Wheelchair

Electric wheelchair. At the end of the armrests, you can appreciate the controller, which includes a joystick.

Folding manual wheelchairs

A wheelchair is a technical aid, an adapted chair with at least three wheels, although it usually has four. Its design allows the movement of people with locomotion problems or with reduced mobility, due to injury or physical illness.

Classes

There are basically two kinds of wheelchairs:

• Manuals, driven by the occupier himself who spins the rear wheels pushing the rings coupled outside of them. They are manufactured in two models mainly - folding (to save space and be transported in trunks and other similar rooms) and rigid. Many of these models are made of ultra-light materials, such as airplane aluminium and carbon titanium with a kevlar coating to provide greater durability, and especially lightness, since your user should be able to lift and store it, thus achieving a certain degree of autonomy and self-sufficiency.

• Electricians, driven by motors that are powered by batteries of 40 or 50 rechargeable amps. The occupant controls the chair by means of a joystick and a small control panel that gives access to configure the speed and, in some models, the position of the backrest, seat, footrest etc, placed on one of the armrests. For users who can't use their hands there are controllable devices in the mouth. Some types have brakes with ABS technology and in certain special cases with a satellite browser and a laptop with active network functions also responsible for facilitating the mobility of the affected. Due to its small spin radius, it is much easier to move without the need to push the chair.

Almost all chair models are highly adaptable: size and position of the seat and backrest, adjustable and removable armrests and footrests.

Different types of wheelchairs that improve the movement of people with reduced mobility problems.

Wheelchairs are included in the ISO 9999:2002 standard.

History

Portrait of the leader and general Zhuge Liang of the Qing dynasty in a wheelchair.

The earliest records found of wheeled furniture are a kind of children's stretcher depicted on a frieze on a Greek vase and an inscription on a slate slab in China, both dated to the 16th century VI a. C. From three centuries later, also in China, the records of the first wheelbarrows used both to transport disabled people and heavy objects date back. It was not until centuries later, around 525 AD. C., when the difference in functions of this seat with wheels to transport people began to be represented in Chinese art.

The first wheelchair created especially for this purpose was that of King Philip II of Spain in 1595.

The first patent for a wheelchair dates back to 1869. It was a bimanual model powered by rear wheels. Soon after, new models with three wheels and other modifications emerged.

The first electrically powered model dates back to 1924.

The first lightweight steel folding wheelchair was created in 1933 by engineer Harry Jennings for his friend Herbert Everest, who had suffered a mining accident, both of whom were mechanical engineers. Together they formed the company Everest & Jennings, which monopolized the market until the 1960s.