IMPROVEMENTS IN CASTERS
Year: 1884

page_text: I, RICHARD JOHN HARTLEY ECCLES of Number Fifty-six Atlantic Road Brixton
in the County of Surrey Dealer in Tobacco do hereby declare the nature of my
invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN CASTERS to be as follows:-
My invention relates to ordinary pivot casters.
It embraces an arrangement by which the dead weight of the article carried is,
from the plate or socket, received upon a small flat-headed projection cast or in
some other way made upon the horns or roller carriage, which projection is
perpendicular to the center of the axle of the roller and through which projection
such weight is received vertically upon that axle 1) without receiving aid or in any
way straining the pivot 2) without putting any strain except vertical compression
upon the horns or roller carriage 3) without requiring the roller to be placed under
or nearly under the center of the caster 4) without bringing the general top surface.
of the horns or roller carriage into contact with any other part of the caster or in
such manner causing free action to be interfered with by small particles of dust
5) without requiring aid or incurring the expense of friction rollers or balls and
6) without (except in casters with slanting sockets hereafter referred to) requiring
the bottom surface of the plate or socket to be greater in circumference than is a
circle which the furthest outside portion of the middle of the said axle describes in
travelling horizontally round an imaginary line dropped vertically through the
center of the pivot. And for further avoiding any strain on the pivot I cast or in
some other way make two other small flat-headed projections on the horns or roller
carriage to keep the roller upright laterally and so prevent without receiving aid
from the pivot any inclination the roller might have to fall on its side.
To secure a horizontal surface at the bottom of casters for furniture or other legs
that are not perpendicular to the floor, I make the socket to slant in one direction;
the shortest diameter of such last mentioned surface corresponding with the
diameter of the bottom surface of other sockets. And to avoid the horizontal
bottom surface of small plates being broken by screw holes I cast or in some other
way make upon the top surface of such plate a tube through which the pivot
passes; such tube having a screw worked round the outside of it.
All the above mentioned projections work against the horizontal bottom surface
of the plates or sockets except that when such surface and the projections are

page_text: manufactured of a similar material then a disc made of a different material (with a
hole in the center for the pivot) will if desirable be placed between such surface
and the projections.
Small wheels to run against the horizontal bottom surface of the plate or socket
may where desirable be substituted (if expense is not an object) for all or some of
the projections. The axles of such wheels will be laid horizontally in the horn or
roller carriage and longitudinally in the direction of the pivot.
The roller if desirable may be constructed with a groove round it to give a
better grip of the floor; or it may be constructed in three parts, the center one.
being of India.rubber.

page_text: I RICHARD JOHN HARTLEY ECCLES of N° 56 Atlantic Road Brixton in the
County of Surrey Dealer in Tobacco do hereby declare the nature of my invention
for IMPROVEMENTS IN CASTERS and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
My Invention (which is a direct pressure caster distinguished by me as the
champion) embraces such an arrangement of the shape of the roller carriage that
the dead weight of the article carried is, from the plate or socket, received upon a
flatheaded or other shaped stud or projection cast or in some other way made upon
the roller carriage and is, from such stud or projection, received vertically upon the
axle of the roller 1) without receiving aid from or in any way straining the
pivot 2) without putting any strain except vertical compression upon the horns of
the roller carriage 3) without requiring the roller to be placed under or nearly
under the center of the caster 4) without bringing the general top surface of the
roller carriage into contact with any other part of the caster or in such manner
causing free action to be interfered with by small particles of dust 5) without
requiring aid or incurring the expense of the construction of any groove flange or
clutch or any friction wheels rollers or balls and 6) without requiring the bottom
surface of the plate or socket to be greater in circumference than is a circle which
the furthest outside portion of the middle of the said axle describes in travelling
horizontally round an imaginary line dropped vertically through the center of the
pivot (By the furthest outside portion of the middle of the said axle is meant the
part of that axle which is furthest from the said imaginary line and is midway
between the ends.)
For avoiding any strain upon the pivot arising from any inclination the roller
might have to fall on its side I cast or in some other way make upon the roller
carriage two additional flatheaded or other shaped studs or projections.
To avoid the horizontal bottom surface of the plates of plate casters being broken
by screw holes for fastening on the caster I cast or in some other way make upon
the top surface of the plate a tube through which the pivot passes; and wholly or
partially round the outside surface of such tube there is provided a worm or
screw.
All the studs or projections referred to work against the horizontal bottom
surface of the plate or socket; but if desirable a disc (with a hole in the center for
the pivot) may be placed between the studs or projections and such surface. And
such disc may be either loose or fastened to the plate or socket.
To reduce the amount of wear on the plate or socket or disc the studs or
projections may be in such a position that they will not all work in the same
track. And if it be considered desirable to construct the roller carriage without
the two additional studs or projections above referred to then the stud or projection
first above mentioned may be widened or elongated in a curved direction some-
what towards the position that the additional studs or projections would have
occupied,