부산대학교 도서관

The demand for wheelchairs has been increasing in the super-aged society like Japan. The reclining mechanism improves the wheelchair users’ comfort but enforces the sitting posture with their faces upward, causing the possibilities to decrease their activities. This study aimed to propose a design guideline for the wheelchair with an articulated backrest, which can tilt the upper part of the backrest and assure the comfortable and active states of lumbar and thoracic parts, respectively. The guideline includes the followings: 1) merit of the thicker seat cushion to reduce the pressure of a tailbone part; 2) method to derive the estimated equation of a backrest contact area using the parameters of tilt rotation point, tilt angle, and backrest angle; 3) optimization method using the equation and sensory evaluation.