Improvements in Ball and Socket Apparatus for Use as Furniture Castors and other purposes.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 23rd Mar., '1895
Complete Specification Left, 29th June, 1895-Accepted, 10th -Aug., 1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Ball and Socket Apparatus for Use as Furniture
Castors and other purposes.
We JAMES GASCOYNE of 141 New Road Battersea in the County of Surrey,
Grinder and WILLIAM HENRY GREATOREX, of 11 Forthbridge 'Road New
Wandsworth, in the County of Surrey. Brass Finisher do hereby declare the nature
of this invention to be as follows
Our invention consists of a novel arrangement for so adjusting a ball in a
socket that it shall freely rotate in the said socket when subject to pressure.
The said apparatus is cheifly designed to serve as a castor for articles of
household furniture but may be utilized for any purpose for which such devices
are used.
To carry out our invention we cut two channels in the beforementioned socket,
one channel above, and the other channel below the horizontal diameter, of the
said ball, and at suitable distances from the above mentioned horizontal diameter.
The said channels are radiused out to admit a sufficient number of small balls
to entirely fill the chamber, but having sufficient play for their free rotation.
These said balls project out of their channels, so that the ball they hold in
place, will clear the surface of the socket, and freely rotate between the annular
bearings thus formed above and below the horizontal diameter of the said ball.
Our object in thus running the said ball between the two annular rings of small
balls above mentioned is to relieve the ball from friction under all the conditions
of pressure to which it is subject.
Such as the irregular side pressure given to the socket by the pushing or
pulling an object such as a table or bedstead over the unequal surface of a carpet
or floor or the like.
--
1005
Improvements in Ball and Socket Apparatus for Use as Furniture
Castors and other purposes.
We JAMES GASCOYNE of 141 New Road Battersea in the County of Surrey,
Grinder, and WILLIAM HENRY GREATOREX of 11 Forthbridge Road New
Wandsworth in the County of Surrey Brass Finisher 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:
Our invention consists of a novel arrangement for so adjusting a ball in a socket,
that it shall freely rotate in the said socket, when subject to pressure.
a castor for articles of
The said apparatus is cheifly designed to serve as
household furniture, but, may be utilized for any purpose for which such devices
are used.

page_text: The novel feature of our invention consists in providing such bearing surfaces
for the ball or roller that it shall not under any circumstances, when subject to
pressure, ride against any part of the interior surface of the socket.
To accomplish this object (and thus obviate what we believe to be a serious
defect in ball castors as hitherto constructed--namely the liability of the ball to
ride against the underside of the socket when subject to the irregular strain
occasioned by the pushing or pulling of an object to which they are attached,
over the uneven surface of a floor or carpet or the like) we construct our castor
in the manner shewn in the accompanying drawing.
The figure is a central vertical section of a ball castor constructed according to
our invention.
a, represents the socket with the channel, e, filled with the small balls, c, this
annular ring of small balls forms the principal bearing surface for the ball or
roller, b, and is arranged in such a manner as to keep the said ball clear of the
interior surface of the socket, a, as shewn in the figure.
d represents a sleeve or outer case, tightly fitting the socket a the said sleeve
also has a channel e filled with small balls these balls are so arranged, that
when the sleeve, d, is secured to the socket, a, as shewn in section the ball, b, is
enclosed and held by the two annular rings, namely, c above the borizontal diameter
of the ball, b, and, c¹, below the said diameter sufficient play being given for the
free rotation of the ball, b, and the small balls forming the bearing surfaces for
the said ball-namely c and c¹, the interior surface of the socket a being clear of
the ball, b.
By the contrivance described above the friction between the ball and socket will
be so reduced that an article of furniture fitted with these castors, can be easily
moved in any direction-and because the ball or roller b is always running on the
two rotating bearing surfaces c and c¹ as herein described and set forth, it cannot
be affected by the irregular side pressure given to the socket, by the pushing or
pulling an object, such as a heavy table or bedstead over the irregular surface of
a carpet or floor or the like as herein before stated.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is
First. The ball castor substantially as described.
Second. In a ball and socket arrangement for a ball castor so constructed that
the ball is held and enclosed by two annular rings of small rotating balls.
One of
the said rings above the horizontal diameter of the ball or roller and the other
below the said diameter, so that, in whatever direction the pressure is applied the
ball will always ride on the bearings formed by the said rotating balls.
Dated this 29th day of June 1895.
JAMES GASCOYNE.
WILLIAM HENRY GREATOREX.