History

236 BC First Passenger Lift,

Archimedes
1853 Safe Elevator Demo,
Elisha Otis
1857 First Safe Elevator
Installation,
Cooper Union, NYC
1861 Otis Elevator Patent

Otis Patent 1861

History
1873 First Modern DC Motor
1874 J. W. Meaker Door Opener Patent
1880 First Electric Motor Controlled
Elevator Siemens / Sprague
1882-1889 Tesla AC Induction Motor
3-Phase Squirrel Cage Design
1889 Otis Elevator Uses DC Motor

Otis
DC
Elevator
Motor
Circa 1889

History
1891 Ward Leonard Variable
Speed Control
AC Induction Motor Turning DC Dynamo
Rheostat to Control Generated Voltage
DC Voltage Controls DC Motor Speed

1900-1970s Ward-Leonard M-G Sets

and DC Motors Used for
Variable Speed Elevators
AC Motors Used 1 and 2 Speed Starters

Otis No. 1 Geared DC Machine

with DC Motor

Circa 1915

Otis Gearless DC Machine

Circa 1919

M-G Set Controls

(Otis Elevator, 1920s)

Otis Type 84

26 Broadway,NYC

Circa 1930s

History

1975-Present
Thyristor (SCR) DC Drives
Control Elevators
All Analog Components in the 70s
Replaces Aging M-G Sets

1980s Microprocessors Improve

Car Dispatch and Motor Drive Controllers

Otis type 84,NYC

with Encoder

Westinghouse #205
with Encoder

History

Late 1980s
Variable Frequency Inverters AC Induction
Motors, Geared Applications Only

Early 1990s
More AC Inverters and Motors Begin to
Displace Small DC, 3-15 HP

Mid-1990s
Vector Control AC Inverters 10-40 HP
Almost as Good as SCR-DC.
KONE Introduces PM EcoDisc AC Machine

History

Late 1990s
Custom Gearless AC Induction
Machines
First Fully Regenerative AC
Elevator Drives
Much Discussion on PM-AC and MRL
SCR-DC Still Used for Medium and
Large Building Mods

History

2000-Present
More PM-AC Motor Manufacturers. PM Gearless
Begins to Replace AC Geared
EU Focus on Efficiency and Harmonics/EMC
Lower Cost IGBT Inverter Components
North America Begins to Focus on Energy
Reduction
New Construction Leaning toward AC
SCR-DC Still Used on Medium-Large Building
Mods

How The Elevator Works

By Joseph Mackay Plaxco
The University of the South
Sewanee, TN 37383

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

Hydraulic Code Changes

Holeless Hydraulic

Holed Hydraulic

Roped Hydraulic

Hydraulic

20

Hydraulic Elevator (holed)

Guide Rails

Door
Operator

Plunger &
Cylinder
Controller &
Pumping Unit

Hoistway
Door

To & From Oil Pipe

Hydraulic Elevators - holed

Rise Limitations: ~ 60 feet
Cost: $35 - $85K
Speeds: 100/125/150 fpm
Advantages:
low cost
no penthouse
no structural load on building

Disadvantages
slow
energy inefficient

Hydraulic Elevator (holeless)

Door
Operator

Guide Rails

Plungers &
Cylinders
Hoistway
Door

Controller &
Pumping Unit
To & From Oil Pipe

Hydraulic Elevators - Holeless

Rise Limitations: 20 feet
Cost: $35 - $45K
Speeds: 100/125 fpm
Advantages:
no well hole
minimizes environmental contamination

Disadvantages:
limited travel

Holeless: Roped Hydraulic

Holeless:

Roped Hydraulic Elevators

Rise Limitations: 60 feet
Cost: $45k - $75k
Speeds: 100 - 125 - 150 fpm
Advantages:
Eliminates well hole
Same 60 travel range as holed hydro
Existing Building

Disadvantages
More costly than conventional holed hydraulic

http://www.kone.com/en_US/main/0,,content=59104,00.html

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

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.

Diagram of Hydraulic Elevator

The following link is from the website How Stuff Works
written by Tom Harris.
How Elevators Work - Hydraulic

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.

Diagram of Rope-Geared
Elevator
The following link came from the How Stuff Works
webpage written by Tom Harris
Rope-Geared Elevator Diagram

Traction Elevator
Controller
Door Operator

Car Frame &

Safety

Machine
Governor
Guide Rails
Counterweight

Hoistway Door
Buffers

Traction Changes

Geared

Gearless
25

Traction Changes

Geared

Gearless
25

Traction Changes

Geared

Gearless
25

Traction Elevators
Rise Limitations: ~ 300 feet (Geared)
unlimited (Gearless)

Cost: $150,000 - $200,000 (Geared)

$200,000 +
(Gearless)
Speeds: 350 - 500 fpm (Geared)
500 - 1800+ (Gearless)
Advantages of Gearless:
smoother
approx. twice machine life

Otis Gen 2
(Traction)

click to play movie

Rise Limitation: 300 feet

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

Works Cited
Harris, Tom. How Elevators Work.
www.howstuffworks.com/elevator
2002.

Elevator Control
System
Pontificia Universidad Javeriana
Javier Mena
2008

The Elevator Problem

There is a building of several floors and several
elevators.
There are also users that want to use the elevators.

User interaction
The user can be outside the elevator and waits for the
elevator to arrive.

User interaction
OR the user can be inside the elevator and tells the
elevator where he/she wants to go.

General View
User A

User C

Floor N
Elevator 1

Floor 2
User B

Elevator 2

Floor 1

Elevator 3
Controller
1

Controller
2

Controller
3

Component View
User

call

Floor F

The user in the floor F, presses a

button to call the elevator

Component View
User
call(F)
call

arrive(Ack)

step(D)

Act=unit

at(F)

Floor F
startTimer(Millis Ack)
Act=unit
Floor F Doors

Elevator L

Controller

Component View
User

call(F)

Elevator L

The user, inside the elevator L, user presses button to go to Floor F

Component View (Complete)

User

User
call(F)

call

arrive(Ack)

call(F)

Ack=unit
Floor F
startTimer(Millis Ack)
Ack=unit
Floor F Doors

step(D)
at(F)

Elevator L

Controller

Component View (Complete)

User

User
call(F)

call

arrive(Ack)

call(F)

Ack=unit
Floor F

step(D)
at(F)

Elevator L

Controller

startTimer(Millis Ack)
Ack=unit
The controller can handle 2 messages types.
Floor F Doors

Design of the controller

The controller represents the logic that
controls the movement of the elevators
through floors.
The operations of the controller are very
basic, it can only turn the engines on/off to
move the elevator up or down, just one floor
each time.
Each time it arrives to a floor, it notifies the
Elevator, which decides what to do.

Design of the controller

The controller can send 2 messages:
starttimer(5000 Tid), tells the engines to
turn on
during 5 seconds.

at(F) tells the elevator the current

location its current location.
Which are the possible states of the
controller?

Design of the controller

The controller can send 2 messages:

starttimer(5000 Tid), tells the engines to

turn on
during 5 seconds.
at(F) tells the elevator the current location
its current location.
Which are the possible states of the controller?
Answer: 2
The controller has the engines turned on
The controller has the engines turned off

Design of the controller

In our design the controller can receive 2
messages:
stoptimer: when the engines has been
turned off
step(Dest): when the elevator wants to go
towards a
floor
What should we do in each case?
Each controller must know the current
floor (in real life, through a sensor), and the

State diagram for the controller

Design of Floor (1)

User

User
call(F)

call

arrive(Ack)

call(F)

Ack=unit
Floor F

step(D)
at(F)

Elevator L

Controller

startTimer(Millis Ack)
Ack=unit
The floor have can receive one message type, but it can have
3 internal states:
Floor F Doors
-Doors being opened
-Doing nothing at all
-Handling a the call of a User

Design of Floor (1)

The floor have can receive 2 message types, but it

can have
3 internal states:
Doors operating (opening and closing)
Doing nothing at all
Handling a the call of a User
The messages that the floor can receive are:

arrive(Ack): an elevator has arrive. The Floor

must open
the doors, and then notify through
Ack=unit

call: is received when the User wants that an

elevator goes to the current floor.

stoptimer: when the doors have been opened

Design of Floor (2)

Also the floor can send messages to the
elevator:
call(F), then wait for the elevator to arrive to
the floor.
And the floor can send messages to the doors of
the floor:
starttimer(5000 Fid): open and close the
doors in 5 seconds (it may take more time).

Design of Floor (3)

Analyze the possible states and messages that
the Floor can receive/send in each state.
Follow the Main Component diagram.

State Diagram of a Floor

Component View (Complete)

User

User
call(F)

call

arrive(Ack)

call(F)

Ack=unit
Floor F
startTimer(Millis Ack)
Ack=unit
Floor F Doors

step(D)
at(F)

Elevator L

Controller

Design of Elevator
Analyze the possible states and messages that
the Floor can receive/send in each state.
Follow the Main Component diagram.

Elevator State Diagram