Development of an assist mechanism to get over a step in a manual wheelchair

Abstract

Regarding the wheelchair climbing over a step, a wheelchair user cannot get over the step without the help of an assistant. Therefore, in order to reduce the burden on the caregiver and extend the range of action of the wheelchair user, we propose a step-crossing assist mechanism that allows only the wheelchair user to cross the step. A crutch-type assist mechanism has been developed to overcome the front wheel of a wheelchair, and a double-boost assist mechanism has been developed to overcome the rear wheel of a wheelchair. The crutch-type assist mechanism is configured to push over a step to form a support rod to get over a front wheel, and the double-boost assist mechanism is to extend a link by pushing down a handle portion of the assist mechanism and push up a rear wheel. The effectiveness of the assist mechanism developed by experiments was confirmed.