IMPROVEMENTS IN FURNITURE CASTERS
Year: 1883

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Robert Lake at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 13th June 1888. Communicated to
him from abroad by Maurice Valkenhuizen, of Paris, France.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake, and Co, Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, "IMPROVEMENTS IN FURNITURE CASTERS" [a
communication to him from abroad by Maurice Valkenhuizen, of Paris, France.]
This invention relates to improvements in casters for pieces of furniture or other
articles.
The object of these improvements is to produce a very sensitive caster, that is to
say, a caster which will move to the requisite position under the influence of a very
slight pressure in the direction of the rotation of the caster when the piece of
furniture to which it is applied is shifted, while the weight of the piece of furniture
or other object will act nearly vertically upon the axis of the said caster and not,
as in other casters heretofore employed, at a point a considerable distance from the
axis of the caster. The latter arrangement interferes with the solidity of the
attachment and soon renders the said caster useless. A proof of this (which is
constantly presented) is that by reason of the wear and friction these casters soon
cease to fulfil the object for which they were designed and cannot revolve upon
their axes but slide along upon a portion only of their periphery which portion
wears and becomes flattened thus rendering the easters useless
Independently of this characteristic feature of the said invention this improved
caster is characterized by improvements both as regards its construction and the
manner in which it is fixed
In carrying the said invention into practice the roller of the caster is secured by
means of a central pin, the extremities of which are supported in arms cast upon a
plate or ring. Upon this plate or ring is mounted a socket which receives the leg
of the piece of furniture; at the junction of these two pieces a chamber is formed in
which two steel washers of peculiar construction are arranged to sustain the pressure
or load of the piece of furniture and to reduce the friction to a minimum
One of these washers consists of a curved disc made of tempered steel and
perforated at its centre to permit the passage through it of the central fixing screw,
this washer being placed with its concave face downward. Or in place of this disc
D

page_text: I sometimes employ a piece of steel having a tubular part fitting into the said plate
or ring and rounded at its upper end
The other washer consists of a ring of tempered steel upon which four rounded
projections are formed by stamping or otherwise and which is placed upon the said
steel washer in such a manner that these projections rest upon the upper or convex
surface of the same, and serve to maintain the said steel ring concentric with the
centre of the rotation of the caster; moreover the aforesaid plate or ring, and the
socket, are, united by means of an annular flange on the said socket which engages
with a corresponding portion of the said plate or ring. This flange must not touch
the shoulder formed upon the said ring or plate, in order to prevent the load bearing
upon this shoulder and to allow a margin of movement for the elasticity of the
said steel washer and ring according to the greater or less load which they have to
support.
Instead of fixing the caster by means of a central nail which is forced in the leg
of the piece of furniture to which it is to be attached as heretofore practised, I use
a central screw which is passed through the said plate or ring and secured therein
by forming a head upon the said screw. The bottom part of this screw, at the
place where it enters the socket and the hole in the said socket are made square or
of other suitable form in order to permit the insertion of the screw by the rotation
of the socket. I prefer to use for this purpose a key having a projection which
enters a small hole in the periphery of the upper part of the socket. If desired
the fixing of the caster may be effected by means of nails, in which case the upper
part of the socket is made flat and perforated with holes for the said nails; the
said steel washer and ring are moreover connected by means of a small central bolt
and nut which will not interfere with the rotation of one piece upon the other
The said caster may be made of any suitable material and its dimensions may be
varied according to the purpose for which it is required