transferring from wheelchair to SUV passenger seat

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transferring from wheelchair to SUV passenger seat

Postby eae » 18 Feb 2018, 21:29

As a wheelchair user I use a board to slide across from my wheelchair to another surface, for example a couch or bed. That works fine when the surfaces a roughly level.

There is a problem when the difference in surface heights makes it too difficult to slide "uphill" for example when transferring from my wheelchair to the passenger seat in an SUV.

There's a US$ 6,500 hoist solution, but surely there must be a simpler way of bridging the seat height differential?

I need to lift my body say six to eight inches above wheelchair cushion height to make sliding across to the vehicle seat possible: perhaps by sliding onto something that could then be raised by a small scissor mechanism, or bottle jack. It would of course need to be transportable and preferably not too heavy.

I'm hoping someone out there far more mechanically minded than me might have a suggestion, or recommendation for any other forums where i could post this query.

Thanks, Eric
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Re: transferring from wheelchair to SUV passenger seat

Postby Burgerman » 18 Feb 2018, 22:36

I have puzzled the same thing for years. My only solution (untried) was 4 small 3.00 x 4 inner tubes, literally bonded with superglue or contact adhesive or epoxy to a thin metal sheet thats the same size as your wheelchair cushion. Inflate slightly before glueing! You then connect all 4 valves to a screw on adapter, and tee all 4 together in the centre. And use an electric air pump to inflate. It will easily lift you. And only be about 3mm thick once deflated. So can be ignored.

4X https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3-50-3-00-4- ... 1262879570
With the straight valve. Use smaller tubes for less than 20 inch cushion. As these are each 9.5 inches across.

Metal sheet cut to size http://www.lazermaster.co.uk or use a bit of thin quality plastic/plywood or fibreglass.

:ugeek:
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Re: transferring from wheelchair to SUV passenger seat

Postby eae » 22 Feb 2018, 21:52

I'm told that inflating a cushion or fat inner tube under a 180lb load using an electric pump would take several minutes.
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Re: transferring from wheelchair to SUV passenger seat

Postby Burgerman » 23 Feb 2018, 03:06

It will only need a few psi. So not as long as you expect. And of course tyre pumps that plug into a cigar lighter socket or powered from your chair, can be good/bad/ and fast or slow. I would expect about 45 seconds. Those tubes are pretty low volume. And you dont want one large tube OR a cushion. It will tip easily like you are sat on a ball. 4 SMALL ONES.
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Re: transferring from wheelchair to SUV passenger seat

Postby c500user » 17 Mar 2018, 13:05

Adjustable seat height is the answer!
Permobil C500 main
Permobil C500 spare
Otto Bock C2000 long distance outdoor
Magic Mobility Extreme X8 off road
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Re: transferring from wheelchair to SUV passenger seat

Postby firehopper » 17 Mar 2018, 13:43

or snitch a elevating mechanism from a broken power chair? the chair I have has such, uses 1 or 2 actuators, I havent actually looked at the mechanism yet. but I should.. its neat the way it works :)
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Re: transferring from wheelchair to SUV passenger seat

Postby Burgerman » 17 Mar 2018, 15:20

This is a manual chair. All that is too bulky and heavy. And needs 24v...
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Re: transferring from wheelchair to SUV passenger seat

Postby firehopper » 17 Mar 2018, 15:32

true, hrmm.. interesting puzzle. I'm sure there is a elegant solution. but atm I dont know.
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Re: transferring from wheelchair to SUV passenger seat

Postby eae » 28 Mar 2018, 20:28

firehopper wrote:true, hrmm.. interesting puzzle. I'm sure there is a elegant solution. but atm I dont know.


I think I have found an inexpensive and transportable solution, using an electric car jack and some wood for a base and a lifting platform. I'll report back when I finalise the details, but if it works it will cost about 130 quid rather than 5,000
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Re: transferring from wheelchair to SUV passenger seat

Postby eae » 05 Jun 2018, 00:10

jack (Small).JPG
my car jack seat transfer solution


In the initial post of this thread I sought a solution to the problem of transferring from a wheelchair to a vehicle seat that is too steep to allow the use of a transfer board.

The only viable solutions I could find in North America for my vehicle (Honda CRV) were a hoist and a flap down seat extender by Access Unlimited (NY) both of which were for me prohibitively expensive at $6,500 or so plus installation for the seat extender.

I needed something that would lift my 170lb about 8 inches. The attached photo is my solution - an electric car jack bolted to a box with a (carpeted) platform - total cost less than US $100. Quite a savings.

Now some caveats. You need someone to plug the power cable in. Also the box is positioned between the vehicle and my power chair and fronted by the door, so while it might not be stable enough standing alone, there is nowhere for it to tip.

The nice thing about it is its light weight and transportability - it can be used with any vehicle. I made the box so the platform would start at wheelchair cushion height and ruse to car seat height, and I use a sliding board to span the gap to the car. Getting out I just use the board down to to my chair.

Here's a link to the car jack I bought. It raises 9 inches

Pilot Q-HY-1500L 12 V Electric Car Jack
https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B004G5 ... UTF8&psc=1

I'm sure the design could be improved but as a concept it works for me

Eric

eae wrote:
firehopper wrote:true, hrmm.. interesting puzzle. I'm sure there is a elegant solution. but atm I dont know.


I think I have found an inexpensive and transportable solution, using an electric car jack and some wood for a base and a lifting platform. I'll report back when I finalise the details, but if it works it will cost about 130 quid rather than 5,000
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Re: transferring from wheelchair to SUV passenger seat

Postby snaker » 05 Jun 2018, 01:38

This 12v car jack looks compact but solid. I wonder if it can be used in powerchair as an electric tilt? So the additional cost for the tilt function might be $100 instead of thousands $$$ :fencing
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Re: transferring from wheelchair to SUV passenger seat

Postby martin007 » 05 Jun 2018, 23:07

Interesting idea.
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