Elevators and things you may not know yet

Elisha Graves Otis' invention of elevator brakes is considered the most important breakthrough of the nineteenth century, as it represents the development of skyscrapers.

Mechanical brakes - The most important invention in the elevator industry

Elisha Graves Otis was born on August 3, 1811 in Halifax, Vermont, USA. In 1830, he started working as a carpenter, but 15 years later he became a mechanic for bed sheet company.

Graves Otis was only known when in 1852, he made the world admire by introducing the first brake elevator in New York.

Elisha Graves Otis, who has made a great contribution to the development of the world elevator industry.

Standing on a platform piled high above the crowd at the Crystal Palace in New York, Otis shocked the crowd when he abruptly cut the only force-bearing rope that he was standing on. The crowd was surprised and somewhat worried. But the elevator has stopped after falling a few centimeters, all of them admire, destroying all fears about the accident when the elevator falls.

It was his revolutionary new safety brakes that worked, helping to stop the platform from falling to the ground. With this invention, Otis indeed started the elevator industry, helping buildings - with the imagination of architects - rise to the sky.

Immediately, he received a lot of orders. A year later, EG Otis and the first safety elevator were marketed. However, the business did not work as expected. It was not until 1857 that his company made history when it installed the world's first passenger elevator system in the Haughwout EV stores at Broadway intersections in New York City.

Otis introduced the first brake lift in New York in the late nineteenth century.

In 1861, his company was granted a patent for a steam elevator. From this invention, he opened a wide consumer market, including shops, hotels as well as office buildings.

However, at the height of his career, Elisha Graves Otis contracted diphtheria and died on April 8, 1861 in Yonker, New York at the age of 69.

In addition to his great invention, Otis was also known as the inventor of a railroad brake device in 1852 and a toaster oven in 1858.

Although he passed away, his company's name became more and more well known when his two sons succeeded and built a successful company over his father, becoming a prosperous business.

Once again, Otis was mentioned when in 1889, they installed an elevator in the Eiffel Tower (Paris) and the Washington Monument (1890). By 1913, Otis had gained an international reputation by installing an elevator system in the 60-storey Woolworth Building in New York City.

It can be said that Otis achieved great success when in 1997, one can find his name on more than 1.2 million elevators in the world. EG Otis, now part of United Technologies Corporation, based in Farmington, Connecticut, employs 68,000 people and accounts for 23% of the global elevator market.

Dizzying breakthroughs

Elevators have made great progress in recent decades.

The first elevator in the world was built under the reign of King Louis XV, in Versailles in 1743. This elevator was built to cater to the monarch himself from his room on the first floor to the second floor to meet lover is Mrs. DE Châteauroux. This technique is based on counterbalance, so it uses less energy.

By the end of the nineteenth century, after the birth of OTIS elevator in 1853, SCHINDLER elevator company had successfully built other elevators in 1874. At first the hoist set had only one speed, the cabin had a simple structure, the manual door was closed by hand, the cabin movement speed was low.

In the twentieth century, many other elevator companies were born as Finnish Kone; Nippon, Mitsubishi of Japan; Thyssen of Germany, Sabiem of Italy; LG of Korea . with high-speed elevators, better cabin comfort, quieter and more precise floor stop.

By the end of the 1960s, elevators in the world had reached speeds of 400m / min, large elevators with loads of up to 25 tons were successfully built. This time, many more elevator companies appeared. The products serving the elevator industry also began to improve, escalators and conveyors appeared.

In the early 1970s, the elevator reached a speed of 450m / min cargo elevators with a lifting capacity of up to 30 tons while at the same time there were hydraulic elevators born. After a very short time, with the progress of other sciences, the speed of the elevator has reached 600m / min.

The world's fastest speed elevator is recorded at 1,200m / min.

In the 1980s, there was a motor control system by VVVF voltage and frequency conversion method. This achievement allows the elevator to operate more smoothly, saving about 40% of engine power. Also in these years, elevators using linear induction motors appeared.

So far, the world's fastest speed elevator has been recorded at a speed of 1.200m / min, equivalent to 72km / h installed by Japanese electronics and engineering group Hitachi at CTF Financial Center building. in Guangzhou city, Guangdong province, China.

Earlier, the record belonged to the elevator at Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates was unified at 1,066m / min.