Recliner Lift Chairs - Their Variations & Functions

By: Christoffer X Altesino

 

 Recliner lift chairs are a group of chairs in the lift chair family. The chairs are equipped with a powered system to lift and can hence push the chair from its basal position upwards, thus enabling the user to come up to a standing posture. Apart from the lifting mechanism, a recliner lift chair is also capable of flattening out or reclining up to certain angles, which gives the user more comfortable positions to rest or sleep. Such chairs are especially beneficial to the aged people, those suffering from infirmity or the people with disability providing greater comfort and flexibility. The chairs start relatively cheap, but more sophisticated features invariably involve bigger price tags.

Most recliner lift chairs have a capacity to handle weights up to 450 pounds. Some can even carry load of up to 700 pounds. Prices start around $400 in the USA and can even exceed $2000 for a state-of-the art leather luxury chair. Chief manufacturers are Pride Mobility, Golden Technologies, Medlift, Action Lift Chair (ALC, Inc), etc.

Recliner lift chairs come in several varieties. A chair having dual positions has a lifted position and a slightly reclined "TV" position for reading, relaxing or watching television. The user's back and thighs stay at an angle of about 90 degrees to each other in the reclined position. Such chairs cannot be slanted enough for the purpose of sleeping. A chair having one more position, i.e. 3, has an additional full recline position of approximately 135 degrees, which would allow most people to sleep comfortably. An innumerable position recliner lift chair can go fully flat, with the back and feet sections being able to move independently. It may even allow the so called Trendelenburg posture, where the feet stay at a height above the heart's height.
A potential hazard with a recliner lift chair lies with its strong grip formed by the frame and the motor. Unsuspecting children and pets run the risk of getting caught and crushed. After reported infant deaths in Oklahoma, USA and Manchester, UK, a safety standard for the product has been passed in order to alleviate any risk of injury/ death caused due to this chair (BS 8474). Still, not all manufacturers have attempted to fulfill the safety standards. Recently, La-Z-Boy, a New York stock exchange listed US manufacturer has modified its range of recliner lift chairs to meet the UK safety standard.

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