Tri-Wheels Stair Climbing Trolley

Abstract

Buildings with no lift and escalator facilities make it difficult for users to lift heavy loads from the ground floor to the upper floor. Human labor is the solution. There is a need to develop a mechanism that can lift loads while traveling through stairs to reduce the ergonomic constraint that may lead to the risk of developing musculoskeletal disorders (MSD). This work presents the tri-wheels stair climbing trolley for this purpose. The tri-wheels stair climbing trolley consists of two pairs of quasi-planetary wheel frames to hold three wheels at both sides, a frame, a movable base, and a manual hand winch. The trolley frame is made from malleable hollow steel, and mild steel is used for the wheel frames due to its high strength and toughness. Physical testing was done on the designed trolley, and it was found that it can carry the maximum load, which is 20kg, and tri-wheels design can climb the stair up and down smoothly without causing damage to the trolley and stair.