Wheelchair Rugby and its specially designed wheelchair

Abstract

Wheelchair Rugby was invented in 1977 in Canada for quadriplegic athletes. It was recognized as a medal sport for the first time at the 2000 Paralympic Games in Sydney. It has become popular in more than 40 countries now. The Japanese National team is expected to win a medal in the upcoming 2016 Rio Paralympics. In this paper, some abridged rules of wheelchair rugby and the design of a sports-specific wheelchair are shown. The wheelchairs are customized to fit individual handicaps. Some ingenuity is also shown. Adhesive spoke guards are used to spin the wheel for an athlete who has weak grip power. The wheelchair is equipped with a bumper to stop an opponent, or wings not to be caught by a bumper. Fine adjustment is required for the seat position and the height of safety casters against overturning. A lot of equipment is designed in detail to satisfy individual athlete needs. The experimental results of impact load on the wheelchair by a collision attack in games are also shown. The speed of the wheelchair is about 3 to 4m/sec. The impulse comes from the triangular force shape of 3.4 msec’s duration. The impulsive force comes from 80 to 85% of momentum. The impact load is about 30 kN per 3m/sec attack.