The design of a frame for an all terrain, lever propelled wheelchair

This thesis outlines the process of designing a frame for the Leveraged Freedom Chair (LFC) Prime, an all-terrain levered powered wheelchair designed to improve the mobility of disabled individuals. This design allows for a system of two hand lever propulsion, turning, and braking that uses different hand grasp and gross movement patterns than those of a conventional wheelchair making it more efficient for a variety of functional mobility applications. The LFC Prime uses the fundamental design elements of the existing LFC design that has been developed for applications in third world countries. With the goal of manufacturing this product in the United States, a greater array of design possibilities become feasible due to the availability of higher performance materials and bicycle parts that would greatly enhance its performance. Therefore the LFC Prime wheelchair has the opportunity to make an impact in improving the mobility independence of a variety of disabled individuals in the US and other developed countries allowing them to adventure into all-terrain environments.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2011

Author dc:creator

• Walton, John Michael

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Daniel D. Frey.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/68927

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/68927