SQU receives US patent for invention of convertible wheelchair

Invented by three students of Sultan Qaboos University (SQU), a convertible wheelchair for people with special needs, has been patented at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

Students Basim Khalfan al Nasseri, Yousuf Salim al Mushakeri and Mustafa Suleiman al Shuaili are from the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the College of Engineering, SQU.

The patent application for the invention was filed on May 18.

The invention, an electric chair for people with special needs, features multiple motor mechanisms. The chair can be converted into a bed by pressing a button on the control device. It features a mechanism for movement of the legs and knee exercises for the user, which can be controlled by the device. These features are self-controlled by the user without the need to have an assistant.

The wheelchair is expected to ease the job of healthcare providers and medical staff in handling patients in urgent cases and ease the effort to move the patient from the chair to the bed and vice versa. The convertible wheelchair is designed with a special shape, size and weight to make it suitable for most of the users.

Safety aspects were also taken into consideration to ensure the stability of chair in all positions. The materials used for designing the chair do not harm the user. This is the tenth registered patent from SQU.