GB1531795A - Furniture wheels - Google Patents

Abstract

1531795 Castor wheels HUFA-ROLLEN HUGO FASSBENDER KG 3 Sept 1976 [5 Sept 1975 6 March 1976 25 Aug 1976] 36569/76 Heading A4U [Also in Division F2] A furniture wheel combination, e.g. a castor wheel in a housing for an office chair, comprises a wheel having a hub through which is a bore, and an axle lying in the bore with clearance, the axle, or a spring or the like interposed between the axle and the bore, exerting resistance to rotation of the wheel around the axle, such resistance being sufficient to maintain the chair at rest when unoccupied; increased load on the wheel via the axle (e.g. on occupation of the chair) causes reduction in the resistance to rotation exerted by the axle or the spring or the like, to permit movement of the chair. In the first form an axle 5, Fig. 2, is held at both ends against rotation in the side walls 2' of the housing (2) forming part of a furniture castor (1) Fig. 1 (not shown). The axle 5 is a loose fit in a bore of the hub 6 of the castor wheel (3) and has a longitudinal slot 8 located in its underside. A spring 9, whose central portion consists of a downwardly-curved crest S, is located in slot 8 with its crest S in contact with the adjacent part of the hub bore and its ends in contact with the base of slot 8. In the position of Fig. 2 with the furniture (e.g. an office chair) unoccupied (unloaded), spring 9 raises housing (2) and the axle so that the axle makes contact at the top with the upper part of the bore in the hub, thus braking the wheel (3). In the Fig. 3 position, the chair being occupied, the spring 9 is compressed, so axle 5 is clear of the upper part of the hub bore, and the wheel may be rotated by movement of the chair by the occupant. There are minor variants. In the second form, in the clearance between axle 36, Fig. 10, and hub bore 39, a longitudinallysplit resilient braking sleeve 37 is accommodated, and is pre-stressed so that in the "unloaded" position the sleeve contacts three-quarters of the hub bore surface, while in the "loaded" position, Fig. 11, it contacts only about one quarter of the surface. In the third form the axle 56, Fig. 13, is resilient and is pre-stressed into a curved configuration, so that in the "unloaded" position the axle middle contacts the middle lower surface of the bore, and the axle ends contact the end upper surfaces of the bore. In the "loaded" position the axle is straightened out, Fig. 14, making minimal contact with the bore and thus offering minimal resistance to movement. In Figs. 17-20 (not shown), the ends of the axle are split and portions are pre-stressed curved.