AN IMPROVED CASTER
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Gedge, of the Firm of John Gedge
-
and Son, of No. 11, Wellington Street, Strand, in the County of Mid-
dlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED CASTER."-
A communication from abroad by Charles Narcisse Drevelle, of 39,
Fanbourg Saint Martin Paris. France.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Gedge
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
8th August 1864.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD GEDGE, of the Firm of John Gedge and Son, of
No. 11, Wellington Street, Strand, in the County of Middlesex, Patent
Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED
CASTER," (a communication to me from abroad by Charles Narcisse Drevelle,
of 39, Faubourg Saint Martin, Paris, France,) to be as follows:-
The facility with which furniture can be moved when furnished with casters
has caused their universal adoption. However, by their necessarily eccentric
arrangement they rarely work together with regularity, and getting out of
order damage the movable, the carpet, or the floor. The Inventor after
many trials has succeeded in producing a caster in which, while preserving
the necessary eccentricity of the roller, the rod which fixes the caster to the
foot (or other part) of the piece of furniture is always perpendicular to the
plane it traverses, and the plane is invariably horizontal.

page_text: The Invention will be best understood by reference to the annexed
Drawing, which forms part of this Provisional Specification.
Figure 1, comprising a washer r cut in square at k, two levers
pierced
at o, and leaning in k against the washer of a see-saw 6 (or balance), the
axle of which plays on the fulcrum o of a rod t, traversing in their centre
the washer and the see-saw (or balance), and carrying at its extremity either
a pin or screw to keep all the parts together. Observe that between the
washer and the levers at the point k, and in a horizontal sense a vacuum v is
left to facilitate the contact of the washer and see-saw (or balance), and that
the part a of the washer serves as stop to the levers in such wise as to prevent
the roller turning over when the moveable is lifted; thus on pressure from
top to bottom, it is evident that the washer and the balance or see-saw will
thereupon hold themselves ready to come in contact, and that the rod which
traverses them being unable to move neither backwards or forwards, remains
always perpendicular to their plane. On the other side, if note be taken of
the pressure exercised by the levers on the washer, it will be seen that they
maintain the position of the washer and the balance or see-saw in an hori-
zontal plane, the result being that whatever the weight or user, the equilibrium
of the system cannot be broken.
A modification is shewn at Figure 3, composed of a piece a, b, c, d, traversed
by the axle or vertical rod e, f, and sustained by two levers g, h, and g, h,
supported by the axle of the wheel k; the pin m, which traverses the two
levers and the piece a, b, c, d, permits this latter free play. The two levers
carry on their ends a small cylinder n, which leans on the vertical rod e, f, and
hinders it from being thrown out of place; but the caster first herein described
is preferred by the Inventor as being more perfect in its operation.
SPECIFICATION in. pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Gedge in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 7th. February 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, 1; WILLIAM
EDWARD GEDGE, of the Firm of John Gedge and Son, of No. 11, Wellington
Street, Strand, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant

page_text: unto me, the said William Edward Gedge, Her special licence that I, the
said William Edward Gedge, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said William Edward Gedge, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man,
an Invention for "AN IMPROVED CASTER," (a communication to me from
abroad by Charles Narcisse Drevelle, of 39, Faubourg Saint Martin, Paris,
France,) upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Edward Gedge, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great
Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent.
.
I NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Edward Gedge, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the accompanying Sheet of
Drawings forming part of this Specification, and to the figures and letters of
reference marked thereon:-
The facility given by a caster of moving a piece of furniture with little
exertion has caused it to become an indispensable complement thereto; never-
theless, by its necessarily eccentric arrangement it is far from working with
regularity, giving beneath its load, and from perpendicular, its original position,
it soon becomes more and more oblique, and does not then move except with
Means have there-
damage to the piece of furniture, the carpet, or the floor.
fore long ago been tried to obviate these defects, but experience has proved
their insufficiency. Like so many others, the Inventor of the improved caster,
the subject of this Invention, long sought a solution to the question which he
put to himself thus :-Preserve the eccentricity of the caster (without which
condition it cannot move in every direction), and preserve it in such wise that
the stem or rod which fixes the caster to the foot of the piece of furniture is
5 always perpendicular to the plane which it traverses, which plane must
invariably remain horizontal.
The Inventor has arrived at a solution by an entirely new method, which
consists, see Figure 1, firstly, of a washer r cut square at k; secondly, of two
levers pierced at o, and bearing at k against the washer; thirdly, of a

page_text: balance plate or see-saw b, the axle x, x, of which plays on the fulcrum o
fourthly, of a stem or rod t passing through the centre of the washer and the
balance plate, and having at its head either a pin or a screw to keep the whole
in place. It will be observed that between the washer and the levers at the
point k, and in a horizontal direction, a space v is left, with the object of favoring
the contact of the washer and the balance plate, and that the part a of the
washer serves as stop to the levers so as to prevent the caster from turning
over when the piece of furniture is lifted. This being established, suppose
now a pressure exercised from the top downwards, it is evident that the washer
and the balance plate will directly have a tendency to come in contact, that
this contact will be constant, and that the rod or stem which passes through
them not being able to move forward or backward, will always remain per-
pendicular to their plane. On the other hand, if the pressure exercised by the
levers on the washer be observed, it will be seen that it keeps the arrange-
ment of the washer and the balance plate on the horizontal plane; from
whence results that whatever the weight or the wear, the equilibrium of the
arrangement cannot be disturbed; therefore an invariable equilibrium, a very
much reduced and easy friction everywhere, and a simplicity and strength
(which does not exclude elegance) are the principal advantages of this
improved caster, which the Inventor terms the "equilibrium caster."
Figure 2 represents another arrangement of the levers, which are let into
the washer while preserving their freedom of action, and thus offering a
second means of preventing the caster from turning over when the piece of
furniture is lifted. I would here observe, that the proper placing of the caster
is an essential point, and that the fitting of this new caster is rendered much
easier than that of ordinary casters, inasmuch that the stem or rod being
independent, may be isolated from it to be fixed more easily and exactly to the
piece of furniture, either by forcibly inserting it or by screwing it in.
All casters hitherto made have a very great defect, namely, that of per-
mitting the wool of the carpet to penetrate between the small supports or
cheeks A, B, C, D, and the roller G, which wool rolling round the spindle of
the roller checks or stops the movement of this latter, and often causes
breakage of the caster. To obviate this defect the following arrangement is
adopted under this Invention:-Instead of making the lateral faces or cheeks
of the roller plane, it has on each of its cheeks a rectangular groove a, b, c, as
shewn, Figure 9, or simply a hollowed part d, d, d, as shewn, Figure 7.
Each of the supports A, B, C, D, and the copper or other suitable metal
washers F, H, and K, L, which come on to the cheeks of the roller, form but
one single piece without any join (see Figures 5, 6, and 8). When the

page_text: grooved roller (Figure 9) is used, the copper washers (Figures 5 and 6) carry
a crown e, e, e, which penetrates into the groove a, b, c, so that the roller
finds itself completely embraced by the two washers. When the roller
(Figure 7) is used, the copper washer (Figure 8) is flat and fits perfectly
into the hollowed part d, d, d, of the washer. With the arrangements above
described any checking of the movements of the roller by wool from the
carpet need no longer be feared. The pins or spindles (T, Figure 1) may form
one piece with the balance plate, or be rendered independent of it by means
of two screws, having a bearing for the play of the branches and a projection
lodging in a groove in the stem t. This projection keeps the arrangement
together, and thus permits the suppression of the pin. If the spindles T are
of one piece with the balanced plate, this arrangement may still be maintained
by means of a screw placed behind this latter, and lodging in the groove of
the stem t.
The principle upon which this improved caster is based may be applied
with great advantage to cranes in the following manner:-Suppose the caster
shewn, Figure 3, turned upside down, the pivot M, N, would be set in the
masonry (Figure 10), the supports A, B, C, D, being lengthened will form
the arms of the crane; a windlass T will be placed behind on the plate O, P,
extended so that the whole may turn round the pivot M, N. Lastly, in order
that the whole weight of the load shall not be borne by
the pivot M, N,
the plate O, P, is slightly thinned at the back, that is to say, at P; the
same effect might be produced by giving an extra thickness to the balanced
plate.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Gedge, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of February, in the year of
Land One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
W. E. GEDGE. (L.S.)