Established as per the Section 2(f) of the UGC Act, 1956

Approved by AICTE, COA and BCI, New Delhi

Lecture
Building Services

School of Civil Engineering

Sanjay Raj. A
sanjayraj.a@reva.edu.in
AY: 2022-2023
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Established as per the Section 2(f) of the UGC Act, 1956
Approved by AICTE, COA and BCI, New Delhi

M22TE0102 : Building Services

C o n s t r u c t i o n Te c h n o l o g y a n d
Management

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OUTLINE

LIFTS & ESCALATORS

Discussions
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 LIFTS &
ESCALATORS
1.Introduction to lifts
2.Basic
terminologies
3.Types of lifts
4.Types of openings
5.Escalators
6.Travellators
7.Difference between lifts
& escalators
 What is a Lift ?

The lift is a type of vertical transport

equipment that efficiently moves
people or goods between floors
(levels, decks) of a building, vessel
or other structure.

generally powered by electric motors

that either drive cables, hoist, or pump
hydraulic fluid to raise a cylindrical
piston like a jack.
Basic Terminologies..
• Elevator car : That part of an elevator that includes
the platform, enclosure, car frame, and door.

• Machine beam : A steel beam, positioned directly over the

elevator in the machine room and is used to support
elevator equipment.

• Machine room : This usually located at the top of the shaft

and accommodates the winding machine, etc.

• Pit : That part of an elevator shaft that extends from the

threshold level of the lowest landing door down to the
floor at the very bottom of the shaft.

• Shaft : A hoistway through which one or more elevator

cars may travel.

• Counterweight or balance-weight. A unit, consisting of steel

weights, which counter balance the weight of the car and a
portion of the load, and to which the suspension ropes are
attached.
 • Traction drive : Lift whose lifting ropes
are driven by friction in the grooves of
the driving sheave of the machine.

Trailing •cable : Flexible cable providing

electrical connection between the lift car
and a fixed point or points.

•Bottom clearance : The distance, including buffer

compression, the platforms could travel below the
bottom landing until the full weight of the car,
when loaded, rests on the buffer.

•Top clearance :The vertical distance between the

top car attachment and the bottom of the diverting
pulley or any steelwork supporting equipment; there
must be an adequate margin between this and the
car will not contact the diverting pulley or
steelwork.
•Guide rails : These, fixed truly vertical
in the shaft, are of steel and serve to
guide the movement of both car and
counterweight.
• Passenger Lift : A lift designed for the transport of passengers.

• Goods Lift : A lift designed primarily for the transport of goods but which
may carry a lift attendant or other person necessary for the unloading and
loading of goods.

• Service Lift (Dumb-Waiter) : A lift with a car which moves in guides in a

vertical direction; has net floor area of 1 m2, total inside height of 1.25 m; and
capacity not exceeding 250 kg; and is exclusively used for carrying materials
and shall not carry any person.

• Hospital Lift : A lift normally installed in a hospital/dispensary/clinic and

designed to accommodate one number bed/stretcher along its depth, with
sufficient space around to carry a minimum of three attendants in addition to
the lift operator.
 1. Suitable speed……too fast will result in a nervous
breakdown to the user. If too slow will cause lack of
function.
•Electrical panels and power outlets.
•Ventilation fan and lighting in engine Basic Requirements
room.
•Power sockets in the lift pit.
•Maintenance works.
Physical Requirements

Size of lift shaft – depends on lift cargo capacity Depth of lift shaft
– depends on the speed of elevator Area of space in lift – depends
on speed of elevators.
Mechanical room size – depends on type and size of the lift
equipment.
 Types of Lifts

Drive system

Traction
Hydraulic
(Machine lift)
 1. Hydraulic lifts

• ‘ Pascal's Principle state that the

pressure given to liquid in closed chamber will be
continued by the liquid to every direction with uniform and
the same magnitude. ‘
Components This lift consists mainly of
4 components, namely,

•Holds the liquid used in the system

•This liquid is usually oil based because:
Tan oNon compressible
k oSelf lubricating

•Constantly puts water into the system

Motor •Push oil into the cylinder to lift the elevator

•Lets water out of the system.

Valv •Keeps the pressure low when open.
•Increases pressure when closed.
e
•device that transfers fluid or electrical
Actuator energy into mechanical energy.
•A piston because it moves up and down.
 Advantages Disadvantages
•Lower cost of equipments & its •Performance of hydraulic elevator becomes
maintenance than traction lifts (twice). erratic as the oil in the system varies in
temperature.
•More efficient building space utilization •Since it has no safety device to prevent its
than tractions. falling it depends wholly on the pressure .
Eg., hydraulic lifts would require
9.6 sq m less floor space than tractions.

Moreover overhead machine room isn’t

required.
•Most effective for high load capacity •Inherently high heat producing device.
requirements , that is why it is highly used
for freight, automobile elevators.
•Since it imposes no vertical loads on the
building structure, column sizes can be
reduced significantly in the hoistway area.
 2. Traction Lifts (Machine lifts)
•Principle : see – saw
•The car is raised and lowered by traction steel ropes rather
than pushed from below.

•The ropes are attached to the elevator car, looped around

a sheave &connected to an electric motor.

•when the motor turns one way, the sheave raises the
elevator; when the motor turns the other way, the sheave
lowers the elevator.

•Typically, the sheave, the motor and the control system

are all housed in a machine room above the elevator shaft.

•The ropes that lift the car are also connected to a

counterweight, which hangs on the other side of the
sheave.
•The counterweight and the car are perfectly balanced.

•Basically, the motor only has to overcome friction -- the weight on the other side does most of the
work.

•In gearless elevators, the motor rotates the sheaves directly.

In geared elevators, the motor turns a gear train that rotates the sheave.

•Nowadays, some traction elevators are using flat steel belts instead of conventional steel ropes. Flat
steel belts are extremely light due to its carbon fiber core and a high-friction coating, and does not
require any oil or lubricant.
Components It consists mainly of 5 components,

Control •Sheave rotates with the help of motor.

system
• a pulley with a grooves around the
circumference.
Electric • grips the hoist ropes, so when you rotate the
Motor sheave, the ropes move too.
•Connected to the motor
Sheave hangs on the other side of the sheave.
it weighs about the same as the car filled to 40-
percent capacity.
Counter Connected with the ropes
weight •Are along the sides of the elevator shaft.
•keep the car and counterweight from swaying back and
forth.
Guiding •also work with the safety system to stop the
rail car in an emergency.
 Difference between Traction & Hydraulic lifts

Traction (Machine) Hydraulic

•lifted by ropes, which pass over a wheel •supported by a piston at the bottom of the
attached to an electric motor above the elevator that pushes the elevator up as an
elevator shaft. electric motor forces oil or another
hydraulic fluid into the piston.
•used for mid and high-rise applications. •used for low-rise applications of 2-8
•Much higher travel speed than stories.
hydraulic.
•Principle : see - saw •Principle : Pascal’s pressure principle
•Components : control system, sheave, •Components : tank, motor, valve,
motor, counterweight, guiding rail. actuator.
•The machine room is located at the •The machine room is located at the
upper most level, i.e., on the terrace. lowest level adjacent to the elevator
shaft.
Types of Lifts Usage

Passenger Goods Vehicl Dumbwaiter Scissor

e
 1. Passenger lifts

•Passenger elevator is designed to move people between floors of a building. Their capacity
is related to available floor space. Upto 8-10 floors these operate at 1m/s and above 10
floors the speed starts at 2.5 m/s to 10 m/s.

•There are some types of passenger

elevators:-

Sky lobbies- an intermediate

interchange floor where people can change
from an express elevator that stops only at
the sky lobby to a local elevator which
stops at every floor within a segment of
the building.

Express elevators- An express

elevator does not serve all floors. it moves
between the ground floor and a sky lobby.
 Passenger lift

Hospital Residential Hotel Office Institution

Hospital lifts

Min. to Max. dimensions

2. Goods/Freight lifts
•Used to transport heavy goods but depends on types of good
transported.
• Usually used in shopping complex, airports, hotels,
warehouse.
3. Vehicle lifts
•Used specifically to lift a car in multi storey car park or showroom.
•had to be in the form of traction and hydraulics.
•Form of traction is more commonly used for high velocity.
 4. Dumbwaiter lifts
•Dumbwaiters are small freight elevators that are intended to carry food rather than
passengers.
•Avg height of the car
•They often link kitchens with other rooms.
ranges from 0.8m to 1.2m.
•When installed in restaurants, schools, kindergartens,
hospitals, retirement homes or in private homes, the
lifts generally terminate in a kitchen.
 5. Scissor lifts

•These lifts are self-contained, these lifts can be

easily moved to where they are needed.
•They’re excellent for indoor and outdoor
construction, maintenance and installation
applications.

Features:
High load bearing capacity Long life
Smooth operations
Openings

Centre
opening
sliding

Collapsib
le

Single
 What is Escalator ?
A moving staircase – a conveyor transport
device for carrying people between floors of a
building.

consists of a motor-driven chain of individual,

linked steps that move up or down on tracks,
allowing the step treads to remain horizontal.

are used to move pedestrian traffic in places

where elevators would be impractical like
shopping
malls, airports, convention centers.
 •The core of an escalator is a pair of chains,
looped around two pairs of gears & an
electric motor runs it.

•The motor and chain system are housed

inside the truss, a metal structure extending
between two floors.

•As the chains move, the

steps always stay level.

•At the top and bottom of the escalator, the

steps collapse on each other, creating a flat
platform. This makes it easier to get on and
off the escalator.

Conventional Mechanism
 •Each step has two sets of wheels, which
roll along two separate tracks.
•The upper set (the wheels near the top of
the step) are connected to the rotating
chains.
Modern •The other set simply glides,
Mechanism following behind the first set.
•The electric motor also moves the handrail, a rubber
conveyer belt, moves at exactly the same speed as the •Each step has a series of grooves in it, so it
steps, to give riders some stability. will fit together with the steps behind the
tracks.
 Escalator truss connects to the
landing platform (lower left).

Also visible: exposed drive gears

(center) for steps and handrail
drive (left)

View of escalator steps on continuous

chain
Diff. sizes & its applications
 High speed walkways
(Travellator)

Horizontal
Escalators Inclined
Inclined
Applications

Airport

Zoo

Theatre

Museum

Malls

Theme
park
 Difference between Lifts & Escalators
Lifts (Elevators) Escalators
•closed cabins inside vertical shafts that are •moving stairways that allow people to move
used to transport people between different between floors in busy places such as
floors in high rise buildings. shopping malls, airports, and railway stations.
•Lifts are fast and can move up or down •These are slow moving horizontal &
at great speeds vertical movement. incline movement.
•move up or down using counterweights or •The steps of are fixed and linked together and
traction cables. move up but come down from behind on a
conveyor belt that is driven by a motor.
•Less space is used for its construction as the •Space used is same as the staircases &
elevator is limited to the shaft & machine connects 2 floors .
room, which connects all the floors.
•Limited number of people can •There is no waiting period as one can set
accommodate at a time. foot anytime to climb up or come down.
•If there is electricity cut-outs then it •Its very versatile, if there is electric cut- outs
doesn’t work. then one can climb those steps, which acts like
a staircase.
THANK YOU

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