Site Preparation For Elevator / Lift

Site preparation for an elevator can  broken up as three parts

1. Before order confirmation
2. After order confirmation
3. After installation of elevator.

Here are the details 

1. Before order confirmation.

Preparation from the elevator company side.

     1.Ensure the elevator shaft / hoist-way readings obtained from the customer are correct.
        If the building is ready, Do a site visit and have a detailed study of the elevator shaft / hoist-way. 
        Like 
                1. Floor to floor distance 
                2. Shaft width and depth in each floor
                3. Any projection in the shaft.
                4. Pit height available
                5. Head room height.
                6. Entrance wall measurements
                7. Entrance lintels measurement.
                8. Machine room measurements  / Cut out measurements,  if its a Machine room lift/elevator.
                9. If Machine room less elevator, study of the headroom area.

If the site is not ready collect all the details from the customers building drawing.


     2. Arrange a meeting with the customer ( Engineer/ client ). Let the customer understand, what are the options / choices the company can offer.  The scope of work if the order is finalized have to be discussed with the customer.  Normally the scope of work involves 

               1. Site civil works ( pit finishing, entrance civil works, cut outs and filling cutouts and buffer blocks , hook provision, button box fixing and finishing).

               2. Power supply cabling ( single phase or three phase as per specification of the elevator ) of desired size and spec to the machine room( machine room elevator) or  head room ( machine room less elevator ) ending in a specific value electrical metal Distribution board containing an Main switch  ( of desired spec ) , an ELCB ( earth leakage circuit breaker ), a neutral link and a double earth.  

                3. Shaft and machine room painting
                   The shaft and machine room have to be painted while unless its a glass elevator. This is done because the elevator shaft is a closed place. So more light and the visibility the better. For the maintenance purpose this is very important. The painting will reduce the dust generated as the elevator moves up and down in a closed shaft.


                4. Shaft and machine room lighting and socket fixing.
                    Shaft and the machine room need to be lighted for the installation commissioning purposes of the elevator, as well as for the future maintenance
                     Also need to provide the power socket outlets for installation and the maintenance purposes. The position of the shaft lights and sockets are to be fixed after confirming the drawing and the order. Normally every floor there will be a lighting and the socket points. one at the bottom most pit, one at the headroom and two in the machine room.

                5. Provision of  air conditioning the machine room need to be finalized considering the average atmospheric temperature. 
        
               6. Scaffolding installation

               7. Delivery date need to be discussed
   
               8. Storing place availability with lock need to be discussed.

               9. Site preparation according to the drawing need to be  discussed.

             10. Ladder to machine room, machine room door are to be discussed.


These items need to be discussed with the customer and finalize the scope matrix.


Preparation from the side of customer.

                As discussed in the above points according to the scope matrix customer need to check and find out what all are in his scope.And according to the scope matrix he have to do the site preparatory works. Preparatory works includes 
   

        1. Arrange a store according to the delivery date discussed with the supplier.
     
        2. According to the scope matrix, do the agreed works with coordination from the elevator company

        3. Keep documenting all the discussions with the company. 
         
        4. Arrange to make the site dimensions of the site specifications according to the drawing.

        5. Discuss all the needs and expectations to the company salesman

             like capacity ,cabin size,cabin finish, speed, type of display, options in the elevator etc. detailed specification of an elevator will be posted soon.

                 
                 

SCHINDLER - History

Schindler History - A fascinating story...

In its 140-year history, Schindler has grown from a local manufacturer of machines into a global elevator and escalator business.

On the way, it has shaped the industry, defined best practice as a mobility provider and as an employer, and prospered in a highly competitive global environment.

The story begins in a workshop in Lucerne in 1874 and rest of the complete history is here

SCHINDLER - About

The company was founded in 1874 in Lucerne, Switzerland, and is today one of the world’s leading providers of elevators, escalators, and moving walks. Schindler is active in the areas of production, installation, maintenance, and modernization. The Group has over 1 000 branch offices in more than 100 countries, as well as production sites and research and development facilities in the USA, Brazil, Europe, China, and India. 

Company Profile

Schindler manufactures, installs, services and modernizes elevators, escalators and moving walks for almost every type of building requirement worldwide. The company specializes in the latest-technology engineering, as well as mechanical and microprocessor technology products designed and rigorously tested for safety, comfort, efficiency and reliability.

Inspired by the vision of being the best service provider in the industry for its customers, Schindler will continue in the future to develop highly innovative and user-friendly mobility solutions and to deliver these to the world market.

Schindler products can be found in many well-known buildings throughout the globe, including office buildings, airports, shopping centers/retail establishments and specialty buildings.

KONE - HISTORY

KONE was founded in 1910. During its 100 years as an industrial engineering company, KONE has been involved in businesses as different as textile manufacture, medical technology and the design of hydraulic piping systems. The company's main focus, however, has always been the elevator and escalator business.

Over the years, KONE has proven its ability to adapt to a changing world as well as to create new opportunities for the company to grow. Stable ownership by four generations of the same family has created a strong and supportive environment for continuous development.

well.... better you  see the wonderfull website of KONE for more history  click here

KONE - About

Kone is a tech-service giant in the elevator industry. They are focusing on the people/goods management in a building or building systems. Products includes

1. Elevators
2. Escalators
3. People  flow intelligence.

The services provided by KONE are 4 types

1.Design Services

 This service deals with the design of buildings people flow system, doing traffic calculation, fixing the right number of right capacity elevators and escalators at right positions. KONE have huge design templates and collection with years of experience.

2. Construction services

In this category, there is two subcategory.

      1. Project management and installation services.
      2. Constriction time use solutions

3. Maintenance services

This category also have two subcategories.

         1. Maintenance and monitoring
        2. Spare parts
              KONE stocks a wide range of spare parts, it can supply spare parts for other manufacturers also.

4. Modernization services

          1. Range of modernization partially/fully for elevators, escalators and moving walks.
         2.  The KONE care for life.
                       Complete planning for the elevator,includes planning for the modernization also.






In terms of the technology they are giant of present and future. Kone has spend a lot in the R &  D department so that they have all the kinds of solutions and innovative aesthetics in store.

Some of the KONE technologies are irresistible to mention here.

1. KONE ULTRA ROPE
2. KONE ECODISC MOTOR
3. KONE MONOSPACE AND MINISPACE ELEVATORS
4. KONE NANO-SPACE MODERNIZATION
5. KONE ECHO MODE ESCALATOR MODERNIZATION.
6. KONE INNO TRACK AUTO WALK
7. KONE JUMP LIFT CONSTRUCTION TIME ELEVATOR
8. KONE POLARIS
9. KONE ID 300
10. TYTRI

 
This technology master is also making their products greener day by day.


KONE WEBSITE 


  

History Otis Elevators

                 In 1852 Elisha Otis invented the safety elevator. From 1852 to 1855 he sold around 10 elevators.Otis died in 1861. In 1875 installed the inclined elevator for Eiffel tower. In 1878 installed the hydraulic elevator that works on water instead of steam.

                 In 1880 OTIS installed a steam powered elevator at Washington monument which carry 30 people to 50 story height in 12 minutes.  As they reached 1883 the started their business at mexico.
               

                 The first electrical elevator was installed in New York IN 1889. In 1893 OTIS installed their first lift in Russia.  First moving stairway was installed in 1895. In 1898 OTIS has become a public traded company. The first public escalator born in 1900.Otis delivered the first gearless traction elevators in 1903 to New York City’s Beaver Building and Chicago’s Majestic Building. The Beaver Building machines used a complicated roping arrangement that was never used again. The Majestic Building machines used just one set of ropes. Otis can’t take total credit for the invention, however. A German engineer worked on the concept as early as 1877, and an Austrian named Anton Freissler experimented with it in the late 1890s. But Otis, which later merged with Austria’s Freissler company (becoming Freissler Otis and later Otis Austria), clearly brought this machine into popular use.
                 The first telephone was installed in one of the Otis elevators built for the Singer Building (currently the site of One Liberty Plaza, New York City) in 1908. Eventually all 16 elevators had telephones, linked to all 42 floors.Otis began offering regular elevator inspection service by the mid-1880s, gradually broadening the scope of the service until on April 1, 1921, in Springfield, Ill., Otis first arranged to take complete care of elevators for a flat monthly charge and to keep them in their original operating condition forever, if need be. The idea of a partnership between elevator user and manufacturer has grown steadily, and today Otis Maintenance is a worldwide service.
                 Otis’ double-deck elevator was designed to save valuable, rentable building space and move more passengers at once. Joined one atop the other in the same hoistway, one car serves even number floors and the other, odd. Passengers board at two levels (for example, subway level and street level), depending on which floor they want to reach.

The first Otis double-deck elevator was installed in 1931 in the 67-story Cities Service Building at 70 Pine Street in New York City, but was never operated. By 1935, Otis had “officially” unveiled the double-deck, an appealing innovation for tall buildings with heavy traffic flows at specific times of day.

Today, for buildings like Citicorp in New York, First Canadian Place in Toronto or the Treasury Building in Singapore, the double-deck elevator is an efficient and practical solution.

                  Otis’ annual reports began commenting on the performance of Maintenance in 1932, the year the value of service bookings first outstripped the value of escalator and elevator sales combined. The company continued to earn more from its Service Department than from new sales until 1946.In 1936, Otis published a company-sponsored book titled, The Maintaineer. It codified service practices and launched a sales initiative for service contracts that boomed in the 1940s. A 1947 advertisement states: “There is no other maintenance service like Otis Maintenance—anywhere. It can be obtained by ’phoning your local Otis office.”

                   Otis introduced the first illuminated escalator in 1946. The balustrades glowed with a soft, translucent light, an effect designed by Eleanor Le Maire. Understanding the merchandising value, Rike-Kumler Department Store in Dayton, Ohio, was the first to have these escalators installed to transport shoppers easily from the basement to the sixth floor. The company was so pleased it upped its original order from 12 to 14 to lure customers to shop on the seventh floor.

                   Symbols of a building’s prestige, uniformed operators, often women, routinely served elevators in apartment houses, high-end department stores and elegant office towers. In the 1930s, however, operators began to be displaced by rudimentary automation and push buttons. Passengers didn’t embrace the clunky and unsophisticated systems as enthusiastically as building owners, who enjoyed saving the expense of an operator.

                     By 1948, Otis had introduced the Autotronic elevator, one that was not only operatorless, but capable of launching itself to wherever it was likely to be needed, based on time of day and anticipated traffic patterns.

Autotronic elevators proved hugely successful, both as money-savers for building owners and time-savers for occupants and visitors. The first such system operated in the Atlantic Refining building in Dallas, Texas, in 1950. In a letter to Otis, the building’s chief engineer said the new elevators allowed the 130,000-square-foot (12,077 meters) building to be emptied in less than 10 minutes.

                    Elevators could travel unattended with the invention of the Otis Autotronic elevators in 1948. An advertisement in the 1950s highlights an additional feature: the electronic elevator door. When a person is detected, says the ad, the doors “politely reverse” before touching the passenger.

to see more about OTIS history, Please visit OTIS WORLDWIDE website

OTIS - About

                   

 

                         Elisha Otis invented the elevator in 1853,  that heritage is the backbone of the company. Otis is the world's largest manufacturer and maintainer of people-moving products, including elevators, escalators and moving walkways. Founded more than 160 years ago by the inventor of the safety elevator, Otis offers products and services through its companies in more than 200 countries and territories, and maintains approximately 1.9 million elevators and escalators worldwide. Otis is a unit of United Technologies Corp., a leading provider to the aerospace and building systems industries worldwide. For more information, visit www.otis.com
                      Approximately 66,000 employees are making their bead from this elevator gaint. Having more than 1000 branches world wide it almost easy to reach by any customer. Revenue of 2015 is 12 billion USD. Almost 2.5 million units are installed and 1.9 million units are maintained world wide. Having manufacturing facilities in four continents help to support customers and the company for a large scale business
                      Otis has a network of research and engineering facilities and test towers around the world. Company's two tallest elevator test towers are located in Shibayama, Japan (505 feet or 154 meters above ground; 89 feet or 27 meters below ground) and Bristol, Conn., United States (384 feet or 117 meters above ground)

OTIS  VISION IN SERVICE

         We intend to be the recognized leader in service excellence among all companies—not just elevator companies—worldwide. 

                  We will inspire our customers’ total confidence through exceptional service that earns us 100 percent of their business, 100 percent of the time.

Elevator Entrance ( lift doors) - in detail

        Elevator entrance is the topic in the post. We will discuss the elevator landing entrance in detail.

First of all we have to know the conventional concept in the lift industry for the reference.  Below drawing will give you the clear idea. 

         Below is the shaft plan of a typical elevator.

You can see a label "OBSERVER". The observer is you.

Now you are facing the elevator in the direction shown in the drawing.

Now your left hand side in this condition  will be always lift's left hand side.

        I think you got the idea. When working, in the drawing we have to mention the left and right side of the lift in this way. 

        So when we say 'left side' it means the side of lift which will be in your left hand side when you are facing the main entrance. I said main entrance because there are lifts having more than one entrance.

         Now i think you got the idea of left , right , front and back side of the lift.

        We can discuss the entrance again. The entrance is the part through which you are entering in to the elevator car. Which is an arrangement for door which need to be coupled to the elevator car's door in order to operate.
        It is not as you might have thought. It is in the other way. The elevator have doors attached in all service floors which are fixed to the shaft wall at structural openings. This part is called landing entrance. The elevator car also have door. Elevator car moves up and down and stops at the level. At that time the elevator car's door will be mechanically coupled to landing entrance so that both landing entrance door and car door will operate simultaneously.  Car doors will be operated by a motor normally.

     

      So in the above drawing (shaft plan), red marked part is landing entrance. A landing entrance have many parts.

1. Door sill

2. Landing jamb/ landing frame

3. Landing header

4. Supporting brackets

5. Toe guard

6. Sliding doors

      

         These are the main parts of a landing entrance which we need take care in the drawing. You can understand these parts position in the below diagram.

In some cases the doors will not be a sliding one. There may be manually operated one.

When you come to the industry you can find various models. For understanding  the typical parts are given. These landing entrance is not that simple. it has more parts for different functions. For example

Note: The red part in the above drawing is Landing sill. In the shaft plan the part shown for Landing entrance will be always Door sill. 

1. Electrical safety contacts.

2. Self closing system

3. Door panels coupling  arrangements

4. Car door to landing door coupling arrangement.

5. Door hangers

6. Door tracks

7. Mechanical door locking system

8. Door shoes

     etc.....

         There are mainly two types of door system based on 'door panel' opening design.

1. Center opening .
2. Side opening.

Center Opening Doors

        The center opening doors are most common. Two panels will join at the center in the 'door closed' state. And open from center to left and right sides.

          Center opening doors are two panel  and multi-panel
These differences are to accommodate door system in small space as possible.
In two panel doors the clear opening we can provide is limited because the panels need enough space outside door jamb to give clear opening.  When using multi-panels the space required outside the doorjamb for opening position will become half of that of two paneled one.

        The major drawback of the multi-panels one are more maintenance. More panels means more parts more parts means more maintenance.

        In the case of high capacity lifts for cargo and car wide opening is needed , as much as car internal width. The multi-panel will help there.


Side Opening Doors

        Side opening doors are famous now , after the introduction of Machine Room Less Elevator.
In this type of Elevator the machine will normally accommodate one side of the shaft. counter weight also will be positioned in that side. to give the maximum clear opening and use the area in the shaft more efficiently side opening doors will be used.

         In this we would have missed many points. Please feel free to ask all you doubt about this particular topic and the whole elevator in the commend section. We will try to answer your queries as soon as possible.

Studying the Elevator Drawing

Before we begin if you already know this you can skip to

Studying Elevator entrance in drawings ( detailed )

If you are unfamilier about elevator basics, how elevators works and all you have to first read

Elevator Basics

If you come across any doubt please comment below. This will help us to post your question's solution. And will help you and anyone reading this article.

So back to the subject.....

           The elevator drawings are easy to read. They will be a little confusing at the first. But if you once get a hold on it then its fine. To read the elevator drawing, you must know the parts of an elevator. I mean the common parts of an elevator. The elevator have different kinds of drawings.

1. Shaft top view ( shaft plan ).
       Some will say hoist-way for the shaft (Click here if  you don't know what a shaft is ).
      This drawing shows the main bone positions of elevator guide rails, distance between rails, cabin size, shaft size, entrance size, entrance position, running clearance, counter weight position. counter weight size, etc..
   

               The above drawing shows the typical elevator shaft plan. I hope you know about the below terms already

1. Elevator car
2. Rail
3. Sill
4. Entrance
5. Counter weight
6. Shaft / hoist way

              If you don't know about the above terms please go to "elevator tree" and select your appropriate level.

             Ok. Now all of you reading this should know the above terms. The elevator/lift shaft plan is one of the main drawing that need to be understood thoroughly. This drawing is the top view  ( view from the top ).
         
            Now you can see the shaft. The inside dimensions of the shaft is the one we need to take care of. Here you can see the shaft depth and width which are the main dimensions from which we will be deriving another measurements.
           Now the actual purpose of the drawing is to give the exact guidance for shaft/ hoist-way construction and elevator/lift installation. The shaft plan is used to make the template for the lift installation. You can always refer the elevator tree in menu bar for knowing more about shaft plan.

Car DBG
The measurement is the distance between two guide rails that guide the elevator cabin , other vise called elevator car or lift car. This is an important measurement because guide rails should be completely perpendicular and parallel without any twist. The DBG ( DISTANCE BETWEEN GUIDE RAILS)    must be exactly the value given in the drawing in all along the elevator shaft.
This will determine the quality of the elevator ride in the mechanical manner.

Counter weight DBG
As in the case of CAR DBG this is the displacement between  two guide rails which are guiding the counter rails. As in the case of CAR DBG this measurement also will effect the quality of the elevator ride.

Landing clearance / Running clearance
This is the distance between landing sill and car sill. This measurement is universal. it will be always 30mm. Usually this will not be included in the drawing but we have to include this in our calculations. This measurement is so important because this small gap should be maintained all along the lift travel. Passenger safety and door coupling are depending up on it. The huge moving elevator car is moving in this clearance with the stationary lading entrance.

Car rail center line & Entrance center line

In the drawing you can see there is two car rail center line.
1. Horizontal
2. Vertical

both are important lines.

Entrance center line is also shown in the drawing. The importants of this is in some drawing the vertical car center line and the entrance center line( clear opening center line) may not be aligned. There may be an offset between these two. The offset is a very important measurement need to be considered during the installation. In the below drawing you can see the entrance offset explained.

Elevator Companies - Main stream

       

         

                       The elevator or lift business is a competent one now. It all starts when the plots are filled with buildings. Then people started thinking about making multi storied buildings. The importance and necessity of elevator became clearer than ever before. As the buildings grow taller the fortune of the elevator industry also got the green signal which is never red until now. Still now there is nothing else to replace lifts in buildings. As the green signal glowed , investors started to enter the market.
                       
                       Nowadays the lift market came faraway from where it started. Product diversity, product quality, product life, service quality, service quantity, execution and presentation level, all these factors are improved. No need to mention the explosion of turnover and expansion of international business. In terms of technology the improvement is unimaginable. The traveler's safety, comfort.. etc, all are at a level which wouldn't have involved in the dreams of elevator people of history. As the competition is tight in the market the companies are grown in to  socially committed organizations. They are thinking of making their brand more and more respective in society by getting involved in the global problems.This means the areas of technical aspects are almost covered now.
       
                 As we have now reached the era of  technological explosion, the companies leading the front have all the facilities that can be offered in the field.

                 The prices of low and mid - financial sections are very competitive. The higher financial sections are ruled by relation-experience and feedback trios.
       
               The main line companies offers world class product and service.
       
               Once the elevator order confirms, the relation of company with the client starts and it ends until the maintenance contract goes away from the company of some reason. So the selection of the elevator company for a project need to be very care full.
            Also Mr. Job seeker ..... you .. too need to be careful before selecting the company.
           
            Before that keep it in mind that   first of all you have to check , which list of companies will select you as their employ!!!... means your skills and qualifications.
         
             The job seeker need to check the facilities in the company... not what you hear in an interview. But you have to check what's the situation actually is.
         
             Training facilities, payroll, reputation, brand, chance of growth, history, etc.. have to be checked by the job seeker. We will be posting soon regarding
       
            How to select your elevator company as an employer...

            And

            How to select an elevator company as a customer.

Anyways
The main first-class companies in the world are listed below.

Elevator companies.
1. Otis
2. Mitsubishi elevators and escalators
3. Schindler
4. Kone
5. Thyssenkrupp
6. Toshiba
7. Hyundai
8. Hitachi


Cick on the comapnies names to know more