Ab● ut EscaIators 0t:s

Part Ofthe urban|andscape

∨is t之 l}ly|arge(1O丨 )artnlOnt store shopping I1η rl H 丨 ηetro
stat on a rport or stadiu|n(Ⅱ η yⅥ lerc in the ln,ord and you
/⒈

are su丨(。
to f|nd()sca|ators carryir)g⒈ Deop|e quk)k|y and
safc|y1o therc1c。 s1naton lho esc`i{tltor has l)ccome a11
|nteglti|part of the1】 fban|andscapc ˇ
e|e∨ ators l/ere in comnη on usc s"lcc the1870s `/hie passengcr
it JvJas|lot unt| 1899that thc○ ts Lc)∨ ator COI1Ⅱ )any
introduccd thc lllor|dⅡ s fr、 t co丨 ll}γ l e丨 (;a|y succc)ssfu|
movlng st3rs

otis E|evator Comρ any has been safely and e仟 iCient|y moving ρeop|e
for150year$ otis is the vvor|d′ s|argest manufacturer of elevators`
escalators,movingˇ vaIks and peoρ le rnovers With12m""on insta卜
Iauons`61'000emρ loyees'and operations in m° re than200counˉ
tries,it′ s safe to say that the world ride$on ous

Abovt EsCalato子 s
 The rise Of the rllOdern esca|atOr
A though thcre had been severa|attcrinpts to design and
bu{d llnov}lg sta rtAJay systenns pr or to1899`none
proved safe o「 practica|enough to coΠ lO into genera|
use t vX tls丨 n0t until that year— —vv|nen the⊙ tis E|evator
COmpany bu t丨 he f|rst step-type esca|atOr-— that the
idea beca}lne CommerciaHy feasabk) This or|g|rl a|○ tis
design rcrna lls the basis for the esca|ator as、 e kn0VV
it today ^冫

Theˇ vord esca|ator、 ″as coined by combining the Latin word for
灬 Ⅱ
steps-ˉ sca|a″ -ˉ with theˇ Vord灬 elevato【 The ternn remained a regˉ
istered trademark ofthe company unt"1950,ˇVhen the U s Patent
omce ruled it was in the pubⅡ c domain since esca丨 ator had become
the gene冂 C name for a moving stairˇ ˇay

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0TIs About Esca|atOrs 2of7

 F|nding a safer sO|ut丨 On
r)eslq lirlg a s3fe trtlrls tion p。 ¨- r 、c〖 c⒈ )absC⒈ lgc歹 s
rltˉ

′tCρ on之 ld of∮ tnc Cs(j扌 jF^tor -Was one oFthe l)勹
i饣 or
p丨 obIer11s|rl c((j')Ⅱ r1g￡ i sL1ccessf11 丨Ι,oV汀 lg・ it a|v'Fjy ``
ri1"l|ber o扌 n1ethods⒈ |ad beer1tRtt e丨 11丨 Dt()cJ⒈ jefo}cC)tis
sO|V(ld tlle ρfc)rjk∶ |、 l

ln one ea「 ier design`as the moving steps reached the upperlanding`
′
they disappeared under a V"shunt The purpose ofthe shuntˇ va$
to ltera"y shove pas$enger$。 矸the sta|rs and。 nto the|anding This
requ red them to take an awkvvard sidestep with one footˇ vh"e the
other footˇ ˇas st"traveⅡ ng forˇ vard This ca"ed for considerab|e
Concent「 aton and c° 。rdinat on on the part ofthe passengers~
a di矸 iCu|t en° ugh feat atthe be$t oftimes`much le$s vvhen one was
burdened ・
/th parcels or attending sma"ch"dren

Another a ternativeˇvas。 system that emp|oyed a sefies of comb-

Ⅱfted the passengers′ feet o矸 the treadsˇ vhen they
"ke prongs
reached thethat
top The prongsˇ vere designed to mesh vvth the tread
c|eats atthe end ofthe ascending and descending「 uns This vVas an
rnprovement over the avVkˇ Vard灬 ∨"shunt syste!η
`but the30-40cIη
(12-16in)ρ r° ngs st"l posed a hazard Pas$engers were tempted to
|eap over the approaching prongs rather than risk being$cooped o矸
′
Netherthe awkˇ vard′ V″ shunt system northe pronged-comb sOlu-
u。 n was pracuca丨 forthe maJoHty of usσ s

ous s。 lved the pr° blem of攵 he transition point by combIning the
moving treadˇ vith a muCh safer comb and cleat de$ign that reduced
the prongs to a safe1tapered length At this p° int`esca|ator sa|es
began their steady c;imb ln its frst yearˇ v"h the neˇ VIy designed
escalato‘ ots sold more unt$than it had in the previous20com-
bined t$time had fina"y come

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0Tls About Esca|ator$ 3of7

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The

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thC:r∶ sCd氵 l10r s rl(∶ e|t pior)eered i1s in⒈ od1|ct on

Ⅱ( ⅡⅡ|
"Ⅱ chains
EaHy esca|ators had solid rubber handrans driven by meta丨
The chains traveled in a|ubr;cated steel channel The fesu tˇ vas that
passengers often/vound up w th o"-stained hands or gloves

otis repIaced this design w th a tension-drven rubber and canvas

handra"thatˇ Vas guided in a simple unlubr cated channel Late。 ot s
re阝 ned thIs design by introduCing pinch-resistant handra"s to prevent
the poss b"ψ of passengers′ nngers from geuing caught
Another otis innovat onˇ vas to e× tend the handra"s40c丨 η(16|n)
beyond the point vvhere the steps disappear at the1andings This
s rnp|e design irnpr。 vement dfamatica"y increased esca|ator safety

The e× tended handraⅡ perm tted possengers to grasρ the ra"and

steady themse|ves befofe stepping ont。 the moVing sta rs t also
aided the mˇ ˇ hen stepping o矸 The eXtended design improved safety
by making it dif「 cuIt for hands to get caught atthe po:nt vvhere the
handra"disappears into the gu丨 de bo×

HandraⅡ ergononaics is an impoftant mea$ure ofr丨 de qua"凵 T° day`

ous emp|oys rigorous engineer ng and qua"ty controlto en$ure the
precise synchronizauon° fthe step and handra"assembⅡ es`improv-
ing both safety and comfort
MaCh ne —— —
冂
Handra‖
=・
B・l{ustfa0e

0omb P ale
steρ

skr饣 Pane|

Landing F|。 or PIate ~

Handraπ Gu de BOX

0tIs Abovt EsCa|atofs η of7

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EarIy esca|ators hadˇ vooden step$ otis changed to c|eat-type die-
ca$t meta|steps in the1930s Later,it introduced narrov。 /-gauge
steρ -type c|eats At the landing`the eary comb prongsˇ vefe30-40
cm(12-16m)TOday`they are onIy19mm(3/4n)° ng M° dem
cleated rise「 s are designed to prevent the pinching hazardˇ vhen the
steps move back into the p|atform at the top landings

lv/ore recenuy`otis introduced an innovative def ector device that

features nylon b向 sues to genuy guide passengers aˇ ˇay fr。 m the gap
betˇ veenthe sk rt panel and the moving tread`adding a measurable
degree of safety U nder-step hghting and directiona|markers were
also added to the landings to aIert passengers to the trans tion point

Many ofthe eary esca ator sa es were made to maJor department

stores`insta"ed for the convenience of their customers These escaˇ
lators traveled at speeds th勾 t ranged from betˇ veen24-3O mete「 s
(80-100ftl per minute 0tis standafdized the rate to27meters(90ft)
per minute`fast enough to provide rapid traveIfrom one leVelto
another vvh"e st"|being leisureIy en° ugh for customers in a depart-
ment$tore to survey the merchand|se on the saIes noor

Today`most otis esca|ators operate at a speed of3O meters(100天 )

pe「 minute This is st"sIovf。 enough to a"ow easy trans tion vvh"e

sefving the demand for rapid cOnveyance

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0TIs About EscaIa1ors 6of7

 Safety`qua|丨 ty and re‖ abi|ity
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ots prod凵 Cts undergo str ngent qua"ty and safets/tesung t° ensure
the performance`safety and re"abⅡ ty ofthe entre"ne of products
Wl/e perform more than2o advanced tests on every piece of otis
equipment'inc|uding tests that mimic vvorst-case operating cond
t ons and ones that simulates the rough ride。 ur products might have
du"ng thejourney from ous faC"k es to insta"auon ζ tes wo"dwide
TO ensure thatits trad tion of qua"ty conunues`otls employs a rigorous
Pr0d凵 Ct DeVe|opment Process〈 PDP)to guarantee that design and
qua‖ ty standards afe met Every neˇ vp「oduct receives its oˇ Vn
“
PASSPORt” to the marketplaCe W th PASsPOR△ the enure team_
from prOJeGt managers to se● or exeCuuves~引 gns o矸 on ρroduct
qua"ty each step ofthe way A"maJor components are tested under
pectan-
the str ct supervision of our eng"neers to ensure a20-year"fe e×
cy betvveen overhauls In most cases`each escalatoris con∩ ρ|etely
as$embled and tested befofe itis ρermitted to leave the factory PDP
is another testament to our comm tment to quality and safety

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0TIs Abou1EsCa丨 a1ors 6of7

 The esc剧 atOr tOday— —an array Of Opt丨 O∩ s
∷
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Ⅱ ∷∷∷ ∷ Ⅱ ∷∷∷∷ ∷|Ⅱ ∵ ∷∵Ⅱ ∷
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闸∷ ∷ Ⅱ∵ ∷ⅡⅡ ∷

Neˇ ˇ
er truss designs take uρ Iess space than previ° us syste丨 η$
Increased standard fises of up to10meters(33ft) versus an indus-
try∞ nven"on of6meters(20ft)`a owf° rmu"p e app"cau° ns wkh
the$ame|ook`vv|thoutthe need for co$uy c凵 $t0m design

|| I |
"∷

A modular approach a"oˇ vs each insta"auon t° be ta"ored to meet

spec|fic arch tectura|requirements Ba|ustrades and exter or
c|adding`rang"ng from convenuona"y painted metalto stainIess steel
and glass`can be fu"y custoni zed to compleIη entthe design of any
bu"ding Light ng opt ons ρrovide a further means of e× pression to
enhance the insta"ation s ove「 a"look The resu t is a streamlined
aρ ρearance that can be incorporated m° re eas"yinto a bu"ding′ s
design scheme

Neˇv tlandra"drive systelη s are aimed at provid"ng a sign ficant

irnρ r° vementin ride qua"ty in terms of both vibrauon and noise The
re|au° nship of handra"to tread speed i$carefu"y ca"brated to fur-
ther impr。 ve ride quahty Noise and vibration leve|s are carefu"y
ber t° ensure the smoothest`quietest ride
mon tored in a test chalη
possible Enhanced n。 ise reduct on packages are used in ext「 eme|y
quiet app"cauons
ous vv"Ic° nt"nue to anucipate the future by focus"1g the resources
of ts wor dvv de research and deve|opmentteams on the search for
so|utons as bu"d"ng teChnologies evolve and nevv iss凵 es eme「 ge

oTIs Abou1 EscaIatois 7of7