Modular Staircase Access System for Wheelchair Safety
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing access systems for disabled individuals, such as ramps and elevators, face challenges in accommodating significant height differences and require extensive space, leading to safety issues and high costs, while existing solutions often necessitate destruction of existing staircases, limiting their applicability.
Innovation Solution
A modular access system that integrates with staircases, featuring a sloped platform and lower platform connected by a hinge, allowing the lower platform to remain parallel to the ground during vertical movement, with a motion and power center that adjusts the angle between platforms, and includes safety features like ramps and stoppers to prevent involuntary wheelchair movement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a ramp is built with a maximum slope of 4-5% for safe wheelchair movement, then the disabled can move safely and conveniently, but the ramp must cover very long horizontal distances
Solution Approach 1:
The access system is divided into multiple segments: a lower platform for wheelchair boarding, a sloped platform for elevation, and connection elements. This segmentation allows the wheelchair to be elevated in stages rather than requiring a single long ramp, thereby reducing the horizontal space needed while maintaining safety.
Solution Approach 2:
The system transitions from a horizontal ramp solution to a vertical elevation solution by introducing a sloped platform that can be raised to match the staircase height. This dimensional change from horizontal to vertical movement resolves the contradiction by eliminating the need for long horizontal distances.
2Device complexity
If the lower platform and sloped platform consist of a single structure, then the structure is simpler, but the disabled person is forced to move forward involuntarily causing them to fall off the wheelchair
Solution Approach 1:
The system separates the lower platform and sloped platform into distinct movable components connected by hinges. This allows independent control of each platform's movement, preventing the involuntary forward motion that occurs in single-structure designs and ensuring the wheelchair remains stable and safe.
3Ease of operation
If a ramp is built elsewhere with width of at least 180 cm to enable two wheelchairs to pass side-by-side, then two wheelchairs can pass simultaneously, but more space is required
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of providing lateral space for two wheelchairs to pass side-by-side, the system elevates the wheelchair vertically using the sloped platform. This dimensional change from lateral to vertical movement allows sequential passage of multiple wheelchairs through the same space, reducing the area required while maintaining operational ease.
4Adaptability or versatility
If existing solutions are used, then access between levels is provided, but the existing staircase must be demolished to create empty space
Solution Approach 1:
The access system is designed to be installed alongside existing staircases without requiring their demolition. The system serves multiple functions: providing wheelchair access while preserving the original staircase for other uses, thereby eliminating construction time and costs associated with demolition while maintaining adaptability.
5Reliability
If ramps are built with proper width and surface covering, then the disabled can move safely, but time, labour and high costs are required
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses movable platforms with hinges and motion centers that can be adjusted and positioned as needed. This dynamic design allows for flexible installation and adaptation to different locations, reducing construction time and labor while maintaining safety through proper surface covering and structural design.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables safe and convenient access for disabled individuals between levels without altering the existing staircase, is cost-efficient, adaptable to various heights and widths, and can be easily installed and maintained, addressing the limitations of traditional systems while ensuring user safety.
Implementation Method 1
a hinge connection (26) between the lower platform (8) and the sloped platform (3) which enables the lower platform (8) to always remain parallel to the ground by changing the angle between the lower platform (8) and the sloped platform (3)
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 1a
Figure 2
AI summary
The invention relates to a access system for disabled designed for the disabled using a wheelchair or crutches or for people who experience difficulties in crossing levels of ground with certain height differences.