Pulley Help 2

[devgru2]

I got shot a few times overseas which left me a Paraplegic in a wheel chair. Ive always been a 4x4 truck person Jacked up..I have a Cj7 Jeep on 38.5 swampers. Now even though i know i cant load the wheelchair up and go somewhere and get out, but i want to just drive it desperately. I need that freedom again. So how can i make a pulley system where i hang it and transfer over to like a swing set seat or something and pulley myself up to the jeep seat level, tie it off and transfer over to the seat?? Then go riding come home jum\p back into the pullet seat and lower myself down to wheelchair?? A while back before i was shot i had heard briefly about the guy who got into a car wreck leaving him in a wheelchair, he was a farmer,drove a big combine. Which are prob 15ft off the ground, he hung a pulley from one of the beams in the metal building that he kept the tractor under. So i know it can be done, i just have no idea how to do, how many pulleys i need,what kind of seat to use, if anyone can help me you have no idea what you will be doing. But it would change my life. Thanks to all.

 

[tbuelna]

How about a folding hydraulic platform lift at the rear with controls that can be accessed from the rear or the driver's seat. Get rid of the rear and passenger seats. Add a floor surface that allows you to roll your wheelchair right next to the driver seat so you can slide between the two. Add hand controls for throttle and braking. And install some device to restrain your wheelchair.

I think a platform lift would be better than a cable hoist, since the cable hoist would not be stable.

Good luck to you.

 

[Jboggs]

Is there a school somewhere hear you that teaches engineering? If so, I would suggest you contact someone in the leadership of the school and ask them if they would be willing to take on your challenge as a student engineering project. I'm suggesting that because the principles involved in your request are simple and basic, but achieving a satisfactory result is going to require some trial and error, some adjustments, some refinements, all of which could be part of a student team project. Personally I think it would be a great project. It would require application of basic principles, detailed design work, hands-on fabrication, and could even involved several disciplines (mechanical, electrical, etc.) Plus it would help an injured vet that sacrificed for our country. (I'm assuming that since you didn't say specifically.) In your discussions with the school(s), tell them you were given this suggestion on this engineering forum. It might cause them to think a little more about it.

Thank you! And good luck!

 

[TenPenny]

I would think that the kind of lifts they use in nursing homes for bedridden patients would be a good (but probably pricy) starting point; they lift and can swing and run on rails from the ceiling.

 

[3DDave]

How about a ramp or bridge that brings the chair to driver's seat height? Have the vehicle parked next to a level part at the end of the ramp. With the ramp, there are no moving parts to leave you stuck in mid-air. You will also need mods to the vehicle to provide for gas and brake controls. Other than that there are also platform lifts, usually used for houses where the front door is on a porch and adding a ramp is too much construction.

The biggest difficulty is making it reliable enough that it never drops you. With pulleys there is generally little friction, so if are the one supplying the lifting energy and you let go you would end up in free-fall, possibly doing a lot of damage on top of what you have now. Designs that aren't back-driveable, such as chain hoists, will take a very long time to lift you and set you back down because the drive ratio is so high. A lot of other equipment, like simple engine hoists, aren't built to prevent the user from accidentally damaging the payload.

I don't know if they reach as high as you like, but 'old-fashioned' bumper jack mechanisms are fairly safe - they are designed to avoid accidentally dropping the payload, requiring actual input to lower the vehicle, and are fairly efficient and linear for raising the load.

 

[KENAT]

A simple pulley system will be defined by how much you weigh and what pull force you can exert.

Say you weigh around 200 lb including weight of the sling etc. and are happy 'pulling' 50 lb for the duration needed to winch you up. In that case you'll need a block & tackle pulley ratio of 4:1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Block_and_tackle

If more specific solutions aren't available for persons in your situation then maybe look ingo 'bosun's chair' and rock climbing supplies. Maybe even overhead hoists would be a term worth googling though many of them won't be 'man rated'.

Make sure and include some kind of brake or equivalent in the system so that if you let go of the rope for some reason you don't come crashing down.

Also make sure what ever beam or structure you mount this on is adequate.

Jboggs idea is pretty good one, good luck.

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[ctopher]

A quick Google search came up with a lot of ideas.
Link

Chris, CSWA
SolidWorks '15
SolidWorks Legion

 

[KENAT]

OK, you got me thinking. Looks like there may be commercially available sources of similar items:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jU1gMZ6DaU

The tricky part is probably the final bit of getting from hoist to the seat and vice versa.

(Accidentally posted this in the wrong forum yesterday)

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[Strong]

I had a new CJ7 with small V8, blue with white top. You could have a swing-away post mounted just behind driver's side with extended boom to mount an electric hoist. I am sure the video and others linked by KENAT gave you some ideas. If you can't find/afford a commercial product and want to MacGyver something, then here a few links to electric winches/hoists:

Warn ATV Winches

http://www.gowarn.com/?ppcfon=1&gclid=CNq5oeuTj8UCFWsQ7AodKVEA-g

WARN PullzAll Handheld Cordless Pulling Tool — Red, 24 Volt, Model# 885005
Pasted from <

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200455487_200455487>

I hope you persevere and concur this obstacle! Keep your solution as simple as possible!

Walt

 

[Strong]

I hope you persevere and conquer this obstacle!

Walt

 

[MadMango]

First off, thanks for your service!

In a prior career I worked for a mobility company that made wheelchair lifts, ramps, etc for all types of vehicular access. If it moved or had wheels (planes, trains, and autos), we had a product for it. I don't think you want a manual pulley system as you don't want your hands to slip when you are 3-4ft off the ground I'd go with an electrically powered winch that you could control with a pendant. Better yet, but more expensive, would be a hydraulic system. The benefit of a hydraulic system is they allow for quicker manual operation should you experience an equipment failure, where an electric system usually takes many turns of a crank as is much slower. In both cases you probably wouldn't be able to manually operate the lift by yourself during a failure.

As for transferring from your chair to the Jeep seat, have you considered removing the seat entirely? If you are the sole operator, this may be more accessible for you, if your vehicle has the head room to accommodate you and your chair. All you would have to add would be some sort of restraint system designed for your chair.

http://www.qstraint.com/

comes to mind as an option. Do you already have hand controls installed for your Jeep?

"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."

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[FMTim]

This may be a bit out there, but if you have a rig like that you should already have a winch up front. If it has a remote control maybe you could find a way to use it. I'm seeing a few pulleys connected to a hoist mounted to your B-pillar that would get you up where you need. Just get a sling/seat for the ride up. Lots of trial and error, and maybe not so safe, but something that could be done on the cheap over a weekend.

 

[MikeHalloran]

There isn't a typical B-pillar in a Jeep, so you'd have to build something, maybe a modified roll cage.


Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA