Materials News

All-plastic wheelchair is wheeled out

In 2000, EasyRoller was manufactured in a first version that included a frame achieved by welding together tubes in ABS. This pro¬ductive method however proved quite long due to the time required for welding, hence Skjæran decided to move to rotatio¬nal molding that allows achieving a frame, with an esthetic and functional design, yet reducing time and costs for manufacturing.

The second generation EasyRoller, which is 105 cm high and weighs 12 kg, the seat, chassis and tip-up footrest are moulded in PE.

The wheels are in rubber, the belts in nylon and the padding in closed-cell neoprene. Some parts such as the rims and the braking systems are manufactured in PC and ABS by injection moulding. The design development and realisation of the protot¬ypes for the latter components was assigned to the Norwegian design office Eker Design.

The definition of forms, details and modifi¬cations to be implemented to the chassis depending on the use of rotomoulding, was carried out in a synergic collaboration by rotomoulder Partnerplast and rotational mould manufacturer Persico.