A MOTORIZED VERTICAL FILING SYSTEM (MVFS) FOR STUDENTS AND WORKERS WITH UPPER EXTREMITY DIABILITIES

ONE OF THE KEY DIFFICULTIES FOR STUDENTS WITH LIMITED UPPER EXTREMITY COORDINATION IS THE RETRIEVAL OF APPROPRIATE MATERIALS WITH WHICH TO STUDY. CONVENTIONAL FILING SYSTEMS ARE NOT APPROPRIATE FOR USE WITH A MOUTHSTICK AND ATTEMPTS AT FILE SYSTEMS BASED ON THE "LAZY SUSAN" CONCEPT PRESENT A NUMBER OF PROBLEMS INCLUDING DIFFICULTY REPLACING FILES AND LIMITED FILE CAPACITY. VME TECHNOLOGIES HAS DESIGNED FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES. THE MVFS CONSISTS OF A VERTICAL STACK APPROXIMATELY 10, 9 INCH BY 12 INCH TRAYS WHICH RISES OUT OF THE WORK SURFACE UNDER USER CONTROL. THE USER RAISES THE UNIT VIA PUSH BUTTON UNTIL THE APPROPRIATE FILE IS LEVEL WITH THE DESK SURFACE WHERE IT CAN BE EASILY SLID OUT BY MOUTHSTICK. DURING USE OF THE MATERIALS, THE FILE SYSTEM CAN BE LOWERED INTO THE DESK TO ALLOW INCREASED DESK SPACE WITHIN THE USERS REACHING AREA, A PRIME CONSIDERATION FOR MOUTHSTICK USERS. WHEN THE USER WISHES TO REPLACE THE MATERIALS THEY ARE EASILY SLID INTO THE APPROPRIATE SLOT WHICH IS FIRST POSITIONED AT THE SAME LEVEL AS THE DESKTOP.