A spring-force adjustable, height-adjustable industrial caster assembly including a mounting plate, a swivel housing that swivels relative to the mounting plate, and a spring assembly having components that are moveable relative to the swivel housing to controllably alter spring deflection and/or caster wheel height, which components can be adjusted by accessing the height-adjustable industrial caster assembly from above, eliminating the need to raise a pallet truck or other moveable assembly to which the caster assembly is coupled, away from the floor to be able to access and adjust the industrial caster assembly.

An article movement system includes an article and at least one ball wheel. The article has first and second article surfaces meeting at a first article edge. The ball wheel is located along the first article edge and includes a ball, a bearing arrangement and a shell. The ball engages a surface underlying the article, the bearing arrangement supports the ball for omni-directional rotational movement, and the shell is located along the first article edge and contains the ball and the bearing arrangement. The shell defines a non-circular ball opening through which a portion of the ball extends to contact the underlying surface. The article, the bearing arrangement and the shell are configured such that the ball wheel is able to support the article for omni-directional rolling motion over the underlying surface with either of the first and article surfaces parallel thereto, and at any orientation therebetween.

A laundry treatment apparatus including a plurality of swivel casters. Two of the swivel casters are braked swivel casters. One of the swivel casters other than the braked swivel casters is a vertically adjustable swivel caster. The braked swivel casters restrain translational movement of the laundry treatment apparatus across a floor. The vertically adjustable swivel caster can help fix the position of the laundry treatment apparatus so as to restrain rocking and twisting of the laundry treatment apparatus.

A walking vehicle including a chassis and a plurality of wheel-leg components is described. The plurality of wheel-leg components are collectively operable to provide wheeled locomotion and walking locomotion.

A system for sensing the angular position of a caster wheel includes a sensor mounted on a bearing which supports a shaft aligned with the rotational axis of the caster. A target on the shaft is detected by the sensor which generates signals indicative of the presence or absence of the target. The position of the target is coordinated with the position of the caster wheel such that the signals are indicative of the angular position of the caster wheel. The target may be a groove extending partially around the shaft and a remaining ungrooved portion of the shaft.

A caster protection structure protects a caster provided at a base of a housing and used for transporting the housing in a movable manner, and includes a frame member that is provided at the base of the housing, serves as a part of a frame constituting the base of the housing, and extends in a predetermined direction. A longitudinal end position of the frame member is disposed in an outer region located beyond an outer lateral edge position of the caster.

A system for sensing the angular position of a caster wheel includes a sensor mounted on a bearing which supports a shaft aligned with the rotational axis of the caster. A target on the shaft is detected by the sensor which generates signals indicative of the presence or absence of the target. The position of the target is coordinated with the position of the caster wheel such that the signals are indicative of the angular position of the caster wheel. The target may be a groove extending partially around the shaft and a remaining ungrooved portion of the shaft.

A revolving shelf system including side plates to be mounted on opposite side walls of a cabinet, a drive track on a face of each of the side plates, a plurality of guide tracks on the faces of the side plates, a plurality of shelves, a drive pin arranged on each end of the shelves, and configured to extend respectively into each of the drive tracks, a plurality of guide pins arranged on each end of the shelves, and configured to extend respectively into corresponding ones of the guide tracks, a drive chain arranged in each of the side plates to respectively drive the drive pins, and a motor to transmit driving power to the drive chains, wherein the shelves move with a rotation of the drive chains, and the drive and guide pins remain extended into the respective drive and guide pin tracks at any position of the shelves.

Described herein are various improvements to mobility devices. These improvements include, for example, adjustable lateral body supports, multi axial supports for accommodating movement of the pelvis during walking, frame folding assemblies for accommodating storage and transportation, detachable support couplings for supportive accessories, foldaway footplate assemblies for allowing users to rest, wheel brake systems, caster wheel systems, suspension support systems, control button assemblies, and center of gravity adjustment assemblies. One or more these improvements can be combined into various mobility devices as will be described in more detail hereinafter.

An analytical apparatus to be installed on a substantially horizontal surface of a diagnostic laboratory is presented. The apparatus comprises a bottom side and an upper working side, the bottom side having at least three casters for rolling the apparatus on a surface and at least two feet. The casters have a fixed height and at least one caster is higher than the other casters so that the apparatus is unbalanced when it is rolled on the surface. The at least two feet are individually adjustable in height so that when the height of the feet is adjusted the upper working side is leveled and the apparatus rests on the at least two feet and the higher caster. An analytical system comprising the analytical apparatus and a method of installing the analytical apparatus and the system are also described.