Wheels vs. Caster, What is the Difference?
We all use wheels in our everyday lives in some way without realizing how helpful this round object is and how we should be grateful to our ancestors for inventing it. The invention of wheels has helped us to evolve, build wonderful and advanced machines and vehicles, and make our lives easier. There are many types of wheels. Some people believe that a caster is also a type of wheel and many people disagree. Casters have a wheel, so in a sense the first group is right but because the caster mechanism is different from regular wheels, the second group can also be right. but whether you want to place casters and wheels in one group or you want to separate them all together, we are here to show you their differences, so you can decide on your own.
What is a wheel?
A wheel is a round object which can rotate on an axle. The invention of wheels is believed to go back to the 4th BC when for the first time Sumerians came up with the idea of creating something round that can move on an axle. The invention of wheels turned the human world upside down by creating more opportunities to make their life easier. wheels had a huge impact on every aspect of human life including transportation and agricultural machinery. With the help of wheels, mankind was able to move objects and themselves to places faster, create more advanced machines, and speed up time-consuming task completion.
Nowadays, we are not even aware of its huge role in our lives and that’s okay. But if you want to know about caster you need to know more about this round object. Your car, bicycle, motorcycle, and many more vehicles and machines have wheels to be able to move and carry loads from one place to another. The design is simple. It consists of a tire to provide grip and friction on the ground, a rim that connects the tire to the wheel, a hub which connects the wheel to the vehicle, and a disc.
As we mentioned earlier, the wheel rolls on an axle and the axle is attached to a given object. However, the axle doesn’t allow the flexibility of movement in all directions. When the force is transmitted from axle to wheel, the wheels start to move forward or backward. They do not have the ability to move in any direction.
What is a caster?
On the other hand, a caster contains a wheel secured inside of a bracket. The wheel in the caster does not directly attach to a given object, but it’s the bracket that mounts to the object with the help of some fasteners. Casters are considered idle because they do not move independently. They are there to make different objects moveable when force is applied to them. By mounting the bracket or frame of casters to your object, you can move it in any direction. The range of motion in casters is more than in wheels. They can rotate at 360 degrees, move to the sides, and go forward and backward. Wheelchairs, Office chairs, shopping carts, and other more equipment in hospitals, factories, etc. have casters that enable them to be moved easily from one place to another with only a slight push.
What are the differences between wheels and casters?
We talk about wheels and casters in the two previous sections. Here, you can take a look at their differences in the table below.
| Wheels | Casters |
|---|---|
| Move on an axle | Don’t have an axle |
| Don’t have a frame | Have a frame to secure the wheel |
| They can move forward and backward | they can move in any directions |
| They need direct force from their axle to move | They can move independently |
Wrapping up
We have discussed about wheels and casters and their differences. Now it’s time to decide whether you consider casters as a type of wheel or not. we think it’s up to you to choose. As you know all types of wheels and casters have one common purpose which is to move. It’s true that they move in different ways. But at the end of the day, they all enable your vehicles, robots, machines, or objects to move. Your only concern should be how they move, so you can choose them based on what you need.
we hope you learned something new. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate and leave a comment. We’ll get back to you as soon as possible and if you need to buy wheels and casters, please check out our shop or fill out the form on the customized wheels page to modify our wheels’ dimensions or change their materials to your liking.
Leave a Reply