Kickstarter

The design of the wheelchair has not made a major design innovation other than the materials used and throwing a battery on the back of it and calling it automatic. People in wheelchairs struggle daily with health and psychological issues that could be solved by simply changing the positioning and posture of which they "stand." Health-wise, a paraplegic's main issue is the inability to feel their butt which results in skin ulcers, or sores, that leave the person on complete bed-rest for up to three months, Apart from skin issues, para's are in constant back pain, have poor digestive systems, and are overall uncomfortable from being in a seated, hunched over position every hour of every day. Psychologically, people that use wheelchair's almost all deal with some level of depression and anxiety from being in their situation. Being in a seated position and literally being "looked down on" in every conversation causes people in wheelchair's to feel unconfident and unable to "stand up" for themselves. My design will solve all of these problems.

My design takes the outdated design and makes it more modern and "athletic." It takes the para from a seated position and locks them into a kneeling position, hence the name KNEELCHAIR. I'll attach photos to go along with my description. 

First, I flipped the design and put the big wheels in front. I fail to understand the reasoning for having the small wheels in front, as they always get stuck on rocks, cracks, and struggled to go up curbs and such. Having the big wheels in front allows the user to go over any bump and never have to worry about wheely-ing over anything.

Second, I put the user in a kneeling position, which is exactly as it sounds, but not nearly as confusing. Having the person in this position aligns their body in a natural way and puts pressure on parts of the user that are meant to have it, aka the legs/knees. This upright position allows the digestive system to work alongside gravity as it's supposed to be which will result in better health and comfortability. The kneel position also puts the user in a more "athletic" stance, allowing them to push themselves further and more efficiently. 

3. Pyramid Stability. I'm calling it that because that is what the stability of my design is based off of. It is represented by the green lines. The key point of stability is where the coccyx meets the butt-cushion, this is the point of the pyramid. The upper legs form one side of the pyramid, the points of the knees being two of the corners for the base. Being in this position puts the user in the semi-standing, or kneeling, position desired. In this position, the hips are level with where they were in the sitting position, so pushing the chair would be the same, if not less, difficult.  

This may seem like an odd position for someone to move around in, but i'd argue rolling around in a sitting position is even more odd. My design would cost no more than what they are currently spending, the extremely rough prototype pictured is literally one of my old manual chairs taken apart and reassembled in a different way using the same hardware and everything. 

I have started building my design with pieces of my old wheelchairs that i have laying around, but i am in need of more tools, metal, and other materials to build a better prototype to test. The funding i receive will go straight into my project, as i am eager to test my design for myself..

In the pictures, the red things are cushions/padding. The blue thing is the strap.