How it all began... History & Facts of the elevators.
- hristinaichevska
- Apr 5, 2019
- 2 min read
Updated: May 16, 2019
Everything began with the need of the people to find out more efficient way for vertical transportation of goods and people to different levels.
First written report of an elevator dated from 1st Century BC where you can find an information that several ancient civilizations have used elevators using human power, animal power or water power later on.
In 1793 Russian mechanic and inventor Ivan Kulibin constructed an elevators that lifted a cabin using screw mechanisms.
His elevators were installed in two Russian cities including the Winter Palace in Saint Peterburg and Moscow and 30 years later, in 1823 in London.
The Revolution in elevators came with the invention of hydraulic and electricity.
Hydraulic elevators operated on a principle that water pump increases the pressure of the main plunger which pushed the lift up.
Elisha Otis
In 1852, Elisha Otis invented the elevator safety brake. The safety brake prevents an elevator car from falling if the lifting cables fail.
In March 23, 1857 the first successful passenger elevators was installed at 488 Broadway in New York City.A steam-powered passenger elevators and it was the world's first public elevator.
Otis established a company manufacturing elevators which exists today and it is the largest company of elevators and escalators in the world.
William Armstrong
In 1846, the inventor William Armstrong changed the steam with hydraulic machines. The elevator worked by a heavy piston moving in a cylinder by water pressure or oil.
Werner von Siemens & Alexander Miles
The electric elevators came into use at the end of 19th century and the first one is built by Werner von Siemens in 1880. later on, another inventor Alexander Miles patented an electric elevator in 1887.
Modernization
The modernization of the elevators continuous in direction that automatic control switches are installed in 1949 and the doors from manual are changed to automatic in 1957.
Automatic door nowadays
Nowadays...
In our modern world and an increasingly busy everyday life, lifts take a commonplace in buildings such as office and business buildings, Administrative buildings, blocks of apartments, shopping and leisure centres.Can you imagine skyscraper with no elevators, or shopping center with no escalator? I can't...:) It is not too bad idea if we look from health point of view. It will keep us in a good shape and healthier but...
The world, technologies, architecture and construction industry grow up, improve and evaluate and we adapt to them. We build taller and taller building and the need of faster and safer lifts is getting bigger.
An example of typical, modern and electronically controlled elevator. Today, you can design how your lift looks like. You can choose the type of cabin, ceiling, floor, buttons, walls, almost everything.
Future...
We will see what the future will bring to us but the German Elevator Manufacturer ThyssenKrupp tested a system with no cables and built an elevator like magnetic levitation trains. This system could allow to move not only vertically but horizontally too..And may be even diagonally. Of course, this will decrease the waiting time and space of the building because more than one cabin could operate in one shaft in the same time. What an invention? I can't wait to see..
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