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Maybe I just live near cheap hospitals that give out primitive crutches but it doesn't seem like it would be hard or expensive to improve on the basic design.
For starters they could make it easier for you to look through your wallet (say at a checkout line or fast food counter) by having a switch
in the crutch handle that, when pushed, would unfold a tripod beneath the foot of the crutch (umbrella-like) so it could stand on its own instead of sliding down the counter you rested it against. Each metal leg of the tripod would have a second piece of metal attached on its underside, forming a reverse tripod, so when you pressed another button on the handle the legs would fold right back up again.
Another improvement would be a small shock absorber on the bottom of each crutch so you'd get less of a jolt with each step. Done correctly, the stiffness of the absorber could be adjusted to the user's desired level of comfort.
If this type of crutch has already been baked and is in use by a better breed of hospital just let me know and I'll delete the idea.
Scroll down a bit, search for "Self-Supporting Crutch"
http://www.bostonsp....uk/study/dt/dt_as/
[jutta, Nov 08 2004]
Crutch Lights
http://www.halfbake...dea/Crutch_20Lights
Shameless self promotion [oneoffdave, Nov 09 2004]
Comfortable Composite Crutch
http://guide.stanfo.../crutch/crutch.html
designed, not in manufacture? [ConsulFlaminicus, Nov 09 2004]
Assorted crutch accessories
http://www.fetterma...om/accessories.html
Bags, cup holders, covers, etc. Everything the well dressed crutch needs. [oneoffdave, Nov 09 2004]
[link]
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Total weight is an important deciding factor. Use the right materials, though and you could have the works. This would be expensive but that is where society needs to putting its resources: Improving life. [+] |
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I know a lot of design students who've put an awful lot of thought in to this problem, although I can't find any links right at the moment. Seriously, it is an absolute outrage that there are far better designs out there and yet the nasty, bog-standard crutch persists for the ugly reason that it is cheap. The concept I am thinking of had little shock abosorbers and also elbow supports so you didn't take so much weight on your wrists. (It was also mostly carbon fibre, but hey). I dread to think how many weeks of rehabilitation are added because cheap crutches fail to properly support sufferers. |
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As far as I know, this has not been baked, but it jolly well should be. |
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The real shocker is not that these aren't generally used because they're too expensive, but that they're not used even though they're cheap. How much would a small shock absorber on the tip cost? Mass produced in China, probably less than £2-00 a crutch. And why use something as complex as a tripod mechanism (not that that's asking much)? A simple hook would do in most situations. Crutches need to be designed just like any tool. |
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[longshot] - kudos for continuing to champion the less abled |
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is a crutch with shock absorbers, a pogo stick? |
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this isn't what I thought at all, initially...gave me a laugh though. |
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//Mass produced in China// Sounds like a viscious circle of suffering. |
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//viscious// vicious or viscous or both :) |
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My wife wants me to add a water bottle holder on one of the crutches, the kind they have on bikes. I've never had to use crutches but she has so I'll go along with that enhancement even though it's going to add some weight. She also wants a hook of some sort on the other crutch to hold bags (maybe something like those rings mountain climbers feed their ropes through). Seems to me the bag would keep swinging all over the place but like I said, she's talking from experience and I'm not so I'll put it out here as another enhancement. |
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A hook for bags would be useful when stood still but the swinging would seriously affect one's gait, more so if you are having to keep one foot totally off the ground (or there isn't a foot there). Better cushioning on the handles would get my vote, but there's a cleaning/durability issue. I'd like to see the shock absorbers, particularly if they eliminated that 'click-click' noise as you progress. |
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I'm not sure, but in the USA aren't crutches classified as medical devices and therefore subject to FDA approval? It seems like that would slow down innovation. |
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Probably also nobody would be willing to manufacture them because they'd be afraid of being sued when someone misused them. With the current design, all hazards are well known so it's only possible to sue if it was manufactured incorrectly. |
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Good ideas. Too bad there are stupid reasons that it's hard to implement in our society. |
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What [ood] said. My brother is missing a leg as the result of a car accident. He does pretty good at carrying bags while using his crutches, but he's otherwise strong and healthy. Even at that, it's a bit tough when he hauls around a gallon of milk in a grocery sack. |
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[ood], that clicking drove me insane when my brother was living with me. High quality crutch tips and a little bit of the right kind of adhesive (Goop) applied judiciously to the tips and handles took care of much of the noise. With that stuff and a TIG welder, we silenced his cheapo, standard issue crutches. He called those his "stealth crutches". He could sneak up on our cat when he used them. |
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That's it! All crutches should come with a Miller Maxstar! |
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I want to be called "Ood". It's a cool name. |
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Yeah, [wagster], I suppose it is. I rather doubt you'd want to earn the title as the original ood (oood?) has, though. |
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My mind keeps seeing this as a crotch crutch, which worries me. |
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[half] I like the idea of the one and only ood (toaoood) myself. |
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The one, the only, the original oneoffdave: tototoood. |
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