Lifts & Escalators

De nition of Lift/Elevator
•A vertical transport equipment that ef ciently moves people between
oors (levels, decks) of a building, vessel or any other structure.

•Generally, powered by a electric motor that drive by a traction cable

and counterweight systems like a hoist or hydraulic pump.
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Need And Importance

•Rapid Development- Buildings designed nowadays built

vertically due to increased land cost and population.

•Comfort-To provide ef cient and safe vertical transportation

to people in vertical buildings.

• Special Cases-
1.Transportation of patients in hospitals and vertical
transportation of handicapped people.
2. To increase working ef ciency of of ces and large
organizations.
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Types of Lifts(on basis of USE)
•Trade Lift- used in of ces, buildings, hotels, etc.
•Hospital Lift- used in hospitals and treatment centers.
•Car Lifts- used to lift cars in multi-storey car parks.
•High Residential Lift- used in ats and other high-rise
buildings for ef cient transportation of people.
•Fire Lift-This lift controls a system backup in an
emergency.
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Types of Lifts(on basis of function)

Electric Lift
• Basically electro-mechanical enabled
gearless traction electric technology to
transport people to higher levels in
buildings.
 Hydraulic Lift

•These are powered by

piston that travels inside a
cylinder. An electric motor
pumps hydraulic oil into the
cylinder to move the piston.
The piston smoothly lifts the
elevator cab.
Pneumatic Lift

• The principle operation

of the lift is based on the
ascending push
generated by difference in
the atmospheric pressure
on the top of car and
under the car. The
vacuum required is
achieved by turbines
operating as exhaust
fans, located at the top of
the elevator.
 Paternoster Lift

•It is a passenger elevator

which consists of chain of
open compartments that
move slowly in a loop up
and down inside a building
without stopping. Passenger
can step on or off at any
oor they like.
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 Components of Lifts
•Lift Car- It is vertically moving chamber in which passenger or
goods are transported. It is mainly constructed of steel or iron
attached with steel frame. It is provided with door, oor panel
indication, emergency button, phone, lightning and many
emergency supplies.

•Lift Door- The utilization of centre opening door is

recommended as they reduce the round trip time and help in
improving the ef ciency of the lift.
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•Governor- It is mechanical device
used to control the speed of lift on the
basis of load in the lift chamber. It is
usually placed at top of list shaft in a
room equipped with electric motor,
safety gear, etc.

•Lift Shaft- It is also called lift hoist. It

is constructed with Reinforced
Concrete (RC) to accommodate the
loading and re resistance. The size is
decided on the basis of number of
users. It is pathway of lift.
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Guard Rail

Track laid on both the

sides of the lift shaft to
keep the car and
counterweight in balance.

Also acts as a safety

device to hold the lift from
crashing down if the rope
breaks.
Counterweight
Connected with a rope to elevator car to support the
load carried by generator. Its main function is to grip
the lift car and reduce the power of generator.

Buffer
It is group of springs placed in vertical direction to
absorb the impact of lift car when it falls. It is placed in
lift pit.
 Factors affecting Selection of Lift

•Utility- The function must be identi ed whether

lift is for residential, commercial, or hospital etc.

•Capacity- This depends on type of building and

frequency of access to lift.

• Speed- This depends on number of stops and

users.

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Design of Lift

There are 3 major factors which contribute in design of lift

mainly (as per Cl.7.2.1)

•Population or the number of people who require lift service.

•Handling Capacity or the maximum ow rate required by

these people.

•Quality of Service Required or interval.

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Population

Exact population calculations are rarely available so the

calculation of this factor is made on the basis of type of
building, No. of oors, net area available. Average population
density can vary from one person per (4-20) sq. metre. If no
indication possible population of 5 sq. metre is generally
assumed.
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Quantity of Service
The quantity of service is measure of passenger handling
capacity. It is measured in terms of total no. of
passengers handled during each 5 min peak period of the
day.

NOTE- The passenger handling capacity should be

approx 10-15% of estimated population that has to be
handled during peak time for of ce building,7.5% for
residential building.
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Quantity of Service
It is measured by the passenger waiting time at various oors. The
following is guiding factor for this aspect:

Quality of Service Remarks

20-25 Seconds Excellent

30-35 Seconds Good
35-40 Seconds Fair
45 Seconds Poor
Over 45 Seconds Unsatisfactory

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Design Speci cations of Lifts
•Capacity- The minimum size car recommended for single purpose
buildings is one suitable for a duty load of 884kg. For of ce
buildings, cars with capacities up to 2040kg are recommended as
per requirement.

• Speed- It depends upon quality and quantity of service desired.

There are no set formulas. General Recommendations are-

No of Floors Speed
4-5 0.5 - 0.75 m/s
6-12 0.75 - 1.5 m/s
13-20 Above 1.5 m/s
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 Layout
•The width of car is determined by the width of entrance gate and the
depth of car is regulated by loading per sq. metre permissible. Centre
opening door are the most ef cient for passenger lifts.
Handling Capacity- calculated by formula:
H=300*Q*100/T*P

Where,
H= handling capacity as % of peak population,
Q= average no. of persons carried in a car,
T=waiting interval, and
P=total population to be handled during peak period.
•P is calculated assuming population density and net landing area
available for use.
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• Q is taken as 80% of max. carrying capacity of car.
•T is calculated as- T=RTT/N;
• N= no. of Lifts, RTT= round trip time.
•RTT is taken as sum of-
1. Entry and exit of passenger on each oor.
2. Door Opening and Closing time at each time.
3. Acceleration Periods, Stopping and Levelling Periods.
4. Periods of full rated speeds between stops going up & down.

•Note- RTT is inversely proportional to Handling Capacity, so to decrease

RTT entry and exit time of lift car should be adjusted. It has been found
that most suitable door width is 1000mm and car width is 2000 mm. The
utilization of centre opening doors favours the door opening and closing
periods.
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 De nition of Escalators

Escalators are moving stairs-a

conveyor transport device
where the treads moves on a
track at an incline or decline to
transport people from one oor
to another. These may not be
used as a means of egress.
The typical speed of an
escalator is 100 feet per
minute.
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Difference between escalator and
travelator?

A Travelator is a moving walkway; a

slow conveyor belt that transports
people horizontally or on an incline
in a similar manner to an escalator
while escalator is a motor-driven
mechanical device consisting of a
continuous loop of steps that
automatically conveys people from
one floor to another.
 Type of Escalators
• Parallel Type- These are escalators which are constructed side
by side or with some distance between them. These are usually
at metro stations.
•Multi-Parallel Type- These are the two or more escalators
constructed of same nature in parallel.

Criss-Cross Type
These are escalators which are constructed keeping the
same nature of escalators on one side.
 Para el Criss -Cross
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Design Requirements

Angle of Inclination- It shall not be >30 degree from horizontal for

vertical transportation up to 6m. Permitted up to 35 degree in
extreme case.
Balustrade- Escalators shall be provided on each side with solid
balustrades. Glass balustrading can be used.
The width between balustrades shall be measured on the incline at
a point 68.5cm vertically above the nose of steps and shall not be
less than width of step. It shall not be more than 33cm with 16.5cm
on each side. There should be no abrupt change in the width on the
other side.
Handrails
Each balustrade should be provided
with a handrail moving in the same
direction at same speed as that of
steps. These handrails should be
extended beyond combplate and the
height at the normal should not be
less than 30cm. The distance
between the handrails should not
exceed the distance between
balustrade by more than 15cm,
provided 7.5cm on both the sides.
Treads/Steps
The depth of any step tread in the
direction of travel shall not be less than
40cm and the rise should not be more
than 22cm. The width should not be
less than 40cm and not more than
102cm. Maximum clearance between
the steps should be 4 mm. Each tread
step should be slotted and slotting
should not be more than 6.5mm wide
and 9.5mm deep. The distance
between adjoining slotting should not
be more than 9.5mm.
Landings-
Landings of RC concrete may be provided conforming to secure
foothold. No clear speci cations are provided so design should be
done taking care of rated load.

Combplates-
There should be combplate at entrance and exit of every escalator.
These should be meshed up with tread surface and should be
adjustable.
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Trusses/ Girders
Truss is hollow metal
structure that bridges the
lower and upper
landings. Its ends are
attached to upper and
lower landings. It is
composed of two
sections joined together
with cross braces across
the bottom and just
below the top.
Tracks System-
This is embedded inside
the truss and these are
connected by chain or
belt. There are two
tracks which move
relatively such that a
stair comes out at
combplate called as
step-wheel track and
trailer-wheel track. It is
mainly provided to
prevent the
displacement of steps if
the chain breaks.
Advantages of Escalator
•It has more loading capacity and allows large no of people to
move from one place to another at the same time.
• It is more ef cient as people don’t have to wait as in case of
elevator.
•Its speed can be adjusted as per crowd management and can be
turned off when not in use.
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