Wheelchair Glossary
These are commonly used terms with brief explanations and are intended to help with decision-making.
Bucket: Used to describe the angle of the seat. The angle is calculated by measuring the difference between the height of the front of the seat from the floor and the back of the seat from the floor (normally where the seat meets the backrest.). For example if your front seat height is 20" from the floor and your rear seat height is 17" from the floor then we would say your chair has a 3" bucket.
Camber: This refers to the angle of the rear wheels in relation to the frame of the wheelchair. If the rear wheels are parallel to the frame the camber is zero degrees, and if the rear wheels are angled towards the chair frame then this is cambered and is measured in degrees, from one degree up to 20 degrees in sports chairs. The common everyday chair angles are one to five with the higher angles used for sports chairs. The effect of cambering wheels is to make the chair turn faster and provide better sideways stability, which is useful on uneven pavements. However the more camber the easier the chair will tip up backwards, as well as making the overall chair wider at the bottom of the rear wheels, making it harder to fit through narrower gaps. (A rough guide would be for every two degrees of camber your chair width will increase by 1") If the rear wheels are angled away from the frame of the wheelchair this is called negative camber and is not usually beneficial.
Castors: These are the wheelchairs front wheels, normally smaller than the rear wheels. These can come in many diameters and widths (footprints). The smaller and narrower the castor, normally means that the chair will be more maneuverable but less able to cope with rough terrain.
Rigid Framed: This means that the wheelchair does not fold in the conventional manner but the rear wheels are removed and/or the backrest folded, for the wheelchair to be put into a vehicle.
Rigid frame chairs are at least three times more maneuverable and at least half the frame weight of folding framed wheelchairs to lift.
Lightweight: Now used as a generic term to describe any wheelchair that is lighter than the standard government issued chairs. Originally the term was used to describe the much-improved lighter feel of modern wheelchairs in terms of the pushing of them but today it is used to mean the weight of lifting a wheelchair up or into a vehicle.
Transit: These are wheelchairs that have smaller rear wheels, which prevent the person in the wheelchair from being able to move the wheelchair them-self. They have the advantage of being slightly lighter and easier to store but the disadvantage that when used over larger kerbs it is harder for the 'carer'.
Self-Propelling: These are wheelchairs that have large rear wheels (20" diameter to 27") that allow the person in the wheelchair to push themselves about. On most models they can be taken off the wheelchair for transporting by using a quick release pin situated in the centre of each wheel that is push button operated.
ADLs: Either "Activities of Daily Living" or "Aids for Daily Living" e.g. hoists beds.
