Castors for all Seasons
The national obsession in Great Britain, according to recent research, is the weather. Oscar Wilde famously condemned this topic of conversation as the 'last refuge of the unimaginative', but the research indicates sixty percent of us use the weather as a social prop in conversation.
The national obsession in Great Britain, according to recent research, is the weather. Oscar Wilde famously condemned this topic of conversation as the 'last refuge of the unimaginative', but the research indicates sixty percent of us use the weather as a social prop in conversation. A study has found that for more than half of us, the topic of conversation turns to our climatic conditions every six hours. A quarter of us use weather as an ideal icebreaker and seventy percent of us check the weather forecast every day increasing to eighty percent when we hit our mid fifties.
Admittedly the weather is very changeable in Britain, and no wonder many foreign visitors see this as the reason we are so obsessed with climate as a topic of discussion. Many Swedish visitors for example, think that there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing. Being prepared for a variety of conditions can also make choosing the correct castors for the job much simpler. For example, any product, including castors, that isn't used under the conditions for which it is designed, may not completely satisfy the consumer's needs. This may also damage the materials used, the environment within which it operates, and potentially cause injuries to the users. The most common mistake in choosing the correct castors is mistakes in choosing the correct wheel housed within the castor frame. Examples of where this can go wrong include wheel deterioration, floor surface damage, making thecastors difficult to manoeuvre leading to excessive force required to move the equipment and potential injuries as a result.
It's therefore worthwhile spending some time analysing the environment and conditions in which castors operate in order to specify and choose the correct castors and wheels. If we were Swedish, we would be saying to ourselves there is no such thing as bad castors, just bad choices. So in order to make the right choices it's important to understand some key factors. Several key factors must be analysed when considering choosing the right wheel and castors. These include the load of the unit to be moved, both static and dynamic, the characteristics of the flooring, the operating environment, the rolling resistance, the wheel diameter, the correct castors bracket and assembly.
The static and dynamic load that a wheel can carry is a vital operating condition for consideration. The static load equates to the maximum load that a motionless wheel can carry without effecting its performance or wheel structure. A dynamic load conversely is the load bearing of the castors and wheels whilst moving, taking into consideration the speed of the wheels, the floor surfaces, the temperature and type of flooring. The operating environment, much like the weather, can in some cases vary dramatically in temperature, humidity, chemicals, surface types of flooring and unevenness. These environmental factors can greatly affect the choice of castors and wheels. The rolling resistance, which in turn can decide the wheel type and diameter, is often overlooked as a factor for consideration. Rolling resistance, expressed in Newton's, varies between wheel types. Finally the castor assembly has many sizes and attachment options, which can ensure the right wheels and castors, are specified for the job. Understand the environment and conditions leading to more informedcastors choices.
