Stair Step Assist Device with Adjustable Interface Surfaces
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Solution Overview
Problem
Individuals with non-weight bearing restrictions on one foot face significant challenges in navigating stairs due to lack of stability and the need for expensive structural changes or temporary ramps, especially for shorter healing periods.
Innovation Solution
A stair step assisting device with adjustable components to accommodate different user heights and staircase riser heights, featuring extensive tread and riser interface surfaces for enhanced stability, and handles for easy repositioning, allowing users to climb or descend stairs without weight-bearing on the affected foot.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If crutches are used for stair navigation, then mobility is enabled, but stability is insufficient requiring users to hop
Solution Approach 1:
The stair climbing device divides the stair navigation task into discrete steps, with each step having dedicated interface surfaces for tread contact and riser contact. This segmentation allows the device to interact with the staircase structure at multiple points simultaneously, providing both mobility and stability without requiring hopping motions.
Solution Approach 2:
The device structure nests multiple functional components within a compact frame, including upper and lower body sections that can be positioned at different heights. This nested arrangement allows the device to maintain a stable configuration while enabling step-by-step movement through the staircase.
2Stability of the object's composition
If ramps are used for stair navigation, then stability is improved, but structural changes to stairs are required and cost is high
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the stabilization function from the staircase structure itself and transfers it to the portable device. Instead of modifying the stairs to provide stability (as with ramps), the device carries its own stability mechanisms through extensive interface surfaces that contact the existing stair structure without requiring any modifications.
Solution Approach 2:
The device acts as an intermediary between the user and the staircase, providing the necessary stability and support without requiring changes to either the user's mobility aids or the staircase structure. The interface surfaces mediate the interaction between the device and the stairs, distributing forces across multiple contact points.
3Ease of operation
If devices with legs are used for stair navigation, then mobility is provided, but stability is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The device transitions from simple vertical leg support to multi-dimensional contact with the staircase structure. By adding extensive interface surfaces that contact both treads and risers, the device utilizes multiple spatial dimensions for stability, creating a stable platform that enables smooth mobility without hopping.
4Adaptability or versatility
If adjustable components are added to accommodate different users and staircases, then adaptability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The device incorporates adjustable components that allow dynamic adaptation to different user heights and staircase configurations. The upper and lower bodies can be repositioned vertically to match different riser heights, and the interface surfaces can be adjusted to accommodate varying tread depths, providing versatility without excessive complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed embodiments include a stair step assisting device which aids a user, recovering from surgery or having an injury which prevents bearing weight on one foot or ankle, in climbing or descending a staircase. The stair step assisting device has a main body, a lower body and an upper body, which in some embodiments are adjustable relative to one another to accommodate heights of different users and/or different riser heights of different staircases. The device includes lower and upper tread interface surfaces which rest on treads of two adjacent steps, and lower and upper riser interface surfaces which are positioned against risers of two adjacent steps.