LIFT SYSTEM

Introduction
An elevator (US) or lift (UK) is classified as modern and vertical
transportation that moves people or goods between floors (levels) of
a building, vessel, or other structure which the building having more
than three storeys. These are the system used for vertical
movement inside a building and comprises of one or more cars
(sheet metal boxes with sliding doors), suspended in a structural
sling of metals channels, that can be moved up and down the
storeys of the building by some driving and controlling mechanism.
They 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. For disable
people, whom riding wheelchair, lift is needed and it is become
access way for them to move anywhere. Because of wheelchair
access laws, elevators are often a legal requirement in new multistorey buildings, especially where wheelchair ramps would be
impractical. Passenger lifts are provided for building of over three
storeys, or less if wheelchair movement is required. The minimum
standard of service is one lift for each four storeys and with a
maximum walking distance of 45m between workstation and lift
lobby. Furthermore, the lift must be able to pick up and drop
passengers as efficient as possible. The lift also design by follow the
rule and regulations of Uniform Building By-Laws and Factory and
Machinery Departments.
There are few type of lift :

High speed elevator

Observation elevator
Low & medium rise
Bed elevator
Dumbwaiter elevator

Special lifts
Double deck lifts

It is used for increased capacity. There, two cars are mounted one
above other in the same shaft so that two floors are served
simultaneously.

Goods lifts
Are provided for the movement of fragile goods, fluids or
patients in hospital. Accurate floor leveling within 5mm is
required, to facilitate smooth passage of trolleys.
The cars have full-width doors, sometimes at each end of the
car.
Goods lifts have slow service at a maximum of 1 m/s.
Goods lifts complete each journey instruction before accepting
another. Door operation can be manual or automatic. Additional
structural supports are needed for lifts with high carrying
capacity, and well-designed brakes.
Driving mechanism: Variable voltage electrical or hydraulic
power supply. Hydraulically operated lifts have the advantage
of very quiet operation and low running costs.

Design Criteria
The size, location and number of cars are selected regarding
following factors :
a. Building size and type
Passenger lifts are provided for building of over three storeys,
or less if wheelchair movement is required. The minimum standard
of service is one lift for each four storeys and with a maximum
walking distance of 45m between workstation and lift lobby.
The peak demand of lift service is assessed from the building size,
shape, height and population. Up to 25% of the population will
require transportation during a 5min peak period. Congestion at
peak travel times is minimized by arranging the lift lobbies in a cull-

de sac of, say, two lift doors on either side of a walkway, rather than
in a line of four doors along one wall.
b. Cars capacity
The lifts carrying capacity is determined by the demand at
peak times. Two lifts of 680 kg carrying capacity (10 people) provide
a better service than one 1360 kg, 20 person lift. The large single lift
would run only partly loaded during the major part of the day with a
resulting decrease in efficiency and increased running cost. But
additional capital cost for two lifts should be lower than the
advantages of using it.

d. Control mechanism
The automatic control system should function in an upward
collecting and downward collection mode, computer controls are
used to optimize the overall performance of the installation by
causing the nearest car to stop, and to minimize electricity
consumption.
The selection of lifts shall be based on the average waiting time
interval, handling capacity in 5 minutes and fire lift to comply with
BS2655. Pt 1: Appendix E.

c. Car speed
It is determined by travel distance and standard of service.
Buildings having more than 15 storeys may have high-speed lifts
that do not stop at the first 10 storeys.
Car speed for various travel distances can be listed as;
Floors
Up to 4
49
9 15
Over 15
Paternoster
Goods, to any height
Hydraulic, passenger or goods, max. 4 or
5 floors

Car speed m/s

0.3 0.8
0.8 2.0
2.0 5.0
5.0 7.0
Up to 0.4
0.2 1.0
0.1 1.0

Car speed is chosen so that the driving motor can be run at full
speed for much of the running time to maximize the efficiency of
power consumption.
The overall speed of operation is determined by the acceleration
time, braking time; maximum car speed; speed of door opening;
degree of advanced door opening; floor-levelling accuracy required;
switch timing and variation of car performance with car load.

Gearless traction elevators

Buildings up to about 12+ stories typically use Gear-Less Traction
Elevators. This type of drive system could be employed in buildings
of any height and operated at much higher speeds than steampowered elevators. This design has proven so durable that even
now, when a building is modernizedwhile the elevator control
system is replaced with the most up-to-date electronicsit is rarely
necessary to replace a well-maintained gearless machine. These
elevators typically operate at speeds greater than 500 feet per
minute
In a gearless traction machine, five to eight lengths of wire cable,
known as hoisting ropes (or wire ropes), are attached to the top of
the elevator and wrapped around the drive sheave in special
grooves. The other ends of the cables are attached to a
counterweight that moves up and down in the hoistway on its own
guiderails. The combined weight of the elevator car and the
counterweight presses the cables into the grooves on the drive
sheave, providing the necessary traction as the sheave turns.
To reduce the load on the motor, the counterweight is calculated to
match the weight of the car and a half-load of passengers. As the car
rises, the counterweight descends, balancing the load. This reduces
energy consumption because the motor is required to lift no more

than the weight of half a car load at any time. The grooved sheave in
this traditional gearless system is quite large, from 0.6 to 1.2 meters
(24 ft) in diameter. The electric motor that runs it must be powerful
enough to turn this large drive sheave at 50200 revolutions per
minute in order to move the elevator at the proper rate.
Safety is provided by a governing device that engages the cars
brakes, should the elevator begin to fall. A powerful clamp clutches
the steel governor cable, which activates two safety clamps located
beneath the car. Moveable steel jaws wedge themselves against the
guiderails until sufficient force is exerted to bring the car to a
smooth stop.
Elevators with more than 100 ft (30 m) or the speed is 2.5m/s or
above of travel have a system called compensation. This is a
separate set of cables or a chain attached to the bottom of the
counterweight and the bottom of the elevator cab. This makes it
easier to control the elevator, as it compensates for the differing
weight of cable between the hoist and the cab. If the elevator cab is
at the top of the hoist-way, there is a short length of hoist cable
above the car and a long length of compensating cable below the
car and vice versa for the counterweight. If the compensation
system uses cables, there will be an additional sheave in the pit
below the elevator, to guide the cables. If the compensation system
uses chains, the chain is guided by a bar mounted between the
counterweight railway lines.

Destination control system

Some skyscraper buildings and other types of installation feature a
destination operating panel where a passenger registers their floor
calls before entering the car. The system lets them know which car
to wait for, instead of everyone boarding the next car. In this way,
travel time is reduced as the elevator makes fewer stops for
individual passengers, and the computer distributes adjacent stops
to different cars in the bank. Although travel time is reduced,
passenger waiting times may be longer as they will not necessarily

be allocated the next car to depart. During the down peak period the
benefit of destination control will be limited as passengers have a
common destination.
It can also improve accessibility, as a mobility-impaired passenger
can move to his or her designated car in advance. Inside the
elevator there is no call button to push, or the buttons are there but
they cannot be pushed except door opening and alarm button
they only indicate stopping floors.
The idea of destination control was originally conceived by Leo Port
from Sydney in 1961, but at that time elevator controllers were
implemented in relays and were unable to optimise the performance
of destination control allocations.
The system was first pioneered by Schindler Elevator in 1992 as the
Miconic 10. Manufacturers of such systems claim that average
traveling time can be reduced by up to 30%.
However, performance enhancements cannot be generalized as the
benefits and limitations of the system are dependent on many
factors. One problem is that the system is subject to gaming.
Sometimes, one person enters the destination for a large group of
people going to the same floor. The dispatching algorithm is usually
unable to completely cater for the variation, and latecomers may
find the elevator they are assigned to is already full. Also,
occasionally, one person may press the floor multiple times. This is
common with up/down buttons when people believe this to be an
effective way to hurry elevators. However, this will make the
computer think multiple people are waiting and will allocate empty
cars to serve this one person.
To prevent this problem, in one implementation of destination
control, every user gets an RFID card to identify himself, so the
system knows every user call and can cancel the first call if the
passenger decides to travel to another destination to prevent empty
calls. The newest invention knows even where people are located
and how many on which floor because of their identification, either
for the purposes of evacuating the building or for security reasons.

[38] Another way to prevent this issue is to treat everyone travelling

from one floor to another as one group and to allocate only one car
for that group.
The same destination scheduling concept can also be applied to
public transit such as in group rapid transit.

Manual controls
In the first half of the twentieth century, almost all elevators had no
automatic positioning of the floor on which the cab would stop.
Some of the older freight elevators were controlled by switches
operated by pulling on adjacent ropes. In general, most elevators
before WWII were manually controlled by elevator operators using a
rheostat connected to the motor. The rheostat was enclosed within a
cylindrical container about the size and shape of a cake. This was
mounted upright or sideways on the cab wall and operated via a
projecting handle, which was able to slide around the top half of the
cylinder.
The elevator motor was located at the top of the shaft or beside the
bottom of the shaft. Pushing the handle forward would cause the cab
to rise; backwards would make it sink. The harder the pressure, the
faster the elevator would move. The handle also served as a dead
man switch: if the operator let go of the handle, it would return to its
upright position, causing the elevator cab to stop. In time, safety
interlocks would ensure that the inner and outer doors were closed
before the elevator was allowed to move.

This lever would allow some control over the energy supplied to the
motor and so enabled the elevator to be accurately positioned if
the operator was sufficiently skilled. More typically, the operator
would have to "jog" the control, moving the cab in small increments
until the elevator was reasonably close to the landing point. Then
the operator would direct the outgoing and incoming passengers to
"watch the step".

Automatic elevators began to appear as early as the 1930s, their

development being hastened by striking elevator operators which
brought large cities dependent on skyscrapers (and therefore their
elevators) such as New York and Chicago to their knees. These
electromechanical systems used relay logic circuits of increasing
complexity to control the speed, position and door operation of an
elevator or bank of elevators.
The Otis Autotronic system of the early 1950s brought the earliest
predictive systems which could anticipate traffic patterns within a
building to deploy elevator movement in the most efficient manner.
Relay-controlled elevator systems remained common until the 1980s
and their gradual replacement with solid-state, microprocessorbased controls are now the industry standard. Most older, manuallyoperated elevators have been retrofitted with automatic or semiautomatic controls.
Using the emergency call button in an elevator. There is Braille text
for visually impaired people and the button glows to alert a hearing
impaired person that the bell is ringing and the call is being placed.
General controls
A typical modern passenger elevator will have:
Space to stand in, guardrails, seating cushion (luxury)
Overload sensor prevents the elevator from moving until
excess load has been removed. It may trigger a voice prompt or
buzzer alarm. This may also trigger a "full car" indicator,
indicating the car's inability to accept more passengers until
some are unloaded.
Electric fans or air conditioning units to enhance circulation and
comfort.
A control panel with various buttons. In the United States and
other countries, button text and icons are raised to allow blind
users to operate the elevator; many have Braille text besides.
Buttons include:
Call buttons to choose a floor. Some of these may be key
switches (to control access). In some elevators, certain

floors are inaccessible unless one swipes a security card or

enters a passcode (or both).
Door open and Door close buttons.
The operation of the door open button is transparent, immediately
opening and holding the door, typically until a timeout occurs and
the door closes. The operation of the door close button is less
transparent, and it often appears to do nothing, leading to frequent
but incorrect[26] reports that the door close button is a placebo
button: either not wired up at all, or inactive in normal service.
Working door open and door close buttons are required by code in
many jurisdictions, including the United States, specifically for
emergency operation: in independent mode, the door open and door
close buttons are used to manually open or close the door. Beyond
this, programming varies significantly, with some door close buttons
immediately closing the door, but in other cases being delayed by an
overall timeout, so the door cannot be closed until a few seconds
after opening. In this case (hastening normal closure), the door close
button has no effect. However, the door close button will cause a
hall call to be ignored (so the door won't reopen), and once the
timeout has expired, the door close will immediately close the door,
for example to cancel a door open push. The minimum timeout for
automatic door closing in the US is 5 seconds, which is a noticeable
delay if not overridden.
An alarm button or switch, which passengers can use to
warn the premises manager that they have been trapped
in the elevator.
A set of doors kept locked on each floor to prevent
unintentional access into the elevator shaft by the
unsuspecting individual. The door is unlocked and opened by a
machine sitting on the roof of the car, which also drives the
doors that travel with the car. Door controls are provided to
close immediately or reopen the doors, although the button to
close them immediately is often disabled during normal
operations, especially on more recent elevators. Objects in the
path of the moving doors will either be detected by sensors or
physically activate a switch that reopens the doors. Otherwise,

the doors will close after a preset time. Some elevators are
configured to remain open at the floor until they are required to
move again.
Elevators in high traffic buildings often have a "nudge" function
(the Otis Autotronic system first introduced this feature) which
will close the doors at a reduced speed, and sound a buzzer if
the "door open" button is being deliberately held down, or if the
door sensors have been blocked for too long a time.
A stop switch (not allowed under British regulations) to halt the
elevator while in motion and often used to hold an elevator
open while freight is loaded. Keeping an elevator stopped for
too long may set off an alarm. Unless local codes require
otherwise, this will most likely be a key switch.
Some elevators may have one or more of the following:
=> An elevator telephone, which can be used (in addition to the
alarm) by a trapped passenger to call for help. This may consist of a
transceiver, or simply a button.
=> Hold button: This button delays the door closing timer, useful for
loading freight and hospital beds.
=> Call cancellation: A destination floor may be deselected by
double clicking.
=> Access restriction by key switches, RFID reader, code keypad,
hotel room card, etc.
=> One or more additional sets of doors. This is primarily used to
serve different floor plans: on each floor only one set of doors opens.
For example, in an elevated crosswalk setup, the front doors may
open on the street level, and the rear doors open on the crosswalk
level. This is also common in garages, rail stations, and airports.
Alternatively, both doors may open on a given floor. This is
sometimes timed so that one side opens first for getting off, and
then the other side opens for getting on, to improve boarding/exiting
speed. This is particularly useful when passengers have luggage or
carts, as at an airport, due to reduced manoeuvrability.

In case of dual doors, there may be two sets of Door open and Door
close buttons, with one pair controlling the front doors, from the
perspective of the console, typically denoted <> and ><, with the
other pair controlling the rear doors, typically denoted with a line in
the middle, <|> and >|<. This second set is required in the US if
both doors can be opened at the same landing, so that the doors can
both be controlled in independent service.
=>Security camera
=>Plain walls or mirrored walls.
=>Glass windowpane providing a view of the building interior or
onto the streets.
=>An audible signal button, labeled "S": in the US, for elevators
installed between 1991 and 2012 (initial passage of ADA and coming
into force of 2010 revision), a button which if pushed, sounds an
audible signal as each floor is passed, to assist visually impaired
passengers. No longer used on new elevators, where the sound is
obligatory.
Other controls, which are generally inaccessible to the public (either
because they are key switches, or because they are kept behind a
locked panel), include:
o Fireman's service, phase II key switch
o Switch to enable or disable the elevator.
o An inspector's switch, which places the elevator in inspection
mode (this may be situated on top of the elevator)
o Manual up/down controls for elevator technicians, to be used in
inspection mode, for example.
o An independent service/exclusive mode (also known as "Car
Preference"), which will prevent the car from answering to hall
calls and only arrive at floors selected via the panel. The door
should stay open while parked on a floor. This mode may be
used for temporarily transporting goods.
o Attendant service mode.
o Large buildings with multiple elevators of this type also had an
elevator dispatcher stationed in the lobby to direct passengers

and to signal the operator to leave with the use of a mechanical

"cricket" noisemaker.
External controls
Elevators are typically controlled from the outside by a call box,
which has up and down buttons, at each stop. When pressed at a
certain floor, the button calls the elevator to pick up more
passengers. If the particular elevator is currently serving traffic in a
certain direction, it will only answer calls in the same direction
unless there are no more calls beyond that floor.

In a group of two or more elevators, the call buttons may be linked

to a central dispatch computer, such that they illuminate and cancel
together. This is done to ensure that only one car is called at one
time.
Key switches may be installed on the ground floor so that the
elevator can be remotely switched on or off from the outside.
In destination control systems, one selects the intended destination
floor (in lieu of pressing "up" or "down") and is then notified which
elevator will serve their request.

Occupancy density, Ap = 13 sq m2 / per person

Total population above ground floor = Total floor area / Ap
= 35 400 / 13
= 2723.08 persons
Required handling capacity (per 5 minutes)
=2723.08 x 17% population floor rate
=463 persons per minutes
b) Lift Travel (m), D = floors from above ground x floor pitch
= 20 x 3.5 meter
= 70 meters
From Table 1.0,

CALCULATION
Summary of Lift Installation
Block/Fire or Service lift)

(Office

building/Car

Park

The rayed speed required for 70 meters is 4.0 ms -1

Main Building

From Table 2.0,

No. of lift : 3

Referring to 20 number of floor at lift speed of 4.0 ms -1

No. of floors : 20

Indicates to 6 no. of lift and group 15 persons lift car capacity of 175
persons per minutes and interval of 22 seconds.

Distance floor to floor : 3.5m

Layout : Straight line arrangement for three lift
Passenger capacity : 13 person (900 kg)
Speed :4.0 ms-1
Door width (centre opening) : 1100
Area of each floor : 1770 sq. m
a) Required Handling Capacity
Population
The total floor area = area of each floor x number of floors
=1770 x 20
= 35 400 sq m2

c) Probable no. of stops (Sp)

Sp = S S [(S-1)/S]n
= 20 20 [(20-1)/20]18
= 12.05 stops or 12 stops
n=based on Table 10.0
d) Travelling Time (t)
T = 2(dSp + D + d)/v
= 2[(4.7 x 12) + 70 + 4.7]/4.0
=65.55 seconds
d=based on Table 4.0

e) Ground Floor Lobby Time

-Time to load passengers at ground floor (Table 6.0) = 12
seconds
-Time to close lift door (Table 5.0)
= 2.6 seconds
-Time to open lift door (Table 5.0)
= 1.9 seconds
-Total time at lobby
=16.5 seconds

i) Transportation time = [I (2+N)]/4

=[79.62 (2+2)]/4
=79.62 seconds
This transportation time classified as bad quality of lift services
(Table 3.0)
j) Transportation Capacity (H)
H = [N x n(5x60)]/RTT
= [2 x 18(5x60)]/ 159.23
= 68 person per minutes

f) Total time at stop

-Time to open door at each stop (Table 5.0)
= 1.9
seconds
-Time to transfer passenger at each stop (Table 7.0) = 1.3
seconds
-Time to close door at each stop (Table 5.0)
=2.6
seconds
-Total time for 12 stops
= 5.8 x 12
stops
= 69.6 seconds
g) Round Trip Time (RTT)
RTT = travelling time + total time at lobby + total time stops
= 65.55 + 16.5 + 69.6
= 151.65 seconds
Allowing 96% efficiency of door opening of 1100mm ( Table 8.0)
RTT = 151.65 x 1.05
= 159.23 seconds
h) Interval (I)
I = RTT/N
= 159.23 / 2
79.62 seconds

Traffic Analysis (input data)

1. Elevator Procedures
Traffic flow travel time
Lift equipment - the criteria usually used in determining
elevator service quality are:
Waiting time time spent by a passenger between arriving in
the lobby and leaving the lobby in a car.
Interval (I) or lobby dispatch time time between departure of
cars from the lobby
Handling capacity (HC) indicating the maximum number of
passengers that can be handle in a given period usually 5
min; thus the term 5-min handling capacity.
Elevator performance Lift performance analysis based on
quality of service.

Traffic Pattern
Up peak

During up-peak mode (also called moderate incoming traffic),

elevator cars in a group are recalled to the lobby to provide
expeditious service to passengers arriving at the building, most
typically in the morning as people arrive for work or at the
conclusion of a lunch-time period. Elevators are dispatched one-byone when they reach a pre-determined passenger load, or when they
have had their doors opened for a certain period of time. The next
elevator to be dispatched usually has its hall lantern or a "this car
leaving next" sign illuminated to encourage passengers to make
maximum use of the available elevator system capacity. Some
elevator banks are programmed so that at least one car will always
return to the lobby floor and park whenever it becomes free.

Office (multiple
tenancy):
- Regular
- Prestige
Office (single
tenancy):
- Regular
- Prestige

The commencement of up-peak may be triggered by a time clock, by

the departure of a certain number of fully loaded cars leaving the
lobby within a given time period, or by a switch manually operated
by a building attendant.

10-12 m2 net
area/person
15-18 m2 net
area/person

8-10 m2 net
area/person
12-20 m2 net
area/person

Operation Control
Down peak
During down-peak mode, elevator cars in a group are sent away
from the lobby towards the highest floor served, after which they
commence running down the floors in response to hall calls placed
by passengers wishing to leave the building. This allows the elevator
system to provide maximum passenger handling capacity for people
leaving the building.
The commencement of down-peak may be triggered by a time clock,
by the arrival of a certain number of fully loaded cars at the lobby
within a given time period, or by a switch manually operated by a
building attendant.
2. Traffic Analysis
Population
Since the type of building is commercial buildings, the
population for estimating elevator is 8 to 12 m 2 per person

System controls are used to turn the elevator system on or off,

system controls are only accessible from an elevator control room.
They would typically be used quite infrequently perhaps the
system would be turned on early in the morning and turned off late
at night, or turned off at the start of holidays and turned on once the
next term begins.
Selective collective operation (Passenger lifts)
The type collective operation is selective in that arranged to collect
all waiting up calls on the trip up and all hall down calls on the trip
down. The control system stores all calls unit that they answered,
and automatically reverse the direction of travel at the highest and
lowest calls. When all calls have been cleared, the car will remain at
the floor of its last stop awaiting the next call and its m-g set will
stop after several minutes. Pressure on any up or down button at
any landing, or on any floor button in the car will start the m-g set
and set the car into operation.

In simply word, selective collective operation is most common,

remembers and answers calls in one direction then reverses. When
trip complete, programmed to return to a home landing.
Selective collective control is standard in locations where service
requirements are moderate such as in apartment houses, small
office, and others. Since these location often require more than one
car, a control scheme is available for groups of one to three cars. It
is automatically assigns each landing call to other car best situated
to answer it. To prevent more than one car from answering a call,
allows one car to be detached for freight duty while others serve
passengers and automatically parks all but at ground floor, that car
acting as a free car until service call require to use the parked cars.

Fire/service lifts signal collective operation

Elevator operated by a firefighter for firefighting purposes. Location
and function of Firemans Emergency Operation Switch may vary
depending
on
applicable
codes
and
regulations.
Common operation flow is shown below. Operation may vary
depending on applicable codes and regulations.

*1 Only when Firemans Emergency Operation (FE) Indication Lamp is provided

inside car.
*2 Evacuation Floor is defined as a predetermined floor in the building where
passengers can evacuate safely.