Bulnes, Josyl Faith G.

BSCE-III
ME313 CN: 4104

1. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ELEVATOR AND ESCALATOR.

ELEVATOR

● Elevators are used in multi storied buildings such as offices, apartments, banks, hospitals, etc.
● Elevators are closed cabins.
● Elevator can carry only 10 to 15 people at one time.
● Patients, luggage, etc can’t travel in escalator but can travel in the elevator.
● Elevators consume electricity only when in operation.
● Elevator requires a specific machine room to control the elevator.

ESCALATOR

● Escalators are used in malls, metro and railway station, etc.

● Escalators are moving stairs.
● Escalator can carry more than 20 people at one time.
● Escalator consists of a motor driven chain on an individual track which cycle on a pair of tracks.
An elevator is a type of vertical transportation that moves people or goods between levels of a
building. It is powered by an electric motor that is attached traction cables and counterweight
system just like a cylindrical piston.
● Escalators are energy guzzlers as they have to operate continuously.
● Escalator does not require a specific machine room to control the system of the escalator.

2. MAJOR COMPONENTS OR PARTS OF ELEVATOR AND ESCALATOR.

PARTS OF ELEVATOR AND ITS FUNCTION

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.

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

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

Cabin
This is the main part of Elevator which is designed for the shipment of goods and services or the passage
of persons.

Elevator Shaft
Lift cabin moves in this space. Depending upon the type of elevator, the location of the shaft can be
varied.

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.

Drive unit
Everything that works under electricity must have a motor attached for the functioning. Drive unit is the
part which contains a motor that drives the lift.
Buffers
The buffer is an apparatus located at the bottom of the elevator designed to protect people. Buffers can
stop a descending car by accumulating or dissipating the kinetic energy of the car.

Safety device
Is a mechanical device attached to the elevator for safety reasons. In case the lift travels downward with a
maximum speed or over the speed limit, safety device can maintain a safe and secure traveling.

ESCALATOR COMPONENTS

The structural truss

A truss is the main supporting structure of the escalator that bridges the lower and upper landings,
composed of two side sections joined together with cross braces across the bottom and top of the
structure. The ends of the truss are attached to the top and bottom landing platforms via steel or concrete
supports. The truss carries all the straight track sections connecting the upper and lower modules.

Upper module step and handrail drive system

The main electrical and mechanical drive is generally housed beneath the top landing platform at the
upper end of the unit.

The lower module

Houses the step return idler sprockets or lower reversing station. This lower reversing station component
is now manufactured in cast steel, allowing for a quieter and smoother transition of the steps and chain
around the lower end of the escalator.

Top and bottom landing platforms

In addition to housing the upper and lower modules, the top and bottom platforms anchor the ends of the
escalator truss and contain a floor plate, a comb plate and comb segments. The floor plate provides a
place for the passengers to stand before they step onto the moving stairs. This plate is flush with the
finished floor and is either hinged or removable to allow easy access to the machinery below. The comb
plate is the piece between the stationary floor plate and the moving step. The comb segments are
mounted to the comb plate and are so named because their edge resembles the teeth of a comb. These
teeth mesh with matching treads on the top of the steps. This design is necessary to minimize the gap
between the escalator steps and the comb plate, which helps eliminate entrapments.

Step chain
Each escalator contains two step chains on either side of the unit. These are basically similar in shape to
a bicycle chain, but much larger, and attach the steps to the mechanical drive system which continuously
pulls the steps.
3. BRIEF HISTORY OF AN ELEVATOR AND ESCALATOR.

BRIEF HISTORY OF ELEVATORS

Primitive elevators powered by water wheels, animals, or people were invented around 300 BC. This type
of elevator was used for almost 2,000 years.
The first human-powered, counter-weighted, personal elevator was built in 1743 for King Louis XV of
France. It connected his apartment in Versailles to that of his mistress, Madame de Chateauroux, who
lived one floor above him.

Elevator technology began to advance significantly in the 19th century. Many elevators were powered by
steam and became important in the Industrial Revolution to allow people to transport heavy materials in
warehouses, mines, and factories.

In 1823, two architects, Burton and Hormer, built an “ascending room” to give tourists a panoramic view
of London. In 1835, Frost and Stutt, who were also architects, built the “Teagle,” a steam- and belt-driven
and counter-weighted elevator, in England.

In 1846, Sir William Armstrong invented the hydraulic crane. The system was supported by a heavy
piston that moved in a cylinder and was powered by oil or water pressure inside the pump. These lifts
began to replace steam-powered elevators by the 1870s.

Elisha Otis, an American inventor, demonstrated a new safety device in 1853 that could prevent an
elevator from crashing if a cable broke. This increased the public’s confidence in elevators. Otis created
an elevator manufacturing company in 1853 and obtained a patent for a steam elevator in 1861. His
invention of an elevator brake made it possible to build skyscrapers. His company began to manufacture
passenger elevators in 1857. The first steam-powered elevator was installed in Manhattan in the five-
store E.W. Haughtwhat & Co. store.

Electric elevators became more common in the late 19th century. German inventor Werner von Siemens
created the first electric elevator in 1880. Alexander Miles patented his electric elevator in 1887.

BRIEF HISTORY OF ESCALATORS

In 1859, Nathan Ames patented the first “escalator” when he came up with the idea for “revolving
stairs”.However, he never made a working model of his concept.

Thirty years later, Leamon Souder patented four separate ideas for escalator-like devices. Like Ames,
though, Souder never created working models of any of his ideas.

Finally, in 1892, Jesse W. Reno patented the “Endless Conveyor or Elevator." He also produced the first
working escalator — he called it an “inclined elevator" — and installed it along the Old Iron Pier at Coney
Island in New York City in 1896.

Soon afterward, George A. Wheeler patented his own ideas for an escalator. He never built working
models of any of his ideas, but Charles Seeberger bought his patents and some of Wheeler's ideas were
used in Seeberger's prototype escalator that was built by the Otis Elevator Company in 1899.

Seeberger also came up with the name “escalator" in 1900. He put the word together from Latin root
words scala, e and tor, which he roughly translated as “means of traversing from." He intended for the
word to be pronounced es-CAL-a-tor. Although it sounds like elevator, Seeberger did not simply name the
escalator to be similar to the word elevator.