Mobility Equipment Supplies

Another year has come to an end, and the year 2009 is now nothing more but a part of history. So for 2010’s first article, I thought of sharing with you the history of wheelchairs.

It is uncertain as to what can be considered the first wheelchair, or who invented it. The first known dedicated wheelchair invented in 1595, called an invalids chair, was made for King Phillip II of Spain by an unknown inventor.

But the wheelbarrow, a 3rd century invention from China used for moving the sick or disabled, is said to be the oldest evidence of wheeled chairs.

In 1655, Stephen Farfler, a 22-year-old paraplegic watchmaker, built a self-propelling chair on a three-wheel chassis.

In 1783, John Dawson of Bath, England, invented a wheelchair named after the town of Bath. He designed a chair with two large wheels and a small one. The Bath wheelchair outsold all other wheelchairs throughout the early part of the 19th century.

However, the Bath wheelchair was not that comfortable, and during the last half of the 19th century, many improvements were made to wheelchairs. Comfort for the disabled person became more of an issue. Convertible chairs, with reclining backs and adjustable foot rests, were then invented. An 1869 patent for a wheelchair showed the first model with rear push wheels and small front casters. Between, 1867 to 1875, inventors added new hollow rubber wheels similar to those used on bicycles on metal rims. In 1881, the push rims for added self-propulsion were invented.

It was also during this time when some wheelchairs were made from Indian reed, with large wheels either front or back, weighing 50 to 58 lbs. depending whether it had push rims or not.

In 1900, the first spoked wheels were used on wheelchairs. In 1916, the first motorized wheelchair was manufactured in London.

In 1932, engineer, Harry Jennings, built the first folding, tubular steel wheelchair. That was the earliest wheelchair similar to what is in modern use today. That wheelchair was built for his paraplegic friend, Herbert Everest, who wanted a wheelchair that could go in an automobile. On 1933 in Los Angeles, together they founded Everest & Jennings, a company that monopolized the wheelchair market for many years. An anti-trust suit was actually brought against Everest & Jennings by the Department of Justice, who charged the company with rigging wheelchair prices. The case was finally settled out of court.

In 1934, Samuel Duke, independently of E & J responded to the demand in Chicago. He developed the second manual, lightweight, folding wheelchair for the market.

Over the years, the causes of changes in wheelchairs were brought about by the introduction of the automobile and the need to get wheelchairs into cars; the increased number of injuries due to automobiles; the development of rehabilitation and re-education programs for the injured; improved medical services; and the demand for independence of disabled people.

Wheelchair sports were introduced as a form of therapy in the rehabilitation program of Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Aylesbury, England between 1944 to 1947. They had their Annual World Stoke Mandeville Wheelchair Games. At present, there are more than 70 member countries in the International Stoke Mandeville Wheelchair Sports Federation.

Wheelchair sports improved the physical function of disabled people. It created more active individuals who want to do more. It increased the demand for performance in manual wheelchairs. Wheelchairs used in sports are lightweight, versatile, and stable.

Early power chairs used belts in the drive-train. The motor turned a rotor which had a belt wrapped around it, and the belt transmitted the power to the wheels. Today’s chairs use direct drive, meaning the motor turns gears which in turn move the power through a gear transmission to the wheels. Direct drive is more reliable and needs less maintenance.

Power chairs were actually once called “electric chairs”, until marketers realized that the public thought of electric chairs as machines of execution. The early power chairs were manual chairs with batteries and drive mechanisms jury-rigged on. The chairs were bulky and difficult to navigate with. Designers have since fixed those problems, and modern power chairs have all their elements integrated into a coherent system. While the first power chairs used electric power only for moving the wheels forward, today’s systems include powered adjustments for seats, foot rests, back pads, and head rests.

Innovation continued, with the first voice activated power wheelchair being used in Norway in 1984, enabling its young user to attend university classes. A new class of portable power chairs was also manufactured, that could be folded and put in the boots of most cars. In the 1990’s, innovation focused on custom power wheelchairs, with the manufacture of bases that can be tuned to suit the individuals needs.

Current innovations are extremely exciting, if rather expensive at the moment. One of the most exciting new developments of the moment is the Ibot. Not only does it rise up on two wheels, if someone tries to push you off your balance, it is better able to keep its balance than a human.

Unfortunately, with a price approaching $30,000, it is not for everyone.

Where wheelchairs will go from here is uncertain, but you can be sure they will be very different from now. It is likely that at some point there will be power chairs controlled by neurological impulses from the brain. Spanish scientists are currently working on a brain to computer interface which will allow users to control their chairs, while Texas Instruments recently demonstrated what they claimed was the first thought controlled wheelchair.

For the latest wheelchairs in the market today, visit www.doability.co.uk