Disclosed is a drive unit for a wheelchair and a wheelchair including such. The wheelchair includes a control input and a structural frame with two lateral frame elements, each supporting a drive wheel. The drive unit includes two drive motors within a driveshaft housing, adapted to drive the drive wheels independently based on input via the control input. The drive shaft housing is releasably attached between the two lateral frame elements of the wheelchair and connected to the drive wheels via quick-release couplings. The drive shaft housing is divided into at least two sections, each section housing one of the drive motors and that the at least two sections of the drive shaft housing are telescopically moveable relative to each other for adjusting the width of the drive shaft housing to different wheelchairs having different distances between the lateral frame elements of the structural frame of the wheelchair.

A system, method, and device for operations of an electrically motorized vehicle. The vehicle can utilize an electrically motorized wheel to convert a non-motorized wheeled vehicle to an electrically motorized wheeled vehicle. One system includes a server in communication with the device of each of a plurality of electrically motorized wheels, the server operable to track a position of each of the electrically motorized wheels and communicate the position thereof to a transportation network.

It is already known in the prior art to provide muscle-powered wheelchairs with an auxiliary drive, which in the event of a force stress is switched on as needed, and the coupled-in muscular power is increased. Thus far, however, it has not been possible to control the application of the force, which in each case is coupled in intermittently, in such a way that it may be applied in different magnitudes. If a sensor system has sufficient sensitivity to fine movements, the detection for coarse movements is too imprecise, and for a more precise detection of coarse movements, fine movements become overly intensified.

The invention therefore provides that at least one force element that is elastically deformable is associated with the wheelchair. Since the deformation becomes more and more intense with increasing force, this results in natural damping of the coupled-in force, which may be detected by a sensor. As a result, a wheelchair according to the invention may be controlled in a targeted manner for fine movements as well as for faster, coarser movements.

An electric wheelchair includes a main frame; a drivable wheel supported by the main frame; an electric motor disposed on the main frame and configured to drive the drivable wheel; a clutch configured to switch a power transmission path from the electric motor to the drivable wheel between an engagement state and a disengagement state; and a clutch operation handle configured to be moved in a predetermined range in an up-down direction. The clutch operation handle is configured to operate the clutch so as to be in: (i) one of the engagement state or the disengagement state when the clutch operation handle is stopped at a lowest position of the predetermined range; and (ii) the other of the engagement state or the disengagement state when the clutch operation handle is stopped at a highest position of the predetermined range.

A motion-based push activation power assist system for manual wheelchairs. The system uses motion-based measurements to determine when the user applies a push to the wheelchair handrims and brakes with the handrims. The push recognition activates a drive system that provides an assistive driving force-pulse to the wheelchair to reduce the demand on the user during propulsion. The brake recognition deactivates the power assist. The provided power assist is proportional to the sensed push and can be modulated to different proportional settings.

A conveyance to carry humans, such as a wheelchair, is described having levers on each side of the wheelchair that are manually moved forward and backward to propel the conveyance. The user is able to shift into forward, reverse or neutral, brake, and change mechanical advantage (gear ratio), all this without removing the user's hands from the drive levers.

Presented herein are adaptive power assist systems for manually-powered vehicles, methods for operating/constructing such systems, and motorized operator-powered vehicles with adaptive power assist systems. A method for regulating a power assist system of a manually powered vehicle includes a vehicle controller determining path plan data that includes a predicted route plan to traverse from a current vehicle location to a desired vehicle destination. A resident wireless communications device receives, from a remote computing node, an assist level power trace for operating the vehicle's tractive motor on the predicted route plan. The vehicle controller receives health level data specific to the vehicle user, determines a power assist delta based on the health level data, and modifies the assist level power trace based on this power assist delta. The vehicle controller transmits command signals to the tractive motor to output a selectively variable torque according to the modified assist level power trace.

A pump-action wheelchair includes one or more pumping arm(s). A driving wheel is arranged on each side of the wheelchair. The pumping arm(s) is/are connected to two driving mechanisms that are connected to driving axles for the driving wheels. A handle bar can be connected to the pumping arm. The handle bar can be lowered to permit an operator to more easily climb into the wheelchair and then raised into an operating position before performing the pumping action. Different forces can be applied by the driving mechanisms to the driving wheels in response to rotation of the handle bar to steer the wheelchair. A reverse mechanism can be provided to operate the wheel chair in reverse. A conversion kit can convert a conventional wheelchair into a pump-action wheelchair. Foot rests may be connected to the pumping arm to move forward and rearward in response to the pumping action.

The present disclosure describes devices and systems that can be integrated with a foldable, manual wheelchair to convert the wheelchair into a hybrid chair capable of both manual operation and motor-powered operation. A wheelchair powering device includes a motor that is operatively coupled to a roller member so that rotation of the motor shaft causes rotation of the roller member. The roller member may be engaged against a tire of the wheelchair so that rotation of the roller member causes rotation of the tire via friction between the roller member and tire.

Presented herein are adaptive power assist systems for manually-powered vehicles, methods for operating/constructing such systems, and motorized operator-powered vehicles with adaptive power assist systems. A method for regulating a power assist system of a manually powered vehicle includes a vehicle controller determining path plan data that includes a predicted route plan to traverse from a current vehicle location to a desired vehicle destination. A resident wireless communications device receives, from a remote computing node, an assist level power trace for operating the vehicle's tractive motor on the predicted route plan. The vehicle controller receives health level data specific to the vehicle user, determines a power assist delta based on the health level data, and modifies the assist level power trace based on this power assist delta. The vehicle controller transmits command signals to the tractive motor to output a selectively variable torque according to the modified assist level power trace.