Picnic table caster assembly

A wheel assembly and a picnic table with the wheel assembly attached thereto includes a bracket which has an arm portion and a mounting flange portion. The mounting flange portion is inclined at an angle of about 65.degree. with respect to the longitudinal extent of the upper edge of the arm portion. The flange portion is attached to inner face of the leg of the article of furniture such that the wheel which is located at the distal end of the arm portion is in close proximity to the underlying support surface. When attached to the leg of the article of furniture, the wheel is aligned with a side edge of the leg so that it does not form an obstruction which would be encountered by the legs of a person seated on the furniture in use.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to a wheel assembly for outdoor furniture and 
wheeled outdoor furniture. 
A wheel kit for outdoor furniture is described in Canadian patent No. 
1,091,872 dated Dec. 23, 1980 and issued to Emanuel F. Dupuis. In this 
device, the wheel mounting bracket is a complex bracket which has a 
mounting channel which receives the lower end of the legs and an end 
flange which is attached to the outer side face of the legs of the article 
of furniture. The wheels are arranged to project outwardly from the outer 
side faces of the legs of the article of furniture so that a picnic table, 
for example, is lifted at one end in order to transfer the weight onto the 
wheels. 
This bracket structure is expensive to manufacture. In addition, because it 
is arranged to extend from a side face of the leg of the picnic table, it 
forms an obstruction which is likely to be encountered by the feet of a 
user seated at the table. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The wheel assembly of the present invention is simple and inexpensive to 
manufacture and install and when attached to a picnic table, it is aligned 
with the legs of the table so that it does not form an obstruction likely 
to be encountered by the feet of a person seated at the table. 
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a wheel 
assembly for outdoor furniture comprising a bracket having an arm portion 
and a mounting flange portion, said arm portion having a proximal end and 
a distal end and longitudinally extending inner and outer side faces 
extending from the proximal end to the distal end and an upper edge and a 
lower edge, a flange portion projecting laterally from the inner side face 
of the arm portion at right angles thereto, said flange portion being 
angularly inclined with respect to the longitudinal extent of the arm 
portion so as to be downwardly and forwardly inclined at an angle of about 
25.degree. with respect to the direction of the longitudinal extent of the 
arm portion, a wheel mounted for rotation at the distal end of the arm 
portion about an axis which extends parallel to the flange portion, the 
wheel being located on the inner side face of the arm portion so as to be 
aligned with the flange portion and spaced therefore by an amount 
sufficient to permit the flange and wheel to be located on opposite sides 
of a leg of a piece of outdoor furniture on which the bracket is mounted 
in use. 
According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided 
a picnic table comprising a table having a pair of legs at each end 
thereof, each pair of legs consisting of first and second legs which 
diverge downwardly from a tabletop toward first and second sides of the 
tabletop respectively, at an angle in the range of about 30.degree. to 
60.degree., each leg of each pair of legs having a front face, a back 
face, an inner side face and an outer side face defining a rectangular 
cross-sectional configuration in which the side faces are wider than the 
front and back faces, a wheel mounting bracket for each first leg, each 
wheel mounting bracket comprising an arm portion and a mounting flange 
portion, said arm portion having a proximal end and a distal end and 
longitudinally extending inner and outer side faces extending from the 
proximal end to the distal end and an upper edge and lower edge, a flange 
portion projecting laterally from the inner side face of the arm portion 
at right angles thereto, said flange portion being angularly inclined with 
respect to the longitudinal extent of the arm portion so as to be 
downwardly and forwardly inclined at an angle of about 25.degree. with 
respect to the direction of the longitudinal extent of the arm portion, 
said wheel mounting bracket being secured to each first leg adjacent the 
lower end thereof with said flange portion arranged in a face-to-face 
relationship with said back face and said inner side face of said arm 
portion in a face-to-face relationship with one of said side faces of said 
first leg such that the distal end portion of the arm projects outwardly 
from the front face of the leg on which it is mounted, a wheel mounted for 
rotation adjacent the distal end of said arm portion on the same side of 
the arm portion as the flange so as to be aligned with said flange 
portion, said bracket being mounted adjacent the lower end of each first 
leg such that when the side of the table opposite that at which the wheels 
are located is raised, the entire weight of the table will be transferred 
to the wheels such that the picnic table may be wheeled across the surface 
on which it is located.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
With reference to FIG. 1 of the drawings, the reference numeral 10 refers 
generally to a wheel mounting bracket constructed in accordance with an 
embodiment of the present invention. The bracket 10 has an arm portion 12 
which has a proximal end 14 and a distal end 16. The arm portion 12 also 
has an inner side face 18 and an outer side face 20. The arm portion 12 
also has a straight upper edge 22 and a lower edge 24 which has inclined 
Sections 24a and 24b which extend toward the distal end. The bracket 10 
also has a flange portion 26 which extends at right angles to the arm 
portion 12. The flange portion 26 is angularly inclined at an angle of 
about 65.degree. to the upper edge 22 so as to be downwardly and forwardly 
inclined with respect to the direction of the longitudinal extent of the 
arm portion. Leg mounting passages 28 are formed in the arm portion and 
leg mounting passages 30 are formed in the flange portion. A wheel 
mounting passage 32 is formed in the arm portion adjacent the distal end 
thereof. 
As shown in FIG. 3, a wheel 34 is mounted on a shaft 36 which is mounted in 
the mounting passage 32. The wheel is mounted so that its side face is 
located in a face-to-face relationship with the inner side face 18 of the 
arm so that it is located on the same side of the arm portion 12 as the 
flange 26 with the result that it is aligned with the flange 26. 
A picnic table is illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4 of the drawings and is 
generally identified by the reference numeral 40. The picnic table 40 has 
a tabletop 42. A first pair of legs 44 extends downwardly from one end of 
the tabletop and a second pair of legs 46 extends downwardly from the 
outer end of the tabletop. The legs 44 are maintained in a spaced 
relationship by means of a crossbar 48 and the legs are connected to the 
cross bar 50. Bench boards 52 extend between the crossbars 48 and 50. This 
type of table is well known, however, the angle .theta. which is formed 
between the diverging legs varies according to the table design as shown 
when comparing FIGS. 3 and 5 between about 30.degree. and about 
60.degree.. The wheel mounting assembly which is generally identified by 
the reference numeral 60 in FIG. 3 and which includes the wheel mounting 
bracket 10 and the wheel 34, may be used in combination with the legs of 
either table construction. As shown in FIG. 3, each leg 44 has a 
rectangular cross-sectional configuration. The inner and outer side faces 
of each leg are wider than the front and back faces. The legs are 
generally made from 2'.times.4' wooden studs. 
The wheel bracket 10 is secured to the outer side face of the legs by 
mounting screws which extend through the leg mounting passages 28. The 
flange portion 26 is secured to the back face of the leg 44 by mounting 
screws which extend through the mounting passages 30. As a result, the 
flange 26 is located in a face-to-face relationship with respect to the 
back face of each leg and the angle of inclination of the bracket 10 with 
respect to the horizontal is determined by the angle of inclination of the 
back face of the leg 44. The legs are positioned so that the wheel 44 will 
not support any substantial amount of the weight of the table when the 
table is resting on the legs. It will be noted, however, that the wheels 
34 are located on the inner face of the brackets 10 and are therefore 
aligned with the legs 44. As a result, the wheels do not form any greater 
obstruction to the feet of a person seated on the bench 52 than do the 
legs 44. In addition, because the wheels are arranged to extend outwardly 
toward one side of the table rather than outwardly toward an end of the 
table, the height to which the other side of the table must be elevated in 
order to ensure that the legs clear the ground is less than that which is 
required if the legs are arranged to extend forwardly from an end of the 
table. 
A typical mounting bracket is formed from sheet steel and has a sheet 
thickness of about 3/16". The width of the flange is about 11/2" and the 
length of the flange is about 3". The height of the bracket is about 27/8" 
and the length of the upper edge is about 83/4". The wheel mounting 
passage 32 is preferably located about 77/8" from the proximal end of the 
upper edge of the arm. The diameter of the wheel mounting passage 32 is 
preferably about 3/8". The diameter of the wheel 34 is preferably 6". The 
end portion 24a of the arm tapers to a height of about 2" in the plane 
which extends vertically through the axis of the passage 32 when the upper 
edge 22 is horizontally located. Because the distal end of the arm is 
substantially smaller than the wheel, this edge of the wheel will project 
beyond the arm over a major arc and this ensures that the bracket is 
effective when the angle .theta. is in the range of 30.degree. to 
60.degree.. The mounting passage 32 is preferably 3/8" in diameter and is 
located 3/4" below the upper edge 24 and concentrically with the 11/4" 
radius of the distal end. 
With this structure, it is only necessary to lift the side of the 
conventional picnic bench 52 which is remote from the wheel assembly to a 
height H of 30" in order to achieve close to 1" ground clearance G. 
It will be apparent that the wheel mounting bracket and wheel assembly may 
be mounted on other articles of furniture such as chairs, although it is 
particularly suitable for picnic tables which are usually heavy and 
difficult to move over rough terrain. 
From the foregoing, it will be apparent that the present invention provides 
a simple and inexpensive mounting bracket and wheel assembly for outdoor 
furniture and a wheeled picnic table which is simple to assemble and 
transport.