Self-orienting caster for pieces of furniture and the like

A self-orienting caster for pieces of furniture, comprising:

• a supporting body;
• a pair of wheels, which are supported by said supporting body for rotation about a horizontal axis;
• a cylindrical recess provided in said supporting body and being open upward and having a vertical axis, said cylindrical recess being axially offset with respect to said horizontal axis;
• a pivot for the caster inserted rotatably in said cylindrical recess, said pivot being further insertable at a free end thereof in a receptacle of the piece of furniture in which the caster is to be fitted;
• a through seat formed in said supporting body;
• a tubular element that is driven through said seat coaxially to said horizontal axis, said tubular element having two cylindrical tubular portions that lie on opposite sides of said body in order to rotatably support said wheels;
• means for retaining said wheels on said tubular portion;
• means for axially and rotatably locking said tubular element in said seat that comprise two annular ridges of said tubular element provided so as to surround said tubular element, and an annular protrusion formed on said seat and suitable to engage said ridges upon forced insertion of said tubular element into said seat so as to axially horizontally retain said tubular element in said seat, and wherein said annular protrusion of said seat has two flat surfaces, which are suitable to engage respective flat surfaces of said tubular element in order to prevent rotation of said tubular element in said seat and to guide vertical movement of said tubular element;
• and elastic means interposed between said tubular element and said body so as to act for raising said body with respect to said tubular element.