{"id":8086,"date":"2021-01-05T14:20:12","date_gmt":"2021-01-05T14:20:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/monroeengineering.com\/blog\/?p=8086"},"modified":"2022-04-13T17:14:17","modified_gmt":"2022-04-13T17:14:17","slug":"a-short-history-of-casters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/monroeengineering.com\/blog\/a-short-history-of-casters\/","title":{"rendered":"A Short History of Casters"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Casters are one of those things we take for granted and use every day. From the grocery cart to the office chair you sit in, the caster is a part of moving heavy items easily in multiple directions by pushing or pulling. It has become universal in application regardless of culture. It operates to simple mechanical principles, is easy to produce and use, and is now made in thousands of varieties. There has been a bit of debate about how long casters have been around. Some say they were part of material handling as long ago as Ancient Egypt, others point to the patent applied for by David Fisher in 1876. I would volunteer both are correct. Like a lot of industrial product names and descriptions, the word caster covers a lot of ground. The word caster is not unlike the word Hinge. Both can be used as a noun or a verb depending on context. When we think of a fisherman as a caster, we think of him throwing a line. When we think of an aluminum caster, we could be describing the material of a caster wheel, or an object made of aluminum through the hot metal casting process. Go to Websters dictionary and the word caster in the context of wheels is the third entry! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In its most direct description with respect to the wheel the word caster describes the use of an integrated frame and axle holding a wheel. This \u201ccaster\u201d could be made as a separate sub assembly and be attached to a cart or wagon using any one of a few methods. Early casters that were used by the Egyptians were fixed, they did not pivot, turn, or steer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Business<\/a>
Business Machine Casters<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Steering those casters on a wagon with 4 wheels was complex\nand expensive. Depending on how sharply you could turn two front wheels\ndetermined how much space or \u201cturning radius\u201d it required to change direction.\nNot a problem when you are driving a Conestoga wagon across a prairie. But a\ncrowded manufacturing plant or hospital meant that space was valuable, and a\nbig turning radius was a problem! Early efforts to make casters pivot consisted\nof using a post or \u201ckingpin\u201d on top of the caster frame allowing the entire\ncaster frame and wheel to turn. Now there was no reason for that caster to\npivot on its own. It was as likely to skip sideways when pulled in a different\ndirection as pivot and roll freely. They worked, but they did not\n\u201cself-center\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The caster as we most often understand it today was patented by Mr. Fisher and was driven by advances in materials and the forces of the Industrial Revolution. Many wonder why it took thousands of years to go from the wheel to the self-steering caster of today. The simple fact is that we just did not need them. The caster as we know it is a direct descendant of the industrial revolution and the need to move heavy materials efficiently using the least amount of floor space. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bit of unique genius Mr. Fisher Patented was the very\nsimple act of offsetting the \u201ckingpin\u201d or \u201cpivot point\u201d of the caster from the axle.\nLook at the two Illustrations. A fixed caster and then a \u201cself-steering\u201d or\n\u201cself-centering\u201d caster. The difference is obvious. What this minor adjustment\ndid was revolutionize material handling. The center of the caster frame pivot\npoint, or Kingpin was offset from the center of the axle. By \u201ctrailing\u201d the\ncenter of the axle behind the pivot point any friction on the side of the wheel\n(like when pushed in a different direction than it rolls) causes the wheel to\npivot and follow the path of least resistance, which is simply to roll in the\ndirection it is pushed. It takes very little space for the turning moment to\ntake place. Space needed to turn a cart without casters can be used for\nproduction or treating hospital patients. A cart on four self-steering casters\ncan move in any direction without a steering mechanism and will continue in\nthat direction until some force in another direction is exerted. The caster\nallows the cart to spin 360 degrees without any travel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That bit about the friction on the side of the wheel is\nimportant. Without it the wheel has no reason to pivot and follow the kingpin\nor pivot axis. Matching the wheel material to the surface over which it travels\nis a major part of getting the most out of any caster application. That is why\nyour grocery cart has rubber as the wheel to floor contact. A smooth metal\nwheel on a smooth floor just does not work as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Roto-Caster<\/a>
Roto-Caster<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In the time since David Fisher patented the modern\nself-steering caster it has served humankind in thousands of applications.\nToday the caster is on your beach cart, your grocery cart, your furniture, and\nhas a role in moving nearly every manufactured good at some point in its life.\nEvery piece of equipment and furniture in a hospital rolls on a smooth riding\nrubber wheeled caster. It is truly a commodity that is mass produced\nefficiently and universal in its usefulness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even today caster development has continued. New styles of casters known \u201cRoto-casters\u201d or Omni-Directional casters have rollers installed around the perimeter of the caster wheel. This eliminates the need for trailing the pivot point from the axle to get a caster to self-center to force in different directions. The wheel need not pivot at all. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The caster is one of those simple devices that is truly genius in its principal of operation. While the modern caster was patented just 150 years ago, it is part of the everyday life of most everyone on the planet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Casters are one of those things we take for granted and use every day. From the grocery cart to the office chair you sit in, the caster is a part of moving heavy items easily in multiple directions by pushing … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14482,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[85,506],"tags":[781],"class_list":["post-8086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-casters","category-history","tag-casters"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nA Short History of Casters | Monroe Engineering<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"While the modern caster was patented just 150 years ago, it is part of the everyday life of most everyone. 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