Summary

This project was my first time working on an engineering-type project with an actual client, and the project was to design a cup holder mounted to a wheelchair. Through interviews with the clients, we identified the following needs.

  1. It needs to be operable with a single hand.
  2. It needs to fit most cups and travel mugs and does not need to hold standard office mugs.
  3. It needs to stow compactly or be removed easily.
  4. It needs to mount to several different wheelchairs or be easy to modify.

From this, I designed a spring-loaded hinging mechanism that can open and close using a single hand. The cup holder is opened by pulling the ring into position and closed by sliding the lever on the top resulting in the ring springing closed. This mechanism mounts to the wheelchair through a dovetail sliding mount that allows for the removal of the bulky portion of the cup holder to shrink the footprint even further. The dovetail mounting system allows for easy modification of the mounting orientation by modifying a single component.