The selection of caster bearings is essential information for buyers of products. There are many types of bearings used in casters, and without them, casters lose their value. Therefore, we recommend that the ideal bearing should be suitable for its specific application and ensure a necessary safety margin. Besides the wheel surface, wheel diameter, and rotating bearings, the wheel bearing determines the mobility of the caster and even the quality of the caster itself.
The usage environment is crucial for choosing a bearing, as different environments have different requirements: casters for factories are different from those for stores, casters for tool carts are different from lightweight casters for hospital beds, and casters for shopping carts certainly have completely different requirements from those used in factories for transporting heavy loads. Bearings can be classified into the following types:
1. Needle Bearings – Besides wear-resistant and deep-groove ball bearings, this robust, shock-resistant bearing is primarily used in transport equipment casters. Compared to other bearings, needle bearings are known for their extremely low installation height, relatively low rolling resistance, and high load capacity. Wheels equipped with needle bearings should not exceed a movement speed of 4 km/h, which is close to walking speed.
2. Tapered Bearings – Tapered bearings are one of the most important components among roller bearings. Their special advantage compared to ordinary bearings is that they expand the range of applications and provide improved mobility characteristics.
3. Precision Ball Bearings – Uniquely designed and compliant with German industry standards, single-row radial precision ball bearings are the highest quality type of bearings. Wheels equipped with these ball bearings can maintain very low rolling resistance even when carrying maximum loads.
4. Standard Bearings – The simplest form of wheel bearings is sliding or friction bearings. They are shock-resistant, virtually maintenance-free, and also corrosion-resistant due to material properties. If the equipment only needs to move short distances at low speeds, we recommend wheels equipped with standard bearings.
5. Plain Bearings and Tapered Bearings – Suitable for high and very high loads and high speeds, requiring impact-resistant casters.