In Part 2 of this OEMP project you will be designing two aspects of the Lift Arm Assembly while
ensuring functionality of your design. You will be selecting the length of parallel members CD
and EB, as well as the height of chair assembly DEF. Throughout this project, all team's will be
using US Customary units (pounds, slugs, feet, inches).
E
LOF
do
H
d
hu
hg
hc
Figure 1: Side View (x-y plane) of Pool Lift with variable dimensions
The lift arm assembly consists of a four-bar linkage, BCDE, where members CD and BE are the
same length and remain parallel to one another at all times. The four-bar linkage ensures that the
seat mount/chair DEF will maintain a vertical orientation throughout its motion. The goal of this
OMEP is to develop your team's most competent Pool Lift Model allowing for a variety of users
to comfortably enter and exit the pool safely. To limit the scope of this project, all teams will use
the following dimensions: hc=56 inches and do = d = 2 inches, where he represents the
height of pin C above the pool deck, hg represents the height of pin B above the pool deck, and
de and d represent the length of hinges G and H, respectively, from the pin to the centerline of
the member to which each hinge is attached. The lift arm assembly must be designed to
successfully achieve your chair's selected vertical range of motion while limiting the necessary
operating range of a angles (suggested less than 60°). Consider how the length of the parallel
members and the height of the chair assembly affect the chair's vertical position.
• Design the length of parallel members CD and BE (lcp in figure 1).
Design the height of chair assembly DEF (DF in figure 1).
Select the height of pin B above the pool deck (hg in figure 1).
Based on your design, use geometry to find the a angles corresponding to your maximum and
minimum chair positions. If your range of operating a angles is greater than 60° you need to
consider redesigning lcD and lor as large ranges of angles may cause the hydraulic cylinder to
overextend.
Fig: 1