened layer of the components.

Preferably, the hub contours can be formed at right angles on their outer edge. This makes it easy to use measuring equipment to determine the degree of wear on the articulated chain in this area.

In an alternative embodiment, there is the possibility that the wear detection means of each of the rollers comprise at least one recess or at least one annular groove, which is formed in at least one of the end faces of the relevant roller. If several recesses or annular grooves are provided, these are in particular arranged coaxially with one another. Such indentations or annular grooves can also be formed in both opposite end faces of the rollers. These annular grooves can be round or angular in cross section.

The hub contours or annular grooves can also be formed in both opposite end faces of the rollers.

In a further alternative embodiment it can be provided that the articulated chain has a plurality of rollers which are rotatably mounted on the pivot pin. An articulated chain with rollers can thus also be made available, the rollers not being equipped with wear detection means.

By means of suitable measurement methods and the provision of preferably non-wearing wear detection means, for example as Wear markings, curves, notches, edges, bores, recesses or other shaped geometric elements can be designed, on the elements firmly connected to the wear-prone components, the wear path can be transferred to externally accessible components and recorded there during a test process, for example, visually will.

Further features and advantages of embodiments of the invention are described below with reference to the drawings. The same reference numbers are used for the same or similar parts and for parts with the same or similar functions. Show it:

1 is a perspective view of a link chain designed according to a first embodiment of the present invention,

2 is a perspective view of an articulated chain constructed according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a perspective view of an articulated chain constructed according to a third embodiment of the present invention;

4 is a perspective view of an articulated chain constructed according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention;

5 is a perspective view of an articulated chain constructed according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention; 6 is a perspective view of a link chain constructed according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

7 shows a perspective view of a roller which has a hub contour,

8 shows a section through the roller according to FIG. 7,

Fig. 9 shows a detail according to IX in Fig. 8,

10 is a perspective view of a roller that has multiple right-angled hub contours for attaching measuring devices,

11 shows a section through the roller according to FIG. 10,

Fig. 12 shows a detail according to XI I in Fig. 11,

13 shows a perspective view of a roller which has a plurality of groove contours,

14 shows a section through the roller according to FIG. 13,

Fig. 15 shows a detail according to XV in Fig. 14.

It is not necessary for an articulated chain 1 according to the invention to have all of the features described below. It is also possible for an articulated chain 1 according to the invention to have only individual features of the exemplary embodiments described below.

Referring to Figures 1 to 6, an articulated chain comprises

1 in all the exemplary embodiments illustrated here, a plurality of Outer link plates 2, two of which are opposite each other parallel to a chain pull direction, a plurality of inner link plates 3, of which two are opposite each other parallel to the chain pull direction, a plurality of hinge pins 4, each of which rotates with two outer link plates 2 that are parallel to and opposite one another in the chain pull direction are connected, as well as a plurality of joint bushings 7, which are each rotationally connected to two inner plates 3 lying opposite one another parallel to the chain pulling direction, with one joint bushing 7 at least partially surrounding a joint pin 4 and forming a chain joint with this joint pin 4.

1 to 6 each show an articulated chain 1 designed as a bush conveyor chain with inner rollers 6 which are slide-mounted on the articulated bushes 7 . Possible embodiments of the roller 6, the in Fig. 1 to

6 articulated chains 1 shown can be used are shown in Fig.

7 to 15 in detail.

During the operation of the articulated chain 1, a wide variety of wear positions arise:

1) between a bushing bore 70 of the joint bushing 7 and the outer diameter of the bolt in the direction of the chain tensile force on the joint bushing 7 and on the joint bolt 4 (caused by the chain tensile force),

2) between a roller bore 65 of roller 6 and the outer diameter of the bush perpendicular to the direction of chain pull on roller 6 and on articulated bush 7 (due to the effect of a load of the conveyed goods on articulated chain 1 in the load strand as well as wear on an upper side due to the weight of the articulated chain 1 in the slack side), 3) Wear on the outer diameter of the roller 6 due to the continuous rolling of the roller 6 on the guideways and contact with the sprocket. This wear can usually be detected very easily and directly. As a rule, there is no appreciable wear here. If this is the case, then this would have to be taken into account when solving the problem under point 2.

With reference to FIG. 1, two wear detection means are provided on each of the outer link plates 2 in the vicinity of the two chain joints in order to solve the problem listed above under point 1. In the present case, these wear detection means are designed as radius contours 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d. In principle, only one wear detection means can be provided on each of the outer link plates 2 in the vicinity of the two chain joints.

Each of the inner plates 3 has two edges 30 near the first chain joint in a transition area to a head radius 32 and two further edges 31 near the second chain joint in a transition area to a head radius, with these Edges are partially covered. These edges 30, 31 formed on the top and bottom of the relevant inner plate 3 also form wear detection means and correspond to the radius contours 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d in the manner described below.

Each of the radius contours 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d is designed in such a way that, when new, it is coaxial on one side of the beginning of the contour with the corresponding edge 30, 31 of the inner link plate 3 in the transition between the bolt head radius and the top edge of the link plate or the Tab lower edge is and w ith this edge 30, 31 is aligned. During the operation of the Link chain 1 and the continuously developing wear between the link pin 4 and the link bushing 7, the edge 30, 31 of the inner plate 3 shifts within the associated radius contour 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d of the outer plate 2.

The radius contours 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d can preferably be designed in such a way that exactly when the maximum wear limit of the chain joint is reached (defined by hard layers of the friction partners joint pin 4 and joint bush 7), the edge 30, 31 of the inner link plate 3 has the associated radius contour 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d has completely passed through and is then oriented coaxially to the other end of this radius contour 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d and is aligned with it.

With reference to FIG. 2, a second embodiment of the invention will be explained in more detail below. FIG. 2 shows an alternative to the radius contours 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d shown in FIG. The radius contours 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d described there can in principle be designed in any conceivable form. Above all, wedge-shaped contours 20a', 20b', 20c', 20d', as shown in FIG. 2, are conceivable here. The function of the wedge-shaped contours 20a', 20b'. 20c', 20d' as wear detection means in cooperation with the edges 30, 31 of the inner plate 3 corresponds to that of the radius contours 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d in the first exemplary embodiment according to FIG.

A third exemplary embodiment of an articulated chain 1 with wear detection means will be explained in more detail below with reference to FIG. A wear marking 23a, 23b is formed on an outer side of each of the inner link plates 3 in the vicinity of the two joint bushes 7, which markings have a number of wear indicators 230, 231, 232, which represent different degrees of wear. The wear indicators 230, 231, 232 are linear in the present case formed and extend orthogonally to a longitudinal axis of the relevant inner plate 3 parallel to each other. With increasing wear, the individual wear indicators 230, 231, 232 gradually become visible and thus provide information about the increasing degree of wear. In principle, only one wear marking 23a, 23b can also be provided. The at least one wear marking 23a, 23b can, for example, also have only one wear indicator 230, 231, 232, which becomes visible with increasing wear.

The plate heads of the outer plates 2 can also be designed in such a way that the wear markings 23a, 23b come into their own as clearly as possible visually as soon as a corresponding wear has set in. Areas in the area of the round link heads would be conceivable here, for example.

Fig. 4 shows a corresponding development of the link chain 1 shown in Fig. 3, wherein a flattening 33, 34 is formed on the opposite plate heads of each of the outer plates 2, so that the wear indicators 230, 231, 232 of the wear markings 23a , 23b can be visually detected more easily, in particular if the flattened areas 33, 34 are aligned with one of the linear wear indicators 230, 231, 232 in the present case.

The wear markings 23a, 23b shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 can in particular be in the form of stickers, embossing, engraving, laser markings or the like. An additional inscription 24 can be assigned to these wear markings 23a, 23b for better understanding. For example, a central area on the outside of the inner link plates 3 can be used for this inscription 24 . FIG. 5 shows an example of an embodiment of a link chain 1 in which, compared to the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, additional inscription 24 is provided for the wear markings 23a, 23b. In cooperation with the wear markings 23a, 23b, the inscription 24 provides information about the percentage of wear (here: 0%, 50%, 100%, with a finer classification also being possible). Such an inscription 24 is also conceivable in the exemplary embodiment according to FIG.

A further exemplary embodiment of an articulated chain 1 will be explained in more detail below with reference to FIG. In this case, the inner link plates 3 each have a cutout 21 in the vicinity of the chain joints. These cutouts 21 also form wear detection means and presently have a triangular outline. In FIG. 6 one of these cutouts 21 is essentially covered by the outer flap 2 . Instead of the cutouts 21, for example, circular or differently shaped bores can also be provided. The cutouts 21 or bores can in particular be designed in such a way that the degree of wear can be indicated by means of suitable test gauges.

The cutouts 21 or holes provided in the articulated chain according to FIG. 6 are covered by the plate heads of the outer plates 2 when the articulated chain 1 is new and are therefore not accessible and also not visible to an observer. As wear continues to progress, these cutouts 21 or bores then become visible to an observer from the outside. A section 21 that is fully visible or a bore that is fully visible indicates that the maximum joint wear of the relevant chain joint of the articulated chain 1 has been reached. The wear detection means shown in FIGS. 3 to 6 and designed in different ways are thus visible as a result of the progressive wear caused by the displacement of the link head of the outer link 2.

[0051] With reference to FIGS. 7 to 15, further wear detection means for solving the wear problem listed above under number 2 will be explained in more detail below.

It turns out that the play between the roller 6 and the bushing surface of the articulated bushing 7 increases continuously during the operation of the articulated chain 1 due to the progressive wear of the two surfaces. Due to the rolling movement of the roller 6, the inner diameter of the roller bore 65 wears out circumferentially. However, the lateral surface of the joint bushing 7 only wears out on the contact surface with the roller 6, since the joint bushing 7 itself is arranged in a rotationally fixed manner and therefore does not perform any rotational movement. There are therefore two contact points that are subject to wear, namely perpendicular to the direction of the chain pull at the top and bottom on the outer diameter of the joint bushing 7.

The detection of the entire state of wear at the friction point between the roller 6 and the joint bushing 7 is therefore not sufficient to make a reliable statement about the state of the individual components. Therefore, at this point, the wear in the direction of the chain pull on the one hand and perpendicular to the direction of the chain pull on the other hand must be recorded using suitable wear detection equipment. The wear perpendicular to the direction of chain pull corresponds to the entire wear of the two components roller 6 and joint bushing 7. The wear in the direction of chain pull describes for the most part only the wear on the inner diameter of the roller 6, since the Bushing surface experiences almost no wear in this direction.

In order to easily determine the wear at the friction point between the roller 6 and the joint bushing 7, the roller 6 has, for example, a plurality of narrow, annular hub contours 60, 61 on at least one end face, which extend coaxially to one another and form wear detection means. A roller 6 w ith such hub contours 60, 61 is shown in FIGS. 7 to 9. In this case, for example, the diameter of a first hub contour 60 lying further axially on the outside is selected such that when the link chain is new, an upper edge of the inner link plate 3 terminates flush with the first hub contour 60 . A second hub contour 61 has, for example, a diameter which corresponds to that of the plate head of the inner plate 3 .

Due to the progressive wear, the position of the first hub contour 60 is now shifted relative to the upper edge of the inner plate 3. This measure describes the total wear between the joint bushing 7 and the roller 6. For example, the current degree of wear can be determined using a caliper gauge with a depth gauge very easy to determine in this area.

When worn, the roller 6 can be shifted in the direction of the chain pull. This dimension can be measured by the distance between the second hub contour 61 and a head radius 32 of the inner link plate 3 . This then largely corresponds to the wear on the inner diameter of the roller 6.

The difference between the two recorded dimensions consequently describes the maximum wear of the articulated bushing 7 in the contact area between the roller 6 and the articulated bushing 7. The radial arrangement of the hub contours 60, 61 on the roller 6 can be flexibly adapted to the hardened layer depths of the components. As can be seen in FIG. 9, the two hub contours 60, 61 in this exemplary embodiment are beveled at their outer edges 600, 610.

With reference to Fig. 10 to 12, a further embodiment of a roller 6 will be explained in more detail below. The roller 6 also has two narrow, ring-shaped hub contours 60, 61 on its end face, which extend coaxially to one another and form wear detection means. The basic function of the hub contours 60, 61 corresponds to that of the exemplary embodiment according to FIGS. 7 to 9. As can be seen in FIG. 12, the two hub contours 60, 61 in this exemplary embodiment are not beveled at their outer edges 600, 610, but are rectangular. This allows measuring means to be used in a simple manner to determine the degree of wear on the articulated chain 1 in this area.

Instead of the hub contours 60, 61, the roller 6 can also have a plurality of turnings or annular grooves 62, 63, 64, which form the wear detection means. A roller 6, which has a plurality of (here three) radial annular grooves 62, 63, 64, which form wear detection means, is shown in FIGS. 13 to 15. These annular grooves 62, 63, 64 can be round or angular in cross-section.

The hub contours 60, 61 or annular grooves 62, 63, 64 can also be formed in both opposite end faces of the roller.

It can generally be provided different numbers of contours, each as a scaling for the Degree of wear of the joint bushing 7 or the degree of wear of the roller 6 can be used.

On the rollers 6, for example, a paragraph can be attached, which is not subject to wear. This paragraph can be used during operation of the articulated chain 1 as a fixed point for measuring means for detecting the progressive wear.

In general, it is of course also possible to use an articulated chain 1 with rollers 6 without wear detection means integrated therein.

Claims

Claims: Articulated chain (1), in particular bush chain or bush conveyor chain, comprising a plurality of outer plates (2), two of which are opposite each other parallel to a chain pull direction, a plurality of inner plates (3), two of which are opposite each other parallel to the chain pull direction, a plurality of pivot bolts (4), each of which is non-rotatably connected to two outer plates located opposite one another parallel to the direction of the chain pull

(2) are connected, as well as a plurality of articulated bushings (7), each of which is non-rotatably connected to two inner plates lying opposite one another parallel to the direction of the chain pull

(3) are connected, with each joint bushing (7) surrounding a joint pin (4) at least in sections and forming a chain joint with the joint pin (4), characterized in that the joint chain (1) has wear detection means which are integral with are formed with the outer plates (2) and/or integrally with the inner plates (3). Articulated chain (1) according to Claim 1, characterized in that the wear detection means comprise at least one wear marking (23a, 23b) which is located on an outer side of the inner plates (3) in the vicinity of at least one of the two joint bushes (7) of the relevant Inner plate (3) is formed and is set up to visualize the degree of wear of the articulated chain (1) in this area. Articulated chain (1) according to claim 2, characterized in that the at least one wear marking (23a, 23b) has a wear indicator (230, 231, 232), which becomes visible as the degree of wear increases, or more Wear indicators (230, 231, 232), which represent different degrees of wear and are designed in such a way that they gradually become visible as the degree of wear increases. Articulated chain (1) according to claim 3, characterized in that the wear indicators (230, 231, 232) are linear and extend orthogonally to a longitudinal axis of the relevant inner plate (3) parallel to one another. Articulated chain (1) according to one of Claims 2 to 4, characterized in that the wear markings (23a, 23b) are assigned an inscription (24) which is formed on the outer sides of the inner plates (3). Articulated chain (1) according to one of Claims 2 to 5, characterized in that a flattening (33, 34) is formed on at least one plate head of the outer plates (2). Articulated chain (1) according to any one of claims 2 to 6, characterized in that the wear markings (23a, 23b) are designed as stickers, embossing, engraving or laser markings. Articulated chain (1) according to Claim 1, characterized in that the wear detection means comprise cutouts (21) or bores which are formed in the inner plates (3) in the vicinity of at least one of the chain joints of the inner plate (3) in question and are set up for this purpose , to visualize the degree of wear of the articulated chain (1) in this area. Articulated chain (1) according to Claim 1, characterized in that the wear detection means of the outer plates (2) have radius contours (20a, 20b, 20c, 20d) or wedge-shaped contours (20a', 20b', 20c', 20d') on the top sides and/or the undersides of the outer flaps (2). Articulated chain (1) according to Claim 9, characterized in that the wear detection means of the inner plates (3) are formed by edges (30, 31) which are arranged in such a way that they mate with the radius contours (20a, 20b, 20c, 20d) or the wedge-shaped contours (20a', 20b', 20c', 20d') of the outer straps (2) correspond. Articulated chain (1) according to one of Claims 1 to 10 or according to the preamble of Claim 1, characterized in that the articulated chain (1) has a plurality of rollers (6) which are rotatably mounted on the articulated bushes (7), the Rollers (6) have wear detection means that are integrally formed with the rollers (6). Articulated chain (1) according to Claim 1 1, characterized in that the wear detection means of each of the rollers (6) comprise at least one annular hub contour (60, 61) which is formed in one of the end faces of the relevant roller (6), or at least two ring-shaped hub contours (60, 61) which are formed in at least one of the end faces of the roller (6) in question, are arranged coaxially to one another and have different outside diameters. Articulated chain (1) according to claim 12, characterized in that the hub contours (60, 61) are formed at right angles at their outer edge (600, 610). Articulated chain (1) according to Claim 1 1, characterized in that the wear detection means of each of the rollers (6) comprise at least one turning or at least one annular groove (62, 63, 64) which is in at least one of the end faces of the roller in question (6) is formed. Articulated chain (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the articulated chain (1) has a plurality of rollers (6) which are rotatably mounted on the joint bushings (7).