Douglas Equipment is one of the most knowledgeable designers of casters and material handling equipment. We have been in business for almost sixty years and have managed to stay in business because we are constantly working to refine and redesign our casters. We stay informed of applications and industries that use our products because we want to anticipate advances that might require our innovative approach and casters. Not only do we work hard to create the best casters on the market, we also make sure we provide a wide variety of casters and material handling equipment at a price that our competition can’t match.
One aspect of casters that we spend a lot of time on is our caster brakes. Not only is it important to move equipment, it’s also very important to make sure the equipment will not move when desired. It can be the difference between a healthy employee and one with a broken foot or hand. We are committed to making sure that our casters not only do their job, but do it safely. We test all of our brakes to make sure they are 100% reliable. Below is just a small sampling of the type of brakes we create.
Compression Brake
Compression brakes are most commonly known for their use in office chairs. Chair casters use this type of brake to make sure the person sitting in the chair does not move. The brake is activated when weight is applied downward from the chair to the caster. Once the designated weight is reached, the caster brake is activated locking the caster and preventing forward or backward movement of the chair.
This brake acts in just the opposite manner as the compression brake. In this case, as weight is moved off a chair or piece of equipment, the caster brake locks preventing the equipment from moving backward and forward. Aside from its use in chairs, there are enormous practical applications for moving equipment. Once the brake locks, your hand truck, floor truck, or platform truck is secured; preventing any workplace accident.
Total Lock
This brake is an excellent feature to have when you purchase a caster with a swivel plate. The total lock not only prevents the forward and backward motion of the caster, it also prevents the swivel from rotating simultaneously. It has RoHS compliant trivalent zinc plating and a large easy to engage brake lever. This feature is also on our Twin Lock casters in addition to our higher end abuse resistant casters like the Shepherd ES/ER series
Tread Lock
The tread lock brake is a toe activated brake that applies a rubber face plate to the caster wheel. This slows and then stops both forward and backward motion. One of the nice features of this brake is that you can install and uninstall it easily in the field. You do not have to order it assembled into the caster, although that option is always available. This is an extremely strong brake for a high capacity caster that can hold up to 4500 lbs.
1 Series Side Brake
This is a side lock brake that has the ends of the brake spring crimped. By doing this, the brake spring grabs the wheel at four contact points. This provides additional braking power while reducing wear and tear on the brake due to the multiple contact points. It’s operated by your feet to quickly arrest motion.
4 Series Side Brake
This is also a side lock brake, but differently designed. Unlike the 1 Series with the crimped brake spring, this brake design puts a positive locking force against the wheel hub to stop forward and backward motion and hold loads securely. It has a large foot pedal and a beneficial feature of this particular foot pedal is that is can be activated on either end, which allows for fast activation.
Tech Lock Brake
Our Tech Lock brake is constructed of abuse resistant and light weight engineered thermoplastics. It only has two moving parts which means maintenance is easy if it is even necessary. The thermoplastic materials mean that this brake is perfect for wet or corrosive environments. It is a toe activated brake which makes it fast and easy to engage.
Swivel Locks
In addition to our brakes, you may wish to consider our swivel locks. These prevent side to side motion during movement. We offer a variety of bolt and foot activated locks. The foot activated locks are particularly popular since they reduce range of motion and possible back pain. When the foot pedal is up on the swivel lock, a stainless steel spring drives a pin into one of the four slots on the swivel fork. This locks the swivel into one of its four 90 degree positions. When you need to disable the lock, simply press down on the pedal. This lock allows you to control movement of the equipment while maintaining its mobility.
Reliable Brakes – Reliable Customer Service
At Douglas Equipment, we believe the first thing we need to build is good relationships with our customers and our potential customers. Because we handle residential and industrial clients, we are familiar with the wide range of needs and expectations of our products. Our residential clients tend to have more questions regarding caster brake uses so our customer support staff has become very adept at providing courteous and knowledgeable service.
Our staff is used to thinking outside the box for all industries as well. Our customer service staff is trained, not only in our products, but in industries that use our products. Should you have a need for our product, but you are unsure of what caster and caster brake to purchase, our knowledgeable employees can suggest a variety of casters and options that will do the job for you. We believe that not only do we create reliable products, we create safe products. Contact us through our online form. If you’re local to South Florida, give us a call at 305-888-3700. National customers can reach us via our toll free number at 800-451-0030. Let us help you safely handle all of your caster needs.
