Below are bitmap drawings of an early-model powered wheelchair:

Earlier Power Wheelchair Side View

Earlier Power Wheelchair Top View

The Role Of Earlier Power Wheelchairs

As will be seen in our discussion over this and the next two pages (pages W-18 and W-19), the earlier power wheelchairs were at one time the only powered wheelchairs in existence, having been around prior to the development of the first scooter-type wheelchairs.

Therefore, anyone who needed a powered wheelchair or who found use of a powered wheelchair desirable for their individual needs would have used one of these types of wheelchairs -- irregardless of whether the individual could use such a wheelchair in its standard as-manufactured configuration or whether the individual needed special modifications to be performed on the wheelchair to suit his or her needs.

Both the earlier power wheelchair discussed on this page and the "earlier rehab wheelchair" discussed on the next page are basicly the same type of wheelchair in terms of its internal structure, parts, and mechanical operation. For this reason, the manuevering characteristics of these two wheelchairs will be considered together on page W-19.

In light of this fact, we are not using the term "earlier power wheelchair" and the term "earlier rehab wheelchair" to refer to two different wheelchair types. Instead, we are here referring to whether the earlier powered wheelchair is being used in its standard as-manufactured configuration -- the "earlier power wheelchair" -- or whether the earlier powered wheelchair has been extensively customized to meet the needs of its individual user -- the "earlier rehab wheelchair."

Earlier Power Wheelchair Characteristics

As can be seen from the drawings above, the early powered wheelchairs closely resemble their manual counterparts in their appearance, although being of much heavier-duty construction given the profound weight of the drive mechanisms and the batteries required to operate the wheelchairs. These wheelchairs are among the heaviest in existence.

These early powered wheelchairs as a general rule are controlled by a joystick which the user operates to direct the wheelchair in the desired direction. Depending upon the needs of the user, the joystick module can be installed on either side of the wheelchair.

These wheelchairs' wheels are typically belt-driven, each belt being placed around a "belt-track" on the inside of each wheel and the drive shaft of the motor on that side of the wheelchair.

The parking brakes on these wheelchairs typically operate in a manner similar to the brakes on manual wheelchairs. Belt-release levers are also provided to permit the belts to be released should it become necessary for the wheelchair to be moved manually in the event of a breakdown or for another reason.

-- Page W - 17 --