Improvements in Ball Castors.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 6th Feb., 1893
Complete Specification- Left, 4th Nov., 1893-Accepted, 9th Dec., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Ball Castors.
I WILLIAM JOSEPH REDHOUSE of 219 Mary Street Balsall Heath Birmingham
Mechanician do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to an improvement in ball castors, and consists of three or
more balls, A, Fig. 2, made of metal or other hard substance, and a socket, C,
Fig. 2, having a pintel, E, Fig. 2, forming part of said socket, said socket also
contains three or more screw holes, F 2, Fig. 2, screwed or clearance, as expedient.
Also a clamp-plate, B, Fig. 3, having three or more countersunk holes, G, Fig. 3, to
receive said balls, A, Fig. 2, and three or more countersunk screw holes, F, Fig. 2,
said clamp-plate to firmly secure socket, C, Fig. 2, to any article of furniture or
other object by means of three or more screws, and also to hold balls, A, Fig. 2, in
socket C, Fig. 2.
Dated this 4th day of February 1893.
WILLIAM JOSEPH REDHOUSE.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Ball Castors.
1, WILLIAM JOSEPH REDHOUSE, late of 219 Mary Street Balsall Heath,
Birmingham in the County of Warwick, but now of 60 New Street, Altrincham in
the County of Cheshire, Mechanician, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
My invention relates to improvements in ball castors and is designed to provide
a ball castor that shall distribute the weight of the article to which it is applied,
over a greater area than has hitherto been usual, and to thereby over-come the
objection that obtains with the ordinary form of ball castor, by reason of the carpet,
rug or other covering on which the castor bears being indented and injured
immediately below the same owing to the weight being concentrated practically on
a single point.
For this purpose, according to my invention, instead of constructing a castor
with a single ball as heretofore usual, I construct it with a-number of balls, it may
be three or more, whereby the weight is distributed over a comparatively large
area. To this end the castor comprises a socket adapted to fit over the lower end
of the leg of the piece of furniture to which the castor is to be applied, and formed
on its underside with an annular recess of concave form in cross section, balls
arranged within the said annular recess, and a removable perforated plate adapted
to retain the balls in the said recess, and at the desired distance apart, but so as to
allow them to project therethrough to serve as supports, and to roll about their
centres.
Referring to the drawings filed with my Provisional Specification,
Fig. 1 is a side elevation,
Fig. 2 is a vertical central section, and
Fig. 3 is an underside view of a castor constructed according to this invention.
C is the socket portion of the castor adapted to receive the lower end of a chair
leg or the like. It is formed at its underside with an annular recess to receive the
balls A, of which there are three in the example shown, the recess in cross section
being concave and of such a width that the balls bear only against the upper
[Price 8d.]

page_text: portion thereof. E is a pintle or central projection formed by recessing the under-
side of the socket and around which the balls are arranged. These balls, which are
made of hard material, for example, metal, are held in position by a plate B, formed
with holes G through which the balls A project. This plate is held in position by
screws D that take into countersunk recesses F in the underside of the plate, and
project through holes F2 in the lower part of the socket and into the material of the
piece of furniture to which the castor is applied, whereby the latter as a whole is
securely held in position. The thickness of the plate B and the size of the holes G
therein are such that the balls A project sufficiently far through the same to form
efficient bearings or supports, and the said balls being free to revolve, permit the
castor to act in a very free manner since the pressure on each of the several balls
is only a fraction of that which would be thrown upon a single ball.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
A ball castor constructed with three or more balls working in a recess in the
lower part of a socket and retained in position by a removable plate through which
they project substantially as described and shown.
Dated this 4th day of October 1802
WM. J. REDHOUSE.
W. Lloyd Wise,
46, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agent for Applicant.