GB1342055A - Frames fitted with castors - Google Patents

Abstract

1342055 Castors HAPPE & CO 10 Feb 1972 [11 Feb 1971] 6325/72 Heading A4U [Also in Division F2] A rectangular frame, particularly for a hospital bed, is mounted on centrally controlled castors, the wheels 8 of the castors being lockable against running and/or swivelling and, preferably, the wheel of one of the castors being lockable so that it will steer in a selected direction. The frame comprises hollow side supports 1, connected by cross bars, and hollow front and rear legs 2, 3 welded to the supports around apertures 1' through which pass thrust rods 18 which also pass through apertures 24 in a U- section control rod 15 and are constrained by pivoted guide members 22 to move vertically, when the rod 15 is moved, on rollers 17, longitudinally in the support 1 by external acutating levers 16, 17. The levers 16, 17 are pivoted at 29 on a fixed bearing plate 28 and have tabs 16', 17' which engage a pin 30 on the rod 15. Each castor fork 7 is rotatably mounted in a stem 4 fastened in a castor leg, and a two-armed leaf spring 9, mounted in the fork, has a Z-shaped link 11 movable by a control pin 10 to spread the legs of the spring so that they engage, respectively, the periphery of the wheel and detents in the bearing plate 12 to lock the wheels against running and swivelling. When the actuating levers are in the position shown in Fig. 3 the control rod is in an extreme rightward position the control pins 10 are in their lowermost position and three of the castors are locked against running and swivelling the fourth castor, which differs constructionally, being locked against running but free to swivel (See Fig. 10). Lowering of the lever 16 to the position shown in Fig. 1 entrains the lever 17 for partial downward movement and moves the control rod 10 leftwards to raise the pins 10 releasing all of the wheels for running and swivelling. The lever 16 is bow-shaped and extends along both side supports 1 of the frame, and the lever 17 is provided only at that side of the frame at which the fourth castor is provided, play between the fork end 16" and the pin 30 allowing movement of the control rod 15 further left ward, by manual lowering of the lever 17, so that the fourth castor wheel is locked in a selected steering position, Fig. 8. In a modification, the web of the U-shape control rod is directed upwards.