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Believe it or not, the concept of the “recliner” has only been around since the early 1920s. Two cousins, Edward Knabusch and Edwin Shoemaker, first received a patent in 1931 for the soft oversized chairs we know today as recliners. Several years later, the two cousins founded the popular company we know today as “La-Z-Boy.” Ever since, recliners and overstuffed single-seater chairs have exploded in the furniture market. Today in almost every home in America, Europe and Canada, you can find recliners in almost every living room. Mobility challenged adults today are very lucky in that they too can enjoy the comfort of a recliner without straining muscles to get up from the chair with their very own lift chair.

These chairs have become so popular that there are even options for mobility challenged adults to enjoy recliners. In the 1980s, as technology expanded and allowed the mechanization of many household items with the invention of the microchip, the “lift chair” was created especially for disabled adults and adults who have issues getting in and out of recliners. The first popular lift chair was invented in 1982 and was based heavily on the La-Z-Boy concept. Mechanical lifts controlled by a single button allowed disabled adults to rise and fall into the chair with ease.

The First Lifts

The first mechanical chair lifts were very limited. The materials were often sub-standard because the mechanical lifts were so expensive. Yet consumers needed a chair that was affordable, and so the rest of the materials were often very cheaply sewn and fell apart quickly. Also, the limitation of early mechanics often caused problems for the occupants. The one-button system did not allow occupants to stop the lift mechanism once it started. Often the lift mechanism would get stuck too, creating frustration and physical inaccessibility for many early consumers.

In the early 1990s, the lift chair saw revitalization as microchip technology advanced and allowed multi-button controls. This increased the safety and convenience of lift chair technology greatly. Now, disabled adults could control how fast and how high the chair lifted. Also, mechanisms for lifting the chair became much less expensive. This led to a resurgence of very high quality chairs that were much more affordable to the average consumer. Companies could buy lift mechanisms relatively cheaply and devote much more resources to styling chairs that were much more robust and sturdy. Also, chairs saw a drastic change in level of customizability. Lift mechanisms could be smaller or larger, depending on the weight of the occupant, and this further increased the comfort of the lift chair.

Modern Times

Today’s lift chairs are remarkably identical to regular recliner chairs; especially in high-end lift chair  companies such as Golden Technologies lift chairs. The quality and sturdiness is similar, if not better, in lift chairs when compared to regular recliners. Today’s lift chairs have the latest in computing technology to make them safe, fully customizable and completely similar to top-of-the-line recliners in terms of comfort. With today’s lift chairs, you can rest assured you will have the best mobility assistance products available.

About the Author

Jan Heinen is a chiropractor from Surrey that focuses on caring for limited mobility patients. Visit her website to learn about Golden Technologies lift chairs and Pride Mobility lift chairs.