How Stair Lifts Operate

The stair lift is a mechanical device used for lifting a person up a staircase. The stair lift is the most cost effective way to reduce risks of the seniors from falling down from the stair due to low visibility and imbalance due to arthritis or other mobility-restricting conditions. For stairs that are wide enough, a rail is mounted on the stairs. A chair or a lifting tray is usually attached with the rail. As the chair moves upwards the person also goes up. The stairlifts are also known as chair lifts or stair gliders.

Controls
Usually a stairlift is operated with the help of a control located on the arm of the lift. These controls can be a switch or a toggle type lever. The larger the toggle switch is the more easily the user can use the lift chair when he is affected with limited mobility and any kind of pain in the legs. These stair lifts are used all over the world. The remote controls used in such stair lifts are infrared and have a radio frequency. These radiations from the devices which are fluorescent lights can also interact with the infrared stairlift controls. The heat generated and the incandescent lights can also create certain adverse effects.

The controls of a stair lift are different for various models. The controls of a curved rail stairlift are much more complex than that of straight rail stairlifts. In case of a curved rail stair lift the seat remains horizontal as it requires being tilted. When it curves along areas the lift adjusts to the various angles of the inclination. For such a technology an additional motor and link system is required. During places where are bends the carriage needs to slow down. However, on straight rails the carriage runs very fast. The modern controls manufactures makes use of microprocessors. These gathers experiences while the carriage moves and stores such data and information in the memory. These controls also records the number of journey and direction of journey in its memory. Hence when service engineers are called for maintenance these records provide important information.

The stairlifts in general have a soft start. Hence the user does not feel any kind of jerk when the carriage starts to move. The speed at which a stair lift generally moves varies in between 0.07 meters per second and 0.15 meters per second. The location of the journey changes the speed of the carriage. A bend can cause a slowing down of speed. At the start of the 21st century research and developments were enhanced on star lifts. The new technology was based on the concept that the starlifts will be able to forecast when the components start degenerating and becoming low in performance. They will automatically convey the message to the service provider who will arrange for its servicing instantly.

For satisfying safety codes the starlifts generally have a cut-out switch which is attached to the safety edges. There are also other protective components present because whenever something goes wrong the drive power cuts off for safety. The modern lifts get a high degree of comfort. The safety edges have a common feature of a footplate and a power pack. These make sure that in case of any interruptions the stairlift will stop automatically.


Source : http://www.articlesbase.com/wellness-articles/how-stair-lifts-operate-1242623.html