Fall Prevention.

Each time someone transfers in and out of a wheelchair, there is a risk of falling. Some falls result in serious injury that require long-term medical care. Often the injury permanently affects one's quality of life.

Nearly half the patients who use wheelchairs in nursing homes have a fall each year. Of those falls, approximately eleven percent result in a serious injury such as a fractured hip. Nationally, falls from wheelchairs cost individuals and businesses billions of dollars each year. This includes costs paid by Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance companies and health care providers.  The risk of lawsuits and increased legal expenses is also growing.
 

The Fall Prevention Solution is Here:

Although wheelchairs have manual brakes, they are of no value if the person forgets or is unable to engage them. The secret of the Safer Automatic Wheelchair Wheel Lock fall prevention system is in its simplicity. Once properly installed, it does the work of automatically locking the wheels and eliminates the worry about forgetting to manually lock the brakes.

The Safer Automatic Wheelchair Wheel Locks are activated by removing weight from the seat of the wheelchair.  When the chair is occupied, i.e. when weight is on the seat, the locks are disengaged and the user may roll about as he/she wishes.  When the weight is lifted from the seat, i.e. the person gets up – the locks “automatically” engage, locking the wheels until the weight is applied again.  It’s that simple.

  

Benefits of the Safer Automatic Wheelchair Wheel Lock system:

  • Invented by a physician for his patients
  • Helps prevent falls
  • Reduced injuries
  • Reduced fear of falling
  • Can be installed on existing wheelchair inventory or
  • Can be purchased installed on a new wheelchair
  • System does not restrict mobility while wheelchair is occupied
  • Overrides installed so caregivers can easily move empty wheelchairs
  • System does not interfere with wheelchair being folded for storage
  • Reduces probability of increased legal expenses for wheelchair related falls

 

High Quality Materials

We know you demand a strong, tough system that requires minimal maintenance and upkeep and works

Zytel® is strong, durable and slides easily against itself
as well as metal without lubrication.

Even when exposed to moisture, Zytel® will not corrode.

The right materials play an important role in making the design feasible and cost-effective. The lock system uses various nylon Zytelâ resins for 24 parts (12 for each wheel) supplied by DuPont Engineering Polymers (Wilmington, DE). In the case of the override handles, a 33% glass-reinforced formulation, Zytel 70G33L, provided needed high stiffness, strength, and toughness. For wheel hubs, seat paddles and override clamps, a toughened, unreinforced grade, Zytelâ 3189, provided the right degree of toughness and  flexibility.

For remaining nonmetal parts, the molder (United Plastic Molders, Jackson, MS) used a 50/50 blend of the two grades to achieve an intermediate level of stiffness.

DuPont engineers suggested blending the two grades," says Bill Hoge, president of United Plastic Molders. "The technical support proved very helpful in the developmental process. All in all, Zytel allowed us to engineer a wheelchair locking system that provides outstanding durability, good looks, and low maintenance, while adding little weight to the wheelchair."