Tag Archives: caster wheel replacement

Choose Right Medical Casters in a Healthcare Environment

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Design medical equipment with operator experience & workplace ergonomics in mind by selecting the right medical casters.

 

To understand the importance of using the right casters on medical equipment in a healthcare environment, let us examine a scene in an archetypal hospital where patients, carts and sensitive equipment are constantly ushered to various rooms, crossing multiple floors and possibly traveling long distance. Since the environment is in flux, it is imperative to consider the performance and failure rates of casters when evaluating the design of medical equipment both using original casters and replacement casters.

 

While failure rates are easy to measure, quantifying the performance of casters can be relatively difficult especially because casters tend to become less efficient over time. Just because a caster is still functional, it is not necessarily performing optimally. To illustrate, wrong casters may fail to absorb shock optimally whereby constantly transferring unacceptable shocks to both the equipment and the operator, leading to breakdown of the equipment and potential injuries to the operator. Additionally, an untimely caster failure can put critical equipment temporarily out of use.

 

Since casters need to constantly perform at their peak and be durable to create a positive impact on ROI, the logical next step is to examine how to identify the right medical casters for intended applications. Here are a few key points to consider:

 

  1. Wheel Material: The wheel material that you select impacts a variety of performance parameters. Popular choices for medical applications include Neoprene and Urethane wheels which are considered quiet, non-marking and shock absorbent. Accounting for these factors creates an environment which restricts noise levels for both patients and operators, reduces risk of damaging floors, while also extenuating damages to the equipment and injury to personnel.

 

  1. Load Capacity: In general, it is recommended that each caster should have the capacity to support one-third of the total load weight of the load.

 

  1. Floor and Environmental Conditions: Floor conditions could include towing equipment on greasy surfaces. Environmental conditions could include exposure to harsh chemicals, etc. These factors need to be weighed when selecting casters.

 

  1. Requirements for Braking and Locking Mechanism: There are various options available. Usually, the braking and locking mechanism on medical casters is more complex than on industrial casters.

 

  1. Wheel Diameter and Bearing: Optimal wheel diameter and bearing selection will have a positive impact on maximizing mobility and enhancing workplace ergonomics.

 

  1. G-force (a measurement of the type of acceleration that causes a perception of weight): A lower g-force improves shock absorption and provides extra protection to the equipment while also assisting to reduce injury risks to operators.

 

  1. Durability: Consider the number of kilometers a single piece of medical equipment is expected to travel during its product life cycle. Casters with durability curate replacement costs.

 

  1. IEC / ISO Specifications:

 

  • IEC 60601: Technical standard for the safety and effectiveness of medical equipment
  • ISO 22881: Requirement for use on manually propelled equipment for institution applications
  • ISO 22882: Requirements for castors for hospital beds
  • ISO 22883: Requirement for applications up to 4 km/h
  • ISO 22884: Requirement for applications over 16 km/h

 

For the OEMs, besides considering the points above that end-users value, the following can be factored in:

 

  1. Aesthetics, A Key Element of Product Design: In an era where form is considered as important as function, imagine a situation where a cutting edge ultrasound machine is outfitted with casters that appear more like tools added purely for their functional value. This would reduce the premium feel of the equipment. Similar to cutting edge automobiles which use wheels to enhance the function as well as the appearance of their products, casters can be used to add to the overall design and premium feel of the medical equipment.

 

  1. Using Casters with A Positive Reputation: Many end-users prefer casters from trustworthy and well-known manufacturers therefore including these casters on the original equipment creates additional value for the end-users.

 

  1. Collaborating with Caster Manufacturers at The Early Stage of New Product Development: To ensure that casters are “right” for the intended application, it is a great practice to involve caster manufacturers early in the product design process. Early inputs from caster manufacturers can reduce the time to market and significantly improve design value.

 

Selecting the right casters makes a positive impact to a variety of key areas including longevity of equipment and enhanced workplace ergonomics. The right casters improve efficiency and productivity and, in turn, ROI.

 

To find the trustworthy and well-known medical caster manufacturer, I recommend you to visit Enjoying Go Co., Ltd. – they are the Taiwan caster wheel manufacturer specializing in kinds of office chair casters, furniture caster wheels, hardwood floor casters, medical caster wheels, etc. Today, if you have requirement or interest in caster wheel replacement, please do not miss Enjoying Go!

 

Article Source: Darcor

A Complete Buying Guide To Caster Wheel Replacement

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One of the first things you will notice is that there are a surprising number of variations to choose from when you start shopping for caster wheel replacement. From dozens of different materials to the range of different diameters to all the added features and options you can choose from, it gets overwhelming.

 

To help you sift through the thousands of options, we’ve put together a quick guide specifically for buying chair caster wheel replacements. First, you’ll get a short guide to understanding what kind of factors you will need to consider while shopping.

 

Tips For Choosing The Right Caster Replacement Wheels

Getting the right caster wheel replacements comes down to 5 core factors: material, mount style, load capacity, wheel diameter, and extra options. Let’s take a look at each of those in more detail:

 

  1. Type of Material: there are dozens of different materials that a caster wheel can be made of. For most chairs, however, you are really only going to find either rubber or metal. There are, of course, exceptions. But, in general, your safest best is to look for replacement plastic caster wheels.

 

  1. Type of Mount: there are 3 main mount styles—plate, weld, and stem. If getting a stem caster wheels replacement, you’ll need to make sure the stem is the same as your current ones (i.e. – threaded, expandable, or grip ring). For plate mounts, the dimensions of the plates should match and the pattern for the bolt holes should be the same.

 

  1. Load Capacity: fortunately, this is a less important factor if you’re getting wheels for chairs. Since the total load the wheels will have to carry is almost certainly going to be less than 500 pounds, just about any wheel will do. Load capacity is affected by the material and the diameter of the wheel.

 

  1. Wheel Diameter: wheel diameters can range from 3 inches to 10 inches. The larger the diameter, the more easily it will roll. However, too large wheels may not fit on your chair legs or, if they do, it may look really weird.

 

  1. Additional Options: you don’t need too many additional options on your caster wheels for chairs. It’s generally nice to have a swivel style wheel so that you can move easily in any direction. If you don’t want your chair to move around, you may choose to get wheels with a locking mechanism. Or if you want to avoid crushing toes, you can get wheels with foot guards.

 

In the case of office chairs, the easiest way to make sure you choose correctly for each of these 5 factors is to simply remove one of the existing caster wheels and bring it with you when you go shopping. In many cases, there is a model or product number somewhere on the wheel.

 

If you can find that, you can shop online suing this number. In this case, you can try to buy the exact same wheels that you currently have. If they are no longer in production, you can at least find information on the specifications (i.e.- material, mount style, capacity, diameter, etc.) and then note those down so you can find new wheels that meet the same specifications.

 

Get more information about caster wheel replacement, I recommend you to visit the website of ENJOYING GO Co., Ltd. – this company is the well-known caster wheel manufacturer in the industry. They can provide you a variety of caster wheels including compression casters, furniture casters, braking casters, locking casters, custom casters, and so on PU casters. Please do not hesitate to check out ENJOY site for more enjoy chair caster wheels.

 

 

Article Source: http://casterwheelguide.com/replacement-caster-wheels/