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Our Technology
Behind each ROVE chair are some of the most cutting-edge technologies to ensure your dream wheelchair is the perfect fit for you and your lifestyle.
World-class technology handmade in Melbourne for unrivalled fit and performance.
Titanium + Carbon Fibre
The unique combination of titanium and carbon fibre provides the ultimate strong, lightweight wheelchair without compromising on durability.
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The stiff, lightweight properties of carbon fibre provide optimal performance and pushing efficiency. Strategically placed titanium in areas of high impact and abrasion ensures that the chair remains extremely strong and durable for the utmost reliability.
Titanium Additive Manufacturing
Additive Manufacturing (3D Printing) technology enables the design and creation of the custom geometry frame with ease. Aerospace-grade titanium (Ti6Al4V) provides optimal strength to weight ratio allowing us to create, extremely strong parts while reducing mass.
The design flexibility of additive manufacturing enables precise control of material thickness to be only exactly where needed. Thicker areas of material are used in maximum stress areas, such as around tube junctions and high load areas. In areas that experience lower amounts of stress, the material is minimised to optimise overall mass.
The use of internal lattice structures that provide stiffness to the parts can only be achieved using additive manufacturing.
Carbon Fibre Tube
Carbon fibre is a polymer and is sometimes known as graphite fibre. It is a strong, lightweight material, five times stronger than steel and twice as stiff.
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Carbon fibre reinforced composites work well when shapes and loads are simple such as the straight circular tubes like those used in the frame of our wheelchairs.
Our carbon fibre tubes are produced using a process of filament winding, a manufacturing process in which continuous strands of carbon fibre are wound under tension at specified angles. As they are wound, the fibres are impregnated in a resinous matrix before being cured into a strong and durable composite material using pressure and heat.
Testing
Quality control and testing is an essential part of both our R&D but also on our production line to ensure that only the best product is delivered to you.
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We implement a range of testing including material tensile testing for each wheelchair produced, frame stiffness testing and accelerated fatigue testing for mechanisms.
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All our wheelchairs have been tested and built to Australian Standards (AS NZS 3695.1-2011), and are rated for a 110kg.
Precision Engineered
Our titanium lugs are produced using Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS) process, with Titanium powder particles melted together by high-power fibre lasers.
The parts are then heat treated for optimal mechanical performance before being CNC machined for precision fitment including the flipchip interface.
See below a video showing an overview of the process used at Rove to build our complex, lightweight titanium parts used it each wheelchair.