PVC Wheelchair Design Offers Affordable Mobility to Colombians in Need

MEDELLIN, Colombia, Oct. 7, 2009 – A newly designed wheelchair incorporating PVC tubes has gone into production in Colombia, to provide mobility for physically handicapped people who could not previously afford them.
 
The use of PVC tubes reduces the cost of the wheelchairs as well as their weight, without sacrificing durability or safety.  The chair’s design easily allows adjustment for use by both adults and children, can support 150 kilograms (330 pounds), and meets ISO quality and safety standards.  In addition, the vinyl tubes are re-usable and recyclable. 

The Industrial Design Faculty at Pontificia Universidad Boliviariana in Medellin has completed development of the final prototypes, and industrial production will start later this year in the Technological School of Santa Rosa de Cabal in Risaralda.

The design won the First Award for New Inventors, organized two years ago by the National University of Colombia and the city of Medellin.  The University has signed an agreement with the local government to provide these chairs without cost to handicapped people who cannot pay for the device. 

For more information on the wheelchairs, go to www.foroandinopvc.org.co. 

The Vinyl Institute represents the leading manufacturers involved in the production of PVC/vinyl resin in the United States, and promotes the value of PVC/vinyl products to society. 

For more information on The Vinyl Institute, contact:

Jeffrey B. Palmer
Director of Marketing & Communications
The Vinyl Institute
571-970-3327
jpalmer@vinylinfo.org

Also go to:  www.vinylindesign.com and www.vinylinfo.org.