One-handed Window Opener
The client is a lady who has substantially lost the use of her left arm as a result of a stroke. She is fairly short and is unable to reach over the sink to open her kitchen window. A previous attempt to solve the problem using the usual type of Remap window opener had failed as, with only one hand, she was unable to support the weight or to apply the twisting force required to turn the window catch. The challenge was to produce a window opener but with the additional constraints that it had to be light weight and easy to operate with one hand.
The solution
To reduce the weight of the device, the shaft between the handle and the window catch was made from carbon fibre tube as opposed to the usual plastic plumbing pipe. Carbon fibre tube is significantly lighter and also much more rigid. For ease of one handed operation, the shaft was positioned as near as possible to the axis of rotation of the window catch resulting in most of the twisting action at the handle of the device being transferred to turning the window handle.
The device is held below horizontal while it is slid up the window handle until it stops at a stop inside the white part at the end. Raising the handle to the horizontal automatically presses the button. Twisting the handle turns the window catch.
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The benefit
The client is now able to use open her windows unaided and was very pleased with the result.
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Thank you for contacting Remap. If you would like one to be made for you and live in the UK, you can make a request here: https://www.remap.org.uk/referral-form/ . But bear in mind that suitable commercial ones may be available to suit your own circumstances and Remap does not make what is commercially available: https://www.remap.org.uk/can-we-help-you/, so please check first.
If you live outside the UK, it is unlikely we can help directly. But if you can find an organisation local to you (for example a technical school, hobbyist engineer, Tetra (https://tetrasociety.org/)(in North America only), TAD (https://tad.org.au/) (in Australia only), men’s shed (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men's_shed), Hackspace (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hackerspace) or similar) who can make it for you, then we would be happy to assist them.
Reference the one handed window opener. Where can I purchase one of these?
John, I will reply offline.
I have a client with very similar needs. What size of carbon fibre tube did you use? Can get tube with 1 or 2mm wall thickness and clearly prefer the thinner wall if it proved sufficiently strong for the task.