초록 ▼

A wheeled carriage has a chassis with a plurality of swivel casters, and a locking assembly actuated by a foot pedal located along the front of the carriage. Pushing down on the foot pedal rotates a cam that engages a cam follower on a “T”bar frame supporting two locking rings which respectively ove

A wheeled carriage has a chassis with a plurality of swivel casters, and a locking assembly actuated by a foot pedal located along the front of the carriage. Pushing down on the foot pedal rotates a cam that engages a cam follower on a “T”bar frame supporting two locking rings which respectively overlie two of the caster wheels to move the rings into a locking position in engagement with the wheels to lock the wheels and the casters in any position. The cam follower surface includes a ramp portion engageable by the cam for driving the rings to their locking position and a horizontal latch portion engageable by the cam in its “overcenter”position for holding the rings in their locking position. A lifter bar is engageable by the user\s foot to rotate the cam back off the follower and permit the rings to resiliently return to their release position. The cam and follower surfaces are so arranged that a limited rotation of the cam through less than about 25 degrees is sufficient to move the assembly between its release and locking configurations so that the locking assembly can be used where only a few inches of clearance beneath the chassis is available.

대표청구항 ▼

In a caster locking assembly including mounting means adapted to be coupled to an associated load, a caster wheel rotatably carried by the mounting means for rolling engagement with an underlying support surface, and a locking ring resiliently carried by the mounting means and overlying the wheel, t

In a caster locking assembly including mounting means adapted to be coupled to an associated load, a caster wheel rotatably carried by the mounting means for rolling engagement with an underlying support surface, and a locking ring resiliently carried by the mounting means and overlying the wheel, the locking ring being movable between a release position out of engagement with the wheel and a locking position firmly frictionally engaging the wheel for locking thereof, the locking ring being resiliently biased toward its release position, the improvement comprising: a cam follower coupled to the locking ring and having a follower surface including an inclined ramp portion, a locking cam carried by the mounting means for rotation about a pivot axis inclined with respect to the direction of movement of the locking ring and having a cam surface disposed for camming engagement with said follower surface, and actuator means coupled to said cam for effecting rotation thereof between release and locking conditions, said cam surface being out of engagement with said follower surface when said cam is disposed in its release condition for permitting the locking ring to move to its release position, movement of said cam from its release condition to its locking condition moving said cam surface into camming engagement with said ramp portion of said follower surface for driving the locking ring to its locking position.