Hygiene & cleanliness of wheels and castors

Cleanliness has top priority in many areas and must be maintained with enormous effort. Easy-to-clean wheels and castors mean that high hygiene standards can be met quickly and cost-effectively.

The design is a decisive factor in the field of hygiene. Wheels and castors are not all equally easy to clean. Some cannot fulfill this property due to technical reasons. The basic form alone decides whether cleaning is friendly or unfriendly.

Figure 5.0 shows a specific example of a heavy cleaning situation. Dirt deposits settle here in hard-to-reach places. Cleaning the wheel places great demands on the user.

Figure 5.1 shows a cleaning-friendly example. The wheel rim is free of honeycombs and ribs. The radii of the wheel rim are designed in such a way that the cleaning solution can run off completely and leaves no residue on the core. The wheel bandage is permanently connected to the wheel rim. Dirt deposits between the two components are therefore excluded.

This example is elastic polyurethane Ø 200 mm, 78° Shore A..

Chemical resistance and corrosion resistance are also important for ease of cleaning.

Corrosion resistance of wheels and castors

Corrosion resistance determines functionality and service life and a role.

As standard, all of our sheet steel parts are galvanized to protect against corrosion. Galvanizing as a protection against corrosion is completely sufficient for most applications. Zinc coatings have the advantage over painted surfaces that minor damage does not cause rust to penetrate the coating. The zinc corrosion product, white rust, tends to cover small areas of damage, ie to cover bare steel areas and prevent corrosion on its own. In the case of steel-zinc compounds, the element zinc tends to corrode due to electrochemical processes.

Our black series are both galvanized and painted black. Accordingly, black castors have a particularly high level of protection against corrosion.

Aluminum alloys have a special position in terms of corrosion resistance. Aluminum is resistant to corrosion even without an additional protective layer. Rapid and violent combination with oxygen forms corrosive elements (aluminum oxide). These act like a top layer that prevents the progression of corrosion. In the event of mechanical damage, this protective layer is renewed in a short time. This maintains its durability. If aluminum is stored in areas without extreme temperature fluctuations and humidity, it does not require any further corrosion protection.

Due to its lower resilience compared to sheet steel, aluminum is not suitable for the production of castor housings, but it is an excellent material for wheel rims. If stainless steel wheel bearings are used for this, a particularly high level of corrosion resistance is obtained in the wheel area. The stability of aluminum rims and solid aluminum cores on industrial wheels is guaranteed by the shape of the rim.

In environments with higher demands on corrosion resistance , castors with stainless steel castor housings must be used. The material AISI 304 chrome-nickel steel is usually used for roller housings, which has a strong anti-rust behavior.

Special products in AISI 316 (V4A) can be used for even higher requirements.