More about Casters

Click here to find Casters Manufacturers | Discuss Casters & Other Topics

Casters are pivoting rollers that attach to the bottom of furniture, trucks, trailers, and portable machinery to make them easier to move. Casters are commonly made from rubber, plastic, steel and stainless steel. In addition, casters are available in a variety of sizes, depending on the application.

The type of material used to create casters depends on their purpose. For example, rubber or plastic casters are used when the surface the caster will be rolling on is susceptible to scratching. For example, the casters on the bottoms of shopping carts and office chairs are made with rubber or plastic casters. This helps protect the floors they will be rolling on.

In some applications, however, plastic and rubber casters are not durable enough. For example, material-handling equipment transports heavy goods. Therefore, this equipment often requires the extra durability provided by steel casters. Stainless steel casters provide necessary durability while being more resistant to corrosion.

Different materials used to make casters also have varying degrees of temperature resistance. This is especially important when using casters in material handling equipment, which can be exposed to high temperature levels or which can create high levels of temperature from fiction. Forged steel casters, for example, can withstand temperatures up to 800 degrees Fahrenheit. Rubber casters, on the other hand, can only withstand temperatures up to 180 degrees Fahrenheit.

Casters simplify the material handling process by reducing load and friction. Through the use of casters, heavy objects and bulk objects can be easily pulled or pushed rather than carried.

For outdoor applications, or for use on rough floors, larger dimension casters are used. This makes it easier for the casters to travel over the surface. Casters will sometimes cause the load to shake. This is caused by only three of four casters carrying the load. To alleviate this problem, the lead caster needs to be extended or the swivel needs to be offset.

Because it is common for only three of four casters to make contact with a floor, a special formula is used to determine the necessary load bearing weight of each caster in an application. For these applications, the weight of the load to be carried is added to the weight of the cart itself. This weight is then divided by three to determine the minimum capacity necessary for each caster.