Industrial Casters
Casters provide mobility and transportation to tools and equipments by the way of mechanisms attached to the bottom. It has a base and a bracket assembly, an axle assembly, upon which wheels are mounted.

Industrials wheels are different from casters, and are, in fact, a part of the caster.

The wheels are used to facilitate the rolling motion to the item to which the casters are attached. The parts of the wheel include spanner bushing and bearings. The base and the bracket are attached to the king pin by the way of riveting, stacking or by the means of nut and bolts. The top plate usually has four mounting holes to which the king pin is fit. The top cup and raceways has double ball bearing swivels, which take the load. The plate fits over this cup and raceway. The cup and raceway may be welded, cast drop forged or stamped into the bracket. Side thrust, better swivel action, and more ball contact is provided by lower cup and raceway. The king pin nut can be tightened for closer tolerance and fit it fits underneath. Axle assemblies can be replaced, as they consist of nut and bolts. Spanner is not always required for this.

One should have an idea of the type of attachment that will be required, to choose a correct corresponding caster. Three swivels, two-rigid/two swivel, tilt mounting; diamond mounting, four swivels, and four swivel/two rigid are the various methods of attaching a caster. An expandable rubber stem, which is inserted into the tubing, is another way of attaching a caster. The caster is fixed to the unit with octagonal shaped stems, with bolts that go through cross-drilled holes, which are fixed in angle iron legs. The threaded stem passing through the hole is kept in place by a lock nut, or may go into a tapped hole. Stem/socket or stems without socket, top plate mounting, are other ways to attach a caster.

Casters find use in almost all the industries and are used on items such as chairs, dollies, beds, carts, racks, and stands.

Various factors play a role while selecting a caster, and the points that needs to be considered are load capacity of the caster, the shock load applied to the caster, the environmental conditions, such as temperature and moisture, which the caster may be subjected to and the substances to which the caster may be exposed to during use.

The overall height of the wheel, diameter and face width, the hardness and requirement of wheel brake are things that should be known before selecting a caster. If one is looking for a color caster, it should be mentioned, along with the shade, to the manufacturer, before ordering the caster. It helps to provide the manufacturer with rough sketch or prints of the applications, so as they can modify the caster according to the use, especially the fixing mechanism.

Cumulative trauma disorders (CTD’s) are a kind of workplace injuries that is a result of a combination of repetitive motion made in an uncomfortable posture, and use of force without sufficient rest. Billions of dollars are paid out by the employers, as the means of compensation against such injuries. Even more money is spent on litigation costs, treatment, and hidden cost due to lost productivity. According to one estimate, 80% of the employees will suffer from such or other related injury during their careers. By choosing appropriate casters, such conditions can be prevented. Special casters can be designed which will allow low rolling resistance, and can be attached with shock absorbing wheels. These measures can help in decreasing the occurrences of injuries such as backaches and carpal tunnel syndrome.