Attic Lift Team Up Phillip Nichols – Mark Zoller – Chris Jacobs – Ed Fleiss – Josh Marcy June 11, 2008

Overview Problem Statement Partition Existing Designs Concept Designs Selection Mock-up

Problem Statement The vast majority of residential homes are built with folding wooden attic stairs These stairs are very difficult to transport heavy and/or bulky items to and from the attic space. Carrying the items while climbing the stairs leaves the homeowner with no free hands to stabilize themselves, greatly increasing the likelihood of injury.

Problem Statement Our goal is to design a system which adapts to the home’s existing folding ladder to provide a platform for easily raising and lowering a load to and from the attic space. The mechanism will have convenient controls as well as adequate safety devices to prevent operator injury.

Partition Lowering/raising rail system and platform from attic Securing the object Tilt control Clear the attic entrance

Existing Designs Upper level frame and winch raise and lower a platform by winding and unwinding cables Patent application number: 11/238,415 Inventor: Jason Hartley Sold at

Specialized staircase, mounting frame, and trolley attached to a winch via 4 cables. Trolley and mounting frame roll to side once at top to allow access. Patent No. 6,962,236 by Jay Penn in Existing Designs

Upper level frame and winch raise and lower a platform by winding and unwinding cables Uses a custom ladder with a carriage and crane system to move packages up attic stairs. Crane Actuates to move said package when carriage reaches top of the attic stairs. Patent application number: 11/564,534 by Daniel Harry Corby Quare Existing Designs

Assembly is positioned in its own ceiling cutout, separate from attic stairs Platform raised and lowered by power screw within permanent rail structure Motor drives the screw to raise and lower the platform Patent No. 5,626,208 by Randy Sprague in 1997 Existing Designs

Concept Designs Telescopic tube frame Wheeled cart Conveyor Cable lift Scissor lift

Attic Floor Ground Floor Existing attic Ladder Motorized Winch Attached Platform Stationary Arms Telescopic Tube Frame Flexible Joint Winch Cable Inside SIDE VIEW (lowered) Telescopic Tube Frame

Wheeled Cart

Conveyor

Cable Lift

Scissor Lift

Selection 1. Wheeled cart (relative score = 1.00) - Simple, effective design and easy to use 2. Cable lift (relative score = 0.98) - Very capable, but more complicated 3. Conveyor belt (relative score = 0.95) - Overrated? 4. Product: Spacelift 6000 (relative score = 0.91) 5. Telescopic tube frame (relative score = 0.87) 6. Patent pending: Combo lift and ladder (relative score = 0.83) 7. Scissor lift (relative score = 0.68) - Less reliable and highly complex structure

Selection Final choice: Wheeled cart, with modifications o Additional cables to level cart o Detachable cart o Large wheels

Selection Side View on Ladder Top View of Cart

Mock-up