Posted on April 18, 2015 by ucadmin
UltraComfort America has revolutionized the lift chair hand control with the third generation of its exclusive AutoDrive™ hand control for their patented StellarComfort Collection of “power recliners that lift”.
“We’ve been referring to it as “AutoDrive 3.0” because of the technological advancements it has over our current version of AutoDrive. We’ve brought it to the field and retailers who have seen it cannot wait for it to be available on our StellarComfort chairs,” says Richard Golden, CEO.
Not only is the appearance of the hand control different from earlier versions, but the chair’s functionality has dramatically improved for a more comfortable, user-friendly experience.
The new technology inside the hand control, along with a faster motor to move the backrest, have increased the speed of the backrest raising from the Zero Gravity position to a fully lifted position by 30%. UltraComfort’s StellarComfort chairs are dual motor chairs, with separate motors to move the backrest and operate the lift mechanism.
“It’s important for people to understand we are not increasing the speed of the lift function of the chair as it raises off the floor. Increasing the chair’s lifting speed could be dangerous to some consumers who may not be able to stand that quickly without losing their balance and falling,” says Golden. “What we have done is increase the speed of the backrest raising up to 90 degrees from whatever position the user was reclined in, such as Trendelenburg, Zero Gravity or Sleep. This will decrease the amount of overall time it takes someone to go from one of those positions to a standing position, without risking their safety.”
The top two buttons, LIFT and RECLINE, are the Total Control buttons. They will operate the chair the way a traditional two-button hand control operates a three-position lift chair while still allowing the user to experience patented positioning technology featured only in the StellarComfort Collection. The hand control’s middle buttons – ZG, TV, SIT, SLEEP and P – provide Position Control for the user. ZG stands for the Zero Gravity position. TV is for UltraComfort’s TV Watching position, a customer favorite. SIT moves the chair into the seated position with the footrest closed, and SLEEP is pre-programmed for the most common sleep position using a lift chair. The small P button is the programming button that allows the user to set the four positioning buttons to their personalized version of each position.
“No other “power recliner that lifts” on the market today features programmability the way UltraComfort lift chairs operated with the AutoDrive hand control do,” says Golden. “Consumers can set all four of those buttons to their most comfortable position quickly and easily for a customized comfort experience.”
The bottom buttons surrounding the chair graphic are for Custom Control, allowing the user to customize the backrest and footrest to the exact position they find most comfortable.
In addition to a new layout of the operating buttons, the next generation AutoDrive hand control has a more ergonomic design that rests more comfortably in the hand; a flat back so the hand control can be placed on the armrest without falling off; and lockout features for user’s safety. For those who like the style and movement of our StellarComfort Collection, but prefer a two-button hand control, a partial lock option is available allowing only the “Lift” and “Recline” buttons to be used. A Total Lock feature is also available which will disable the entire hand control for safety and convenience.
“We’ve spent months perfecting the programming in the AutoDrive hand control, along with its functionality, aesthetics and ergonomics. We believe that AutoDrive 3.0 is the most important advancement in hand control design since the introduction of the lift chair,” says Golden.