The composition of an electric wheelchair is more complicated than a manual wheelchair, and most electric wheelchairs can be summarized into 4 parts: frame system, power supply system, drive system, and control system.
Here is the list of contents:
Frame mechanism system
Power supply system
Drive System
Control System
Frame mechanism system
The frame mechanism system of an electric wheelchair includes a large frame, front and rear wheels, cushion, backrest, footrest, side panel, and pushing circle. The function of each component is the same as that of a manual wheelchair, and it also has the functions of detachable armrests, detachable hanging feet, and foldable backrest, which are used to facilitate the shifting of the rider, shorten the moving distance of the rider and facilitate storage and carrying.
Power supply system
The battery of an electric wheelchair is generally a lead-acid battery and lithium battery, lead-acid battery is cheap and widely used. The lead-acid battery used in an electric wheelchair is generally common with the battery of battery cars in the market, which is convenient for maintenance and replacement; The lithium battery is lighter and smaller than a lead-acid battery, and there is no toxic substance in the lithium battery. However, the cost of lithium batteries is higher, and the cost of use and maintenance is also relatively high. There are two general battery installation methods: one is a single battery, which is installed under the cushion and on the rear side of the frame; The other is a double battery method, which is installed under the cushion and on both sides of the frame so that the wheelchair can be folded without removing the battery.
Drive System
The drive system mainly refers to the electric wheelchair's motor, which is generally composed of three parts: the brake, the motor, and the reduction mechanism. The electric wheelchair with brakes in the motor has an electronic brake function, which allows the brakes to be applied as soon as the hand is released from the control device during the driving process, providing good safety performance. There are many electric wheelchairs on the market without electronic brakes, so they cannot automatically brake during driving and need to brake manually. In places where there is a slope, the brake cannot be released, otherwise, the wheelchair will slide.
There are currently four main types of motor drive: front-wheel single drive, front-wheel dual drive, rear-wheel dual drive, and rear-axle drive.
1. The front-wheel single-drive type has a simple structure but has poor dynamic stability and braking performance.
2. Front wheel dual motor drive type is often made into an indoor wheelchair because it can achieve a small turning radius, but its static stability is poor.
3. Rear-wheel dual-motor-driven wheelchairs have better overall performance compared with the first two and are the current trend of electric wheelchair drives.
4. The rear axle drive cannot turn or turn around in place, which requires large space for wheelchair use and poor safety performance when turning, and is generally used for wheelchairs with handlebar control direction.
The motor is currently commonly used in three types of transmission, one is synchronous belt transmission, synchronous belt, and synchronous belt pulley mesh when driving, high transmission efficiency, and energy-saving effect; another is gear transmission, two gear teeth mesh with each other to transmit power, gear transmission compact structure, good stability, transmission efficiency is relatively low, but the climbing ability is stronger; There is a chain transmission: chain and flywheel when driving. The chain transmission is composed of meshing transmission, due to the large meshing gap, the transmission efficiency is low, and the chain is easy to fall off after use for some time.
Control System
The control system refers to the controller or control mechanism of the electric wheelchair, the rider can control the forward, stop, backward, and driving direction, speed, and other functions of the electric wheelchair through this controller or control mechanism. The most common control systems for electric wheelchairs on the market today are the universal controller and the handlebar control mechanism. The universal controller can control the direction of the wheelchair 360 degrees by pushing the lever on the controller, and adjusting the speed of travel through the button, which is simple, convenient, and safe to operate; the handlebar control mechanism controls the direction through the steering of the handlebar and controls the speed by turning the handlebar set, which has relatively poor control performance and is suitable for riders in good physical condition. In addition, the handlebar control mechanism is mainly used on electric mobility scooters.
The above is about the composition of an electric wheelchair. If you are interested in an electric wheelchair, you can contact us, our website is www.topmediwheelchair.com.
