Motorised Wheelchair Mover

CUSTOM ADAPTATION PURPOSE: To enable a recreational therapist who had a back injury to move clients who used wheelchairs around the facility. Because of the back injury, the therapist was unable to push wheelchairs or lift heavy objects. To build the unit, the motor, gearbox, elctronics, and rear wheels of a second-hand scooter were used in conjunction with a chasis built of square hollow section steel. The unit has a platform at the front on which the wheelchair, with its user, is loaded. The batterues, motor, and gears are hosed in a case of sheet metal behind the platform. A column comes up to support the handlebars and controls. The wheelchair is loaded using a winch. The winch is unlocked, straps which hook to the back of the wheelchair are pulled out, platform ramps are lowered, and the winch handle attached. With the staps attached to the chair, the therapist turns the winch handle to pull the chair onto the platform. Once the chair is in place, the winch lock lever is flipped, preventing the chair from moving. The motor on the unit is operated by a small lever on the handlebars, which when turned to one side or the other moves the unit forward or backward. A proportional speed control allows speed to be varied as needed. For safety, an electromagnetic brake engages when pressure is released on the lever, locking the back wheels. The unit is steered using a chain and sprocket system attached to a steerable front wheel. POWER: Uses a 24-volt power system using two rechargeable large sealed lead acid batteries. Each charge lasts approximately three days. TITLE: Motorised Wheelchair Mover. JOURNAL: TAD Journal. REF: Volume 26, Number 2, July 2006: p. 7. PAGES: 2 (including cover).