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Wheels and rollers in dynamic applications experience cyclic loading and unloading. When this occurs, the mechanical energy is converted into heat energy which causes the parts to heat up. If they have a polyurethane tread and the heat build-up is too great, the urethane could melt and cause the wheel or roller to experience blowout. This article will cover some ways to decrease the chance of polyurethane tread blowout in your industrial wheel application. |
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In caster applications involving swivel locks, straight line motion is often required while high maneuverability is required in other aspects of the application. This makes the ability to lock/unlock the swivel casters to and from a rigid state very desirable. Swivel locks are often the answer for this, and these too come in a variety of designs. The swivel lock can be a permanent add-on to the caster, welded in place to take up less space. This article will discuss some of the common swivel lock designs. |
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Heavy duty industrial casters are used in a variety of applications, ranging from a simple work cart to tools made to carry airplane nosecones. When designing the specifications for your industrial caster application, it is very important to take the entire environment into consideration. While casters are built with large safety factors and are able to withstand severe impacts and heavy loads, there are some commonly overlooked aspects of a design that can cause caster failure. This article will discuss some of the more common causes of industrial casters in use. |
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Generally in high speed and/or high load wheel and roller applications, special high performance polyurethanes are used for the treads. NDI and PPDI urethanes are most commonly used. Reaction Industries, An alternative product to the traditional is TODI polyurethane which may be unknown and has significant advantages over the traditional materials (www.reactionind.com). Extensive testing has been conducted which shows that the TODI urethane performs comparably to the NDI and PPDI urethanes studied, and at a significantly lower cost. |
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Polyurethane tires are a popular choice in many drive wheel applications. Drive wheels are used in many conveyor applications to advance items and in automatic guided vehicles to drive the vehicles. Polyurethane treaded drive wheels are a popular choice because they have good dynamic properties, good wear properties, and provide a high coefficient of friction. While polyurethane treads are commonly used in drive wheel applications, there is much to consider when designing the wheel for the application. This article will discuss the key considerations for properly specifying a polyurethane treaded wheel for a drive wheel application. |
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Brakes are a very popular option for heavy duty industrial casters. Brakes allow the user to stop carts in motion and lock them in place, which can serve application purposes or increase safety by reducing the chance of a runaway cart. There are many different types of caster brakes available with different characteristics. This article will discuss some of the more popular brake designs. |
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Pneumatic tires are a popular wheel option in industrial caster applications. Pneumatic tires are wheels with a metal hub with a rubber tire mounted to it. The tire is filled with air or foam to a desired pressure level to achieve the appropriate load and deflection characteristics. There are many benefits to using this type of wheel as well as a few drawbacks. This article will discuss the pros and cons to using pneumatic wheels in your caster application. |
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Polyurethane tires are a popular wheel tread for use on industrial wheels, whether it is in a caster application or drive wheel applications. There are many great reasons to choose polyurethane tires for an industrial wheel or caster application. This article will discuss some of the reasons why polyurethane tires are a popular choice. |
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Caster flutter is a phenomenon in which a swivel caster is harmonically excited such that it begins to swing uncontrollably from side to side as the wheel rolls forward. Caster flutter results in excessive noise, increased wear on all bearing elements and loss of tracking and control of the dolly or cart in which the caster is installed. There have been numerous studies to understand the causes of caster flutter. The three most common causes of caster flutter in industrial casters and wheels are: |
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The advent of polyurethane nearly 50 years ago has had an impact on many industries and product lines. One area that it has impacted significantly is the manufacture of heavy duty industrial casters and wheels. Approximately 80 percent of all heavy duty applications require a polyurethane tire applied to a wheel core. The quality of the material and process is what assures a long life cycle of the product. |
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For most industrial wheel and roller polyurethane applications, the type of material can be chosen on the basis of hardness, load carrying capability, or other standard material properties. If necessary the properties can be altered by adjusting the chemistry during processing. This improves some qualities, but in turn diminishes others. There are some applications for which the selection of polyurethane requires more consideration. Here are a few examples: |
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Failures of polyurethane or urethane treads on industrial caster wheels, drive wheels, and industrial rollers cost companies not only in money to replace the wheels but also in the down time of equipment. Many of these failures can be prevented. This article discusses the most common failures encountered in these applications and possible solutions to prevent or minimize failures. |
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Polyurethane wheel retreading is becoming a popolar way to reduce costs and replace worn out polyurethane wheels in industrial applications. It also has some environmental benefits as well. If a company has industrial casters with worn polyurethane tires and the metal wheel cores are still in good shape, the wheels can be returned to have the old polyurethane and bearings (if equipped) removed and re-treaded with a new polyurethane of the user's choice and new bearings. This is may well be less expensive than buying new industrial polyurethane wheels. |
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