Chairs with wheels have been around for thousands of years, with ‘push’ chairs known to be used by the Ancient Greeks and Chinese. It was not until 1665, however, that the first self-propelled wheelchair was invented by Stephan Farffler, a 22-year-old German paraplegic watchmaker. Built on a three-wheel chassis, it had hand cranks attached to the front wheel.
A patent recorded in 1869 shows a wheelchair with rear push wheels and small front casters, very similar to today’s models. Innovation progressed rapidly with hollow rubber wheels similar to those used on bicycles on metal rims. In 1881 push rims were added and in 1900 the first spoke wheels were used.
In 1932, a mechanical engineer, Harry Jennings, built the first folding, tubular steel wheelchair – the earliest model that is similar to what is used today. The wheelchair was built for Herbert Everest, also a mechanical engineer and a paraplegic friend of Jennings who wanted a wheelchair that could be put into an automobile. Together these friends founded Everest & Jennings, a company that saw the potential of their invention and were able to mass market their well-known “X-brace”, which is still in use today.
The 1970’s saw the introduction of aircraft quality aluminium being used in the frames which started a revolution of ultralight wheelchairs. And the growth of Paralympic sports from racing through to rugby saw further sports-specific modifications.
Description provided by Glenn Ruscoe of Australia
