How The Elevator Works

By
Khairul Nizar Ismail
EAT 257
21 March 2013
Why?

I find the elevator cool.
Phobia when younger
Gets people to destinations fast.
Large cities wouldnt be the same.
Different Types
Freight Elevators
Stage Elevators
The Basic Design
The basic design is a compartment
that is somehow lifted
Two Types of Elevators:
Hydraulic
Rope-Geared
The Hydraulic Elevator
The car is moved up and
down using a fluid piston
mounted inside a cylinder
(Harris).
Consists of three parts:
Tank
Pump
Valve


The Hydraulic Elevator

Hydraulic Elevators
A Closer Look


The car is placed on a piston.
Fluid Pumping System
A tank (off to the side) holds the fluid.
When the valve closes, the car is lifted.
When the valve opens, the car is lowered.
Hydraulic Disadvantages

Two Disadvantages
Must Have Enough Room
Energy Inefficient

Rope-Geared Elevators

These are the most popular types of
elevators.
Rather than being pushed from
below, these types of elevators are
moved using cables
Rope-Geared Design

Cables attach to the car and through a sheave.
The sheave is connected to an electric motor.
Motor turns one way, elevator moves up. Motor
turns the other way, elevator moves down.
The ropes are connected to a counterweight.
The counterweight system serves as a means for
conserving energy.
Rope-Geared Design (Contd)


Rails are used to guide the elevator
Keep elevator and counterweights steady.
Rope-geared elevators are much more efficient
and safer.
r
Diagram of Rope-Geared
Elevato
Safety Systems
More ropes than needed
Built-in brake systems
Governor prevents the elevator from falling to the
bottom of the shaft.
Centrifugal force causes a brake system to
activate.
Also has an electromagnetic brake that is activated if
the elevator loses power.
Automated Brake System at the top and bottom of
the shaft.


Moving To Destinations
Modern elevators use computers.
Slows down
Only answer up calls as going up and the same
for going down.
Modern Smart systems take into account the
busiest parts of the day.
Press the floor you want in the lobby.
Load Sensor



Lift Door
The automatic doors at grocery stores and
office buildings are mainly there for
convenience and as an aid for
handicapped people.

The automatic doors in an elevator, on the
other hand, are absolutely essential. They
are there to keep people from falling down
an open shaft.

Elevators use two different sets of doors:
doors on the cars and doors opening into
the elevator shaft. The doors on the cars
are operated by an electric motor, which is
hooked up to the elevator computer. You
can see how a typical door-opener system
works in the diagram below.
Making the Rounds
Many modern elevators are controlled by a computer. The
computer's job is to process all of the relevant information
about the elevator and turn the motor the correct amount
to put the elevator car where it needs to be.
In a building with many floors, the computer has to have
some sort of strategy to keep the cars running as efficiently
as possible. In older systems, the strategy is to avoid
reversing the elevator's direction. That is, an elevator car
will keep moving up as long as there are people on the
floors above that want to go up. The car will only answer
"down calls" after it has taken care of all the "up calls." But
once it starts down, it won't pick up anybody who wants to
go up until there are no more down calls on lower floors.
This program does a pretty good job of getting everybody
to their floor as fast as possible
Discussion
What are disadvantages of hydraulic
lift?
How the safety system works?
Elevator 1
Elevator 2
Elevator 3
Escalator


Tutorial
Group Assignment
14 group- each group must answer,
discuss & elaborate 5 questions
Maximum 2 pages (A4)
Submission online (by email) to
nizar@unimap.edu.my
Submission date: before 11.59pm,26
March 2013 ( Tuesday)
Title of the email : GROUP 1
Important date
Group Assignment submission : 26
March 2013
Tutorial Discussion : 28 March 2013
Laboratory works : 29 March 2013
Test 1 : 4 April 2013

Thank You