Modified stair gate for mum with complex needs
Our client was a young mum who needed to fit some stair gates. The client could not operate a conventional stair gate due to a number conditions. These included hearing loss, mild cerebral palsy on her left side, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and the fact that she had lost most of her fingers following sepsis when she had meningitis as a teenager.
Her daughter was becoming very active and stair gates were needed at several location in her home, particularly on the stairs and at her kitchen door. The project focused on how to make a stair gate fit her needs without seriously impacting the effectiveness of the product to prevent her child getting into dangerous situations.
The Challenge
Stair gates are meant to be complicated to operate, and can be a challenge for non-disabled people. The challenges faced by our client made the operation of any conventional stair gate impossible due to the need to operate latch arrangements simultaneously with fingers. The primary challenge of the project was how to create a modified mechanism for a stair gate that could be operated by the client without making it so simple that her very bright toddler would also be able to open it.
Various solutions were explored. All of them tried to keep as close to the conventional product as possible to retain the existing safety features and operational methods. Most of the initial designs failed as they required the user to operate mechanisms with their fingers, which was not possible. In consultation with the client, we decided to look at alternative mechanisms which would retain the two stage approach used by all stair gates, but simplify the mechanism to make it suitable for our client’s hands.
Stair gate closed
The solution
The adopted solution uses a 3D printed assembly to create a spring-loaded sliding handle that locks into a fitting attached to the door frame. The sliding part includes a handle that the client can put her hand into, allowing it to be moved sideways against the spring force. Once it is moved sideways, the mechanism can then be lifted, disengaging the conventional stair gate catch from the frame mount.
Stair gate being opened
The combination of the spring force holding the catch in place, plus the need to lift the whole gate several millimetres to disengage it from the wall latch makes it a simple operation for our client, but one that their daughter would not be able to replicate, partly as a result of the two-step process, but also because of the strength needed to operate it.
CAD image of stair gate mechanism
The limitations of the design were discussed in detail with the client and her husband to ensure that they were aware that some compromises had been made to enable a stairgate mechanism to be designed that the client would be able to operate. These compromises essentially related to a simplification of the original mechanism supplied with the gates used as ‘donor’ products.
Two gates were finally installed, using commercial gates that the client had already purchased. One had a wooden frame and one had a steel frame. Minor modifications to the CAD model were needed to adapt the mechanism for the two different designs.
The benefit
The new mechanism allowed our client to operate her stair gates independently, and provided a far higher degree of safety for her daughter than had been possible when no stair gates could be fitted. The couple agreed to monitor the use of the new design carefully, and check on the ability of their daughter to operate it as she got older, stronger and more dextrous.
The design had one additional benefit that was not anticipated during development. The client’s mother, who has significant arthritis, was also able to use it, but could not operate a conventional stair gate.
One of the stair gates installed
Update – October 2026, one year after the stair gates were installed. Some feedback from the client: “The stair gates have been great, we appreciate them so much – thank you”.
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