Wheelchair Workstation

by RubenRosseel in Workshop > Organizing

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Wheelchair Workstation

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Every year I go on camp with disabled children. We stay in a large camp ground with lawns, sports fields and woods, go on day trips and make big tours. But a camp with children in wheelchairs often means a lot of flat tires, broken footboards and loose bolts. Staying on a large campsite or just going on a trip are not making it easy to resolve such problems quickly. In addition you often need a lot of material.
To solve this problem, I went looking for a solution. We had a lot of old wheelchairs that were no longer used, so converting one to a mobile workstation seemed ideal. 
Have fun reading the tutorial or with the construction of your own first aid for damaged wheelchairs
 

Find a Suitable Wheelchair

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When looking for a wheelchair it is important that it is an old model. This means a separate loose back and seat. That's because in the majority of the new designs, they are attached to the wheelchair and fold with the chair. The reason why these components have to be separately is because the fitting parts of the backrest and the seat will be used for the fastening of the workstation on the wheelchair.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The Design

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Every wheelchair requires a different design. I find it easy to sketch the possibilities on a photograph. For this chair I chose a design with a tray at the back to overcome the slope, in front three sliders and on the bottom another tray.

In my last step I show another example. On that one for example, it wasn't possible to make a tray on the bottom because there were two cross beams. 
 
 
 
 

Crafting

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Let the hammering begin!
Make sure that you first measure everything well and always leave some slack. Start with one side (see photo), because all the rest is rectangular and is located between the twe sides. Start too big so that you can correct, but make sure it does not wring at the end. Once you've gotten everything good you copy the side and then it's just a matter of screwing everything in between.

Unfortunately I can not say much more than this about the building itself because each wheelchair is different. Sorry about that ...
 
 
 
 
 
 

Attaching

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To securely connect the workstation to the wheelchair, I use the original connection brackets on the seat and backrest. Folding of the brackets or the use of wooden beams to overcome height is not excluded!
 
 

Extras

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Here I also have locks fitted to the slides so they can not fly off when braking hard. Some rain pipe clamps ensure that a rear bicycle pump can be attached.
 
 
 
 

You Are Done !

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Enjoy your wheelchair workstation !!
 
 
 
 
 

Another Example

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Here I just placed a tray on the wheelchair which can be used for all kinds of materials (water, raincoats, ...). On the side, I attached two pieces of PVC pipe where the flag of our association can be placed in.
 
 
 
 
 

Thank You !

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Thanks for reading my instructable! Here are some pictures of the wheelchairs in action!

Besides, our association is called "the sunflower petals". (http://www.zonnebloemblaadjes.be)