In the year 1881, the first modern wheelchair was unveiled in Europe. Since then, people with walking disabilities have found hope. Even if they would not be able to walk again, they would be able to take mobility through the use of the simple machine. Basically, wheelchairs are machines simple seating furniture that is attached to a pair of wheels to facilitate mobility.
In the 20th century, more initiatives were done to be able to further contribute to the development of wheelchairs. In 1918, the pioneering motorized wheelchairs were developed. Following that, in 1933 miner Herbert Everest and his engineer friend Harry Jennings Sr built wheelchairs for their own use. Mr Everest was paralyzed in a mining facility accident.
The modern wheelchairs are direct descendants of the wheelchair jointly developed by a team of inventors and innovators, including Jeff Minnebraker of California, Rainier Kuschall of Europe and Errol Markheim of Germany. The group was able to come up with a wheelchair that was lightweight and highly adjustable. The wheelchair was made up purely of aluminum, which is attributed for the light weight. Wheelchairs have since been convenient and light and were easily transported from a site to several other different locations.
The modern wheelchairs
Since the development of wheelchairs, many initiatives have been made to modify and update the basic features of the machines. In the past, wheelchairs were heavy and were very bulky to accommodate the user. Now, those features are scrapped and are reversed so as to provide users with convenience and easier access to wheelchairs’ usefulness. Read the rest of this entry »
