subject: History Of Wheelchairs [print this page] History Of Wheelchairs History Of Wheelchairs
It is uncertain as to what can be considered the first wheelchair, or who invented it. Thefirst known dedicated wheelchair (invented in 1595 and called an invalids chair) was madefor Phillip II of Spain by an unknown inventor. In 1655, Stephen arfler, a paraplegicwatchmaker, built a self-propelling chair on a three wheel chassis.A Disability Products like wheelchair is a chair with wheels, designed to be a replacement for walking.The wheelchairs is best disability products.Thedevice comes in variations where it is propelled by motors or by the seated occupant turningthe rear wheels by hand. Often there are handles behind the seat for someone else to do thepushing. Wheelchairs are used by people for whom walking is difficult or impossible due toillness (physiological or physical), injury, or disability. People with both sitting andwalking disability often need to use a wheelbench.
The Bath Wheelachir- In 1783, John Dawson of Bath, England, invented a wheelchair named after the town of Bath. Dawson designed a chair with two large wheels and one small one. The Bath wheelchair outsold all other wheelchairs throughout the early part of the 19th century.
The Folding Wheelchair- In 1932, engineer, Harry Jennings, built the first folding, tubular steel Wheelchairs. That was the earliest wheelchair similar to what is in modern use today.That wheelchair was built for a paraplegic friend of Jennings called Herbert Everest.Together they founded Everest & Jennings, a company that monopolized the wheelchair marketfor many years. An antitrust suit was actually brought against Everest & Jennings by theDepartment of Justice, who charged the company with rigging wheelchair prices.The case was finally settled out of court.
Attendant-propelled chairs- Attendant-propelled chairs are designed to be propelled by anattendant using the handles, and thus the back wheels are rimless and often smaller. Thesechairs are often used as 'transfer chairs' to move a patient when a better alternative isunavailable, possibly within a hospital, as a temporary option, or in areas where a user'sstandard chair is unavailable. These chairs are commonly seen in airports. Special airplanetransfer chairs are available.
