A surgical cart for supporting a robotic arm includes a base, a plurality of casters coupled to the base, and a secondary braking mechanism that prevents the casters from being manually moved out of a locked state until a surgical instrument is at a safe distance from an operative site within a patient.

A caster braking assembly that has a base section, a first caster assembly coupled to the base section and having at least one wheel, a second caster assembly coupled to the base section and having at least one wheel and a brake switch pivotally repositionable between an engaged position and a disengaged position. When the brake switch is in the engaged position at least one wheel of both the first caster assembly and the second caster assembly are substantially restricted from rotating.

Disclosed are systems and methods for reducing friction on a brake arm of a caster wheel brake. A washer can be positioned between the brake arm and the support arm to reduce friction in this area. Lubricant can also be provided between the brake arm and the support arm, and also between the brake arm and the brake cam, to reduce the friction in these areas. The presently disclosed embodiments therefore allow less force to actuate the brake arm as compared to prior art caster wheels.

A swiveling caster wheel system for use on rolling devices such as children's accessories, furniture or equipment, and including a locking system having a locking actuator that is fixed in position regardless of the swivel position of the caster wheel. The system allows a user to access and actuate the caster locking system from a consistent position of the rolling device regardless of the swivel position of the caster wheel, and allows the caster wheel to be covered without blocking access to the locking actuator.

A caster device for a pipe leg includes a caster unit, a mounting unit, and a braking unit. The caster unit includes a wheel seat subunit, a caster subunit that is rotatably connected to a bottom end of the wheel seat subunit, and a protection subunit that is located between the wheel seat subunit and the caster subunit. The mounting unit is mounted to the wheel seat subunit and is adapted to be mounted to the pipe leg. The braking unit extends through the protection subunit and the wheel seat subunit into the mounting unit, and is movable in an up-down direction between a braking position, in which the braking unit projects out of the protection subunit and is in contact with the caster subunit so that the caster subunit is refrained from rotating, and an initial position, in which the braking unit is spaced apart from the caster subunit.

A caster device for a pipe leg includes a caster unit, a mounting unit, and a braking unit. The caster unit includes a wheel seat subunit, a caster subunit that is rotatably connected to a bottom end of the wheel seat subunit, and a protection subunit that is located between the wheel seat subunit and the caster subunit. The mounting unit is mounted to the wheel seat subunit and is adapted to be mounted to the pipe leg. The braking unit extends through the protection subunit and the wheel seat subunit into the mounting unit, and is movable in an up-down direction between a braking position, in which the braking unit projects out of the protection subunit and is in contact with the caster subunit so that the caster subunit is refrained from rotating, and an initial position, in which the braking unit is spaced apart from the caster subunit.

A caster includes a caster unit and at least one braking unit. The caster unit includes a receptacle, a wheel shaft disposed through the receptacle, a wheel assembly sleeved on the wheel shaft and rotatable relative to the receptacle, and a spring assembly which acts on the receptacle and the wheel shaft. The receptacle is movable relative to the wheel assembly in a vertical direction. The braking unit includes a surrounding teeth structure formed on the wheel assembly and having a hardness ranging from 65 to 75 on a Shore D scale, and a braking piece mounted on the receptacle. The braking piece includes a braking surface in form of a curve surface having a hardness ranging from 40 to 46 on the Shore D scale to be engaged with the surrounding teeth structure to retard rotation of the wheel assembly.

An electrical brake mechanism for a caster can reliably brake a caster. A switch is mounted on a target to which a caster is attached and outputting an instruction signal to a brake device, a detector is provided on a rotating shaft of the cam and arranged in correspondence with each of positions of a plurality of cam surfaces, a sensor is provided for detecting abutment between each of the cam surfaces and an operation shaft by the detector, a motor is provided for rotating by an input of the switch and for stopping if the sensor detects the position of the predetermined cam surface, and a gear train is provided for transmitting rotation of the motor to the rotating shaft of the cam.

A tipping prevention unit that prevents tipping of an image forming apparatus includes shafts holding a wheel of the image forming apparatus, a shaft that abuts the image forming apparatus at a position higher than the shafts, and a shaft that contacts a floor surface on which the image forming apparatus is placed at a position further protruding to the outside of the image forming apparatus than the wheel of the image forming apparatus.

A caster locking mechanism includes a foot movable between retracted and extended positions, a lock bar movable from an unlocked to a locked position, a release bar movable from an initial to a release position, and a lock and release assembly. The lock and release assembly includes a guide plate defining a slot, a rocker coupled to the lock bar and including a protrusion slidably disposed within the slot, and a release member coupled to the release bar and including a protrusion slidably disposed within the slot. Moving the lock bar to the locked position slides the protrusion of the rocker through the slot to extend the foot. Moving the release bar to the release position urges the protrusion of the release member through the and into contact with the protrusion of the rocker to urge the protrusion of the rocker back, thereby retracting the foot.