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The Wheelchair Shopping Box

THE PROBLEM:  The client uses a powered wheelchair and wanted a box fitted to the front of it so she would have somewhere to put her shopping etc. The box should be as large as possible and have a rain-proof lid, and the lid should have a rim so that the lid could be used as a table for take-out food.

THE SOLUTION:  The result was a sheet steel box with its base above the client's knees. The box is high enough that it can take a packet of washing powder. The front of the box is lozenge shaped to match the plan view of wheelchair foot supports, and the lid is hinged at the back The high rim around the lid is 1/16 inch thick plastic, and there are gaps between it and the lid so that rain will not collect on the lid.

Attached to the footrests are two 3/4 inch diameter tubes with their bottom ends plugged, and attached to the shopping box are two 3/4 inch diameter tubes with their top ends plugged. To mount the box on the wheelchair, you put two 16 inch long pieces of 1/2 inch diameter copper tubing into the tubes attached to the footrests, and slide the box tubes over the top ends of these tubes. The tubes are angled such that the weight and centre of gravity of box take up the available slack and the box is horizontal. The fit is sloppy so that precision is not needed, but it does rattle a bit. When storing the box between shopping expeditions, you store the tubes inside the box.

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