Faculty Advisor
Ault, Holly K.
Faculty Advisor
Hoffman, Allen H.
Sponsor
Massachusetts Hospital School
Abstract
Impacts between powered wheelchairs and their surroundings can cause injury to the occupants and damage the wheelchair and environment. Wheelchair bumpers are not commercially available. The project goal was to design a shock absorbing system to reduce problems associated with wheelchair collisions. A bumper system consisting of two sub-systems was designed, built and tested. One sub-system is a footbox that prevents client injury by acting as a physical barrier between the area of impact and the client's feet. The footbox also absorbs energy by compressing viscoelastic foam. The second sub-system is a parallelogram linkage footrest hanger mount that encases a viscoelastic polyurethane bumper. Both sub-systems are mounted to the wheelchair without major modifications. Results of static and dynamic tests show that the system is able to reduce the forces experienced by the wheelchair for impacts up to five mph and to lower the probability of injury of the occupant.
Publisher
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Date Accepted
January 1999
Major
Biomedical Engineering
Major
Undecided
Major
Mechanical Engineering
Project Type
Major Qualifying Project
Copyright Statement
Access to this report is limited to members of the WPI community. Please contact a project advisor or their department to request access
Accessibility
Restricted-WPI community only
Advisor Department
Mechanical Engineering