AN IMPROVED CASTER FOR CHAIRS, TABLES, AND OTHER FURNITURE
Year: 1881

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Robert Lake at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 22nd April 1881. A communication
from abroad by Armand François Mauchain, of Geneva, Switzerland.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent
Agents, Southampton Buildings, London. "AN IMPROVED CASTER FOR CHAIRS,
TABLES, AND OTHER FURNITURE." [A communication from abroad by Armand
François Mauchain, of Geneva, Switzerland.]
This Invention relates to improvements in casters for tables, chairs, and other
articles of furniture.
When provided with the casters at present in use, articles of furniture do not
always stand in a level position upon the floor; the latter being frequently unevenly
laid or having become uneven in course of time.
I entirely obviate this disadvantage by using casters embodying the said
Invention, which casters are provided with a spiral spring placed around a
stem, whereby the caster is rendered elastic or yielding with respect to the
furniture to which it is attached. If therefore a suitable degree of tension be
imparted to the spring, the latter will act and cause the caster to descend when it
is over a hollow or depressed part of the floor, and thus the article of furniture will
be kept level.
In carrying this Invention into practice I prefer to construct a caster as follows,
that is to say:-The stem of the caster is rigidly fixed in a support or socket to
which the arms carrying the roller are secured, or of which they form a part, and this
stem can turn freely in a sleeve or tubular piece formed in one piece with a disc or
washer designed to be attached to the leg of a piece of furniture. The aforesaid
stem is reduced in diameter along a part of its length to provide for the reception
of a spiral spring which abuts against the top of the sleeve hereinabove mentioned.
A pin retains the stem above the said sleeve. The said spring is entirely hidden
within the leg of the article of furniture, and being protected against dust always
works properly.
In some cases I adapt the ordinary caster for the purposes of my Invention. In
such cases, instead of mounting the support or socket in close proximity to the
disc or washer which is attached to the furniture, the said support or socket is

page_text: mounted at some distance therefrom, and the spiral spring is interposed between
the same and the disc. The spring surrounds the stem of the caster. When the
table or other piece of furniture has much weight upon it the stem which is sunk
in the leg descends more or less deeply into the support or socket.
In another form of my improved caster the roller support is fixed firmly on the
stem. The latter passes freely through a piece in connection with or forming part
of the washer or disc designed to be attached to the article of furniture. This
stem is at its upper end provided with a hoop or ring serving as a stop, and is free
to turn and to slide in the bearing piece attached to the furniture; the spring is
placed around the stem. The piece has a downwardly projecting rim and an upper
tubular piece or sleeve, the latter fitting into the furniture; the lower rim may,
however, be dispensed with, and the upper sleeve may be alone used and serve for
guiding the stem.
The sleeve may in some cases be nearly as long as the stem, and the latter be
provided at its upper end with a pin serving as a stop.
The same arrangement of spring may be used for light pieces of furniture
without casters or rollers, the stem in such cases terminating in a simple button or
stud. The piece of furniture would thereby always be kept level.