Wheelchair Boccia Ball Holder
The client needed a tray/holder for boccia balls mounting to his wheelchair. This needed to involve no permanent modifications/damage to the wheelchair and needed to be removable when not in use. Ideally this should also be cheap to produce and repeatable.
The solution
The first approach was an MDF tray with 100mm diameter holes cut out to accommodate the boccia balls, effectively a prototype. The mounting bracket for a clothes rail was used to mount the tray on the tube which was then connected to the wheelchair with a mountain bike stem. The tube sat loose in the stem with a collar clamp preventing it from slipping through and providing some height adjustment.
This was set out on a cantilever to try and keep the tray away from obstructing the clients reach but ultimately meant that the tray would deflect a lot when fully loaded. There was also a fair amount of play due to the loose fit of the tube in the bike stem (to allow it to easily be removed when not in use).
Building on this initial design, the revised tray was centered above the tube to reduce the deflection and a 3D printed bracket was made to mount the tray to the tube with better support.
The bike stem approach proved to be working and an additional stem was added to the other side of the chair so the client could mount the tray on whichever side was needed. Some packing material was also used (below right) to take up the rest of the play between the tube and the bike stem so that the tray was solid. The final tray was profiled in aluminium but MDF is likely also suitable at 10mm.
Drawings are available for the profile of the plate and files are available for 3D printing the bracket to mount the plate.
The benefit
The final design has met the clients needs. The parts that were made bespoke can be made using alternative methods which the remaining parts are all available off the shelf (the packing material/spacers were actually available for free by just asking over the counter!)
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