Gyrocafe Tray (New York University)

Nieun Sim, Ah-Hyun Kim, Tzu-Yao Wang, Cassian Whitehurst 

Abstract

People with physical disabilities, as well as  older adults have difficulty with moving from place to place often use walkers to assist them. However, when they use their walkers, the walkers create difficulty when it is time to transfer food to a table. Our project’s goal is to create a device to help walker users carry food safely (without spilling out) while they are using walker. Our final design uses a bowl with two square frames that balances automatically while staying attached to the walker, allowing the walker user to easily carry food while moving.

Introduction/Background

Yao’s story.

Yao was an occupational therapist who worked in a hospital. One day, there was a ward meeting about the issue of a patient falling down. One of the cases was that he tried to carry his cup while he was walking. However, when he walked with walker with cup in hand, the cup shook heavily so that the water spilled out. It lead him slipped down. Yao decided to ask the patient why he tried to carry the food in such a dangerous way. The patient said that “I was in the hospital alone, and there was no one who could help me.”

After realizing the need that the patient had, Yao asked the hospital to import some trays for the walkers. The hospital indeed bought some trays for walker. However, in another ward meeting  for the issue of about patients falling down, there was one case in which he fell down because he used the walker with tray to carry food. This time, the patient talked to Yao actively to say thanks to him. He said that “thank you” for finding the device for him although it wasn’t really helping him with the task of carrying food and water independently.

Problem Statement

The walker user needs a special device because they have difficulties with transporting food with walker.

Name of Device

Gyrocafe, ‘Gyro’ is derived from the gyroscope, which can stay upright; no matter how the position changes, the center will always stay in the middle. “Café” is derived from the device’s use for food products. In short, the Gyrocafe’s name comes from the concept of balancing food, based on using “gyro”-scopes to balance food you would use in a “cafe”-teria.

Primary Population the Device is Being Developed for

The primary population for Gyrocafe are walker users (primarily indoor) who need to carry food safely (without spilling out) while they are using walker.

Purpose

Transporting various types of food without spilling them, while using walker.

Description/Materials/Mechanism

Hinge Mechanism

It has two square shape frames. Outer frame is slightly bigger than the inner frame. Those two frames are connected with a hinge which allow the frames to swing freely. There are two bowls. One is fixed to inner frame, the other is detachable which contains the meal.  Square frames are made of acrylic plastic, hinges are made of nails and paper clips, and the supporting bar is made of paper box and tape.

Center of Gravity System

 

The structure combines with two frames, one bowl, and four hinges enable the Gyrocafe to move in the multiple directions. However, in order to offer better balance, lowering the central gravity is required. Thus, the weighting ball is attached under the outer bowl for lowering the central gravity so that when the bowl are moving due to the outer force, the weighting ball will guide the bowl to come back to the initial position.

Evaluation

The final device was evaluated of its stability, ability to adjust quickly, and safety. The Gyrocafe tray can support the weight of the average meal; it can adjust quickly to movements without tipping over, and that it can be safely used.  The Gyrocafe tray was placed under testing by peers, and was also adjusted with feedback from professionals who observed the device in use.

Discussion and Conclusion

Progress

1. Make Frankenstein Models

2. Confirm Design

3. make first version

4. make second version

5. Choose the material/draw the final design(measure the size)/Cut the frame

6. Apply different hinges

7. Build up the final product

The Gyrocafe tray meets the project goal. This tray can have food placed in it, and be carried around by a walker user. This device allows walker users increased independence when it comes to eating.  We have a light, firm and durable tray that is made from cheap materials, so it can be sold at an affordable price. We found that the bowl we were using was too small, so we increased the inner size of the frame to make more space for a bigger bowl, while decreasing height of the frame to keep the weight low enough to not throw everything off-balance.  We designed a detachable bowl within the main bowl, so that the device could be cleaned easier and placed on a table if the need arrives. We used a hinge mechanism, plus the physics of center of gravity, to make our device auto-balance.

Strengths (from other occupational therapists and physical therapists)

  • The user can move their meal safely because Gyrocafe tray looks stable.
  • It is good for people who have tremors and problems with balance.
  • Gyrocafe tray decreases risk of slipping or falling down from food that spilled to the floor

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