2. The first reference to an elevator is in the works of the
Roman architect Vitruvius, who reported that
Archimedes (c. 287 BC – c. 212 BC) built his first
elevator probably in 236 BC. In some literary sources of
later historical periods, elevators were mentioned as
cabs on a hemp rope and powered by hand or by
animals. It is supposed that elevators of this type were
installed in the Sinai monastery of Egypt.
3. In 1874, J.W. Meaker patented a method which
permitted lift doors to open and close safely.
In 1887, American Inventor Alexander Miles of Duluth,
Minnesota patented a lift with automatic doors that
would close off the lift shaft.
In 1888 Nikola Tesla invented the first practicable AC
motor and with it the polyphase power transmission
system. Tesla continued his work on the AC motor in the
years to follow at the Westinghouse company.
4. Man has always devised ways of raising and lowering
loads from one level to the next. Counterweighted
levers were used in Ancient Egypt to carry water to
irrigation ditches for agricultural use. The 2000
columns of the temple of Diana in Ephesus were raised
to the top by using a ramp made of sandbags.
Archimedes invented the Archimedean screw to lift
buckets of water and other types of heavy material. In
the early 13th century, the monks of the Abbey of Mont
St. Michel on the coast of France used a treadmill-
hoisting machine that was pulled by donkeys.
5. Since man started living in tall buildings, he faced the
question of vertical transport for people and cargos.
Archaeological excavations revealed that, since the era of
Ancient Rome, people were being ascended on platforms,
tied with ropes and pulled by slaves of the Romans.
In Tibet and Greek Meteora mountains, both individuals
and merchandise were lifted at large heights, into baskets.
These primitive mediums of vertical transport had a very
significant disadvantage. If a rope would break, people in
the ascending medium would fall, without any possibility
of being saved.
6. It is said that a visitor of Meteora, once asked a monk:
- How often do you change the lifting rope?
- Each time it breaks, he naturally answered.
Primitive elevators were in use as early as the 3rd
century BC, operated by human, animal, or water
wheel power. In 1743, a counter-weighted, man-
powered, personal elevator was built for King Luis XV
connecting his apartment in Versailles with that of his
mistress, Madame de Chateauroux, whose quarters
were one floor above King Luis.
7. 19th Century Elevators
From about the middle of the 19th century, elevators were
powered, often steam-operated, and were used for
conveying materials in factories, mines, and warehouses.
In 1823, two architects Burton and Hormer built an
"ascending room" as they called it, this crude elevator was
used to lift paying tourists to a platform for a panorama
view of London. In 1835, architects Frost and Stutt built the
"Teagle", a belt-driven, counter-weighted, and steam-
driven lift was developed in England.
8. The history of modern lift begins with the adjustment
of the regulation of the safety gear, which eliminates
the possibility of a free fall of the cabinet. In 1852, in
the United States, E.G.OTIS caused panic to his
viewers by cutting the ropes of the platform where he
was standing on. The platform started falling, and
suddenly it stopped on the spot. The safety gear had
worked. Since then, technology in the lift field made
huge steps of progress.
9. In 1857 the first lift is installed in New York for public use.
It was steam-driven, burning coal.
In 1870 the first hydraulic lifts operated in New York.
In 1889 the first hydraulic lift operated in the DEMAREST
building in New York.
In 1894 the first hydraulic lift with push buttons and no
driver operated.
n 1900 the first escalator operated in the Paris Universal
Exhibition.
In 1903 the first lift with traction sheave (drum) and
counter-weight operated, having the form we are today
familiar with.
10. Elisha Graves Otis, invented the first safety brake for
elevators. With his installation of the first safe elevator in
1853 he literally started the elevator industry. His
invention enabled buildings – and architects’
imaginations – to climb ever skyward, giving a new and
bolder shape to the modern urban skyline. Today you can
ride an Otis elevator with confidence, knowing that it
represents 150 years of experience in both safety and
quality.
11. Definitions:–
“Lift” Conveyance of persons/goods, by
a car, running in a well on fixed guides.
–“Escalator” power-driven inclined
stairway with moving steps and rails.
–“Passenger conveyor” a power driven
installation with a continuous moving walkway,
incorporating a moving belt/pallets and
handrails.
12. The Equitable Life Building completed in 1870 in New
York City was the first office building to have
passenger lifts. They served 8 floors.
The Tallest building in the world is currently
The Burj Khalifa in Dubai with 160 floors.
Another successful Lerch Bates lift design!
13. Elevators are more than just little moving rooms that
quickly sprint up floors, helping you save out on the effort
of climbing tedious staircases. Pack these with luxury and
you’re bound to end up having a pleasant time traveling up
and down floors!
An elevator is a type of vertical transport equipment that
efficiently moves people or goods between floors (levels,
decks) of a building, vessel or other structures. Elevators
are generally powered by electric motors that either drive
traction cables or counterweight systems like a hoist, or
pump hydraulic fluid to raise a cylindrical piston like a jack.
14. Elevators changed our lives in many different ways.
For example, if elevators weren’t invented, we wouldn’t
have the Sears Tower. We wouldn’t have any
skyscrapers. We wouldn’t have certain landmarks.
The first elevator being demonstrated was a freight
elevator in the New York Crystal Palace exposition in
1853. The first elevator to be in a public place was in
1857 It was also a freight elevator being operated on at
a department store.
15. An escalator is a moving staircase – a conveyor
transport device for carrying people between floors of
a building. The device consists of a motor-driven chain
of individual, linked steps that move up or down on
tracks, allowing the step treads to remain horizontal.
Escalators are used to move pedestrian traffic in places
where elevators would be impractical. Principal areas
of usage include department stores, shopping malls,
airports, transit systems, convention centers, hotels,
arenas, stadiums and public buildings.
Escalator
16. Jesse Reno, a graduate of Lehigh University, produced
the first working escalator (he actually called it the
"inclined elevator") and installed it alongside the Old
Iron Pier at Coney Island, New York in 1896.
Piat installed its "stepless" escalator in Harrods
Knightsbridge store on Wednesday, November 16, 1898
Customers were given Brandy to recover from the
experience!
17. A single 1mtr wide escalator can move up to 4500
passengers in an hour
Can be used in stacks to cover up to 4 floors
Suitable for able bodied adults
Not unsupervised children, persons with disabilities or
elderly persons.
18. Available as flat walkways to reduce walking times
Or inclined at up to 12 degrees (10 degrees is best)
Can transport up to 3600 passengers per hour
Or 900 shopping trolleys with passengers
Not suitable for unsupervised children, the elderly and
disabled
19. First built in 1884 by the engineering firm of J & E Hall Ltd
of Dartford as the Cyclic Elevator, the name paternoster
("Our Father", the first two words of the Lord's Prayer in
Latin) was originally applied to the device because the
elevator is in the form of a loop and is thus similar to rosary
beads used as an aid in reciting prayers.
Can move up to 1400 passengers per hour
Best up to 6 floors
The Arts Tower serves 21 floors!
Not suitable for the elderly, disabled passengers or children
Must not be used to transport goods
20.
21. Regulation: Definitions:
– “Registered person” means a person registered with
the Engineering Council of South Africa, after he has
satisfied the Council:
(a) has sufficient knowledge of the rules and
specifications.
(b) has appropriate practical experience. (installation,
testing and maintenance)
22. (1) No person shall install or permit the installation of
a lift, escalator or passenger conveyor unless:
(a) Provincial Director has been notified in the form of
Annexure 1, who shall allocate an official number.
(b) He has been allocated an official number.
(c) The installation meets the requirements of these
regulations and complies with standards and
specifications. (SABS codes)
23. (2) No person shall put into use a lift unless he is in
possession of a comprehensive report:(Annex A)
– Report to be completed by a registered person not
older than 36 months
– new comprehensive report - after each
modification/failure.(Annex C)
24. Hydraulic Lift
Electric Traction (Cable) Lift
Rack and Pinion Lift
Fireman’s Lift (See Course Materials
on Fire Services Installations
or MOA code)
• Dump-waiter (Service Lift)
• Observation Lift
26. In 1846, Sir William Armstrong introduced the
hydraulic crane, and in the early 1870s, hydraulic
machines began to replace the steam-powered
elevator. The hydraulic elevator is supported by a
heavy piston, moving in a cylinder, and operated by
the water (or oil) pressure produced by pumps.
A Hydraulic Lift (Crane)
27. Found in two types:
Plunger type and
Roped hydraulic
Hydraulic -
Roped hydraulic
28. Hydraulic - Plunger type
This type is the most common
and consists of an elevator car
mounted on top of a long
hydraulic piston. The piston is
generally not telescopic, so there
must be a hole in the ground as
long as the distance the elevator
travels.
Hydraulic - Plunger type
29. Electric elevators came into to use toward the end of
the 19th century. The first one was built by the German
inventor Werner von Siemens in 1880.
Black inventor, Alexander Miles patented an electric
elevator (U.S. pat#371,207) on October 11, 1887.
30. This is the most common type of
elevator for high-rise buildings. It
consists of a driving sheave, over
which the hoisting ropes pass
coming from the elevator
crosshead and going to the
counter weights.
Electric traction type elevators can
be used in buildings of any height.
Electric - Traction type
Machine room
Hoistway doors
Controller
DC motor with sheave
Speed governor
Guide rails
Counter weights
31. Drum – Consists of a large
drum in the machine room
around which hoisting cables
and counter weights ropes are
wound. Not used in tall
buildings because of the large
drum size that would be
necessary.
This is an old type of elevator
and obsolete. The machine
room for this type of elevator
could be located on the first
floor next to the shaft, in the
basement or overhead.
Drum type
Drum with hoisting cables
32. Counterweight
A tracked weight that is suspended
from cables and moves within its
own set of guide rails along the
hoistway walls.
This counterweight will be equal
to the dead weight of the car plus
about 40% of the rated load.
Counter
weight
34. The shaft that encompasses the elevator car.
Generally serving all floors of the building.
In high-rise buildings hoistways may be banked. With
specific hoistways serving only the lower floors and others
serving only middle or upper floors while traveling in a
blind hoistway until reaching the floors that it serves. A
blind hoistway has no doors on the floors that it does not
serve.
35.
36. A heavy steel frame surrounding a cage of metal and wood
panels. The top of the car frame is called the “crosshead”.
Cabled elevators are usually suspended from the crosshead.
The bottom of the frame is usually referred to as the “safety
plank”.
Cross head
Safety plank
37. The elevator car door travels through the hoistway with the
car.
A toe guard is present at the bottom of some cars. This
guard protects the passengers from being exposed to the
open hoistway under the car if the doors are opened when
it is not at the landing. The guard is between 21” and 48”
long.
Toe guard
38. These doors can sometimes opened on the inside by hand,
except where anti-egress devices are installed.
This will also break the electrical interlock which will cut
the power to the car.
Anti-egress lock
39. Horizontal operating hoistway doors are generally hung
from the top on rollers that run in a track, with the bottom
of the door running in a slot.
Interlock opening mechanism
40. Forcing these doors at the middle or at the bottom will
cause damage to the doors and their mounting hardware.
The doors can also be knocked out of their track and fall
into the hoistway.
41. The hoistway door locking mechanism provides a means to
mechanically lock each hoistway door. They are also
interconnected electrically to prevent operation of the
elevator if any of the elevator’s hoistway doors are open.
Hoistway door interlock
43. Carried on trucks and the squad, permit the unlocking of
the hoistway door interlock.
44. The keyhole on the upper portion of a hoistway door that
accepts a hoistway emergency door key and permits
unlocking of the hoistway door locking mechanism.
These keyholes are usually located at the bottom and top
floors, but may also be on other selected floors or all floors.
You may find a lock covering these keyholes on some new
elevator installations. Locate these keys during pre-fires.
46. Provided on some cars for operating the car from the car
top. To be used by the elevator technician when servicing
the car.
This station should only be operated under the direct
supervision of the elevator technician.
Operating station
47. A sensor between the hoistway and car doors that
detects objects in their path and prevents the
doors from closing.
Photo-electric eyes were problematic and are being
phased out.
Infra-red sensor
48. A set of three wheels that roll against the guide rails.
Usually mounted to the safety plank and crosshead. They
keep the car in contact with the guide rails and prevent
sway.
Roller guides on Cross head
Roller guide on
Safety plank
49. Emergency braking mechanism that stops the car by
wedging into the guide rails when over speeding has
occurred.
It is activated by the speed governor sensing over speeding
of the elevator car.
Safeties
Safeties
Governor rope
50. Used on traction type elevators, usually attached to the
crosshead and extending up into the machine room
looping over the sheave on the motor and then down to the
counter weights.
Hoisting cable are generally 3 to 6 in number. They are
steel with a hemp core to keep them pliable and lubricated.
These cables are usually 1/2”or 5/8” in diameter. The
1/2”cables have a breaking strength of 14,500lbs and the
5/8” 23,000lbs each.
However, at 900 degrees the wire steel rope contains only
about 13% of its original tensile strength.
52. Tracks in the form of a “T” that run the length of the
hoistway, that guide the elevator car.
Usually mounted to the sides of the hoistway, at the middle
of the elevator car.
Guide rail
Guide rail
53. Provided to detect over speeding of the car
Usually a cable is attached to the safeties on the under side
of the car, called the governor rope. This rope runs down
through a pulley at the bottom of the shaft and back up to
the machine room and around the governor sheave.
When over-speeding is detected, the governor grips the
cable which applies the safeties that wedge against the
guide rails and stops the car.
55. Usually located at the top of the elevator cars,
sometimes on the side, other times not present.
Top exits open from outside the car.
Side exits are extremely dangerous to use and are
no longer being installed. Existing side exits have
been disabled by being permanently bolted shut.
Top emergency exit Top emergency exit
56. Usually located above the hoistway in a penthouse or two
floors above the highest floor it serves, but may be in the
basement if overhead space is unavailable.
Generally containing hoisting machines, controllers,
generator, speed governor and the main electrical
disconnects to the elevators.
Elevator car number
Elevator car number
59. Usually located in the basement or first floor, but could be
anywhere.
Generally containing the electric motors, pumps, oil
reservoirs, controllers and electrical disconnect to the
elevators.
60. Hydraulic Lifts are best for:-
Heavy Loads > 2000kg
Low travel < 18metres
Low number of starts per hour max 120
Temperature stable environments
Slow travel speeds max 1 m/sec
Life expectancy < 20 years
Some Machine room less versions
61. Traditional Electric lifts are best for:-
Busy lifts with >180 starts per hour
Fast performance up to 18m/sec, 1.2m/s2 2m/s3
Excellent ride quality < 10mg
Longer travel up to 150 m
Loads up to 5000kg
Life expectancy 25 to 40 years!
62. Machine Room Less (MRL) lifts
Do not need a machine room
and so save space
Limited to about 40m travel
Limited to 180 starts per hour
Limited to 3.5m/s
Limited to 3000kg
Efficient gearless drives are
best
Life expectancy <20 years
Beware of tied in maintenance!
64. Slow- less than 0.15m/sec
Unsuitable for more than 10 to 30 operations per hour
Unsuitable for travel over 3 metres (NB approval
required).
Require limited pit and headroom
Mostly designed for transporting disabled passengers
and not goods.
Some designed for transporting goods but only trained
operators as passengers.
65. Definitions
Interval (I) or lobby dispatch time
average time between departure of cars from lobby
Waiting time
average time spent by a passenger between arriving in
the lobby and leaving the lobby in a care quals (0.6 x I)
67. Handling Capacity
(HC)
maximum number
of passengers
handled in a 5
minute period
when expressed as a
percentage of the
building population
it is called percent
handling capacity
(PHC)
HC= 300(p)
I
68. Average trip time
(AVTRP)
average time from
passengers from
arriving in lobby to
leaving car at upper
floor
Note: car size floor to
floor height
72. Handling capacity (HC): HC=300p/I
Interval (I): I=RT/N
5-min. handling capacity (h): h=300p/RT
Number of cars (N): N=HC/h
73. Example Problem
Design an elevator system for a 10 story, single purpose
tenant, office building that provides an “good” level of
service.
Construction level is “normal”
Floor height: 12’-0” floor to floor
Floor area: 15,000 net square feet (nsf) each
84. Lobby Parameters
Proximity to other
cars
single zone
multizone
Proximity to
emergency
exits/egress stairs
Adjacent to main
lobby
85. Lobby Sizing
Size based on peak interval
15 or 20 minute peak time
5 sf/person
From previous example using 15 minute peak
h=34.8 people/5-min. 104.4 people/15 min.
Area= 104.4 people x 5 sf/person = 522 sf
92. Ideal Performance:
minimum waiting time
comfortable acceleration
rapid transportation
smooth/rapid slowing
accurate leveling
rapid loading/unloading
quick/quiet door operation
good visual travel direction/floor indicators
easily operated controls
comfortable lighting
reliable emergency equipment
smooth/safe operation of mechanical equipment
93. Fire
If a ‘fireman’s’ lift exists does it perform satisfactorily?
If a ‘firefighting’ lift exists are the arrangements in
place for the Evacuation Do the building construction
content documents permit that any lifts be used for
evacuation purposes, if so are the relevant building
management systems and periodic testing
arrangements in place ? necessary tests to be
undertaken?
94. Alarm systems
It will also be advisable to check on the adequacy of the
communications/alarm system for when persons may become
entrapped in the lift car. Many existing lifts rely upon an alarm
bell to attract attention, this may not be sufficient particularly
where the equipment might be used when the building has been
otherwise vacated. Often a telephone or some form of oral
communication system will be necessary even if the extent of
access to external lines is restricted. There are a number of
possibilities which will depend on the building usage and degree
of internal security.
Note: Under The Lifts
95. Lighting
Is there adequate emergency lighting in the lift car and
motor room? In the event of a power failure such
illumination will assist in comforting passengers and
in gaining safe access to the machine room to enable
release procedures to be carried out.
96. Lifts
1 Visual inspection of the lift car operating panel.
2 Check that all the indicators are working correctly.
3 Ensure the alarm/communication system functions
correctly.
4 Check that the lift doors open when the ‘door open’
button is depressed.
5 Check that all position indicators on the landing are
working correctly.
6 Check all lighting is in working order.
97. 7 Check any mechanical/electronic door protection
device (safety edge) such that:
when the safety edge is operated the door re-opens.
after operation and removal of any obstruction the
door closes.
8 Check that the floor in the immediate vicinity of the
landing door is in a clean and safe condition.
9 Check the landing doors/gates and architraves
ensuring there is nothing which can snag a passenger’s
clothing.
98. 10 Clean door bottom tracks.
11 Undertake a full ascent and descent to assess for any
unusual noise.
99. Escalators
1 A visual inspection of the escalator/moving walk for
any deficiencies I e cracked glass or loose panels.
2 Check all lighting.
3 Check escalator stop buttons.
4 Check that all walking surfaces are free from tripping
or slipping hazards.
5 Check handrails for damage.
6 Check skirting/deflector devices are securely fixed.
7 Check that the escalator/moving walk operates free
from excessive noise.
100. 8 Check that the comb plates at the top and bottom of
the escalator or at the ends of the moving walk do not
contain broken teeth.
9 Check that all safety pictographs are clearly visible
