wheelbench

English

Etymology

wheel +‎ bench

Noun

wheelbench (plural wheelbenches)

1. The seat for the driver that sits above the wheels in a wagon that is drawn by draft animals such as horses or oxen.
   • 1889, WX Kupp, Machine for cooling wagon-tires - US Patent 397,942:

     This object we accomplish by the use of the mechanism illustrated in the annexed drawings, in which Figure l is a perspective view of the wheelbench and the tank.

   • 1992, Ann Fears Crawford, Crystal Sasse Ragsdale, Women in Texas, page 16:

     The wheelbench was tied to the "necking stick," or yoke of the oxen.

   • 2010 September 16, J.D. Campbell, “Morph”, in alt.yoga (Usenet):

     Perhaps there was some man thousands ago in the desert at night the dogs coyotes hyennas ate walking around in a nimbus now he developed an instinct for light bulbs i call him satan after the wagon wheelbench ....

2. A manually propelled, wheeled mobility device in which the user lies down. The user pushes the wheels with the hands in a similar way to propelling a wheelchair or, alternatively, a second person pulls or pushes it by the handles.
   • 2009 March, Meng-Hui Hsu, Hsueh-Yu Chen, Jen-Yu Liu, Chien-Liang Chen, “Dual-purpose wheelchair mechanism designs”, in Proceedings of the International MultiConference of Engineers and Computer Sicentists:

     Wheelchairs are used by people for whom walking is difficult or impossible due to illness (physiological or physical), injury, or disability. People with both sitting and walking disability often need to use a wheelbench.

   • 2016, LAWriter Ohio Laws and Rules:

     For purposes of this chapter, a mobility device is a manual wheelchair, power wheelchair, power-operated vehicle (scooter), or wheelbench (a device, similar in function to a wheelchair, that is used by a person in a recumbent position).

   • 2018, Attoy K. Denobriga, Weatherproof wheelchair cover (US Patent App. 15/253,888):

     People who have difficulty sitting and walking often make use of a wheelbench.