Swivel caster with PA6 hub and TPE tread, mounted with top plate, 70 kg, Ast

Caster in a fixed bracket with TPE tread and PA6 hub, ESD

This is a caster in a fixed bracket with a running surface in TPE and a hub in PA6, made for transport where static electricity needs to be led away in a controlled way. The tread is a thermoplastic elastomer with a hardness of 85 degrees Shore A. It gives a damped and quiet ride, settles softly against the floor and leaves no black marks behind, which makes it easy to keep the area around it clean.

The ESD property is the point here. The caster is electrically conductive and leads away the static charge that otherwise builds up when a cart rolls, so the charge travels through the wheel and down into the floor instead of discharging into sensitive equipment. That is decisive in environments with electronics, measuring instruments or other components that are damaged by a sudden discharge.

What about the starting and rolling resistance? A TPE tread at 85 Shore A is semi-soft; it takes a little more force to set in motion than a hard plastic wheel, but in return it gives better grip and a quieter ride. Compared with a hard PA6 wheel this one rolls somewhat more sluggishly, but it is gentler on the floor and damps vibration considerably better. Against a really soft rubber wheel the TPE tread wins by being clean and non-marking and by having lower rolling resistance for its elasticity. That places the caster in a good middle ground for lighter indoor carts.

The PA6 hub is light and corrosion-free and holds its shape well under the load the wheel is built for. Inside the hub sits a ball bearing that gives low friction and a smooth ride, so the wheel rolls easily even after many starts and stops. The combination of a light hub and a ball bearing makes the caster easy to maneuver by hand.

The caster comes in diameter 100 mm and handles load capacities up to 70 kg per wheel. It is mounted with a top plate, a square mounting plate with four screw holes that gives a stable fastening against the cart frame or the machine underframe. Since the bracket is fixed, the wheel rolls straight ahead and works as steering or as a running wheel in a setup where swivel casters handle the turns.

Where does it fit? An ESD caster with a TPE tread often sits under assembly carts and shelf carts in electronics production, under service equipment in clean rooms and laboratories, and under transport carts in environments where static electricity has to be kept under control. The clean, non-marking tread makes it a good choice on light epoxy floors and ground concrete where black rubber marks are not wanted.

Think about the operating environment. TPE is happy at normal indoor temperature and in dry to slightly damp premises. The caster is dimensioned for light to medium-heavy loads; if you need to carry really heavy loads on a hard and even floor, a wheel with a harder tread is a more suitable choice. For the ESD function to work, the floor has to be conductive or grounded and the wheel has to be kept free of insulating layers of dirt and grease.

Do you want to know whether diameter, load capacity and conductivity suit your cart and your floor? Get in touch and we will go through the load, the surface and the ESD requirements together.