Another case of:  Eye Candy and brians and how nice to pass this on.

 

1. Nice idea.

   Now let me invent version 2.

   Change the wall rail from being a solid tube to a C section, with the open part of the C facing the stairs. Take the motor and the long threaded drive rod from a Genie garage door opener - a worm gear - and mount it inside the rail on the wall. Redesign the motor housing so that it’s as flat as possible, to not intrude into the stair area. Add low voltage electric contact strips, just like those you find on track lighting mounts, inside the wall rail.

   Add a couple of contact switches to the handle. When you grab onto them they close a circuit, via the rail’s contact strips, that starts the motor. Let go, or relax pressure, and it turns off.

   Wah La, you know have a self propelled StairSteady that can gently pull the oldsters up the steps. The concept is the same as the rope tows you used to find at ski resorts.

   V.3 could have a “bun bar” that comes along behind you and helps push your body up.

   But I will give the young lady props. Stair chairs are quite costly, and her design cuts the cost by a huge amount. With a little ratchet mechanism her bar will slide up the steps but hold in place when someone pulls against it. But the user still has to push the weight of the bar up the incline.

   My next “senior enabling device” design improvement is to add a significant black powder charge to those comfy chairs with the seat lift mechanism. A little mortar built under the seat would turn them into the “granny-pult” devices they could be. Sure to be a big hit at the nursing home! Yeah, OK, nix the black powder out of EPA concerns. Use high pressure compressed air instead.

   Posted by Drew458       11/14/2009  at  11:57 AM  



2. OK Peiper how do I get one? I worry about falling down the basement stairs (have already fallen twice but was able to catch myself) and of course I worry about my son who wanders down when I am in the midst of cleaning or laundry to find out where I am and/or get me to come up and fix him something to eat. Nifty device and well needed by some people.

   Posted by wardmama4       11/15/2009  at  09:20 AM  



3. Oops I forgot - we need to modify it as our son has no grasping ability - but at least it would keep him from falling down the stairs.

   Hmm, will work on that.

   Posted by wardmama4       11/15/2009  at  09:23 AM  

Commenting is not available in this weblog entry.