Hi everyone,
To piggy back off of last weeks post, in this weeks edition I am going to talk about floor locks.Floor locks are designed to hold your mobile equipment in a specific location. They are intended for use on any type of level surface and should not be used when any degree of incline present. The floor lock grips the floor with a brake pad designed for non-slip, non-skid performance. The floor lock is activated by a foot pedal and is released by placing pressure on the release bar.
Floor locks are mounted with top plates that normally match up with the size of the top plate you would be using on the casters for your equipment. Floor locks are designed to prevent movement of carts and dollies but are not intended to be used as jacks. The placement and number of floor locks you should use depends on the caster setup. If you are using two swivel casters, the floor lock works best when it is mounted between the casters. In order to prevent pivoting, you should use two floor locks mounted close to the casters located diagonally from each other. The floor lock is spring loaded to allow the pad to travel just beyond the height of the caster when the pedal is engaged. The typical mounting arrangement for them is between the swivel casters at one end of the unit. As stated above, floor locks are not designed to be used as jacks and should not raise the cart or truck off of the ground. Rather it should extend enough to place the foot of the lock onto the floor to create friction to keep the unit in place. The size of the floor lock you should use is determined by the overall height of the casters you are using on your equipment.
The benefits of using a floor lock rather than putting locks on your casters depends on each application. You can use floor locks on basically any application as long as you have the room to mount the floor lock. Floor locks can be more economical depending on the floor lock you use vs. putting brakes on all 4 casters so it is best to consult with one of our experts when weighing the option of going with floor locks over wheels brakes. Some common floor lock applications are as follows:
– Platform trucks
– Fixture dollies
– Outdoor flower nursery displays
– Portable carts
Hopefully this has been a useful explanation of floor locks but as always, if you have any questions please give us a call at 1-800-472-2118
Until next time,
The Caster Guy
