Tensioner Explained

A tensioner is a device that applies a force to create or maintain tension. The force may be applied parallel to, as in the case of a hydraulic bolt tensioner, or perpendicular to, as in the case of a spring-loaded bicycle chain tensioner, the tension it creates. The force may be generated by a fixed displacement, as in the case of an eccentric bicycle bottom bracket, which must be adjusted as parts wear, or by stretching or compressing a spring, as in the case of a spring-loaded bicycle chain tensioner; by changing the volume of a gas, as in the case of a marine riser tensioner; by hydraulic pressure, as in the case of a hydraulic bolt tensioner; or by gravity acting on a suspended mass, as in the case of a chair lift cable tensioner. In the power sector, the tensioner is a machine for maintaining constant tension of the conductors during work of hanging the transmission network..

Applications

• Bolt tensioners are devices designed to apply a specific tension to a bolt. The device may be either removed once the actual nut is threaded into place or left in place, in the case of a hydraulic nut.^[1]
• The belt or chain tension on a single-speed bicycle can be maintained by either setting the fixed horizontal position of the rear sprocket or the front chainring horizontally, or by a separate tensioner that pushes perpendicular to the chain with either a fixed position or spring tension.^[2]
• The serpentine belt and the timing belt or chain on an automobile engine may be guided by an idler pulley and/or a belt tensioner, which may be spring-loaded, hydraulic, or fixed.^[3]
• The chain tension of a chainsaw may be adjusted with a chain tensioner.^[4]
• A marine riser tensioner is a device used on an offshore drilling vessel that provides a near-constant upward force on the drilling riser independent of the movement of the floating drill vessel.
• A guideline tensioner is a hydropneumatic device used on an offshore drilling rig that keeps a positive pulling force on the guidelines from the platform to a template on the seabed.
• Overhead electrical wires may be kept in tension by springs or weights.
• Conveyor belts
• Chair lift and gondola lift cables
• Certain wood trusses, such as the beam tensioner truss picture below.^{[5] [6]}
• Fencing made of wire, such as electric fences, barbed-wire fences, and chainlink fences often include tensioning devices to keep them taut.
• Belt sanders have a mechanism, often a spring-loaded idler drum, to apply the proper tension to the sanding belt, which can be released to allow for changing belts.^[7]

See also

• Turnbuckle
• Torque wrench

External links

• Hydraulic Tensioning Glossary
• Hydraulic Puller-tensioner

Notes and References

1. Web site: How Hydraulic Tensioners Work. Hydraulics Technology, Inc.. 2014. 2014-12-29.
2. Web site: Chain Tensioner. Brown . Sheldon . Sheldon Brown (bicycle mechanic) . Sheldon Brown. 2014-12-29.
3. Web site: Your Engine 101: Belts and Tensioners. Gates Corporation. 2009. 2014-12-29.
4. Web site: Homelite 18" Gas Chain Saw Review. Gadget Review. September 1, 2011. 2014-12-29.
5. Web site: Timber Connectors. MiTek . 2011. 2014-12-29.
6. Web site: Strap Brace Tensioners. Pryda. 2014. 2014-12-29.
7. Web site: Belt Sander. ShopSmith. 2013-12-30.