Scales to use with a wheelchair

What is the cost of a set of bathroom scales ?

The answer depends partly on what you are prepared to pay, but a digital scale capable of satisfying most of us can be bought for anything from $40 to $120. That is unless you use a wheelchair!

A quick search on the net will allow you to buy a rather nice digital scale suitable for use with a wheelchair for around $1500.00.

It is not hard to see why they cost that much when you factor in the supply and demand for such a large piece of equipment and the massive expence involved in the tooling for the plastic mouldings.




So I thought I would see what happened if we used a cheap digital bathroom scale and mounted the component parts on a much less expensive platform for a wheelchair and just extended the wires.

The photographs are of the first effort. the board is 16mm mbf.and the hieght of the platform after the feet have been added is 35mm

To avoid any tendancy to tip as the chair is wheeled on; the mounting point is inside the line of the front feet.




The screen has been set at the side to make viewing easier and there is a cutout on the opposite side to use as a carry handle. It has yet to have a couple of guide rails and stop rail which will double as stiffeners. The all up price is around $80.00.

The design has plenty of room for improvement but provided the chair is loaded in the same spot ,( the guides will ensure this) the weight is consistent. A tare device will be added to future efforts, but all in all I am pleased with the result .

Spend a Day With One Hand In Your Pocket

For 60 plus years I have never had to worry about useing two hands whenever I needed to.

Six months ago I made a couple of new friends who only had one left and one right hand between them.

They are both survivors of stroke. The more time I spent around them the more I became aware of the difficulties everyday life throws at the disabled.

At breakfast one morning I put my left hand in my pocket (I am right handed) and tried to experience some of the frustration that they must feel in daily living.

Taking the top off the new milk carton was a revelation. A tight lid on the coffee was the next problem. Getting the top off a ring pull and tear can had the other hand out in cheat mode.

Spreading butter on a slice of bread (sliced bread of course) nearly had it out again and I had not even managed to properly eat breakfast without being able to tilt the plate to scoop the milk.

The idea of washing up and drying up with one hand made me decide to give up on the experiment for then.

Life is difficult for stroke survivors and whilst I know there are numerous aids available in specialist shops few of them are integrated into a package and they come with a hefty price tag.

Talking to my friends led to the design and prototyping of a dedicated bench which will include a permanent station to undo or reseal standard jars cut and slice food of various description ,and handle ring pull cans