mechanical design of an elevator

kautilya

Hi there,

i am making an elevator design driven by a microcontroller. i am an electronics student and hence i am not able to get the mechanical design aspect of the elevator.

can anyone explain to me how to design the mechanical aspect of the elevator? what are the components for braking, gearing and detecting overload? how can i use a pulley system for the same? what is the mechanism for the opening/ closing of the doors?

i am also planning to design the same in Solidworks / CAD. is it possible / feasible to do the same in minimum time? if so, can anyone reco. some good tutorial site for me in this matter?

i would be grateful if someone helps me out.

regards
kautilya

Danger

Elevators use a concrete and/or steel counterweight to offset the mass of the car, so the motor doesn't really have to work very hard. Usually, the pulley mechanism consists of having the cables wrapped around a drive drum, similar to the old-style donkey engine. Brakes are held open by the cables, and close is they break. They're so seriously over-designed that there's almost no chance whatsoever of one falling.
Try checking out the 'How Stuff Works' site, in the engineering section. I think that they have an article about it.

kautilya

hi there,

thank u for the reply..

i have more queries. what are the parameters do i consider while making a lift? how do i determine the wall thickness, platform height and total load capacity? is there some software for designing these? and how do i design these using software?

if u can suggest any link or book to refer for useful ideas, i would be most obliged.

regards
kautilya

Danger

I don't really have more personal knowledge of the subject, but you can get a ton of hits by Googling "elevator mechanism".