Abstract:
The caster guard comprises a band which may surround a variety of conventionally known caster subassemblies, wherein exemplary caster subassemblies include those used on material handling carts. The band protects an individual&#39;s foot from injury. In an exemplary embodiment, the caster guard further comprises a top mounting plate attached to a side support that is attached to the band. In application, the top mounting plate is sandwiched between and secured to the caster mounting plate and a frame of the caster subassembly. In another embodiment, the caster guard comprises two opposing adjustable sleeves each disposed within two opposing clamp pads which are secured to the band. The sleeves may be engaged with a head bolt and a jam nut of the wheel axle unit of the caster subassembly.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The invention is directed towards casters, and more particularly, to a caster guard for both rigid and swivel style casters. 
     2. Background of the Invention 
     The invention is a protective device to prevent foot injury to the operator and or bystander of various types of material handling equipment that contain rigid and or swivel style casters. The caster guard disclosed herein was designed due to injuries noted at various customer facilities resulting from casters installed on moving material handling carts. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Disclosed herein is a caster guard that provides protection to an operator&#39;s and/or a bystander&#39;s feet from injury caused by casters of, e.g., free moving material handling carts. The caster guard also protects an individual from injury due to walking into a caster with limited visibility and or which is hidden from view by, e.g., overhanging platforms. A large variety of industrial casters provide optional equipment, such as, e.g., foot brakes and swivel locks, that can also cause injury to the foot area. 
     The caster guard includes a band that is configured to protect the individual from these protrusions. The caster guard may be attached without any modifications to conventionally known casters, and do not require any additional hardware. Additionally, the caster guard may be formed in a variety of sizes to accommodate various wheel diameters and mounting plate options. 
     The main protective area of the invention comprises a band, which preferably has a rectangular or a rounded configuration, and which may include a variety of widths and openings, to suit the large variety of commercial industrial casters. In an exemplary embodiment, the caster guard may be captured between a conventionally known caster mounting plate and a frame to which the caster mounting plate is typically attached. In another exemplary embodiment, the caster guard has a pair of inner sleeves, one of each of which slides inside one of two opposing clamp pads attached to the inside of the band, and one of each of which mate with a hex head bolt and a hex jam nut on the wheel axle unit of a typically known caster subassembly, and are locked in position with clamp pad screws. These resulting caster guard assemblies do not require any modifications to the existing commercial caster subassemblies. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic depicting an exemplary assembly comprising an exemplary caster guard attached to a conventional industrial type caster subassembly; 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic depicting the caster guard of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic depicting another exemplary assembly comprising another embodiment of a caster guard attached to the caster subassembly shown in  FIG. 1 ; and 
         FIG. 4  is a schematic depicting the caster guard of  FIG. 3 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The caster guard disclosed herein is specially designed to be used with conventionally known rigid-type and swivel-type caster subassemblies. Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 3 , an exemplary caster subassembly  100  comprises a wheel  102  having a shaft  104  centrally formed therethrough. A bearing  106  is disposed through shaft  104  on a proximal side  108  thereof, and another bearing (not shown) is disposed through shaft  104  on a distal side  112  thereof. A hex jam nut (not shown) is positioned within bearing  106 , and a hex head bolt (not shown) is inserted through the other bearing (not shown) such that the hex head bolt engages with the hex jam nut to thereby secure a yoke  114  to wheel  102 . Caster subassembly  100  further comprises a caster mounting plate  116  which is engaged with yoke  114 . Caster mounting plate  116  has a top side  118  oppositely situated to a bottom side  120 , and further has a plurality of holes  122  formed through top and bottom sides  118  and  120 . Plurality of holes  122  provides a means whereby caster subassembly  100  may be attached to a frame (not shown). 
     In an exemplary embodiment, the caster guard comprises a band which is designed to surround the wheel of the caster subassembly, and which comprises a suitable thickness and width to accommodate the optional equipment of commercial industrial swivel type casters and, in the case of a swivel caster, which will allow for the full 360 degree rotation of the wheel. The caster guard further comprises a mounting member that is engaged with the caster mounting plate to thereby secure the caster guard to the caster subassembly. In an exemplary embodiment, the mounting member comprises a side support that extends from the band, and a top plate that fits atop the side support and that offers a means whereby the caster guard may be fixed to the caster mounting plate. In application, the top plate is disposed between the caster mounting plate and the frame of the caster subassembly, and the wheel of the caster is surrounded by the band, and touches the floor without obstruction. 
     In another exemplary embodiment, the caster guard comprises a band having an opening which receives and surrounds the wheel of the caster subassembly, and which allows the wheel to touch the floor without obstruction. The caster guard further comprises two opposing clamp pads having mating bores attached to an inside wall of the band, and two opposing adjustable sleeves that respectively slip inside the clamp pads. The two adjustable sleeves each have an access hole formed therein, and each may be rotated and moved inward to align and fit with a hex head bolt and a hex jam nut of the caster subassembly. When the sleeves are in position the band may be rotated to a position parallel to the floor and locked into position with a clamp pad screw. 
     In an exemplary embodiment, each of the clamp pads comprises a split clamp collar. Additionally, a socket head cap screw may be used to secure the sleeve to the split clamp collar. Furthermore, the sleeves are preferably configured to slide fit into pilot holes formed in the split clamp collars. 
     The caster guard may be formed from a variety of materials, including, e.g., one or more of aluminum, alloy steel, stainless steel, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and the like. Additionally, the caster guard may be painted, powder coated, or anodized to a color of choice and attached to the various sizes and styles of conventionally known casters. 
     The caster guard may further include a skirt formed around a bottom side of the band for purposes of clearing debris. The skirt preferably comprises a brush type skirt formed from a material including at least one of polypropylene, palmyra, bassine, and the like. 
     The caster guard will further be described with reference to the drawings. While the present invention is susceptible of embodiment in various forms, there is shown in the drawings and will hereinafter be described presently preferred embodiments with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered an exemplification of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the specific embodiments illustrated. 
     An exemplary caster guard is depicted in  FIG. 2 . Referring to  FIG. 2 , caster guard  1  comprises a band  10 . Although band  10  may include a variety of shapes and configurations including, e.g., a cylindrical configuration, a rectangular tubular configuration, and the like, in an exemplary embodiment, band  10  comprises a cylindrical configuration as shown in  FIG. 2 . As further shown in  FIG. 2 , band  10  comprises an open-ended top side  22  oppositely situated to an open-ended bottom side  24 , and an outer wall  26  oppositely situated to an inner wall  28 , wherein inner wall  28  defines an inside diameter X and surrounds an opening  29 . Caster guard  1  further comprises a pair of legs  20  that is secured to band  10  and that linearly extends towards and away from top side  22 . Legs  20  are spaced about 90 degrees apart from one another to facilitate access to the caster subassembly. 
     Caster guard  1  further comprises a top mounting plate  30  attached to pair of legs  20 , and positioned centrally to inside diameter X of band  10 . Top mounting plate  30  has a plurality of holes  32  formed through respective top and bottom sides  34  and  36  thereof. Caster guard  1  may further comprise a skirt  38  which extends from and surrounds bottom side  24  of band  10 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , caster guard  1  may be fixed to caster subassembly  100  to form an assembly  150 . Here bottom side  36  of top mounting plate  30  is positioned adjacent to top side  118  of caster mounting plate  116  such that plurality of holes  32  is aligned with plurality of holes  122  of caster mounting plate  116 . Hardware conventionally used to secure caster mounting plate  116  to a frame (not shown) of caster subassembly  100  may be used to secure top mounting plate  30  to caster mounting plate  116  and the frame, thereby securely sandwiching top mounting plate  30  between caster mounting plate  116  and the frame (not shown), and, thereby securing caster guard  1  to caster subassembly  100 . 
       FIGS. 3 and 4  depict another exemplary embodiment of the caster guard that is the subject of the present disclosure. Referring to  FIG. 4 , a caster guard  200  comprises a band  202  having a generally tubular and rectangular configuration. Accordingly, band  202  comprises an open-ended top side  204  oppositely situated to an open-ended bottom side  206 , a forward side  208  oppositely situated to a rearward side  210 , a proximal side  212  oppositely situated to a distal side  214 , and an opening  216  surrounded by top and bottom sides  204  and  206  and forward and rearward sides  208  and  210 . Each of proximal and distal sides  212  and  214  has a respective bore  213  and  215  centrally formed therethrough. 
     Caster guard  200  further comprise a clamp pad  218  disposed on an interior side  220  of proximal side  212  and a clamp pad  222  disposed on an interior side  224  of distal side  214 . Each of clamp pads  218  and  222 , each of which may comprise a split clamp collar, has a respective pilot hole  225  and  226  formed therethrough, wherein pilot hole  225  is aligned with bore  213  of proximal side  212 , and pilot hole  226  is aligned with bore  215  of distal side  214 . 
     Caster guard  200  further comprises a sleeve  230  and a sleeve  232 , wherein each of sleeves  230  and  232  has a substantially tubular configuration. Each of sleeves  230  and  232  further comprises a centrally formed opening  234  and  236  having a hexagonal configuration. Sleeve  230  is slidably engaged within hole  225  of clamp pad  218 , and sleeve  232  is slidably engaged within hole  226  of clamp pad  222 . Caster guard  200  further comprises a skirt  242  that extends from and surrounds bottom side  206  of band  200 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , caster guard  200  is engaged with caster subassembly  100  to form an assembly  300 . Here, sleeve  230  is engaged with the hex jam nut, and sleeve  232  is engaged with the hex head bolt of caster subassembly  100  such that wheel  102  is disposed within opening  236 . Adjustable sleeves  230  and  232  may be rotated and moved inwardly to align and fit with the hex head bolt and the hex jam nut of the wheel axle unit. The two opposing clamp pads  218  and  222  secure respective sleeves  230  and  232  with a locking socket head screw respectively identified as  238  and  240 . 
     From the foregoing it will be observed that numerous modifications and variations can be effectuated without departing from the true spirit and scope of the novel concepts of the present invention. It is to be understood that no limitation with respect to the specific embodiments illustrated is intended or should be inferred. The disclosure is intended to cover by the appended claims all such modifications as fall within the scope of the claims.