Mealtime Partners, Inc.

The Front Mounted Drinking System is an assistive drinking aid that was developed by Mealtime Partners to provide hands free drinking for individuals with disabilities who use wheelchairs but who have a very limited range of head and trunk movement, and, who additionally have weak suction. The system consists of a heavy-duty Flex Arm that has a clamp on one end and a cup holder on the other. Using this will provide independent drinking for disabled individuals who regularly use manual wheelchairs.

Front Mounted Drinking System with a 30-Inch Flex Arm

 

The drinking system mount is clamped to the frame of a manual wheelchair. (To see Front Mounted Drinking Systems that will attach to wheelchairs with Slide-Track rails, click here. The drinking systems are identical to those described on this webpage except for the method for attaching to the wheelchair.) The Flex Arm is bent to position the cup holder and the cup that it contains, close enough to the user’s mouth that they can easily access the straw. Once bent, the Flex Arm shaft holds its position well.

Front Mounted Drinking System with a 24-Inch Flex Arm

The cup holder can accommodate a variety of cups and bottles (that are provided by the user). For example, it can accommodate insulated coffee mugs and other assorted cups and bottles. It can also accommodate a Koozie to keep drinks cold (in the illustrations the cup holder has a purple Koozie and green and yellow cup). A flexible mounting arm allows custom positioning for each individual.

The Front Mounted Drinking System has several mounting options: Flex Arms come in 6 inch, 12 inch, 18 inch, 24 inch and 30 inch lengths, to accommodate different user heights and seating systems.

To select the most appropriate length Flex Arm for each individual, first choose where on the frame of the wheelchair the drinking system will be clamped. Next, decide where the drinking cup should be placed to accommodate the individual’s drinking needs (head and neck positioning). Measure the distance between where the clamp will be located and the cup position. Add 3 inches to this distance, to accommodate the bend in the Flex Arm to orient the cup correctly, and choose the Flex Arm length that is closest (but longer) to that length. Any additional length can be absorbed by bending the Flex Arm more.

Front Mounted Drinking System with a 18-Inch Flex Arm

Because the cup is positioned in front of the user a short straw can be used with this system. This close proximity allows those who have poor suction to be able to drink from this system.

 

Front Mounted Drinking System with a 12-Inch Flex Arm

The Front Mounted Drinking System comes with wheelchair clamp (for Slide-Track clamping, click here), a heavy-duty Flex Arm, a cup holder with clamp, and a Koozie. The cup holder can accommodate a variety of (user provided) cups and bottles.

Front Mounted Drinking System with a 6-Inch Flex Arm

 

This is the easiest to clean of all Mealtime Partners drinking systems because it can be used with disposable cups, cans, or bottles; or, containers that are easy to wash. Also disposable straws can be used and there is no long drink tube to clean. The Front Mounted Drinking System is so versatile that a dedicated Newsletter Article was written about it. To learn (much) more about the Front Mounted Drinking System, please look at this article: The Very Versatile Front Mounted Drinking System.

The Front Mounted Drinking System is suitable for individuals who have limited movement and/or poor suction.

FRONT MOUNTED DRINKING SYSTEM PRICES:

PART NO.	DESCRIPTION	PRICE	S & H	PURCHASE
6006	Front Mounted Dining System with 6-Inch Flex Arm	$139.95	$20.00
6012	Front Mounted Dining System with 12-Inch Flex Arm	$142.95	$20.00
6018	Front Mounted Dining System with 18-Inch Flex Arm	$145.95	$20.00
6024	Front Mounted Dining System with 24-Inch Flex Arm	$148.95	$20.00
6030	Front Mounted Dining System with 30-Inch Flex Arm	$151.95	$20.00

For Front Mounted Drinking Systems for wheelchairs with Slide-Track slide track mounting rails, click here.

This page last updated 11-19-2021