TRAININING COURSE

ON
LIFT & ESCALATORS

Prepared by
Eng. M.H.M. Shafiqul Islam
Lift/Elevator:
 
A lift is a hoisting or lowering mechanism, designed to carry passengers or freight, and is
equipped with a car and platform that typically moves in fixed guides and serves two or more
landings.
The elevators can be broadly classified as either electric traction type or hydraulic type.

Traction lifts have a lift car and counterweight attached to opposite ends of hoist ropes. The
hoist ropes pass over a driving machine that raises and lowers the car. Traction elevators run
on load-bearing rails in the elevator hoist-way.
 
Traction elevators are most often used in mid-rise and high-rise buildings with five or more
floors.

Hydraulic lifts, on the other hand, are raised by forcing pressurized oil through a valve into
a steel cylinder located above ground or underground. The pressure forces a piston to rise,
lifting the elevator platform and car enclosure mounted on it.

• The car is lowered by opening the valve and allowing the weight of the car to force oil
from the cylinder in a controlled manner. When the valve is closed the car is stopped.
 
• Since the weight of hydraulic elevator cars is borne by the piston, there is no need for
a structural framework or load-bearing rails.
 
• Hydraulic elevators are commonly found in low-rise buildings with two to five floors.

The main design considerations for choosing either electric traction drive or hydraulic for
a particular project are the number of floors, the height of the building, the number of
people to be transported, desired passenger waiting times and frequency of use.

 
Lift Car
Lift Car is the vehicle that travels between the different lift stops carrying passengers and/ or
goods, it is usually a heavy steel frame surrounding a cage of metal and wood panels.

Car Dimensions:

Car width (CW): The horizontal dimensions between the inner surfaces of the car walls
measured parallel to the front entrance and at 1m above the car floor.
Car Height (CH): The inside vertical distance between the entrance threshold and the
constructional roof of the car. Light fittings and false ceilings are accommodated within this
dimension.
Car Depth (CD): The horizontal dimensions between the inner surfaces of the car walls
measured at right angles to the car width and at 1m above the car floor.

The lift cabinet

Lift cabinets shall be completely enclosed by walls, floors and ceiling, the only permissible
opening being are car door, emergency trap door and ventilation apertures.
A-Car Floor :

 Car floor shall have sufficient mechanical strength to sustain forces which will be
applied during normal operation, safety gear operation and impact of the car to its
buffers.

 Floor will be recessed and covered by PVC covering or marble stone or granite and
it can be also customized according to client requirements.
 
B-Car Ceiling :

Car ceiling is designed to be able to support two persons during maintenance operation
without permanent deformation.

 Car ceiling is prepared also to mount emergency trap door, blower fan and balustrade.

C-Car Walls :

 Folded steel panels are used to enclose elevator car with different types, sizes and finshing

 Car walls can be lined with stainless steel with different styles or painted in selected color
upon client requirements.

D-Front Panels:

The front panel assembly defines door opening height and location.
E-Car Operating Panel COP :

Car operating panel COP is a panel mounted in the car containing the car operating controls,
such as call register buttons, door open and close, alarm emergency stop and whatever
other buttons or key switches are required for operation.
F-Hand Rail :

 Hand Rail is a rail within the elevator car which passengers can use for support.
 Lift car in most cases is provided by a handrail at one side, two sides or on all sides of the
cabin.
 At least one side of the car has a hand rail installed in case of using the Lift for passengers
including persons with disabilities.
 Hand Rails come with different finishes like stainless steel styles or painted in selected color
upon client requirements.
 There are two types of hand rail, cylindrical handrail and flat type hand rail.

G-False Ceiling :

 False ceiling is the main source of lighting in the Lift car, there are many different designs for
Lift lighting.
 Fluorescent lighting and spot lights are the most common lighting elements used for Lift
lighting and a combination of the two types be used also.

H-Car door and door operator :

Car Door types:

There are (4) common types of car doors as follows:
 Single slide door
 Singles speed center opening door
 Two speed side opening door
 Two speed center opening door

Door Operator: A motor-driven device mounted on the lift car that opens and closes the car
doors.

I-Guide shoes:

 Guide shoes are devices used mainly to guide the car and counterweight along the
path of the guide rails.
 They also assure that the lateral motion of the car and counterweight is kept at a
minimum as they travel along the guide rails.
There are two types of guiding shoes as follows:

 Roller Guides
 Sliding Guides

Hoistway/Lift Well/ Lift Shaft

Hoistway is the space enclosed by fireproof walls and lift doors for the travel of one or more
lifts, dumbwaiters or material lifts.

It includes the pit and terminates at the underside of the overhead machinery space floor .
 A simple definition for the hoistway is the shaft that encompasses the lift car.

Hoistway is equipped with the following components:

 Guide rails for both the car and counterweight.
 Counterweight.
 Suspension (Hoisting) Ropes (cables).
 Landing (Hoistway) doors.
 Buffers in the pit.
A- Guide Rails

 Guide Rails are Steel Tracks in the form of a “T” that run the length of the hoistway for lift car and
lift counterweights .
 Usually mounted to the sides of the hoistway.
 Car Guide rails are fixed to the hoistway by means of steel brackets
 while counterweight guide rails are fixed to the hoistway by means of side steel brackets
B- Counterweight
Counterweight is a tracked weight that is suspended from cables and moves within its
own set of guide rails along the hoistway walls.
Counterweight is used for the following:

 Balancing the mass of the complete car and a portion of rated load, and it will be equal to the dead
weight of the car plus about 40% of the rated load.
 Reducing the necessary consumed power for moving the lift.

Counterweight components:

 Counterweight Assembly: A steel frames assembly in which cast iron fillers are put above one
another to get the required load
 Filler Weights: Filler weights are made of cast iron, there are standard lengths for fillers depend on
the counterweight size and gauge.
 Guide Shoes: The counterweight has a separate rails

C- Suspension (Hoisting) Ropes (Cables)

 Suspension Ropes are suspension means for car and counterweight, which are represented by steel
wire ropes.
 Hosting ropes are generally 3 to 6 in number.
 These ropes are usually 1/2” OR 5/8 in diameter.

D- Landing (Hoistway) Doors

 The door that is seen from each floor of a building is referred to as the outer or hoistway door. This
hoistway door is a part of the building (each landing).
 These doors can be opened or closed by electric motors, or manually for emergency incidents.
 Safety devices are located at each landing to prevent inadvertent hoistway door openings and to
prevent a lift car from moving unless a door is in a locked position.
 The difference between the car doors and the hoistway doors is that the lift car door travels through
the hoistway with the car but the hoistwy doors are fixed doors in each landing floor

Hoistway Door Types:

There are four basic types of hoistway doors used on lifts as follows:
 Automatic Door
 Swing Door
 Telescopic Door
 Collapsible Gate

Hoistway Door Interlock

 The hoistway door locking mechanism provides a means to mechanically lock each hoistway door.
 They are also interconnected electrically to prevent operation of the lift if any of the lifts hoistway
doors are open.
E-Elevator Pits
 
 Safe and convenient access shall be provided to all pits.
 Pits shall be accessible only to authorized persons.
 A lighting fixture shall be provided in all pits and the bulb shall be guarded.
 Depth of pit shall be kept as per speed requirement of lift

F-Machine Room and Overhead Structure

 
 The machine room shall be adequately sized and shall have sufficient floor area required for easy access
to all parts of the machines and equipment located therein for purposes of inspection, maintenance or
repair.
 Lift machine room and other associated equipment rooms shall be fire proof, weather proof and
adequately lighted.
 All machines, pulleys, over speed governors and similar units shall be securedly fixed on the machine
room floor.
 Overhead height shall be kept as per speed requirement of lift.

 Lift Machine and drive system

Driving machine, this is the power unit of the lift, and usually located at the lift machine room.
The driving machine includes the drive motor, brake, speed reduction unit, sheaves and encoders.
Types of Driving Machines:

Geared Machine:

 Where a mechanical speed reduction gear set to reduce the rpm of the drive motor
(input speed) to suit the required speed of the drive sheave and lift (output speed).
 Generally, geared machines are used for speeds between 0.1 m/s and 2.5 m/s .
Gearless Machine:
Ø where the drive motor and drive sheave are connected in line on a common shaft,
without any mechanical speed reduction unit located between the drive motor and drive
sheave.
Ø Generally, Gearless machines are used for high speed lifts between 2.5 m/s
to 10 m/s .
Electrical Motor:

 Electrical motor is used to raise and lower the lift cab, the direction of motor rotation and speed
(revolutions per minute) are directed and supervised by devices located within the lift controller.
Ø The motor component of the lift machine can be either a DC motor or an AC motor.

Types of Electrical Traction Drive Systems:

Geared :
Ø Single speed AC motor.
 Two speed AC motor.
 Variable voltage AC motor (VVAC).
Ø Variable voltage, variable frequency AC motor (VVFAC).
Ø Variable voltage DC motor (VVDC).

Gearless :
Ø Variable voltage DC motor (VVDC).
Ø Variable voltage, Variable frequency AC motor (VVVFAC).

Lift Safety system:

• Device for locking landing doors (Hostway Door interlock).
• Progressive safety gear.
• Over speed governor.
• Buffers.
• Final Limit switches.
• Other safety devices and switches.
A-Device for locking landing doors (Hoitstway Door Interlock)

Ø It shall not be possible in normal operation to open the landing door (or any of the panels in the case of
a multi panel door) unless the car has stopped, or is on the point of stopping, in the unlocking zone of the
door.
Ø The unlocking Zone shall not extend more than 0.2 meter above and below the landing level.
Ø The hoistway door locking mechanism provides a means to mechanically lock each hoistway door and the
lift cannot leave a landing unless the doors are fully closed and secured.

B-Progressive safety gear

Ø Safety gear is a mechanical device for stopping the car (or counterweight) by gripping the guide rails in
the event of car speed attaining a pre-determined value in a downward direction of travel, irrespective
what the reason for the increase in speed may be.
Ø Pair of safety gears is mounted in the lower part of car sling and operated simultaneously by a linkage
mechanism that actuated by over speed governor.
 C- Over speed governor

Ø Over speed governor function is to actuate the safety gear if the car speed exceeds 115% of its rated
value.
Ø A cable is attached to the underside of the car, called the governor rope. This rope runs down through a
pulley at the bottom of the shaft and back up to the machine room and around the governor sheave.
 When over-speeding is detected, the governor grips the cable which applies the safeties that wedge
against the guide rails and stops the car.

D- Buffers
A Buffer is a device designed to stop a descending car or counterweight beyond its normal limit and to
soften the force with which the lift runs into the pit during an emergency.
The main types of lift buffers are:

Ø A Spring Buffer is one type of buffer most commonly found on hydraulic lift or used for lift with speeds
less than 200 feet per minute. These devices are used to cushion the lift and are most always located in the
lift pit.
Ø An oil buffer is another type of buffer more commonly found on traction lifts with speeds higher than
200 feet per minute.

E- Final Limit Switches

• Final limit Switches shall be set to function as close as possible to the terminal floors (the highest or
lowest landing of lifts), without risk of accident.

F- Other Safety Devices and Switches

1-Overload Device
Load weighing device or the overload sensor is mounted on the lower transom of car cabinet.
G- Door protective Device

Ø Infrared Safety Curtains :These devices scan the areas adjacent to the elevator adjacent lift door(s)
and automatically reopen the door(s) when the presence of an object is detected. This is the most
modern means of door protection.

Ø Electronic Photo-eyes: These devices send out two (2) or more fixed beams that cause reopening
when someone or something breaks the beam. These are used in conjunction with mechanical
safety edges.

Ø Mechanical Edges: These devices must make physicalThese physical contact with a person or
object to trigger reopening.
H- Emergency stop switch:

The red switch inside some cars that cuts off the power to the car except for the lights, alarm and
communication system.

I- Seismic switch/device

• Seismic switch is a motion sensing device on some lift installations. If it is activated the lift will move
away from the counter weights to the next landing with its doors open and inoperable.

J-Emergency Communication

Ø Most elevators have an Alarm Bell and Telephone or Intercom.

Ø It is also important to have a functioning emergency light in the elevator to avoid leaving a trapped
passenger in the dark as they wait for assistance.

K- Pit Safety Switch:

This device, strategically located at lift pit entry and exit points, greatly enhances safety for personnel who
work in the lift pit by preventing unexpected lift movement.
L-Fire Fighter Services Devices/Switches:
It includes two types of switches as follows:
1-Phase Switch
Ø A mode of operation activated by a smoke detector located in an lift lobby, lift machine room, lift
hoistway or by a keyed recall switch.
Ø This activation returns all cars to the main egress lobby or an alternated designated landing, opens
the lift doors and removes the cars from service.
2- Phase ll Switch
A mode of operation activated by the firefighters independent key switch inside the lift.

Lift Control System

Lift Control System is the system responsible for coordinating all aspects of lift service such as travel,
speed, and accelerating, decelerating, door opening speed and delay, leveling and hall lantern signals.

Types of lift control Systems:

there are 3 main types for lift control systems as follows:

1- Single Automatic operation:

Ø First automated system w/o single call button on each floor and single button for each floor inside
car.
Ø Passenger has exclusive use of the car until rip is complete.
2- Selective collective operation:

· Most common, remembers and answers calls in one direction then reverses, when trip
complete, programmed to return to a home landing.
3- Group automatic operation:

Ø For large buildings with many lift which are controlled with programmable
microprocessors to respond.
Ø Traffic management systems which combine visual monitoring, interactive command

control, and traffic analysis to ensure that the lift are running properly and efficiently.

Typical parameters in selection of Lift

Ø Type and use of building;

Ø Floor plate size and height of the building;
Ø Size of population and its distribution in the premises;
Ø Fire safety and regulations;
Requirements for Technical Specification of Lift:

Ø Type: Gearless /Geared & passenger/bed

Ø Capacity: .............kg. (.............Passenger)
Ø No of stops: ............Stops.
Ø Travelling speed:........m/ sec (as per BNBC )
Ø Car Travel height:..........Meters (approximate)
Ø Floor Designation: (G, 1, 2, 3......................)
Ø Power rating & Source :
Ø Number of entrances: 1/2
Ø Shaft size: ............mm (Width) x.........mm (Depth),
Ø Overhead Height: 5000 mm
Ø Machine Room Location: MR (Machine room)/MRL (Machine Room Less) type.
Ø Operation System: Simplex /Duplex/ Quarduplex/DDS (Destination Despatch System)
Ø CAR size & type:
Ø Hall & car button:
Ø Architrave & transom:
Ø Door type: Safety features:
Ø Standard/ conformity:
Escalators ::

Escalators are moving staircases. Escalator can be described as moving stairs typically used to
carry large number of people at high volumes through a limited no of floors.

These are commonly used in high density areas or where sudden traffic surges are expected
at times; for example at discharge times from offices, railways underground stations, airport
terminals, theatres, shopping malls and departmental stores.

In such applications, escalators will provide shorter travel time than elevators because
elevator cars are limited in size and passengers have to wait longer for the service.
PARTS OF ESCALATORS
Trusses

Ø The escalator machinery is hidden beneath its steps in a structure called a truss.
Ø It is designed to accommodate the width of the escalator and are of ample strengths to maintain
alignment of the tracks and moving parts, safely retain steps and running gear.
 It also retains step mechanism within guides and envelope of the truss, in case of failure of track
systems.

Gears and Motors

Ø An electric motor is housed inside the truss at the top of the escalator. Motors typically used are
AC induction motors.
Ø All escalators have four gears; two drive gears on present on either side at the top and two return
gears are there on either side at the bottom. The electric motor runs these four gears.
Ø The gears are connected through stepchains that loop around them and run down on both sides
of the escalator.
 The chains are connected to each step and therefore help the steps move up or down the
escalator

Step Chains

 They pull the steps to the top from the bottom platform in an endless loop.
Steps

Ø Steps are of horizontal tread formation; the step treads are of cleat type to assure secure foothold and
comfortable tread surface.
 Visual demarcation is usually provided on the front and rear edges of each step to indicate the edges.
 Each escalator step has four wheels below the step; two each on either side.

Controller

Ø Controllers include a circuit breaker, local disconnect, motor starter, control relays, fault indicator, and
all other functions of escalator controller.
ØØMotor starter limit the starting current of the motor and protect the motor against overload, input
power phase reversals, etc.
Ø Controller also include an emergency stop to disconnect the power supply to the driving machine
motor and apply brakes to stop the escalator at controlled speed.
Ø Controllers include a fault indicating device in the front panel of the controller to visually indicate and
identify actuation of safety devices causing escalator shutdown.
 Controllers have interfaces for fire alarms and seismic sensors. In case of any such event, emergency
stop is activated.

Handrails & Handrail Drive Systems

Ø The handrails are used by travellers for balance and safety.

Ø The handrail is essentially a long rubber loop, a moving handhold provided for escalator passengers,
which moves over the top of the balustrade and newels.
 Balustrade
Ø Balustrades are the sides of an escalator extending above the steps.
Ø It includes skirt panels, interior panels, skirt Panels, decks and handrails.

Safety Devices

• Various types of safety devices are used in escalators – Emergency Stop Button, Overload Detection
Device, Speed Governor, Broken Drive Chain Device, Handrail speed monitoring device, Skirt
Obstruction Device, Missing Step Device, Broken Chain Step Device, etc.

Brakes

Brakes stop the escalator upon activation of normal control, emergency stop buttons, upon activation of
safety devices or upon loss of power.

Overspeed governor
Overspeed governor cuts off the power supply to the motor and bring the escalator to rest when the
speed varies more than the specified percentage of the rated speed.
Typical specifications of an escalator
Ø Power Supply requirements
Ø Rated Speed:
Ø Transport Capacity: passenger/hour.
Ø Inclination: usually at angle 30o; 35o
 Step Width: 600/ 800/ 1000 mm; min. step or
tread length = 400 mm
Ø Escalator Width
Ø Truss Width
Ø Environment: Indoor/Outdoor