An integrated staircase lift design

很大一部分人都有严重的楼梯问题。这包括儿童、推着婴儿车的母亲，特别是老年人和残疾人。在加拿大和其他地方，独栋住宅普遍使用楼梯，这使得家庭无障碍成为许多人在安全、健康、生活质量、社区参与和经济--包括个人和社会--方面的一个主要问题。针对家庭无障碍的市场解决方案有几个缺陷，其中最显著的是可用性(例如，进入和旅行时间的便利性)和可靠性(例如，在停电时使用)。因此，我们开始了一项研究计划，总体目标是开发一种新的家庭接入解决方案来解决这些缺点。这项工作导致了一种新型集成楼梯升降机的原型，它极大地缩短了居住者上升到另一层所需的时间，并且可以在没有电力的情况下操作。此外，该设计提供了一种包容性的解决方案，在相同的出入位置和占地面积上提供了楼梯或电梯；这被认为有可能鼓励尽可能使用楼梯(例如老年人锻炼)，并在必要时(例如当人被阻碍或轮椅使用者)提供电梯的安全和便利。

A large portion of the general population has significant trouble with stairs. This includes children, mothers with strollers, and especially the elderly and those with a disability. The ubiquitous use of stairs in single family homes in Canada and elsewhere render home accessibility as a major issue for many people in terms of safety, health, quality of life, community participation, and economy - both personal and societal. Marketplace solutions for home accessibility have several drawbacks, most notable amongst others being usability (e.g. ease of entry and travel time) and reliability (e.g. use during a power failure). We therefore began a research program with the overall goal of developing a new home access solution to address these drawbacks. This work led to a prototype of a novel integrated staircase-lift that greatly improves the time taken for an occupant to rise to another level, as well as being operable without power. Furthermore, the design affords an inclusive solution by offering a staircase or lift in the same access location and footprint; this is thought to potentially encourage stair use whenever possible (e.g. by seniors for exercise) as well as offering the safety and convenience of a lift when necessary (e.g. when the person is encumbered or for a wheelchair user).