US1888726A - Guard wheel - Google Patents

Description

7 NOV. 22, 1932. J, JARVIS ET AL 1,888,726

GUARD WHEEL Filed Dec. 24, 1950 INVENTOR NELSON L. JARVIS. FRANK .zwnnws.

Jig/f Patented Nov. 22, 1932 mm: :JrmRvIs Annxznnrsonun. .mnvas, on:rnrmnaamissncrmsnrrsa@ ssIGnoRs rogmnms mmmrmv1s,z;mc., ormnmum; MASSACHUSETTS;-AHCORFORLTIONpQE' MAssAcEUsETrs; w

I spiineiiii mfired.necemi er 24, 1950 seria na.sorjsazl] 1 This invenapn relates toj improvements" in guard wheels forzcasters-and s1m1lar dev1ces.

"One oflth'e principal'fobjects of the invention" to provide; improved means for preservingandimaintainingisilch 'a' guard wheel in? asanitary conditiomwh'e'reby the collection ofidis'ease germs thereon is kept to a mini: mum .andlwh'ereby thosethat do collect. are easily removed andfthe guard wheel cleansed andldisinfect'edy A Another object of the invention is toprovideo an. improved guard wheel :free from pockets that willfca-tch and retain dust, and germ. deposits, thatis easily cleansed, that is :fr'eelyrotatable, that will have a tendency todflect. dust and germ deposits, that is inconspicuous, and. that is preservative of the surfaces-with which itcomes-in contact.

Another object of the invention. is to provide'an improved guard wheel of these characteristics that 'iseconomic'alfof construction and durable as to wear "and-.jservice.

Otheriobjects of the invention areto provide, an. improved yielding rimmed guard wheel in which the rim'tire may be easily removed and replaced to overcome wear and deterioration ,7 without replacing the Whole wheel and to provide alight butstrong and serviceable guard wheel that is cheap to make and which will have a long life of service.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing. It is apparent that changes can be made in the details of construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the, spirit of the invention as expressed in the accompanying claims. We, therefore, do not wish to be limited to the exact details shown and described as the preferred form only has been given by way of illustration.

Referring to the drawing:

Fig. I is a side elevation showing a caster embodying the invention;

Fig. II is a front elevation 'of Fig. I;

gig. III is a top View of the guard wheel; an

Fig. IV is a cross section on line IV-IV of Fig. III.

,thetire 5; preferably {of soft, pliantirubb'er having its inner surface shapedjtor'fit' thb V tapered'edgeofthe central portion: llhe'top 1 GUARD Guardfwheelson.fiastersai dlsmilar. (1a; vices have 'gone f into, quite extensive use where-it: is desiredto. rotect; -wa11s,o1f "other articles from being marred by contact with the-caster. They are particularly usefuland inmuGh: demand hospital-s'jfor beds;fo pe erating tablesandthe like. In the. aa uieyhave'been'made with'a well orfdepi'ession jon the top surface in order to lighten the'gcong structionwhile preserving, the wide contact: ing face offthe wheel. These 'well'swere'jnatg i. uiral. collectors of dust andgermswhich" wer heldtrapped therein; Thesewwells' were also difiic-ult to clean} They were. a violat'i on' of the sanitary rulesioff'well' runhospitalsand-la source ofmuch complaint. I It is. therefore one of theprimeobjeets of "the. invention to provide an improved "guardfwheelfthat is not only. freeffrom these defects but will'in addi tion tend toqshed. and deflect the greater part 79 of (such collectionsJ j v It is clear that'the entirejconstruction of the-priorartguard wheels will'have tobe; discarded 'and jthe wheel r'e-de'sig'ned on en- .tirely. new lines and of"difterentflmaterials to reach the results thatwe' havese't forth 1 Referring o the drawing' whereins-imilar reference characters denote correspbndin g partsth'rough'outzj a f Our guard 'wheelromprisesa center" per- ,ti0n,.'1,f preferab1y of? hard rubber; composition, bakeliteffiber or. similar substance that is, both relatively hard and relatively light.

The central;pprtion"1 hastherentralf bear-- ingpp in g "thereth rough'. The outer 1381- 'ripheryfof'fthe centrahportion lcha'sl thetapered surfaces or faces 31 and4; forming an inverted V shaped, edge? Around ithe periphery offthe central portion f 1Q is secured surfacelfi which extends over the central portion. 1 andthe tire portion 5:1is a'i'con' tinuous plane" surface sloping downwardly fro ia n t e n 'iflt' the x me edges} ofl'lthe tire; The, underside 7 ma be not. necessarily. so, andrthesurfaceiadjariveted'or otherwise secured at 14 to the fork;

member 12. The ball bearing 13 is centered on the stem 9 above the fork member. Above the ball bearing is the bearing support or; 'boss' 15 engaging the boss 8 on the surface 7 of the guard wheel. Through the'opening 2 of the guard wheel extends the bushing 16 whichproje'c'ts slightly above the surface'6'o'f the guard wheel." On top of the bushing is thelwasher 17 giving aslight clearance for thetop surface of the guardwlieel hence allowing it free, unbound, rotative movement on the bushing 16. "Above the washer 17 is the caster sleeve 18 into which der at thetop .of the bushing the washer 17 and the sleeve 18 if the guard thejstem 9 is fitted and held in place by the spri g19. I v

' In operation the; soft pliable 'rubberface 5 of the guard wheel will engage the contacting wall or article and will rotate on the bushing 16to give a rolling'contact instead of can unyielding gouging contact. With the structure shown the; caster can be used either with or without the guard wheel as the bushing 16 or a bearing surface of the same diameter on the stem 9 forming a shoulwill support wheel is removed, so that'theone caster may be used eitherway.

It .willbe' noted thatthe top surface 6 of the guard wheel is smooth and continuous and inclined downwardly so that dust or opening to the rim,

a guard wheel for stem, said wheel having a relatively hard non-metallic central portion with a central bearing opening to fit on the stem and a pro-.

jecting bearing boss surrounding the open-' ing on the lower face of said central portion, and a relatively softjnon-metallic annular rim portion surrounding said central po-r-.

- t1on, the'upper surface of the and rim being a continuous convex curved central portion rotatable mounting on the" surface and the lower surface thereof being a a continuous concave curved Surface-except for the said projecting bearing boss. 7 V

2. In a device of the character, described for usewith a caster bracket and a caster stem agua-rd wheel for rotatable mounting 'onifthe stem, said wheel having a relatively hard non: metallic central portionwitha central bears:

ing opening to'fit around the stem and a rel atively soft non-metallic "annular rim portion surrounding said central portion, the upper surface of saidcentralportion and said rim portion being a continuous convex curved surface from the opening to the rim; In a device-of thecharacter'described for use with a casterbracket and a caster stem guardv'wheel for rotatable mounting on thestem, said wheel having a relatively hard non-metallic central portion with a central bearmgopemng to fit around the stem and a relatively soft non-metallic annular rimportion surrounding said" central portion, the

oining facesof'the rim and central portion being substantially V shaped and the upper I surface of said rim and central portion being a contlnuous convex curved surface fromthe FRANK JARVIS. i N Lson JARVIS.

other collections arenot trapped or held and that the same may be easily cleaned and disinfected. The guard wheel is, of solid and light construction and so arranged that the soft pliable tire 5 may be snapped in place or removed, Wear and deterioration from age is easily taken care of by simply removing it ,the old tire '5 and snapping anew one vover the edge of the central portion 1, which may be retained and does not have to be replaced.

I The tire 5, may be either endless, or it may connected or otherbe a'strip. with its ends I wisesecu-red together. .,If desired the tire 5 -maybe cemented to the inner portion 1." If

it. is the tire maybe*remo-ved by cutting through the cross section of the tire, loosening an end and then stripping it oflf. This procedure will not injure the inner portion 1 From the foregoing description it will be I seen that we have provided exceedingly simllO ple,eflicient and economical means for obtaining all the advantages of the invention.

IIaving described our invention we claim: In a device of the characterdescribed for use wit'ha caster'br'acket-and caster Stem

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