Elisha Otis and the elevator

Elisha Otis didn’t really invent the elevator, but he DID invent the first safety brakes for elevators which are still used today.

Elisha Otis was asked by his employer to move equipment into their warehouse. Before the invention of the elevator brakes, most elevators were extremely dangerous, because if the main cable of the elevator broke, people on it would crash to the floor, and die. Elisha’s employer needed an elevator that was able to carry equipment and people to the higher floors of the building safely.

In 1853 at the Crystal Palace Exposition in New York, Elisha demonstrated his invention. Elisha ascended very high from the floor on his elevator, and cut the elevator’s cord. Everyone was surprised because the elevator didn’t crash to the floor.

Here’s how the elevator worked.

• The elevator compartment is raised and lowered by a hoist and pulley system. A moving counterweight on the other side helped with the movement of the elevator.
• On the top of the elevator car, there was a metal safety device made of pivots and spring loaded arms.
• If the elevator’s main cable snaps, the springs on the device would push out two bars called pawls, so the pawls could be locked into the teeth located on the sides of the elevator shaft.

Elisha Otis’ elevator was used as a freight elevator, but he soon installed a commercial elevator. His first elevator that was installed in a store in New York, in 1857 went 40 feet per minute! Although it isn’t very fast compared to the world’s fastest elevator which goes 37.7 MPH, or 3,313 feet, it’s still about 3X faster than the elevator in the quad. And it was the first commercial passenger ever!

The elevator brakes allowed skyscrapers to be reality. Without the help of Otis’ invention, people would have been too afraid to go on elevators and we wouldn’t see buildings like: The Burj Khalifa, Eiffel Tower, Empire State Building, CN Tower, and much more buildings.

This is the first article to start the celebration. Be back at 1:45 for the next article!