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 .