Retractable Wheelchair Access Tray With Adjustable Table Height
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Solution Overview
Problem
Tables and elevated surfaces are difficult for persons in wheelchairs to access due to armrests and frame portions that inhibit close positioning, hindering effective use for eating or working.
Innovation Solution
A wheelchair access system featuring a height-adjustable tray with a retractable support system and lock mechanism, allowing the tray to extend outward from the table and be positioned at a desired height, accommodating the width between armrests and other wheelchair components, thereby facilitating access.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a standard table is used, then the table provides a stable work surface, but persons in wheelchairs cannot access it effectively due to armrests and frame portions blocking close positioning
Solution Approach 1:
The table system is segmented into multiple components: a fixed tabletop, a retractable tray support, and height-adjustable extenders. This segmentation allows the accessible surface to be separated from the main table structure, enabling it to be positioned independently within wheelchair armrest gaps while the main table remains stable and simple.
Solution Approach 2:
The tray support is designed to be movable rather than fixed, allowing it to extend and retract as needed. The height extenders can be adjusted to different positions and locked in place. This dynamic capability enables the system to adapt to different wheelchair configurations and user needs without complicating the overall table structure.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the tray is made height-adjustable to accommodate different wheelchair positions, then accessibility is improved, but the device complexity increases due to additional adjustment mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The height adjustment function is segmented into separate extender components that can be independently adjusted and locked. Each extender operates as an independent unit with its own locking mechanism, allowing for simple, discrete adjustments rather than a complex integrated system.
Solution Approach 2:
The system provides more height adjustment capability than strictly necessary by allowing multiple extender positions, but each individual adjustment mechanism remains simple. This partial adjustment approach solves the adaptability problem without requiring a fully complex continuous adjustment system.
3Ease of operation
If the tray support extends outward from the table, then it provides adequate access width for wheelchairs, but it reduces the usable surface area of the tabletop
Solution Approach 1:
The working surface is segmented between the fixed tabletop and the movable tray. The tray portion can be extended outward to provide necessary access width without requiring the entire tabletop to be enlarged, preserving the main table's compact footprint while adding accessible surface area where needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The tray support transitions from a retracted position (preserving maximum tabletop surface area) to an extended position (providing adequate access width). This dynamic extension allows the system to optimize between surface area and accessibility based on actual usage needs, rather than requiring a permanently larger table.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for facilitating access, includes, a tabletop having an undersurface; a tray support movably positioned relative to the undersurface of the tabletop so as to be positionable between a retracted position in which the tray support is inward of the undersurface of the tabletop and an extended position in which a portion of the tray support extends outwardly from the underside surface of the table top; a tray having an upper tray surface; a height extender removably couplable to the tray; and a lock. The lock is operatively associated with the height extender and the tray support, and is configured to position and lock the tray to the tray support when the tray support is in the extended position, and to locate an upper planar tray surface of the tray at a desired height relative to the tabletop.