Powered wheelchairs: How igus bearings support Wizzybug

Solving friction and durability with maintenance-free bearings for Designability wheelchairs and pushchairs

Designability is a UK charity that invents everyday solutions to the barriers disabled people face every day. They have been making the inaccessible accessible since 1968.

The world is full of barriers for disabled people. It always has been and it probably always will be because society doesn't design with everyone in mind. For disabled people, those barriers can take away things that everyone deserves – freedom, confidence, opportunity.

Opportunities like taking your child to the park by yourself, having the freedom at 4-years-old to choose what game to play next and the confidence to travel to see friends using public transport.

The range of products that Designability manufacture; from the Wizzybug powered wheelchair to the accessible EV charger all enrich people with disabilities lives and igus was privileged to be a part of that journey.

Designability invents solutions that remove some of the barriers disabled people face every day. It starts at workbenches, and works because we listen to the people that are affected by disability every day. They design with them as well as for them. And it ends with practical ingenuity that transforms a part of someone’s life for the better.

Designability board images from early inventions

Requirement, challenge and solution

Requirement

Designability aim to produce products that make everyday life more accesible for those with disabilities. This includes but is not limited to Wizzybug their flagship service which provides free powered wheelchairs for young disabled children and the accessible pushchair for wheelchair using parents.

From prototypes to sketches, they seek solutions to real-world problems, engineering products that make the inaccessible accessible all while helping other brands and charities to do the same.

To achieve their goals, their products must be maintenance-free, light weight and robust in a variety of conditions, supporting the user to live without restrictions.

Challenge

Designability needed bearings and bushings that could deliver low-friction movement, alongside long-term durability and minimal maintenance. The products are often used outdoors, where reliability and safety are essential.

Because these components sit within the wheel system, which includes the brake, the suspension and the locking/release mechanism, they're regularly exposed to mud, dirt, road debris and water.

With conventional bearings, these levels of exposure would require regular maintenance or sealed bearings, which tend to be heavier, more expensive, and a costly compromise on a range of products built to be lightweight.

Wheelchair bearings in designability parts

Solution

igus components feature across several of their products, but are most extensively used in the accessible pushchair. Solid igus bearings run throughout the design in the wheel assemblies, the braking system, the quick-release wheel locking mechanism, and the suspension pivot points.

They're small parts, but central to keeping the pushchair smooth and reliable to operate.

With igus components, the need for lubrication was removed, while maintaining reliable long-term performance. The result is a lighter assembly overall, a simpler manufacturing process with no specialist tools required and a lower final cost. The reliability and ease of integration igus components made them the best choice for products that needed to be robust, practical and straightforward to build.

“Working with igus UK on our accessible pushchair project really made a difference. They didn't just sell us products, they listened to us, helped us find the right solutions in their catalogue, and more than once suggested something better than what we had in mind. But honestly, what mattered most was that they came to visit us in person several times to go through the prototypes together. These days it's rare to find a partner willing to work side by side like that, and for us it was invaluable.”