For centuries people sought to create taller and taller structures. One of the great challenges, however became the excessive number of steps. Transporting furniture to the upper levels was nearly impossible, so buildings were previously limited to a smaller number of floors. In New York city the desire for elevators was great due to the limited land for development, necessitating tall buildings. By the mid 1800s, early hydraulic units went into service. Since the hydraulic units were essentially a plunger that needed a deep pit in the basement, even then there were height limits which they could not exceed, as well as safety concerns should the hydraulics fail. In 1850 Henry Waterman invented a standing rope system, laying the foundation for the future of the elevator which came in 1852 with Elisha Otis.
In that year Otis introduced the safety elevator which added a new innovation, a braking system that would lock the elevator in position in the event of a cable snapping. The system would engage any time the elevator exceeded a preset safe speed. In 1854 he demonstrated his new elevator at the Crystal Palace in the New York exposition.
Interestingly, the first elevator shaft preceded the arrival of the elevator when it was constructed in the Cooper Union building in New York in 1853. Realizing that a safe elevator would be forthcoming, a shaft was included in the design, even without an elevator. Cooper made the shaft cylindrical assuming that to be the most stable design, and Otis created a custom elevator to fit into the spot. Today the Otis Elevator Company, a subsidiary of United Technologies Corporation, is the largest manufacturer vertical transportation systems in the world.
Otis's safety innovations are still present in modern elevators today. The next time you step on one take a look at the threshold or the safety certificate panel. Odds are you will see the name Otis.
-Professor Walter
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