Washer Design for Wheelchair Users

Methods for Design:

Washer:

This washer is particular designed for the physical disabled group who has to use wheelchairs to move around and the also the elderly female group at age of 70 or older. We used the data from the United Nations Accessibility website to measure the combined height of the wheelchair and the disabled person’s shoulder height, the lowest reaching height, and the reaching distance. We also used the data from the Anthropometric measurements report for measuring the height of the elderly female. This design will allow the two groups (Elder female and disabled) of people feel comfortable when they are using the washer. Even though they are not as flexible as young adults, but they will still enjoy using this washer. The reason that they could easily use this model of washer for washing their clothes is because they can operate the machine without any obstacles that they might have in other model of washer.

Detailed Design Recommendations:

Washer Dimensions:

We will first explain how we decide on the dimensions of the washer. The height of the washer is designed for the 10th percentile of disabled group, which is around 38”. According to the data from the UN website, as we could see in Figure 1, we have the average combined height of the wheelchair and the disabled person’s shoulder height is around 40 inches. However, we considered that in order for most disabled people to reach the buttons which are located on the top of the washer without raising their hands (a comfortable level for pressing the buttons), we decided to have dimension design for 10 percentile. In addition, the elderly female group where average height is 59.92 inches would feel more comfortable than the regular washer whose height is averaged at 40.69 inches, since the regular washer is designed for people in their early ages.

The depth of the washer is based on the reaching distance of the disabled group on a wheelchair, so they could reach the far back...