Improvements in Furniture Castors.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 20th Nov., 1896-Accepted, 24th Dec., 1896
Improvements in Furniture Castors.
I BRUNO WESSELMANN, of 54 Friedländer Weg, Göttingen, in the Empire of
Germany, Engineer do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed to bo particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement and accompanying drawings:-
In furniture castors as usually constructed it is customary to provide a castor
body to contain the wheel or ball, which body is mostly of cast metal and more or
less heavy. The body is also in two parts, secured together by screws when a ball
roller is used, or connected so as to turn upon each other whon a wheel or bowl is
used. The upper part serves as a bed for the ball roller or for the antifriction
balls when such are used, or to carry the bracket containing the wheel or bowl,
the said upper part being also adapted to be secured to the piece of furniture.
These descriptions of castors are however clumsy, heavy and costly to make.
My invention relates to improvements in furniture castore in which the body is
made from a picco of tubing of steel or other suitablo metal and in which the base,
bed or plate to sustain the weight, whether transmitted through a ball or balls or
through a secondary part containing a wheel or bowl, is fixed in the body by
milling or pressing a portion of the tubular body into a groove in the periphery
of the said plate or base.
The said improvements together with other details will be best understood from
a perusal of the following description, reference being had to the annexed two
sheets of drawings.
Fig. 1 is n vertical section of a castor with a spherical bowl carrier and anti-
frictional balls, the castor body being slipped upon the wooden leg of the piece of
furniture.
Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of Fig. 1 at the line .. x.
Fig. 3 is a vertical section of a similar castor having a top plate for securing
the castor to the furniture by means of screws.
Fig. 4 is a horizontal section of Fig. 3 at the line y y.
Fig. 5 is a vertical section of a castor running on a wheel or bowl instead of a
sphere.
Fig. 6 is a side view of Fig. 5.
Referring in the first place to Figs. 1 and 2, the ball k is prevented from falling
out of the tubular casing r at the foot, by pressing in and contracting the tube r
at the foot as shown. Above, the hall rests against friction bowls which are
retained in their proper relative positions by a loose recessed disc u in the usual
manner. The ball k, the antifriction bowls, and the diso u are all dropped into
the tubular casing from above and then I insert the base or plate p the periphery
of which is formed with an annular groove as shown in Fig. 1.
When in proper
position I mill or press the thickness of the tubular casing into the groove in the
said plate p so as to fix the plate immovably in position. Thus the component
parts of the castors are securely combined in their proper working disposition.
The weight is sustained by the ball and the interposed bowls f between the ball
and the plate p effect easy and noiseless working.
The upper part of the tubular casing r may be left sufficiently long to slip upon
the foot of the piece of furniture. The securing of the castor to the piece of
furniture might however be effected by a plate and screws as shown in Fig. 3. In
n

page_text: this case the base plate p is made thicker and on the upper end of the body r
I secure a plate 6 which might be done by forcing on the said plate, and if need be
expanding the base plate p so as to grip and secure the part b. The castor may
then be attached to the piece of furniture by screws as shown.
In cases where a wheel, pulley or bowl is used, such as in Figs. 5 and 6, I
carry the bowl in a short separate tubular case a on the axle o. The covert on
the top of the case a presents a projecting annular edge to the bent-in foot of the
casing and this prevents the case a with its bowl from dropping out of tho
casing r. The antifriction bowls frest on the said cover and also against
the plate p which is provided with a central socket pin e entering a hole in the
centre of the disc n. The upper part of the casing r is prolonged so as to slip on
the leg m of the piece of furniture.
It will be evident that the indicated manufacture of the improved castora
enables me to produce the same very cheaply. The improved castors are
calculated to wear well, are light and of a pleasing appearance.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
⚫claim is.
1. The improved furniture castors, substantially as hereinbefore described and
as shown.
2. In a furniture castor, forming the casing from a piece of metal tubing in
which a plate or base p is fixed by milling or pressing the material of the casing
into an annular groove in the periphery of the said base or plate, substantially as
herein before described and as illustrated.
Dated the 19th day of November 1890.
For the Applicant,
E. K. DUTTON & Co.,
5 John Dalton Street, Manchester, Chartered Patent Agents.