As getting up from falls and getting out of chairs got harder and harder I knew I needed something that I could independently use to get to my feet. They make things like the IndeeLift which can move someone from the floor to a chair height. But that’s still pretty low to the ground for my functional level and the IndeeLift is very bulky and heavy. Since I can’t make anything easy, I designed my own solution with the following objectives:
- As light as possible (30lbs)
- 30″+ raised height
- Can roll in all directions like a mechanics creeper but be locked in place
- Splits in half for transportation (e.x. needs to be transportable on an airplane)
- Multiple power options: drill batteries, wall power, car accessory power
My lift is built mostly from carbon fiber with some aluminum parts I made by hand on my bridgeport (so glad I have a CNC now!). The lifting action is provided by 2 200lb linear actuators and the guide rails are CNC linear rails that I painstakingly drilled out for lightness. Machining all the slots on the hardened steel rails took hours of step milling with carbide endmills! I made a couple different power leads I can connect to the main power connector to use the different power sources. Mostly I use a 20V 3.5aH cordless drill battery which can do four or five lifts before needing to be charged. The rolling base separates from the lifting rails if I need to break it down for transport but I rarely do that; it turns out we usually just roll it through the airport and use it as a luggage cart!
I created my own sandwich panels of carbon fiber by bonding balsa sheets between two sheets of premade carbon fiber plate. The panels were then waterjet cut to size. I also created forged carbon fiber reinforcing pieces by filling 3D printed molds with chopped carbon fiber and resin. The molds were all single use because I could never get them to cleanly release and I basically had to smash them and chip them off the part bit by bit.
Uses
I originally built the lift for doing transfers from my adaptive mountain bike but I keep finding new uses. It’s so indispensable in my life that it basically goes with me wherever I go these days.
- I can stand on the lift and rise up to the height of front porches that have stairs without handrails
- If I fall I can get the lift underneath me, roll to somewhere with a sturdy table or counter and then use the lift to get to a standing position
- It can pick up my adaptive mountain bike to help load it in vehicles
- Getting in and out of low vehicles
- Standing on it to get into high vehicles
- Escaping low chairs and toilets
Here is a video showing the lift in action: