There are no two opinions on the fact that Lifts, or elevators as they are known, are today an essential part of our daily living, especially in multi-story buildings, and for those who aren’t in a state to climb stairs. Most in fact, given our sedentary lives, aren’t exactly built to take up the rigours of moving up and down stairs. As for the elevators themselves, being mechanical devices, they move everything that needs to be moved, be they people or their possessions. That said, ever wondered what constitutes a lift in the modern day?
Let’s take a break to break down the thing called a lift in order to understand its key components and how they function as a unit.
1. The Heart of a lift: Its Motor
The motor is almost like the heart of an elevator. Its that single entity that provides the power to move the lift cabin up (down it moves due to gravity in most cases with the motor acting like a brake that slows down the movement). Depending on the kind of elevator in use, the motor can be quite powerful to ensure smooth and efficient operation despite the considerable weight it has to lug. That aside, it is fascinating how the motor manages to move apparently heavy load with relative ease and do so for years! We’d like to add that motors at one time were geared which just added to its complexity besides making it big and unwieldly. These days with gearless motors, most lifts can be installed in relatively small spaces.
2. The strong shoulders of the lift: Its cabin, also called a car!
The car or cabin is the space where people or goods are placed during the lift’s journey. Designed for comfort and safety depending upon what is being transported, those meant for transporting humans may sport features like lighting, ventilation, and sometimes music and even mirrors to make the space feel larger and more welcoming. While the cabin’s movements are a sum of the size and state of the motor, movements are typically guided along rails with the pulling being done by ropes, tackles and pullies in tandem.
3. The elevator’s Brains: Its Control Panel
While lifts in early days just went up and down with the operator manually opening the door at desired floors to facilitate, these days it is a dedicated control system with advanced ICs and circuits that decides the best course of action. It’s for this reason that over-ruling existing commands isn’t easy the way it was in the olden days. Every time a passenger presses for their desired floor, the control panel decides the best course of action which takes into account the sequence of commands. While the system may appear complex, it nevertheless brings in an element of democracy to the way lifts operate by taking away arbitrariness.
4. The life-savers: The elevator Safety Features
Anything that takes you off the ground risks dropping you from a height. To obviate the obvious, safety is uppermost when designing and manufacturing a lift. These include:
– Emergency Brakes: These get activated in the event of a malfunction and bring the car to a halt.
– Door Sensors: These prevent the doors from closing if an object or person is in the way.
– Overload Sensors: Lifts having load limits, overload sensors sound the alert when loads exceed limits. These do not stop till the weight is reduced.
– Emergency Alarm and Communication System: In the event of emegencies or unforseen situations, lift cars have alarm and communication systems to let the world know of passengers’ state.
The stated components play a vital role in the lift’s overall performance and protection of lifts. Working in tandem, they ensure lifts do their job while remaining safe. It’s important that people understand and appreciate the technology and engineering that goes into making lifts.
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