All Terrain Wheelchair

ALL TERRAIN WHEELCHAIR

DESIGNER: TIM MORGAN SUPERVISOR: PROF. ROGER ORPWOOD MODERATOR: PROF. TONY MILES

BRIEF BACKGROUND ¾ USER CENTRED RESEARCH ¾ CURRENT MANUAL WHEELCHAIRS WHEELCHAIR TESTING LIMITED OFF ROAD ABILITY AND ILL SUITED TO ROUGH TERRAIN STORYBOARDS AND USER PROFILE ¾ FOUR WHEEL DOWNHILL RACING WHEELCHAIRS EXCELLENT OFF ROAD PERFORMANCE BUT LACK PRACTICALITY ¾ DESIGN AN ALL TERRAIN WHEELCHAIR WHICH ACHIEVES GOOD OFF ROAD PERFORMANCE WHILST MAINTAINING PRACTICALITY

INITIAL CONCEPTS DYNAMICS: OVER- DESIGN STEER ISSUE SOLVED BY DIRECT PROPULSION SIZING CABLE STEERING

BENCHMARK OFF- ROAD ROUTE TESTING OF MODIFIED WHEELCHAIR FORCE ANALYSIS MANUFACTURE OF FULLY OPERATIONAL PROTOTYPE FEATURING ALUMINIUM PIVOT LEVER PULLS CONSTRUCTION, AIR SHOCKS, CABLES TO DISC BRAKES, CHAIN DRIVE, STEER LEFT OR RIGHT CABLE STEERING

PROTOTYPE TESTING ADJUSTABLE, AIR SPRUNG, PROPULSION SYSTEM CONSISTING INDEPENDENT SUSPENSION OF RATCHET LEVERS & CHAIN FRONT AND REAR ALLOWS DRIVE. LEVERS ALSO FEATURE ARTICULATION OVER ROUGH BRAKE LEVERS WHICH OPERATE TERRAIN & COMFORTABLE RIDE DISC BRAKES

DIRECT STEERING ROBUST ALLOY

OPERATED BY CHASSIS UP & DOWN KERBS CABLES AND SLALOMING PIVOTTING LEVER

UP & DOWN STEEP SLOPES ROUGH TERRAIN

TESTED BY TARGET USER WITH GREAT SUCCESS. IN BACK TO BACK TESTS, STANDARD WHEELCHAIR FAILS OBSTACLES

CONCLUSIONS ¾ PROTOTYPE REPRESENTS SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT IN OFF-ROAD PERFORMANCE ¾ PRODUCT PROVIDES WHEELCHAIR USERS WITH THE FREEDOM TO EXPLORE OFF-ROAD ¾ EXCELLENT FEEDBACK FROM TARGET USER & IMPROVEMENTS PROPOSED ¾ PATENT FILED TO PROTECT UNIQUE FEATURES

HEAVY DUTY WHEELS & TYRES SPECIALIST DESIGN PROJECT No. SPD 132 GROUP 2007