Wheelchair Info

The creation of the electric wheelchair was science’s answer to the problems encountered with motorized chairs. Though motorized options can provide mobility, they have limited external power source. There was a need to create a more reliable and energy efficient machine to give disabled individuals the assistance that they need. With that, electric-powered wheelchairs with easy-to-use navigational controls have been developed.

Either belts or gears are used to power these modern devices today. In some designs, both belts and gears are used in the mechanism. Belt driven electric models are known for their quiet operation; however, they require more thorough maintenance. Electric models that use modern gear drives have fairly quiet and low-maintenance operations. The only downside is that they tend to wear easily compared to belt drives. Once the wheelchair operations get noisier, it needs to be checked for possible wears and tears as well as to do necessary gear or belt replacements.

The frame, brakes, tires and wheels, control system and batteries make up an electric wheelchair. This type of chair uses a fixed frame though some brands offer foldable variants with cross brace frames for stability. Thanks to the invention of lighter and sturdy materials, the weight of modern electric-powered wheelchair styles has been significantly reduced. The brakes, which are controlled by a joy stick or other interface of controls, are designed to engage automatically when the chair is stationary or switched off. Solid tires and wheels, either pneumatic or semi-pneumatic, are used. Some designs include the use of small caster wheels and bigger rear wheels.

The control system is responsible in managing the speed, braking and turning operations of the chair. Special interfaces are offered to suit the physical abilities of its user. Lastly, rechargeable lead acid, sealed wet batteries or gel batteries are currently used on most products manufactured today. U1 group is a type of battery that is highly recommended as they can go longer than any other kind of batteries in between charges.

Though rechargeable types are heavier than any other types of wheelchairs, they are given additional adaptive equipment, which offers more of what a manual style wheeled chair can offer.

Electric wheelchairs may also be give special features such as the power tilt and power recliner feature. The power tilt feature gives the machine the ability to tilt the entire seat assembly and footrest upwards up to 45-degrees. The power recliner feature makes it convenient for the user to tilt the seat back and raise the leg rests.

In many ways, an electric wheelchair became a boon to users since they add power, speed and comfort to its user. In response to the growing demand for this type of product, different brands have developed a huge variety of electric wheelchair designs. This is also to make the machine suit the specific needs of its user. Special designs were made to suit the needs of individuals in terms of physical abilities, deformities, mental state, sitting posture, sensory level, wheelchair transfer ability and average time spent by the person on the wheelchair.