US1197457A - Top-bearing caster. - Google Patents

Description

D. B. DISS.

TOP BEARING CASTER.

APPLICATION msn nsc.20, 1915.

Paented Sept. 5, 1916.

Hummm ATTORNEY UNITED srarns 'ra'rnfr rr DANIEL B. DISS, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO UNIVERSAL GAS'IER da FOUNDRY COMPANY, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION ,OF NEW JERSEY.

TOE-BEARING CASTER.

` Application led December 20, 1915.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, DANIEL B. Diss, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Top-'Bearing Casters, of which the following is a speciication.

My invention relates to casters, adapted for use particularly upon heavy articles of furniture in which the weight to be supported may advantageously be borne by a bearing surface with which the upper end of the caster pintle engages with a frictional contact permitting relative rotation. In accordance with my invention, the pintle extends through a rigid sleeve or tube which is secured at its lower end to a rigid supporting member or leg-bearing plate which may be attached to the bottom of the furniture. The top end of the sleeve is given an arched formation; an opening is formed in the arch and la rivet is extended therethrough and upset so that enlarged portions are provided above and below the opening in the arched top. These enlarged portions of the rivet or bearing member closely engage the metal of the arched top, and greatly stiften the same, while the under head or enlarged portion of the rivet is provided with a rounded lower surface, constituting an e'liicient, axial or thrust bearing, whereby the weight of the furniture is transmitted axially to the pintle of the caster. 7With this construction, I preferably provide a spring member which is adapted to frictionally connect the pintle to the sleeve, to prevent too easy withdrawal of the pintle from the sleeve, while permitting ready` rotation between the pintle and the sleeve. Preferably, the pintle is provided with a shoulder, or portion of reduced diameter, against which the end of a leaf or sleeve spring may engage, to hold the pintle in the sleeve.

In order that a clearer understanding of my invention may be had, attention is here by directed to the accompanying drawings forming part of this application and illustrating certain embodiments of my inven tion.

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents my improved caster tted to yan article of furniture, the view being partly in section and partly in side elevation, F ig. 2 is a top plan Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 5, 1916.

Serial No. 67,710.

view of the caster, and F ig. 3 is a vertical section of the same, the pintle being shown inside elevation.

Referring to the drawings, a caster wheel 1 is shown as rotatably mounted to receive the jaws 2 of the usual horn. The pintle 3 is rigidly secured to the horn, preferably being provided with a shoulder 4f, resting upon the horizontal portion 5 of the horn. The lower end of the pintle may extend through the portion 5 of the horn and be upset beneath the same. y The leg-supporting plate 6 comprises a strong rigid disk having a number of openf ings 7 therethrough through which screws 8 may be extended to secure the disk to the lfurniture 9, which may comprise the leg of a piano or the like. The central opening of the leg-supporting plate is in alinement with the opening l() in the furniture in which the pintle and its sleeve are to be received, the opening in the leg-supporting plate being, however, of somewhat less diameter than the recess 10, as is shown in Fig. 1.

The sleeve or tube 11 is formed of substantial thickness, so as to be strong and rigid. This is xedly secured to the legsupporting plate, preferably by pressing the lower end of the sleeve 11 about the central opening through the leg-supporting plate, so as to provide an upper annular shoulder 12 and a lower annular shoulder 13, above and below plate 6, and closely engaging the same. The upper end of sleeve 11 is given an arched top, as shown at 14, the inwardly curved flanges comprising this top having an axial opening therein in which is seated the top bearing member 15. The sleeve 11 may be drawn, but is preferably pressed from a pair of sheet-metal members to form half cylinders, the edges of which abut, as is shown at 16 in Fig. 2. A small hole is punched or otherwise formed `at the center of the arched top 14, and the rivet of which the top bearing member 15 is formed extended therethrough, this rivet having the enlarged head 17 on the under side of the opening. The upper end of the rivet is then upset, as shown at 18, so that the arched top 14C of the sleeve is reinforced by the enlarged portions of the rivet which closely engage the metal of the arched top on both the under and the upper sides thereof about the hole through which the rivet was extended.

The bearing portion 17 of the rivet is preferably given a conical under surface, to form an axial or thrust bearing for the upper end of the pintle, which latter is preferably provided with a corresponding seat 17 in which the apex or lower end of portion 17 engages.

The pintle is preferably retained within the sleeve by a spring member, such as 19, which may comprise a split sleeve of resilient metal, the lower end of which is flared outwardly, as shown at 20, to form a flange Seated within the flange 12 of the sleeve. The upper` end of sleeve 19 is curved inwardly to lightly engage the portion 21 of the pintle of reduced diameter7 this reduced portion being terminated by a slight shoulder 22 on the pintle.

The plate 6, with the sleeve and spring secured thereto being secured 'to the furniture, the caster is mounted by forcing the pintle into the sleeve until the upper end of the pintle contacts the top bearing member and the upper end of the spring comes to rest below shoulder 22. The pintle is then free to rotate within the sleeve, but is frictionally retained within the sleeve by the engagement of the upper end of the spring with shoulder 22.

It is obvious that an extremely strong and rigid bearing is formed by the method of mounting the top bearing member 15 within the arched top 14E of the sleeve, the arched top itself being of considerable strength to resist axial pressure, and the strength of the arch being very considerably reinforced by the metal of the top bearing member. It may also be noted that the construction is simple in character and may be economically and readily manufactured.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new therein and desire to secure by Letters Patent is as follows 1. 1n a caster, the combination of a legsupporting plate, having an opening therethrough, a sleeve extending upwardly from said opening, having inwardly curved flanges at the top, a top bearing member secured between said top flanges, and a pintle adapted to extend through said opening and sleeve into contact with said top bearing member, substantially as set forth.

2. In a caster, the combination of a rigid sleeve, adapted to be positioned within an opening in an article of furniture', said sleeve having an arched top, vwith an axial opening therein, a thrust bearing member mounted in said opening, with portions of greater width than the diameter of the opening above and below said opening, closely engaging the metal of the arched top, and a caster pintle extending through said sleeve into Contact with said bearing member, substantially as set forth.

This specification signed and witnessed this 14th day of Dec., 1915.

DANIEL B. Diss.

l/Vitnesses:

'MERWIN DANIELS.

JOHN H. BROEMER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

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