Wheelchairs that Drop Low

[Rye]

Are there any chairs out there, besides Pedi chairs, that can lower to the ground or just get as low as the chair base? I know Permobil has a Pedi model that will slide forward and drop to the ground. Anything for adults though?

[rover220]

tdx lowrider is about as low as it gets, 400mm seat to floor inc lift and tilt mech.

paravan also do some very low options

[rlnguy]

saw a few of these, in Australia-made in India, I think,
IMHO-not very good design,, but it did go very low.
Depending on what you need-might be OK in a workshop.
The lift was a simple screw driven by a small motor.

[Burgerman]

Other than theres no place for the biggest component. Battery!

[Cripple Concepts]

I haven't seen one in the wild, but Bounder has an option.

http://www.wheelchairs.com/powerfrontloadsystem.htm

[Rye]

saw a few of these, in Australia-made in India, I think,
IMHO-not very good design,, but it did go very low.
Depending on what you need-might be OK in a workshop.
The lift was a simple screw driven by a small motor.

Cool idea. I could definitely use that in the shop. It reminds me of a wheelchair forklift on Youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knAsmebUeJc

[LROBBINS]

For smallish adults, there's the Dragon line:

http://www.dragonmobility.com/dragon.php

[rlnguy]

Lenny, I worked on a couple of the Dragonfly predecessors-Turbo, years ago.
They had a slick built in jack, and quick change wheel design-I didn't see it mentioned on the website-do you know if they still have it?

Rye-If I recall, this thing just used a couple U-1 batteries, on top of each other, behind the seat-that might be plenty to get around, in the workshop, for a day.
I've looked, but haven't found a website,for them, yet.

[Furio]

ringuy,

I think this is the website you are looking for :

http://www.motorisedwheelchairmanufactu ... chair.html

[LROBBINS]

The Turbo (Invacare's name for the Bobcat) had the jack only on the child's "too the floor" version, but not on the adult "low down" model. The quick release wheels were only on the original (field-coil motor and proprietary analog computer) versions, but it was tricky to adjust the band brakes so that releasing would actually let you push and so they didn't bind when driving. Later ones, the Bobcat DX, with PM motors and Dynamic control system have a typical solenoid brake on the motor, and a two-pin dog between the drive pulley and the wheel - pulling the lever completely released the drive so it was easy to push, but the wheels were held on with 4 M8 bolts each.

Rachi's chair started life about 20 years ago as a Bobcat DX, but the belt drive motors have since been replaced with direct drive motors that are more than twice as potent - unfortunately that does mean that pushing means rotating the gears and armature and it takes some oomph even though they are spur gear. The Dynamic system has also been replaced with my own CANbus system that uses a Roboteq HDC2450 as the PM. The old Turbo also had tube tires, so the jack was indeed handy, while the Bobcat DX had solids, since replaced with wide low pressure tubeless with sealant and these have been flat free for about 4 years now.

I don't know whether the current Dragon series (designed by Dan Everard, the designer of the original Turbo/Bobcat) has much in common with the Bobcat, and I think it's now been bought out by Sunrise.

[rlnguy]

Thanks Lenny,
I had forgotten about those band brakes-they were what taught me to curse, for sure.
The original control system, was problematic.
I had one customer with one.
Over the years, I got to taking it apart, and putting it back together in my sleep.
I reworked motors and gears and refitted PG controls, even made new wheels, from scratch, after she got hit by a car, once.
They were a great family to work with.
I left that dealer 20 years ago, but I stay in touch with this family.
She still uses a Dragonfly, I think.

Furio-
I think that might be it, or at least, very similar.
I've been doodling on paper, with something similar, since getting to the floor is so hard, these days-actually, getting to the floor is easy-getting back up-not so much.
Thanks

[Rye]

getting to the floor is easy-getting back up-not so much.

I set my legrest to raise level with my seat pan that way I can sit on my footrests and lift the legs and then slide back onto my cushion. It's not easy and it's a risk on "mis huevos", but I've done it many times. It's a strain on the legrest actuator though. I would rather have a smoother way back into my chair.