Caster
AssigneeKayaba Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsYasukuni Watanabe, Takeharu Shizume
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
In a caster which supports a wheel by using via a link 3 a bracket 2 to be fitted to a wheelchair or the like, an end of the link 3 is connected with a rotation axis of the bracket 2 via a rubber member 8 which is twisted and deformed resulting from oscillating motion of the link 3, and the link 3 and the bracket 2 are connected by a hydraulic damper 20 which damps the oscillating motion of the link 3, whereby an oscillation or a shock can be absorbed.
Claims10
A caster suitable to be fitted to a wheelchair, comprising:
- a bracket;
- a link having one end pivotally connected to the bracket via a rubber bush that twists and deforms in response to an oscillating motion of the link;
- a wheel rotatably mounted to the other end of the link;
- and
- a hydraulic damper connected between the link and the bracket to damp the oscillating motion of the link;
- wherein the hydraulic damper comprises a tube having one end connected to the bracket and an other end being open, an end member spirally engaging a screw section provided on an inner surface of the other end of the tube, a piston rod engaged slidably with the end member and having one end connected to the link, and a piston connected to an other end of the piston rod.
A caster suitable to be fitted to a wheelchair, comprising:
- a bracket;
- a link having one end pivotally connected to the bracket via a rubber bush that twists and deforms in response to an oscillating motion of the link;
- a wheel rotatably mounted to the other end of the link;
- and
- a hydraulic damper connected between the link and the bracket to damp the oscillating motion of the link;
- wherein the link can be adjusted in length to vary a distance between a center of the oscillation motion of the link and a center of the rotation of the wheel.
A caster suitable to be fitted to a wheelchair, comprising:
- a bracket;
- a link having one end pivotally connected to the bracket via a rubber bush that twists and deforms in response to an oscillating motion of the link;
- a wheel rotatably mounted to the other end of the link;
- a hydraulic damper connected between the link and the bracket to damp the oscillating motion of the link;
- and
- two levers pivotally connected between the bracket and the link, one of the levers being equipped, at an end at which the levers are connected to each other, with a restraint mechanism having a claw section for locking relative positions of the two levers, so as to fix the wheel at a predetermined position.
A caster suitable to be fitted to a wheelchair, comprising:
- a bracket;
- a link having one end pivotally connected to the bracket via a rubber bush that twists and deforms in response to an oscillating motion of the link;
- a wheel rotatably mounted to the other end of the link;
- and
- a hydraulic damper connected between the link and the bracket to damp the oscillating motion of the link;
- wherein the link can be adjusted in length to maintain a height of the bracket above the center of rotation of the wheel when a load applied to the caster changes.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.