ThyssenKrupp
■ Toshiba
■ Ulift
Hitachi is moving forward with its UAG Series SN1 and OUG Series ON1 machine room-less elevator systems. Hitachi offers advanced functions, some standard and some optional, including simplex, duplex, and group control, automatic return function, independent and attendant parking and rush-hour schedule operation, interphone system, floor lockout and door nudging, abnormal speed protection, and out of door-open zone alarm.
Additionally, when the car stops out of the door-open zone, it will move at slow speed to the nearest floor to release passengers. In the event of door overload, such as when passengers get their fingers, hands, or personal belongings caught in the door, the system automatically senses this and either recloses or reopens the doors to prevent injury.
Micro-leveling automatically corrects the car level when there is a difference between the car and the landing floor. In the event of a power failure, an emergency light inside the car is automatically activated. A battery-powered emergency supply allows the operation of light and alarm bell. A multi-beam door sensor installed at the edge of doors, in the event that beam paths are obstructed, will keep the doors open.
As of 2018, Hyundai has produced over 28,000 elevators. The company states that safety, ride quality, and space efficiency are combined in optimal elevator systems that will enhance the value of buildings. Speeds are up to 18 meters per second and maximum passenger capacity is 30. Hyundai manufactures observation, hospital, and freight/automobile elevators with a maximum rated load of 5,000 kg. All products can be custom-made to suit each building.
Kone, a Finnish elevator manufacturer founded in 1910, conceived the machine room-less elevator in 1996. Over the years throughout the world Kone has bought and sold many corporations. At various times it has invested heavily in forest machines, cargo handling, and tractors. Currently, it has narrowed its focus and expanded its elevator business. Due to environmental and energy efficiency concerns, Kone announced in 2007 that it would no longer manufacture hydraulic elevators.
In 2011, Kone built a new headquarters building named the Kone Center in Moline, Illinois.
In 2013, the firm introduced Kone UltraRope, designed to replace steel rope in traction elevator systems. It will permit building heights up to one kilometer. UltraRope is lightweight, with a high-friction coating and consequently reduces energy consumption in high-rise applications. With a higher resonant frequency than steel rope, cable sway is reduced in long runs, with less possibility of cable and shaft damage.
Mitsubishi Electric also offers machine room-less elevator systems. Elevator Group Control System ΣAI-2200C incorporates fuzzy logic to provide comfortable elevator operation and ride under changing usage conditions. The system incorporates intuitive control to provide smooth operation. When a hall call button is pressed, the optimum car responds based on waiting time, travel time, current car occupancy, and projected energy consumption.
Otis is the world’s largest elevator manufacturer. We told the story in Chapter One of Elisha Otis’s invention in 1852 of safeties, which lock the car to guides fastened to the hoistway walls so that it can’t fall into the pit if the steel ropes fail.
The Otis brand is well-known throughout the world. The firm maintains extensive research and testing facilities, and watches its competitors, who in turn watch Otis for industry-changing innovations, such as Kone’s machine room-less systems.
Schindler Group, like many of its competitors, has enthusiastically embraced the MRL concept. The company currently employs over 58,000 people in the United States, Switzerland, India, Spain, Slovakia, Brazil, and China. Schindler was founded in 1874 in Switzerland and soon began manufacturing many types of machines including elevators. It rapidly expanded throughout Europe, the United States, South America, and China.
Schindler has introduced Miconic 10, a proprietary control system. Passengers enter their destinations in a wall-mounted keypad while waiting for a car. The system groups riders with the same destination to a specific car, vastly increasing efficiency and reducing waiting time.
ThyssenKrupp has continuously embraced new technologies such as double-decker cars, rope-less horizontally-moving cars, moving walks, heavy-machinery freight, and vehicle elevators. The company has 670 subsidiaries.
1. The most common type of elevator is:
A. machine room-less
B. hydraulic
C. traction
D. aeronautic
2. Traction elevators are characterized by:
A. water power
B. freight only
C. an operator
D. steel ropes
3. The gearless design permits car speeds in excess of:
A. 100 fpm
B. 500 fpm
C. 1000 fpm
D. 2000 fpm
4. Compensation is needed when vertical travel is greater than:
A. 100 feet
B. 250 feet
C. 500 feet
D. 1000 feet
5. Compensation consists of:
A. a greater amount of insurance
B. hanging chain to add weight
C. good judgment on the part of technicians
D. higher speed for a smoother ride
6. Steel belts can be used rather than steel rope. They require:
A. frequent lubrication
B. more power to run
C. less material weight
D. a skilled operator
7. Traction elevator motors with gearless drives:
A. are smaller
B. operate at lower RPM
C. require more maintenance
D. can be noisy
8. Roping configurations in a traction elevator:
A. consist of suspension ropes attached to the top of the car
B. may be underslung
C. pass down to the counterweight
D. any of these
9. The gearless design requires:
A. higher car speed
B. a smaller
