Answer Happy

"Chair Rocker" Mechanism Arthritis not only can affect the hands, but joints throughout the body are susceptible to its disabling affects. So much that even simple motions that many of us take for granted can be quite painful. An example would be the rocking of a traditional rocking chair. Arthritis in the knees and ankles could make it too painful to apply enough force to rock the rocking chair. There may be a market for a product could be attached to a rocking chair to power the rocking motion allowing the user to passively "ride" the chair as it rocks. Your task is to design a motorized mechanism that will power a traditional rocking chair as seen in Figure 1. Its requirements will include: • Must attach to a traditional "open frame" rocking chair (not a glider) • It should not interfere with a person getting into or out of the chair. Any "pinch-points" that could pinch a person's finger or grab loose clothing must be both identified and shown to be located out of reach to a person in the chair. The linkage must be a 1-DOF, closed loop mechanism. • For simplicity of fabrication and maintenance it should be a linkage design using only full pin joints. • Must be deliberately controlled by a rotating shaft motor. • Uniqueness of design is important to the customer and will be evaluated as part of the grade. Figure 1 An example of a typical rocking chair a