China: After seeing his 65-year-old wife Wang Huifang struggle up and down the stairs between their apartment on the fifth floor and ground level with a broken leg 67-year-old Li Rongbiao has designed a wheelchair that can go up and down stairs.
Li started with no mechanical knowledge but taught himself what he needed out of books and came up for a design for the chair. The current prototype needs minimal assistance from another person but soon Li hopes to have the chair totally independent.
Having sold his apartment to finance the designing and patenting of his new wheelchair Li is looking for commercial partners to help him get the device on the market. The wheelchair can reportedly climb 3,000 stairs before it needs recharging.
