Rebecca Prangley, Jeffrey Hadley, Tori McFarlen, Patrick Craig, Nicholas Earle, Christopher Mackin
A Wheelchair Wheel Changing Station is an apparatus which allows people who have upper body mobility and use wheelchairs to change their wheels independently. The need for such an apparatus arises because wheel changes presently occur when the user is not in their wheelchair. Transferring people in and out of their wheelchairs unnecessarily is tiring and increases the chance of injury to the person being moved as well as those who may be assisting them.
A design has been conceived for a Wheelchair Wheel Changing Station this device works such that the user reverses up the ramp into a locking mechanism. They are then able to lower the platform behind the drive wheels to allow for a wheel change. The platform can then be returned to its original position, allowing the user to exit the device safely.
The Wheelchair Wheel Changing Station includes a ramp profile with a landing halfway, telescopic tubing to allow for a greater range of wheelchair sizes, wide platforms to allow for the caster wheels of the wheelchair to swivel, the use of a motor to drive the cam shaft electrically, and a safety locking mechanism. The locking mechanism and motor will be accessible through a control panel that will have safeguards in place so that the user is not able to exit the device unless it is safe to do so. The design has been drafted from the use of a Computer Assisted Drafting program and all force and torque analyses have been performed.