Man invents deformable crutch that turns into a mini electric bicycle

Since his childhood, Qiping Luan had Polio and relied on crutches very often. Despite the inconveniences to move around, Qiping Luan loved creating innovations in his daily life, and he thought it would be great if the walking stick could be used as a transportation tool. In 2012, Qiping Luan began to study how to turn a crutch into an electric bicycle and discussed that often with other disabled people to brainstorm about the design.

Despite having encountered some difficulties, Luan finally finished his prototype of multi-functional crutch in 3 years. The 1st version was made of iron, which Luan considered to be a bit heavy. He then worked with his friend and made another one in white steel.

The mini-electric bicycle, transformed from the crutch, is much smaller than ordinary electric cycles. It consists of a steel frame, a seat and a handle, weights about 7kg and is powered by lithium batteries. The transformation process takes only one minute – after taking off the wheels and battery, it turns back into an ordinary crutch by being folded.

Luan’s deformable crutches have been granted patent. Although Luan has been able to ride on his invention at ease, he still considers it needs to be further improved, especially to make it more stable considering the physical conditions of disabled people. In addition to making his invention available in the market, Luan is also thinking of other solutions to facilitate the life of disabled patients.

Adapted from: http://bit.ly/2HbjzPI