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The goal of this project is to design and build a wheelchair-accessible doll-care and hand-washing station. It needs to be easily transportable, easy to clean, and easy to use.
We looked into DIY kids tables with running water. Most of them used small pumps within the faucet, and had small hoses running to a small jug of water. These tables were smaller like we wanted our table to be, but we wanted our sink to have more water so that the faucet could run longer. The sinks we were looking at also all had recyclable water, and we weren’t sure if that would be the best option for us.
Foldable table with water pump and two basins.
For a foldable table, we plan to have it fold symmetrically inward. The foldable table will be angled so that our client can more easily access all the features she wants, but she will still have just as much space as with two tables. All table features will be placed strategically to allow the table to fully fold along its middle axis.
For the water pump, we will use a small pump that will power the water through the system. Regarding using the water pump, safety and ease of access are important factors.
Using two separate basins refers to having a clean water area and dirty water area. The water that comes out of the faucet is sourced from the clean water basin and the used water will flow into the dirty water basin.
Each concept implements adjustable table leg heights for our client’s wheelchair, faucet handle and faucet located closer to the end of the table so our client can reach them more easily, and doll care elements of her choice.
Foldable table with gravity water and two basins.
For a foldable table, we plan to have it fold symmetrically inward. The foldable table will be angled so that our client can more easily access all the features she wants, but she will still have just as much space as with two tables. All table features will be placed strategically to allow the table to fully fold along its middle axis.
With “gravity water”, no pump will be used; the water basin will simply be raised in order to allow gravity to force the water through the faucet.
Using two separate basins refers to having a clean water area and dirty water area. The water that comes out of the faucet is sourced from the clean water basin and the used water will flow into the dirty water basin.
Each concept implements adjustable table leg heights for our client’s wheelchair, faucet handle and faucet located closer to the end of the table so our client can reach them more easily, and doll care elements of her choice.
Two separate tables with water pump and recyclable water.
Two different tables will be created: one for the hand washing area and the other for the doll care area. This will allow for more mobility with the two stations.
For the water pump, we will use a small pump that will power the water through the system. Regarding using the water pump, safety and ease of access are important factors.
Recycling the water will only use one basin for all the water.
Each concept implements adjustable table leg heights for our client’s wheelchair, faucet handle and faucet located closer to the end of the table so our client can reach them more easily, and doll care elements of her choice.
We decided to go with concept design three. This design would make transporting the table much easier, since there are two separate tables. This would make it lighter, and we won’t have to fold the table to fit it into a car. We also chose to have the option of recycling the water, since that way we don’t have to worry about running out of water every few minutes when the sink is just used as a doll washing station, and the water isn’t getting dirty. We also decided a water pump would be better than a gravity fed water system, since the tank would have to be above the table, which would make it more difficult to refill.
The design we selected has two separate tables, one table with the sink, and the other table with a doll changing station and play area. For the table with the sink, we are going to have a very shallow sink, because the wheelchair needs to be able to fit under the table and get close to the sink. The faucet and knob will be positioned close to the front of the table, so they are easy to reach. We will have a small pump and a 5-gallon water jug that will supply the clean water, and we will have the option to recycle the water or to have a separate jug to collect the dirty water. On the other table, we will have a changing pad for the doll changing station, and it will also have a mirror above the changing pad. There will be space for playing with the dolls and a drawer to store toys and doll accessories.
Modeled the table without the sink as a simply supported beam. With the material properties given, calculated the max load the table can withstand, with 0.5″ of deformation.
Plotted the Shear and Moment graph of a theoretical center point from Engineering Analysis 1 in excel using singularity functions.
For this engineering analysis, we tested the water pump we chose. We wanted to make sure that theoretically, this pump would have the capacity to supply a strong enough flow for the sink. We found that we had plenty of power for the sink to function.
The first thing we tested was the water pump. We partially filled one of the 5 gallon jugs with water, and did a test run of the pump, letting it drain into the other 5 gallon jug. The pump proved to work very well, but it was also a lot louder and vibrated more than we expected. This caused us to rethink our idea of attaching the pump to the bottom of the table, and we decided to come up with a way of providing some soundproof insulation that would cause the pump to be less of a disturbance.
