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Incline Platform Lifts

Inclined Platform Lifts

Inclined Platform Lifts are designed to carry people who use wheelchairs up and down a set of stairs. The staircase must be a straight run (for most models) with lots of headroom and room at the bottom of the stairs for the platform to lay flat on the floor and still have enough room to allow the wheelchair roll off.

When the lift is accessed from the top level the user must roll on from the end but at the bottom level the platform can be accessed from either the side or end.

Because these lifts effectively block access to staircase for ambulatory people the platform will fold up out of the way when not in use. Some models offer a power fold option as the platform is quite heavy.

The weight capacity is lower on inclined platform lifts than on other types of lifts and will usually be between 400 and 500lbs for residential installations. Because of the weight of many power wheelchairs it is conceivable that the user doen't have to be too big to exceed the capacity of the lift.

Installation

While most inclined platform lifts are mounted to the wall of the staircase a few are mounted to the steps. In either case, because the lift platform basically hangs off the track or rail it travels on, the steps or wall must be solid and able to withstand the stresses.

The staircase normally needs be a minimum of 36" wide and have 60" of clearance above the front edge of the platform. In order to ensure a stairway has enough headroom, one needs to measure out horizontally from the nose of each step the length of the platform and from this point measure vertically up the 60".

Safety Features

Safety Issue

Inclined plaform lifts are not meant to be used by people who are standing. There is not enough headroom in most stairways for people to stand on the lift and if constant pressure is not maintained on the control switch the lift could jerk causing someone standing to fall. Some models of inclined platform lifts do offer optional fold down seats for none wheelchair users.

 
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