subject: Important Things To Know About Electric Wheelchairs [print this page] Important Things To Know About Electric Wheelchairs
As the name suggests, electric wheelchairs are powered by electricity and were designed by a well known Canadian inventor by the name of George Klein. The main objective of inventing it was to assist injured army-men during the Second World War. However, these days people who find it difficult to use manual wheelchairs prefer to use the electric ones instead. It has been seen in numerous US cities like Fullerton and Orange County, people often using electric wheelchairs than any other type. The electric wheelchairs come with speed programmable controllers or joysticks. The user can control its direction and speed with the help of the joystick. Some even come with other types of input devices like specially designed tubes which are placed conveniently near the mouth of the operator. Those who are suffering from head or spinal cord injuries are unable to use their hands or fingers. They simply have to blow into these tubes which control the different movements and functions of their wheelchairs. Batteries used to operate electric wheelchairs are rechargeable and most of these vehicles are equipped with 12-volt batteries. These batteries are capable of going 24 to 32 km only on plain terrains. Some of these vehicles come with gel cell sealed batteries which are quite beneficial compared to wet batteries. In the latter, it is important to change the distilled water after approximately every 2 months to avoid permanent damage. On the other hand, gel batteries do not require water at all which helps to prevent corrosion of the cells. The negative aspects of these types of batteries are that they cost more and have 10 to 20 percent less capacity as compared to wet ones. Most US citizens, including those residing in cities like Orange County and Carlsbad prefer to use gel batteries inspite of it being costly. The three major types of electric wheelchairs are: 1.Rear-wheel drive: These are usually quite fast than the other types of electric wheelchairs. 2.Front-wheel drive: These are not as fast as the rear-wheel drive ones; however, the front-wheel drive wheelchairs provide better turning functions. 3.Mid-wheel drive: These have caster wheels in the rear of the vehicle with an extra set of anti-tip wheels in front. The mid-wheel drive wheelchairs have the best turning radius.
