TiLite has found success providing customized aluminum and titanium wheelchairs.

Living life independently is something most people take for granted, but it’s something people living with wheelchairs think about most every day. Having a wheelchair once meant dealing with limitations when trying to run an errand or go to a restaurant. Luckily, TiLite, whose parent company is TiSport LLC, founded in 1997, saw this need. It formed its TiLite division in 1998 to manufacture customized wheelchairs.

“A very important aspect of life is being able to be independent,” CEO David Lippes says. “If a person is truly independent, he is able to be a productive member of society and is able to interact with people at work, school or socially. When you use a wheelchair, the weight and fit of the wheelchair should not limit your independent mobility. For example, if a person is unable to load a wheelchair into his car because it is too heavy or too big, they are restricted in work and social settings because they always need assistance with something able-bodied people take for granted.

“A lot of people work at TiLite who use wheelchairs. These people might otherwise qualify for disability payments but instead they’re earning a good salary, paying taxes and living full lives.”

TiLite has been successful in providing customized aluminum and titanium wheelchairs, and Lippes is most proud of the mobility the company has given to people. “I can tell you heartwrenching stories,” he says. “On one occasion, for example, I met a family in New Jersey who had a six- or seven-year-old daughter. She got in one of our chairs and she took off. Her mother started crying and said, ‘For the first time in her life, she’s able to move on her own.’”

The company has been able to prove to its customers, home medical providers, physical therapists and doctors, that it can provide a product at a reasonable price that “changes people and the way they live their lives.”

Changing Wheelchairs
Lippes says TiLite has changed the way wheelchairs are designed. Some problems with wheelchairs are that they are heavy, bulky and don’t fit a person’s body type correctly. TiLite began manufacturing wheelchairs with a reduced weight, with fewer incidents of breakage and shrunk the total size of the chair’s frame to accurately fit different people.

“Part of why a person uses a wheelchair is because of unique physical limitations,” Lippes says. “Fit, seating and self-propulsion is critical.”

In addition, manufacturing companies often put components on wheelchairs that add to their weight and often break off.

“In the past, wheelchair manufacturers have built standard-sized frames and achieved a good fit by moving components around on that frame,” he says.

“Since a real limitation to self-propulsion is weight, we thought if we could get rid of the adjustable components ... and truly customize the frame and the components, we would be able to achieve the best fit and get rid of a lot of weight on the frame. But also, the fewer the parts, the less parts that fall off or break.”

Titanium Advantages
Lippes stresses what a wheelchair is made of can also affect the chair’s weight and size. “Unlike aluminum, [titanium] doesn’t work-harden – as vibrations go through metals, they become brittle and harden, which makes the chair less strong and can break,” Lippes says. “Also, as people ride through parking lots in aluminum chairs, the vibrations from bouncing cause fatigue in the body.

“Titanium absorbs vibration so it reduces fatigue at the end of the day, and also reduces muscle spasms caused when subjected to vibration,” he continues.

Titanium is also lighter and stronger than aluminum, and will last for 15 years or longer.

“If made with titanium, our wheel- chairs should never fail,” Lippes says.