PVC Pipe Cage

This design is intended to be built using common plumbing parts that would most likely be available at your local hardware store. A number of 3D printed pieces are included as optional enhancements, but are not necessary for the basic structure.

Video

A video of the cage in action can be seen at https://youtu.be/DAdx9pdc0is

North American

Design based on 3/4” ID PVC plumbing pipe

Whole design preview

Materials

3/4” pipe sections (example: https://www.mcmaster.com/48925k12)
- corner assemblies
  - 8@ 2”
- side joins
  - 4@ 23.5”
- side verticals
  - 4@ 18.5”s
- side horizontals
  - 2@ 21”
  - 4@ 10.5”
- Optional: 2@ length determined by bed/patient/mounting system (see assembly instructions for detail)
3/4” pipe fittings
- 8@ 90deg female-female (example: https://www.mcmaster.com/4880k22)
- 10@ Tee: female-female-female (example: https://www.mcmaster.com/4880k42)

Assembly

First left side, then right side, then join them together.

Right Side: Preview

Materials

Per side:

Steps

Build corner assemblies by gluing a 2” section to a corner and a tee fitting. Ensure that the corner bend direction is perpendicular to the tee perpendicular fitting (see image). Create 4 of these (2 per side).
Similarly to the first step, create 4 more corner assemblies, but with the tee bracket turned 180 degrees from your first 4.
Glue the corner pieces into two horizontal assemblies, the top one having a tee fitting in between two 10” sections of pipe, and the bottom one consisting solely of a 21” piece of pipe.
Glue the two horizontal assemblies together using two 18.5” pieces of pipe.

Left Side

Repeat but assembly corners such that they form a mirror of the right side.

Combine Sides

Do not glue! Use 23.5” pipes to join two sides. Pipes are left unglued to allow for diassembly and compact storage.

Optional Pieces

European/Metric

For those who work with the metric system, replace all 3/4” pipe and fittings with DN 20mm rigid PVC pipe or nearest equivalent that is easily sourced near you.

Optional Pieces

S-hooks can be printed at scale: 1.0499 (20/19.05) to fit nicely on DN 20mm.