The simplest definition of a manual wheelchair is a chair with wheels designed to transport a sick, injured, or otherwise disabled person from one place to another. The wheelchair can either be pushed around by the user using the special round handles that loop around the wheels or the caregivers can push the chair for you. 

The manual wheelchair is one of the basic types of wheelchairs along with power wheelchairs. Manual wheelchairs have been the most common ones with amazing feasibility and mobility benefits. 

Basic Features of a Manual Wheelchair  

Typically, a wheelchair consists of four wheels: two large wheels in the rear, which are used for propelling the wheelchair, and two small wheels in the front, which swivel and are called casters. 

Traditionally, wheelchairs are divided into two categories: manual and electric-powered. Those categories are defined by the mechanism used to propel the wheelchair. 

  • Manual Wheelchairs: A manual wheelchair is propelled by human power. A manual wheelchair is powered either by the individual using the wheelchair or by an assistant. The most commonly recognized manual wheelchairs are seen at hospitals and nursing homes. 
  • Electrical wheelchair: An electric-powered wheelchair is propelled by an electrically based power source (typically a battery and electrical motor).

Style, material, and weight

The most basic characteristic that distinguishes manual wheelchairs is the frame design, but wheelchairs are also categorized by style, material, and weight.

Style 

A standard folding wheelchair has a cross-brace design (X-frame), which allows the wheelchair to fold laterally via a scissor-like action. These wheelchairs are very popular because they can be easily folded for transportation.

Material 

Initially, manufacturers used steel in all manual wheelchairs but now most modern wheelchairs are made using primarily steel, aluminum, and titanium. 

Steel is limited to standard wheelchairs that have folding-frame mechanisms. 

Aluminum is used throughout the wheelchair industry, primarily in ultralight wheelchairs and some lightweight wheelchairs. Aluminum has a higher strength-to-weight ratio than mild steel, thereby reducing the overall weight of the wheelchair, and it has the added advantage of being resistant to corrosion. 

Titanium has been used in ultralight manual wheelchairs, further reducing the weight because of its high strength-to-weight ratio. Titanium also is resistant to corrosion.

  • Weight

In general, there are three wheelchair weight categories: standard, lightweight, and ultralight.

Standard wheelchairs are typically folding-frame wheelchairs that are manufactured using mild steel. They are the heaviest of manual wheelchairs, usually weighing more than 18 kg (39.6 pounds) with limited adjustability in components. These wheelchairs are designed most often for temporary use and are usually found in medical facilities (e.g., hospitals and nursing homes).

Lightweight wheelchairs also are typically folding-frame wheelchairs. They have many adjustable components and are available with many features. They tend to be lighter than standard wheelchairs (typically between 13 and 18 kg [28.6 and 39.6 pounds]) because they are usually manufactured using aluminum.

Ultralight wheelchairs have the best performance characteristics of the three weight categories. As the name suggests, these are the lightest-weight wheelchairs (typically less than 13 kg [28.6 pounds]), because they are manufactured using aluminum, high-performance steel, or titanium. 

Components of a wheelchair 

The components that are attached to the frame to generate a functional manual wheelchair are the tires, the wheels, the axles, the casters, the leg rests, and the armrests.

Tires

Wheelchair tires are either solid rubber or pneumatic (air-filled). Solid rubber tires are almost always used with standard wheelchairs and sometimes with lightweight wheelchairs. Those tires provide a hard ride and have a high rolling resistance, but they have low wear rates and are low maintenance. 

Wheels

The wheels are usually spoke (wired) or molded (mag). Wheel sizes usually range from about 30 to 66 cm (12 to 26 inches) in diameter, depending on the purpose of the wheelchair. Molded wheels have low maintenance requirements. However, they are significantly heavier and less responsive than spoke wheels.

Axles

Rear-wheel axles are either fixed or quick-release. Fixed axles are almost always used on standard wheelchairs. Quick-release axles are almost always used with ultralight wheelchairs, and either fixed or quick-release are used with lightweight wheelchairs. 

The fixed axle is low-maintenance, whereas the quick-release axle requires frequent monitoring.

Casters

The casters range in size from about 7.6 to 23.8 cm (3 to 9 inches) in diameter, with the majority falling in the 12.7- to 20.3-cm (5- to 8-inch) range. The caster tires can be solid rubber or pneumatic but are limited to either mag or solid hub wheels.

Leg rests

The leg rests are fixed, swing-away, or elevating. They consist of a hanger that is attached to the frame and a footplate that supports the individual’s feet. Fixed leg rests are integral to the frame; they produce a lighter-weight system since there are fewer components. Swing-away leg rests allow for the removal of the leg rests from the frame to facilitate transfers into and out of the wheelchair. 

Armrests

The armrests are either fixed-height or adjustable-height. Armrests facilitate transfers by providing a handhold for the individual. They support the upper extremities when the individual is not propelling the wheelchair.

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