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Abstract
In India the number of disabled individuals is increasing every year. Mobility aids are useful for patients for
transportation and a replacement for walking especially in indoor and outdoor environment. Wheelchairs and stretchers
are the most commonly used medical equipment for the transportation of patients. Transferring the patients from
wheelchair to stretcher or to the medical bed is always an issue for the attendant or nurse. Understanding the various
issues regarding the mobility equipment and introducing a better design will be an asset for the medical field and a
helping hand for disabled individuals. There is a need for a wheelchair cum stretcher to facilitate the disabled patients
mobility and to provide a novel medical equipment for use in the Indian hospitals.
Adopting various kinds of research methods helped to obtain more information about hospital mobility aids and for
data collection. It has been observed that every year the numbers of disabled individuals are increasing by different kinds
of accidents. Presently wheelchairs and stretcher are the commonly used mobility aid for indoor and outdoor purpose.
From the user study it was found out that the need of a wheelchair cum stretcher can be an asset for the Indian hospitals.
Transferring the patients from wheelchair to the stretcher or to the bed is a difficult task in hospitals. The presently used
wheelchair and stretcher design is not meeting the users need. From the identified need, QFD was generated and the
main priorities should be given to ergonomic design, mechanism, safety and functionality. From the Quality Function
Deployment (QFD), Product Design Specification (PDS) was made. Considering the issues like safety, hygienic, cleaning
and functionality the concepts were generated.
New features like document holder, provision for oxygen cylinder, and rotatable handle have been introduced. Final
concept was selected using Pugh selection method by evaluating all the concepts with bench marked product. A 1:2 mock
up model had been made to validate the concept and feedback was collected from users. Our study shows that it is possible
to save 50% space by the wheelchair- cum- stretcher design. The product will thus likely be an efficient mobility aid in
hospitals.
Keywords: Mobility Aid, Dual Purpose, Wheelchair cum Stretcher, Convertible Type, Safety
Nomenclatur e
Kg
Kilogram
mm
millimeter
Abbreviations
CAD
PDS
QFD
1.
INTRODUCTION
Fig. 1 Wheelchair
2.
DESIGN METHODOLOGY
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3. LITURATURE REVIEW
Journal papers and patents explored here are
related directly or indirectly to the proposed area of
work that is design and development of a Wheelchair
cum Stretcher. These papers are to support and
enlighten the whole process of design in the specific
area.
3.1 Wheelchair and Stretcher
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5.4 Concept 3
This is concept is operated with hydraulic
mechanism, so that the height can be adjusted according
to the users convenience. The handle is designed in
such a way that, the user wont get any difficulty while
handling the product. A simple design of oxygen
cylinder holder is provided below the seat so that it can
help to withstand stretcher with a supporting element for
adjusting the weight.
Fig. 17 Concept 3
A hydraulic scissor lifter mechanism lifts the
entire wheelchair into stretcher. The telescopic
arrangement supports the back rest so that weight of the
body will be evenly distributed in the stretcher.
Fig. 15 Concept 1
5.3 Concept 2
This concept is slightly different from the concept
one. The back rest is providing with an adjustable
handle with a comfortable holding position. The length
can be adjusted and the length can be maintained by
adjusting the knob. The frame design is made in such a
way that proper strength is provided to the wheelchair.
Fig. 16 Concept 2
Fig. 19 Concept 4
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5.6 Concept 5
This concept is based on the gear mechanism.
According to the rotation of the middle wheel, the front
and back seats are rotated in opposite direction and
stretcher arrangement is achieved.
Fig. 20 Concept 5
5.7 Concept selection and evaluation
The generated concepts were compared and
studied using Pugh method with the bench marked
product. Concept 3 was selected as the final concept
and it was verified with user opinion. The selected
concept is modeled using Alias studio tools and
rendered in Hyper shot for visualization
Fig. 24 Features
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7. SUMMARY
The present study was intended to develop a
concept for a wheelchair- cum- stretcher, with the
motivation of saving space and precluding exertion by
the patient. By adopting various research methods
helped to identify the various issues of the topic,
importance of safety and hygiene and significance of
materials and manufacturing process involved in the
whole product. From the identified needs ergonomic
design, mechanism and safety were prioritized by
Quality Function Deployment. Product Design
Specification was generated based on QFD and five
different concepts were created through mind mapping
technique. Digital modeling was done using Alias studio
tools and hyper shot software was used for better
visualization. Final concept selection was done using
Pugh selection matrix by comparing the bench marked
product. A 1:2 mock up model of selected concept was
made for validating the final concept. Our study shows
that it is possible to save 50% space by the wheelchaircum- stretcher design. The product will thus likely be an
efficient mobility aid in hospitals.
8.
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
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REFERENCES
Anonymous,
Wheelchair
history
and
development, www.newdisability.com, retrieved
on 27th Sept. 2010.
Anonymous, History of the wheelchair,
www.inventors.about.com, retrieved on 27th Sept.
2010.
Peter Axelson., A guide to wheelchair
selection, paralyzed veterans of America,
Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-publication
data, Washington 1994.
James J. Kauzlarich., Wheelchair caster shimmy
II: Damping, Journal of Rehabilitation Research
and Development, Volume. 37, No. 3, pp 305313, May/June 2000.
Cooper R, Corfman T, Fitzgerald S, Boninger M,
Spaeth D, Ammer W, Arva J., Performance
Assessment of a Pushrim Activated Power
[6]
[7]
[8]
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Department
of
Mechanical
Engineering,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US,
retrieved on 24th Sept. 2010.
[9] Debkumar Chakrabarti, Indian Anthropometric
Dimensions for Ergonomic Design Practice,
National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, 1999.
[10] Unknown, wheelchair, stretcher, hydraulic
lifting, www.googleimages.com, retrieved on 8th
.
2010