4 ms·
Since it's non-stop, wouldn't this take more power than modern elevators? Why to keep running large number of them despite other concerns including safety? One
by murukesh_s 9y ago
Since it's non-stop, wouldn't this take more power than modern elevators? Why to keep running large number of them despite other concerns including safety? One or two kept in a heritage museum is understandable, but this large number is a bit hard to digest.
- the-dude 9y agoI wonder about the effiency as well : gravity is continuously working.
- kbutler 9y agoLowering platforms in a loop with the raising platforms makes a net work-against-gravity of zero (loading differences excepted). Thus the continuous force to overcome is just friction.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- mrob 9y agoDo modern elevators use regenerative braking? If not, then I'd expect the paternoster to use less power, because it's not stopping and starting all the time.
- dpark 9y ago> Why to keep running large number of them despite other concerns including safety? Because people apparently like them and because replacing an elevator is an expensive affair. It’s not clear that paternoster lifts are really more dangerous than standard elevators. The failures of safeties described can happen with standard elevators as well.
- hotsauceror 9y agoYes but there are also accessibility concerns. These are public spaces, and at least in the US there are laws about public accessibility. How would someone on crutches, or in a wheelchair, or with a service dog, use such a thing? I assume that they aren’t the only option available in the building.
- dpark 9y agoAccessibility isn’t always as guaranteed as people like to imagine. Lots of buildings have no accessibility today even in the US. Buildings with this sort of elevator are probably grandfathered out of accessibility requirements just like buildings without elevators.
- tgsovlerkhgsel 9y agoThey would use a separate elevator hidden a bit off to the side, and they wouldn't have to wait for it because most other people would be using the paternoster. A paternoster can transport at least 12 people per minute (depending on the speed of course) per direction from any floor to any floor, more if their travel paths don't overlap or people ignore the "max two people per cab" sign.
- futurix 9y agoNot clear? If you are not fast enough, paternoster lift will crush you.
- dpark 9y agoIf the safeties fail, sure. If the safeties on a traditional elevator fail, it can close the doors on you and then rip you in half. Six of one, half a dozen of the other.
- tgsovlerkhgsel 9y agoFirst of all, if you had a rare and awesome machine in your office that cannot be built anymore, wouldn't you be interested in preserving it just for the sake of it? Second, throughput and latency. Every ~10 seconds, a cab for ~2 people arrives at each floor. That's a bit slower than if you press the button, the doors of a waiting elevator cab open, you get in, and it takes you to your direct destination. It's a lot faster than if you barely missed both elevators, and they stop at every second floor on the way up and down to let people in/out. I wish we had one of these in our office.