History Page Continued....

Another inventor came up with the idea of using ball bearings in conjunction with the stem; but this type of caster retained the same basic weakness. In spite of the ball bearings, the stem still had to swivel in the socket, so the friction developed was greater than the resistance to sliding over the floor.

Still later someone conceived the idea of designing a caster which might swivel without requiring the stem to swivel. The idea was a good one, but the basic weakness of this type was that the lateral pressure caused by the offset of the wheel had to be taken care of by the washer construction at the base of the stem. This type of bearing developed a great deal of friction, and it was usually only a matter of days until the wheels were skidding instead of rolling.

All had the basic weakness of not properly taking care of lateral pressure strain.

In 1921 a caster was developed which over came this weakness. The construction of the swivel of this new type of caster had two ball races in the swivel head; an upper row to carry the load weight and a lower row to take care of the lateral pressure. All points of friction were removed in this ingenious construction with no possibility of binding, sticking, or sliding and perfect rolling of the wheel with consequent elimination of floor and floor covering troubles was insured.

This ingenious design was developed in 1921 by Mr. J.L. Chestnut, the founder of the Darnell Corp., then known as the Perfect Caster Co. Due to our competitors using the word “Perfect” in their advertising which confused the public; in 1929 the name was changed to the Darnell Corporation.

In 1951 the Darnell Corporation began to build a huge new manufacturing plant in Downey, California, moving from the location in Long Beach in which it was originally founded. Here the Darnell Corporation was able to manufacture all processes necessary to make their high quality “Perfect Casters” and other rubber products such as bumpers and extrusions all under one roof. This remarkable growth was attributed in part by the high quality products they manufactured, and the tremendous loyalty of the distributor organizations it was partnered with.

In 1985, Evans Industries, (a private equity company investing in small manufacturing companies making material handling and mobility products) located in Detroit Michigan, acquired the Darnell Corporation.
In 1986, the company was relocated to an 80,000 square foot home in the City of Industry, California. In 1988, Darnell-Rose was formed by a merger between the Darnell Corporation and
Rose Caster Co, whose legendary reputation for building superior forged steel casters and couplers for the demanding automotive industry helped create a larger variety of product choices to fit our customer’s ever changing requirements.
In 2017, the company was relocated to its current 25,000 sq ft home in Colton, CA.
Today, the same values and high quality products in which the company was founded nearly 100 years ago remain. Our commitment to providing exceptional service, superior quality, at a competitive price, makes Darnell-Rose your single source for high performance casters, wheels, bumpers, couplers, and conveyor systems.