Wheelchair-Mounted Suction System for Retrieval of Small Items
By Robideau, Daniel R.; Mollendorf, Joseph C.; NSF 2005 Engineering Senior Design Projects to Aid Persons With Disabilities, pp. 136-137Publication Date: 2005
Description of a suction system to help people who use wheelchairs or are otherwise unable to bend over easily to retrieve items from the ground. Developed at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at State University of New York at Buffalo, the device has 3 main pieces: a plunger with an o-ring seal, a hollow vacuum tube, and a hose and 3 interchangeable suction cups of varying diameter. The base is a piece of plastic tubing with the hose and suction cup attached through an opening. The plunger system operates inside the tube and is sealed with the o-ring. The user places the suction cup onto the item to be retrieved and pulls the plunger up, which produces a vacuum forming a strong seal on the object. The item can then be pulled up. The vacuum seal is released by pushing the plunger back into the tube. The system can easily be mounted to a wheelchair. The cups are interchangeable for retrieving items of various sizes. Cost of project was approximately $175.
Published by: Creative Learning Press, Inc. (Website:http://www.creativelearningpress.com)
Link to text: http://nsf-pad.bme.uconn.edu/2005/Buffalo.pdf
ISBN: 1-931280-03-7
