Previous in Forum: how to cal C.v for melting Lead   Next in Forum: What is Full Flange Rating?
Close
Close
Close
7 comments
Rate Comments: Nested
Member

Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: trivandrum city kerala
Posts: 8

elevator

09/09/2008 2:53 AM

I am interested in finding a solution to haul up luggage for the flats that we reside only 3 floors and no LIFT good width for the stairway around 4 ft on either side . This will be of great help to people Sr citizens whio have to haul up luggage.

I can send pictures of the stairway if it will help.A foldable inclined plane of rollers / or a winch is in my mind please help .

Regards to all think tanks.

Venugopal

__________________
Engineering is an art which makes mans life a wee bit easy.
Register to Reply
Pathfinder Tags: power free elevators
Interested in this topic? By joining CR4 you can "subscribe" to
this discussion and receive notification when new comments are added.
Guru

Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Piney Flats, Tennessee
Posts: 1740
Good Answers: 23
#1

Re: elevator

09/10/2008 2:33 AM

Install a dumb waiter on the outside of the building and use an upstair window for the access. I have seen that done but it must be secured good at the bottom to keep out unwanted quest or varmits.

__________________
If you never do anything you never have problems.
Register to Reply
Power-User
Hobbies - Fishing - New Member Popular Science - Evolution - New Member United States - Member - New Member Engineering Fields - Mechanical Engineering - New Member

Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Cleveland, OH
Posts: 445
Good Answers: 10
#2
In reply to #1

Re: elevator

09/10/2008 9:11 AM

I know someone in MA who wanted to do this. Since it would be possible for a person to get into it, it had to meed requirements for elevators, including regular inspection, etc. She decided it was way to expensive. Check your state first.

__________________
"Just a little off the top" - Marie Antoinette
Register to Reply
Guru
United States - US - Statue of Liberty - New Member Hobbies - Fishing - New Member

Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Gone to Alabama with my banjo on my knee...
Posts: 5595
Good Answers: 20
#3

Re: elevator

09/10/2008 2:47 PM

The idea for a dumb waiter is probably useful, but it sounds like you might have room for it adjacent the stairway. It will require some detailed thinking, and don't scrimp on the construction. If it's made on the cheap it won't last and could be a hazard.

__________________
Veni, vidi, video - I came, I saw, I got it on film.
Register to Reply
Guru
Popular Science - Weaponology - bwire Hobbies - Car Customizing - New Member

Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Upper Mid-west USA
Posts: 7498
Good Answers: 97
#4

Re: elevator

09/10/2008 10:55 PM

google rack and pinion hoists

__________________
If death came with a warning there would be a whole lot less of it.
Register to Reply
Anonymous Poster
#5

Re: elevator

09/14/2008 4:13 AM

location please. County planners and fire code enforcers in some cities--like San Francisco--will come down hard on anything exterior; and maybe on interior as well. Also, what do the tenants on second and third floor flats say? But I notice you mention luggage along with senior "citizens"...as if this is lodging and not flats? Clarification? Why not just porter the luggage up as a service for seniors?

Register to Reply
Member

Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: trivandrum city kerala
Posts: 8
#6
In reply to #5

Re: elevator

09/17/2008 2:42 AM

Thanks for the nice message location India south to be precise , as of now luggage is hauled up with arm power flats are well occupied any gadget should not bother other flat residents as it willbe a useful device for all.

Venu

__________________
Engineering is an art which makes mans life a wee bit easy.
Register to Reply
Anonymous Poster
#7
In reply to #6

Re: elevator

09/17/2008 5:01 AM

Then the outside or inside dumb waiter idea might (but also might not) be a good one. If mounted outside, you would need your building to have three window openings, one on each flat (floor), situated in vertical alignment. Ideally these windows (which will serve as dumb waiter stations) would open inside onto a central corridor of each flat, or onto stair landing for each flat. (From each window, luggage could be rolled directly to the room.) Dumb waiters are an old (I believe American) invention (in fact, the dumb waiter was the progenitor of Otis' elevator invention)...essentially not much different from a sash window; but on a large scale. A system of counterweight, pulleys, and ropes makes it possible to passively lower and easily lift a platform up and down. If you search the Web [dumb waiter] you should be able to find plans...and prefabricated kits as well.

Onr aspect of an outside dumb waiter that would need to be considered is the height above street level of the first floor window; a landing (perhaps a fold-down or pull down landing) might need to be incorporated below the first floor window at street level. Whereas the "Classic" form of dumb waiter is enclosed and runs up and down (just like an elevator) within a shaft way inside a building (you slide a door open to move items onto and off of the moving platform [and to lock the platform in place so it doesn't move while being loaded/unloaded], an exterior dumb waiter could be much more sparse--consisting largely of exposed framing only--however, the counterweight and ropes would most likely need to be enclosed to protect them from nature's elements during monsoon season...and for safety in case of rope break.

There are down sides to the dumb waiter idea, above and beyond the possible complexities of the installation; these concern, to a large degree, the age and physical condition of the elderly which you say would use them:

  • Depending on current window height, elderly might have difficulty (and risk back injury) trying to lift luggage up and into the dumbwaiter.
  • Considering the possible weight of luggage (and the necessary corresponding weight of dumb waiter counter weights), elderly people might have difficulty lifting and placing/removing the dead weight onto the platform.
    • A dead weight is typically used in conjunction with dumb waiters. When transporting down, the weight of the load (in your case, the luggage) forces the platform down at a speed modulated by the counterweights...or the dead weight can be used to send the platform down empty for a pickup. At the bottom, to send luggage up, the "payload" is placed on the platform and the dead weight is removed...so that the counterweight are able to move down and lift the payload up.
    • A winch augmentation might be possible in lieu of, or in conjunction with, a dead weight...but this would add overall complexity.
    • Depending on environmental conditions and use, maintenance would be another consideration...for example:
      • Preventive maintenance on a counterweight system exposed to the weather...
      • Possible stretch in a natural fiber rope.
      • A possible need to exclude non-guests (such as neighborhood children) from playing with or mounting the dumb waiter...to prevent risk of injury or damage.

Of course, a much simpler solution could consist of nothing more than a winch...but, there again, the age and condition of elderly patrons...

Finally, depending on your stair way configuration, another solution might be a stairway, rail-mounted, chair lift system. These consist, essentially, of a rail mounted on one side of the stairway along which a motorized chair can be sat in (or loaded with luggage, or both)...and the chair moves up and down (above the steps). These can be ordered on stairways both with and without a mid-floor (switchback) landing. When not in use, the chair (or luggage platform modification) is folded up flat against the railings so it doesn't interfere with those walking up and down. These, too, can be found and sourced on the Web. http://www.tkaccess.com/citiastairlift.asp

Hope this helps; and good luck with it.

Register to Reply
Register to Reply 7 comments
Copy to Clipboard

Users who posted comments:

Anonymous Poster (2); bwire (1); dadw5boys (1); EnviroMan (1); HarryBurt (1); venuviji (1)

Previous in Forum: how to cal C.v for melting Lead   Next in Forum: What is Full Flange Rating?
You might be interested in: Optical Flats, Tie Down Straps, Industrial Winches

Advertisement