Loopwheels are made by Jelly Products Ltd, a product design company that was founded in 2006 by Sam Pearce. The company is owned by Sam and his wife Gemma.
A Kickstarter campaign has been launched of which £18,165 has already been pledged. This was to fund their first production run of loopwheels for wheelchairs
This month loopwheels have launched, loopwheels for wheelchairs,available in both 24″ and 25″ diameters. These have been designed to help you push over uneven streets, rough tracks, grass and gravel paths, with less effort. The carbon springs give you extra power to get up or down kerbs. They’re extremely strong and durable, needing very little maintenance. With quick release axles, loopwheels fit most active wheelchairs.
You can view loopwheels for wheelchairs in action in the video below.
Sam Pearce founder of Jelly Products, the company behind loopwheels told:
“It’s been a really challenging product to develop, but I’ve always believed that good design is about making a real difference to people’s lives. With loopwheels I honestly believe I have done that.”
- extra driving power or torque transfer from the springs, which gets you over obstacles more easily
- you can go up a kerb/curb (and down again)
- it’s easier to cope with uneven road camber (a sideways slope)
- suspension gives you more comfort
- carbon composite springs absorb road vibration, which is tiring and causes discomfort or even pain for some people
- it is easier for the user or their carer to push, because getting you moving requires less effort
- you’re not restricted to smooth tarmac or paved surfaces – you can move more easily off-road and on badly maintained pavements.
Loopwheels have been nominated for Design of the Year 2015 by Sebastian Conrad. Sam told us his feelings about being nominated for such a prestigious award.
“I was shocked but so proud to be nominated for the Designs of the Year, alongside world class products like the Google self-driving car and BMW’s i8. It affirms my belief that loopwheels is a world-class product too, because good design is about making people’s every day lives better”
He graduated in Mechanical Engineering from the University Leeds in 1989, and followed with a Masters in Industrial Design from the University of Teesside in 1992. He began his design career in the 1990s designing keyhole surgery instruments
(for Surgical Innovations in Leeds) and then palm top computers with London based Psion plc before setting up his own product design company Jelly Products in 2006.
Loopwheels on twitter https://twitter.com/Loopwheels
Loopwheels website http://www.loopwheels.com/