Power-Lift Toilet Seat
By Sattelberg, Alan R.; Mollendorf, Joseph C.; NSF 2007 Engineering Senior Design Projects to Aid Persons With Disabilities, pp. 128-131Publication Date: 2010
Description of a powered lift seat that enables users to lower and raise themselves to and from a toilet at variable heights with little effort. Designed by an engineering student at the State University of New York at Buffalo, the appliance fits over most existing toilet bowls and attaches to the holes where the seat would be fastened. The prototype consists of a stationary lower frame and a mechanically moveable upper frame to which the seat is fastened. The lower frame has four levelers at its base, allowing height adjustment, and houses most of the mechanical parts, including two 120 volt AC, 15 amp powered linear actuators synchronized to operate at the same rate. They enable a seated person weighing up to 300 pounds to be lifted from a horizontal position to a vertical seat height of 32 inches at 35 degrees to the horizontal in about 30 seconds. The same is true for the lowering function. Two modified armrests from a wheelchair are fastened to the frame, and a momentary up-down switch wired to the linear actuators is mounted under the armrest to the seated person’s right. To protect the user from electrical shock, the device is electrically grounded to the frame and has a ground fault circuit interrupter plug wired to the cord going to the power source.
Published by: Creative Learning Press, Inc. (Website:http://www.creativelearningpress.com)
Link to text: http://nsf-pad.bme.uconn.edu/2007/Chapter11,SUNY%20Buffalo.pdf
ISBN: 1-931280-12-6
