ELEVATORS

PRESENTED BY,
NITHIN P GEORGE
 DEFINITION
• An elevator is a hoisting or lowering
mechanism used for vertical transportation of
passengers or goods between different floors
in a multi storey building.
• It is equipped with a car or platform which
moves in guides in a vertical direction.
• An elevator is generally powered by an electric
motor.
WHY ELEVATORS?
• Climbing stairs is a difficult as well as a time
consuming task.
• It is nearly impossible for physically challenged
and old people.
• Taking goods to higher floors by stairs is also
not desirable.
• So the solution is an elevator or an escalator.
 PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION
• An elevator works on the basic principle of
traction between the rope and sheave.
• The sheave or pulley is rotated by an electric
motor.
• Pulleys are used to achieve a mechanical
advantage also.
• The mechanical advantage for hoisting a
weight using a system of pulleys equals the
number of pulleys used in the system.
• A counter weight unit is attached to the
system in order to reduce the load acting on
the motor.
• The process is conversion of electrical energy
into mechanical work.
MAJOR COMPONENTS

• HOISTWAY
• ELECTRIC MOTOR
• CABIN
• COUNTER WEIGHT
• ROPE
• CONTROLS
 HOISTWAY OR SHAFT
• It is the space or vertical opening in which an
elevator operates
PIT:- It is the continuation of hoistway through
the basement of a building. It must have a
minimum depth of 600mm for home elevators
and 1600 for commercial elevators
OVERHEAD HEIGHT:- It is the distance
measured from the floor level of top floor to
the sealing.
 ELECTRIC MOTOR

• It is the prime mover. Electrical energy is

converted into mechanical pulling force by
virtue of traction between sheave and rope.
• The motor can be AC or DC ,which is selected
based on the requirements.
• It is mounted on a platform in a special room
called machine room for commercial
elevators.
CABIN OR CAR
 CABIN OR CAR
• Cabin is a container or vehicle in which the
passengers are accommodated.
• It will have a door for safety reasons.
• Other parts are sealing, platform, side walls
etc.
• Cabin slides through a set of guide rails.
• The interior of the cabin is generally decorated
for good looking.
 COUNTER WEIGHT
• Counter weights are added on a counter
weight frame.
• This assembly is hanged on the other side of
the rope attached to the cabin, in such a way
that when the cabin raises, the counter weight
lowers and vice versa.
• The counter weights are used to reduce the
motor work.
 ROPE
• It is a cable made by stranding steel wires.
• The rope is attached to the cabin and counter
weight and runs over the motor driven pulley.
• It acts as the driving medium.
 CONTROLS
• The working of an elevator is controlled by a
control panel. The control system receives
input signals which can describe about the
present position of the elevator and the
desired position for it to reach.
• There are different types of sensors like
optical, electrical, electro-mechanical etc for
giving feedback to the control system.
• The control system then gives out necessary
output signals to various components
especially the driving motor.
SAFETY
• As an elevator is a mean for passenger
transport it must posses some safety features
in order to avoid accidents and mishaps.
• The minimum safety requirements of an
elevator unit is as follows;
 EXCESS MOVEMENT ARRESTING
• The cabin platform of the elevator unit should
neither go down below the floor level of the
bottom floor nor go up above the top floor.
• This extra movement if going to happen is
eliminated by cutting off the circuit with the
help of electro-mechanical limiting switches.
DOOR OPENING SAFETY
 DOOR OPENING SAFETY
• Door is provided for both the cabin and the
hoistway opening.
• The working of the elevator is stopped
immediately if any of the doors is opened.
• Sensors are provided to give feedback about
the position of the door to the control unit.
 OVERLOADING
• There is always a chance for damage to the
system if it is overloaded beyond it’s capacity
• Loads higher than designed value can cause
damage to the electric motor.
• Also a probability\ for breakage of the ropes is
there.
• So whenever the system is overloaded it is
identified and the system stops until the load
is in its capacity.
 OVER SPEED
• The speed of the cabin movement if increases
beyond the designed safe speed then the
system has to reduce the speed.
• A speed governor is used to control the speed.
 ROPE BREAKAGE
• The entire cabin is loaded on the rope. If the
rope break suddenly while the cabin has
passenger in it, it may lead to serious troubles.
• To avoid the danger to the passengers in case
of a rope breakage a braking unit is provided.
• The speed governor is generally used for this
purpose.
• The fall of the cabin is detected and brakes are
applied.