Wednesday 25 September 2013

All That You Wanted To Know About Stairlifts

Stairlifts are hugely popular in homes where the elderly people have trouble going up and down the stairs, although it is widely used for several other reasons.

Do you have arthritis or pain in your joints? Do your old granny and grandpas face acute pain while climbing the stairs and going to their room? Then wait no longer! Stairlift is the right way to help your oldies go to the other floor without any bending. Every piece comes with a seat that moves along a rail and for comfort; it folds up at both the sides. Considering the safety aspect, Stairlifts are well decked with sensors. However, but what is the right way to install it and what are the aspects that need to be answered:

  1. The stairlift gets attached to the stairs. Usually, an average stairlift rail that is affixed to the stairs has three attachment points, one in the top, one in centre and one at the bottom. Basically it just takes around 1 or 2 hours to fix the stairlift in your house.
  2. All you need to do is fit the rail, motor along with the seat. Once tested by the engineer thoroughly, then only the people are allowed to use it.
  3. The best part is that there are two types of Stairlifts available in the market: one for the straight staircases and one for the curved staircases. Straight are pre-manufacture and a priced a little as compared to the curved ones. On the other hand, curved stairlift are different and always customised to fit according to your stairs. They come with remote controller. Hence, if more than one person in any house need the lift, it gets very easy with a remote controller
  4. A great way to give comfort to the elderly people of your house. You can customise and configure the stairlift as per your requirement.
  5. With so much variety, you can go for all types and sizes of stairlift. Even if you have narrow stairs, you can select the one which is applicable for your staircase. Most companies also offer a free survey before the installation of the stairlift. The engineers examine the staircase and the Stairlift in Manchester applicable along with electronic connectivity, and then proceed with the installation process.
  6. The stairlift is highly sensitive to obstruction. It comes fitted with multiple sensors that mechanically terminates if an obstruction comes in between. Once the obstruction is removed the lift starts functioning normally.
  7. The lifts are either affixed either manual swivel seats or powered along with heavy duty armrest to help you get on and off easily.
  8. Stairlift stoke is easy to operate with the functional joystick located on the armrest that effortlessly works with minimum pressure. All you need to do is press the paddle gently and in way you want to travel and once you remove your hand from the joystick the stairlift stops.
Thus, if you are in search of something that comforts your elderly people, then stairlifts are the right choice for you. Easy to climb the stairs, it is the perfect addition for your house for all those who suffer from severe joint pains.

Monday 16 September 2013

Working of Stairlifts

Stairlifts is one of those inventions of science that has brought a ray of hope in the life of the disabled and handicapped.

A stairlift is actually a chair that travels along and rail or track that is mounted to theflight of stairs. Using the stairlift is very easy and it has been made it in this way so that the elderly do not have any issues in operating them. Although the operation of the stairlift is stress-free but it is equally important to understand the internal working of this great device.

Stairlift has two main components - chair and the motor beneath it. These are the components that play a prime role in the working of the stairlift.The motor is powered using a battery. The motor would there by turn the gear that is entangled into a geared strip on the track or rail. When the gear moved the chair is moved laterally along the geared strip. In the same way when the motor turns, the gear placed under the chair moves in one direction. For moving the chair in another direction, the motor’s direction of movement has to reverse.

There are different switches present on the stairlift. These switches are used to move the chair without when anyone is present on it. This feature is very useful in the situations when both the people in the house are using the stairlift and the lift is at the other end of the track. When the user wants to use it, the call/send switch is used to call the other person. One other use of this switch is to move the lift away when it is not in use or after its use has been completed. There are many people who do not prefer the lift to be parked in the master sitting room so they use this feature to send the lift to the other corner of the house. The call switch is used then to call the lift back when it is required.

Although the design and style of the stairlifts varies from company to company but the basic component of the stairlift remain the same. The basic components of the stairlifts include the following:
  • Track or Rail - Track is the supporter of the chair. It basically provides a mechanism to drive the chair and guide it up and down the stairs. This is very similar to the rail tracks guiding the train.
  • Track Overruns - stair lifts many a times provide an option to overrun at the top of the track, bottom of the track or both. The purpose of this is to move the operator away from the stairway so the stairlift can be accessed safely or when the stairlifts has to be dismounted. The prime reason behind this is to save the user from falling on the stairs.
  • Power supply - The batteries are needed for the operation of the stairlifts. Power is needed to charge these batteries. In units where there no batteries, power supply is needed for operation of the chairlift. The non-battery lifts use a lot of power and need a dedicated unit.
  • Motor - The motor is the component that makes the chair move along the track.
  • The motor that drives a Curved Stairlift chair along the track is found in the base of the seat.

The above described are the main constituents of the stairlift. Other components of it include the seat, seat belt, foot rest, battery and its charger and the switches. Having the knowledge of the working of the stairlift shall make the operation easier.