Parts of Elevator and Its Function

Elevator Shaft

Lift cabin moves in this space. Depending upon the type of elevator, the location of the
shaft can be varied.
Cabin/ Car
This is the main part of Elevator which is designed for enclosed transport of passengers
& goods.

Cable (Rope)
It is used to support the car (passing over the drive sheave to the counterweight) & pull
the car. Usually number of lays depends on load & speed.

Elevator Machine
A traction machine is used on all traction elevator equipment types. A standard traction
machine consists of a motor, drive sheave, brake and machine bed plate. The traction machine
motor turns the drive sheave shaft to turn the drive sheave. As the sheave turns the hoist ropes
pass over the drive sheave and pull the car through the hoistway.

Controller
An Elevator controller is a system to control the elevators, either manual or automatic.
The controller usually tune down the voltage between 12V to 24V to the controlling system, only
the motor needs 3-phase power supply. The low voltage power supply is for the controlling
component and the fixtures to control the elevator

Drive unit
Everything that works under electricity must have a motor attached for the functioning &
driven by Variable Voltage Variable Frequency drives. Drive unit is the part which contains a
motor that drives the lift.

In case the lift faces any serious condition, Electric Motors helps in preventing it and
provides a smooth functioning of lifts.

The counter weight

In practice, elevators work in a slightly different way from simple hoists. The elevator car
is balanced by a heavy counterweight that weighs the weight of the car itself plus 40–50 percent
of the total weight it can carry. When the elevator goes up, the counterweight goes down—and
vice-versa, which helps us in four ways:
 The counterweight makes it easier for the motor to raise and lower the car—just as sitting on a
see-saw makes it much easier to lift someone's weight compared to lifting them in your arms.
Thanks to the counterweight, the motor needs to use much less force to move the car either up or
down. Assuming the car and its contents weigh more than the counterweight, all the motor has to
lift is the difference in weight between the two and supply a bit of extra force to overcome friction
in the pulleys and so on.

 Since less force is involved, there's less strain on the cables—which makes the elevator a little bit
safer.

 The counterweight reduces the amount of braking the elevator needs to use. Imagine if there were
no counterweight: a heavily loaded elevator car would be really hard to pull upwards but, on the
return journey, would tend to race to the ground all by itself if there weren't some sort of sturdy
brake to stop it. The counterweight makes it much easier to control the elevator car.

Hoistway
The space enclosed by fireproof walls and elevator doors for the travel of
elevators.It includes the pit and terminates at the underside of the overhead
machinery space floor or grating, or at the underside of the roof where the
hoistway does not penetrate the roof.

Guide Rails/Elevator rails

Steel T-shaped rail guides with guiding surfaces installed vertically in a
hoistway to guide and direct the course of travel of an elevator car and elevator
counterweights.

Sliding up and down in the elevators is possible with the proper functioning of Elevator
Rails.

Buffers
The buffer is an apparatus located at the bottom of elevator designed to
protect people. Buffers can stop a descending car by accumulating or dissipating
the kinetic energy of the car.

Speed governors
 The speed regulating system of elevators is known as the speed governor.If the elevator
runs more than the speed limit, the speed governor controls the speed. It is usually attached to the
bottom of the car and is also known as governor rope

Most elevators have an entirely separate speed-regulating system called a

governor, which is a flywheel with mechanical arms built inside it. Normally the
arms are held inside the flywheel by springs, but if the lift moves too fast, they fly
outward, pushing a lever mechanism that trips one or more braking systems. First,
they might cut power to the lift motor. If that fails and the lift continues to
accelerate, the arms will fly out even further and trip a second mechanism,
applying the brakes.

The safety brake

Everyone who's ever travelled in an elevator has had the same thought: what
if the cable holding this thing suddenly snaps? Rest assured, there's nothing to
worry about. If the cable snaps, a variety of safety systems prevent an elevator car
from crashingto the floor.
Each car ran between two vertical guide rails with sturdy metal teeth embedded all
the way up them. At the top of each car, there was a spring-loaded mechanism with
hooks attached. If the cable broke, the hooks sprung outward and jammed into the
metal teeth in the guide rails, locking the car safely in position.

Doors
As normal doors, elevator doors are also meant for entry and exit. Elevator door is
of two types: Manual doors and Automatic doors.

 Manual doors: These types of doors are opened with the help of a person who
wants to enter the lift.
 Automatic doors: Automatic doors are the type of doors which are
automatically opened as it is powered by a door operator and usually have a full
height photo-electric curtain to sense the entry/exit of persons.

Safety device
 This is a mechanical device attached to the elevator for safety reasons. In
case the lift travels downward with a maximum speed, safety device can maintain a
safety and secure traveling.

What is Elevator (Lift)?

An elevator can be defined as an electric lift which is used as vertical

transportation of goods.These are activated with the electrical motors to drive
counterweight system cables for drive transaction such as a hoist or pump
hydraulic fluid for raising a cylindrical piston such as a jack.

How Does a Lift work?

An elevator uses sophisticated mechanisms for handling the
elevator’s load.Basically, an elevator is a metal box which is connected
to a very tough metal rope.The tough metal rope passes through a sheave
on the elevator in the engine room. Here a sheave is like a wheel in
pulley system for clutching the metal rope strongly. This system can be
operated by a motor. When the switch is turned ON, the motor can be
activated when the elevator goes up and down or stops.

What is an Elevator Motor?

An elevator motor is an electric motor which is used for up and down

movements of elevator car. The turning force produced by the elevator motor is
transmitted to the rope winding drum to wind or unwind the rope, so that the
elevator car moves up and down.
The elevator motors are specially designed electric motors to ensure the
rapid acceleration and retardation, the inertia of moving parts of the elevator motor
must be kept as low as possible. Consequently, the electric motors used for
elevator services are designed with the armatures of comparatively small diameter.
In the elevator service, slow speed motors are preferred, generally, the speed of the
elevator motor should not exceed 900 RPM.

Types of Elevator Motors

 Both AC and DC types of electric motors are being used in the elevator services.
According to different service requirements, different types of DC and AC motors are employed.
DC Motors
There are different types of DC motors available (series motor, shunt motor and
compound motor). The type of DC motor which is best suited to the given elevator service
depends on the type of elevator service and the speed and the frequency of the slopes.
The elevator motor must not only lift up and down the load, but one of its principle duties is to
accelerate and decelerate the elevator car rapidly. This task must be accomplished smoothly
without jerks which might cause discomfort to the passengers.
The starting torque produced by the DC motor being used as the elevator motor should be at
least 225% of the rated full-load torque.
Now, based on different elevator services, following types of DC motors are used −
 For passenger service – Either compound wound DC motors or DC shunt motors give
satisfactory results.
 For freight service – In this service, compound wound DC motors are suitable. The series
winding of the compound wound motor provides a high starting torque, which is an essential
factor for heavy duty work.
Note – Most DC motors, whether compound wound or shunt, have suitable commutating pole
winding so as to ensure the sparkles commutation in both the directions of rotation while using
as elevator motor.
AC Motors
The AC motor used as the elevator motor are asynchronous motor (or induction motor). The
following are the two types of AC motors suitable for the elevator service −
 Squirrel Cage Motor

The squirrel cage motor is used extensively in the elevator services up to about 20 HP. It
is used because of its simplicity and it also requires relatively simple form of controller.
However, the power consumption of squirrel cage motor is slightly more than that of the slip
ring motor, but due to the absence of slip rings and fewer controller parts, it is somewhat
more reliable.

 Slip Ring Motor

The slip ring induction motors are also being used in the different elevator services.
Although, the slip ring motor of same rating is more expensive and has a lower power factor
than the squirrel cage induction motor. Slip ring motors of low speed type are now available
and are being used successfully on elevators whose car speeds are as high as 400 ft./minute.

Power Requirement of Elevator Motor

In order to determine the power required by an elevator motor for a given installation, following
three factors are to be considered −
 Speed of elevator car
  Load or net weight to be hoisted
 Efficiency

In the determination of the load to be hoisted, it is required to consider that the load of the
car and the part of the load is counter balanced by the counter weight. Hence, only the
unbalanced load must be taken into account.
The efficiency is the overall efficiency which considers various frictional and electrical losses.

Starting Torque Requirements of Elevator Motor

An elevator requires higher starting torque than that is required to keep the same elevator
running at its rated speed and load. It is because of the static friction. Therefore, an electric
motor to be suitable for elevator work, should be capable of developing a starting torque of 2.5
to 3 times of full-load torque.

Elevator Control System

The elevator control system is employed for the speed control of elevator motors and is
broadly classified into two types −
 Rheostatic control – A rheostat is included in the field and armature circuits of the motor
and speed control is achieved by varying it.

 Variable voltage control – The input voltage applied to the elevator motor is varied by
some means and the speed control is achieved.

Erection procedure

The Benefits of Lift Installation

Lifts provide a long-term solution for all your heavy-lifting requirements and offer several
benefits.

Some of these are:

 Safe, easy, vertical transportation of goods

 Increased productivity
 Time savings
 Less labour required than carrying goods
 Elimination of the need for fork lifts

It only takes five steps for a trained technician to install your new lift.

Installing the Lift

1. Setting the Columns in Place. First, the technician will make sure that the place you would like
the lift installed is a good option. ...
2. Adding the Carriage. ...
3. Raising the Drive Base for Mechanical Lift Installation. ...
4. Assembling and Setting the Gates and Enclosures. ...
5. Wiring the Electrical Components.

1. Setting the Columns in Place

First, the technician will make sure that the place you would like the lift installed is a good
option. They will suggest alternatives if necessary. Remember:

 There should be enough space to work safely without impacting your workflow.
 The floors on both levels need to be sturdy enough to support the lift system when
loaded. They will also check that there’s enough overhead clearance for loading and off-
loading the cargo.
 They will bolt the columns and guide columns into place.

2. Adding the Carriage

Outlines will be drawn on the floor and walls to ensure that the carriage is placed in the
correct location to travel up the columns evenly and level. The carriage is placed inside the
columns in the exact position indicated by these markings. Wheelblocks will be fitted to the
columns and bolted to the carriage uprights accordingly. Lift chains are installed and connected
to the wheel blocks. These should not run off the sprocket when the carriage is raised.

3. Raising the Drive Base for Mechanical Lift Installation

If you are installing a mechanical lift, the drive base will be lifted into place on top of the
columns. When the motor drive is fitted correctly, the drive base will be bolted in place and later,
welded to the supports.

4. Assembling and Setting the Gates and Enclosures

Gates and enclosures are important to prevent items from slipping off the VRC and injuring
someone. These should be welded firmly into place.

5. Wiring the Electrical Components

Your technician will take care of all the wiring that makes your lift go up and down. This will
ensure that the lift is easily operated at the flick of a switch. They will also make sure that the lift
is working properly and that it can be operated safely by any one of your employees.

A Final Check
The last step in a successful lift installation involves a thorough inspection of the unit. Then,
your employees or a designated operator will be shown how to operate the lift safely. This
should serve as the final operational check for your lift.

HOW IS ELEVATOR
CAPACITY CALCULATED?
.

What is a rated load?

The typical capacity of an elevator is between 2100 lbs. to 5000 lbs.

How is elevator capacity calculated?

There must be a close correlation between the size of the elevator and its capacity. To put
this in simpler terms, the bigger the elevator cab is, the greater the weight it can hold must be.
Although elevator capacity is typically calculated based on the size of the elevator, it is
not the only criterion that must be taken into consideration. Other factors such as the height of
the building, how the cab is hoisted or the materials it’s made with can also affect the weight
limit.
For example, smaller residential buildings will most likely have elevators that can only hold a
small amount of weight or fewer passengers. In contrast, an elevator in a tall commercial
building might have a higher limit based on the number of materials and passengers it needs to
transport daily.
How is the number of people an elevator can hold calculated?
There are three different ways to calculate the number of people that an elevator cab can safely
carry.

1. Max Loading
Max loading refers to the maximum number of people that an elevator can hold. It is what the
elevator’s capacity is based on but is only to be used under extreme circumstances. It would not
be a very comfortable ride if you were at max load.
To calculate the max load, you will need to allow 1.5 square feet of space per person.

2. Normal Loading
The recommended number of people that can be in an elevator is called normal loading.
Even though it is referred to as normal, most people see this as a crowded elevator and will wait
for the next elevator if the traffic is heavy. The recommended goal is for the elevator to be able
to move 10-12% of building’s population in five minutes.
To calculate the normal load, you will need to allow 2.3 square feet of space per person.
3. Special Loading
Just as the name implies, special loading is for a different circumstance than the two
types of loading above. It is for buildings that have passengers who may require items or
equipment that will take up large amounts of space. This reduces the number of people that the
elevator can carry.
To calculate the special load, you need to allow for about half of normal loading.