Coimbatore: Right from his childhood, B Vijayan, 65, a city-based retired chemistry professor, used to devise scientific experiments with the objects he found at home. Though he studied chemistry in college, his passion for experimentation drove him to devise machines using mechanics and electronics. In the past, he has designed a vending machine and an electronic locker. Now, he has put to use an air compressor that was lying idle and built a lift for his two-storey house at Kovaipudur.
Vijayan says the idea struck him when he saw his 91-year-old mother struggling to climb the stairs. “Also, old people, who visited our home, had difficulty in climbing the stairs. Hence I thought about designing this lift,” he says. “An air compressor I had bought to fill air in car tyres was not being used much, so I decided to use it to move the lift,” he explains.
It took him six months to decide on the final design, says Vijayan. “As I had no engineering background, I didn’t make a drawing and go by it. This took me more time as there were errors,” he says and adds it was also dangerous working with air compressors as there was a possibility of them exploding.
The lift uses a simple piston-cylinder mechanism. Vijayan says he dug a 12feet pit in which he planted a four-inch seamless pipe, which acts as the cylinder. A 2.5inch pipe, which is closed on one end acts as the piston. The air flow is controlled by pneumatic valves operated by electrical switches. “I found commercially available electric switches unsuitable, so I devised them myself,” he says and adds it took him around Rs 1.5 lakh to build the lift.
The capacity of the lift is 200kg, says Vijayan. “I have set the pressure at a maximum of 120 pounds. Even when there is no power, the lift can make around five to 10 trips with the stored pressure. One trip up and down would use five pounds of pressure,” he says.
Vijayan says his invention would save delivery boys, who bring gas cylinders and water cans, from climbing stairs.
Vijayan, a native of Pudupalayam near Villupuram, joined as an assistant professor at CBM College of Arts and Science in the city in 1983, where he worked till his retirement in 2011.