Dynamic seating components for wheelchairs
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional wheelchairs with static seating components are prone to premature failure due to involuntary and violent movements from individuals with medical conditions like cerebral palsy, leading to damage and extended repair processes that are costly and inconvenient.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of dynamic seating components such as flexible footplates, telescoping footrests, and pivotable mechanisms in wheelchairs that absorb energy and allow for adjustable movement, reducing the stress on wheelchair components and accommodating various user movements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional static seating components are used in wheelchairs, then the structure is simple and easy to manufacture, but the wheelchair is prone to premature failure due to exaggerated and violent movements from users with medical conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by replacing static seating components with dynamic ones that can move and adapt. The footplate is connected to the footrest via a flexible element allowing pivoting movement, and the footrest can telescope along the seat member. These dynamic components absorb energy from violent movements and accommodate range of motion variations, preventing damage to the wheelchair structure while maintaining simplicity in design.
2Duration of action of stationary object
If static footplates and footrests are used, then the manufacturing process is simple, but the components suffer excessive wear and tear from user movements causing premature failure
Solution Approach 1:
The footrest is designed with dynamic capabilities including telescoping along the seat member and pivoting footplate movement. These dynamic features allow the footrest to accommodate user movements and range of motion variations without causing excessive wear on mounting components, thereby extending operational life while maintaining reasonable manufacturing complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The footrest design incorporates adjustable parameters including telescoping distance along the seat member and pivoting angle of the footplate. These parameter changes allow the footrest to adapt to different user needs and movement patterns, reducing wear on fixed mounting components and extending the operational life of the footrest assembly.
3Reliability
If fixed seat-to-back angle is used, then the structure is stable and simple, but excessive wear and tear occurs on wheelchair parts due to rocking behaviors
Solution Approach 1:
The seating system incorporates dynamic elements including a pivoting footplate connected to the footrest and a telescoping footrest that can move along the seat member. These dynamic components absorb energy from rocking behaviors and accommodate range of motion variations, preventing damage to the wheelchair structure while maintaining reasonable design complexity.
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
These dynamic components minimize the risk of wheelchair breakage, prolong its operational life, and reduce the need for frequent repairs, providing both mechanical and economic benefits while also potentially alleviating user behaviors that cause damage.
Implementation Method 1
at least one flexible element secured at a first end to the base plate; a foot plate secured to a second end of the at least one flexible element, such that in a neutral position, the foot plate is substantially parallel to the base plate and such that when a force is applied to the foot plate, the flexible element deflects so as to allow the foot plate to be oriented at an angle to the base plate
Data Source
AI summary
A wheelchair includes a pivotable mechanism. The pivotable mechanism allows for a pivoting movement about an axis defined by an interface between adjacent components. These components may be (a) a seat member and a back member, (b) a seat member and a footrest, (c) a foot rest and a footplate support, (d) a baseplate and a footplate, or (e) a back member and a headrest.