What’s caster?
Casters provide a more relaxed and safer role in our daily work. Depending on the purpose and industry requirements, the suitable caster types are also different. Casters can be divided into three types which are swivel casters, rigid casters, and braked castor. Casters are widely used in various industries such as the mechanical industry, medical industry, logistics and transportation, household furniture, hardware trading industry, machinery, and equipment. There are also many types of caster materials. There are many casters of different materials on the market, such as PVC caster, PU caster, nylon caster, cast iron caster, etc. The durability and load capacity of casters are different based on the materials of the caster.
Swivel Caster
Swivel casters are wheels that can freely rotate about 360°, so that the caster can roll in any direction. Installing swivel casters on the vehicle can make the casters of the vehicle move in any direction without changing the original direction of movement. Swivel casters will be used on shopping carts in shopping malls. When the vehicle moves in a straight line, the casters will automatically rotate parallel to the direction of movement. It is usually widely used in many industries and various fields such as mechanical equipment, medical equipment, electronic equipment, furniture, warehouses, large supermarkets, logistics equipment, and more industries. There are many kinds of materials for manufacturing swivel castors, the most common types are nylon, rubber, polyurethane, and other materials.
Rigid Caster
The other is rigid casters. The rigid caster has no rotating structure. When the caster is installed on the vehicle, it cannot rotate in any direction at will. It has poor mobility, restricting the direction of movement of the vehicle, and can only move forward or backward along a straight line. However, these two kinds of casters (swivel caster and rigid caster) are usually used in combination with each other, for example, two swivel casters and two rigid casters are installed on a trolley.
Braked Caster
There is another type of caster is called braked caster. There is a brake assembled on the wheels, which can block the rotation and movement of the wheels. And we only need to step on the brake with our feet, and the brake can fix the wheels and ensure safety.
According to the demands of the work, braked casters are also divided into many different types of brakes such as side lock brake and total lock brake. The total lock brake will lock and fix both the wheel and the plate, so we cannot move the object and adjust the direction of movement at will. On the other hand, the side lock brake only locks the casters. Although we cannot move the wheel, we can adjust the direction of its movement.
Even though the location of the brake structure is different, their operating principle is to use the friction of the wheel surface to brake the wheel and preventing from moving. Choosing a caster brake is very important because it is used to ensure our workplace safety.
Many people think that casters and wheels are the same equipment, but in fact, their structure is different.
The wheel is a round object with a small hole in the center that serves as an axis. It can only be limited to rotating and moving on a single axis, and it can only scroll in one direction. Wheels are mostly used in mechanical equipment, such as automobile wheels.
The structure of casters is more complicated than wheels. It is composed of wheels and brackets, not just wheels. Some casters can move in a fixed direction, while others can rotate in any direction. Casters are more versatile than wheels.
Casters can be divided into many different types according to their size, wheel surface, model, etc. Choosing the right wheel is based on the following conditions:
Working environment (Chemicals, Oil, Grease and other substances)
Climate environment (High temperature, Cold, or Humidity)
Carry capacity of goods
At MecHero, we can help you choose the right caster that suit you. Contact our customer service right now at 011-7001 7687 or email to my.mechero@gmail.com for more relevant information about casters. Besides casters, MecHero also provide lots of the mechanical hardware, steel products, plumbing accessories and other engineering works in Malaysia.