A stairlift is a mechanical device for lifting people up and down stairs. For sufficiently wide stairs, a rail is mounted to the treads of the stairs. A chair or lifting platform is attached to the rail. A person gets onto the chair or platform and is lifted up or down the stairs by the chair which moves along the rail.
Stairlifts are known variously as stair lifts, stair-lifts, chair lifts, stair gliders and by other names. This type of chair lift should not be confused with the chairlift used by skiers. The term stair climber can refer either to stair lifts, or more commonly to the exercise equipment by the same name.
Some of the first stairlifts to be produced commercially were advertised and sold in the USA in the 1930s by the Inclinator Company of America. Many users at the time were victims of polio.
Now they are seen for use in elderly, fall-prone individuals, and the disabled who are unable to navigate stairs safely.
