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Standard Feature
Most Standard Features appear in all our lifts. The Slack Cable and Overspeed Braking Systems, the captured wheels, and the "Dolly flanges" are some of the features which specifically address safety but virtually every aspect of our designs, from our choice of motors, reducers and bearings to the design of the supporting legs increase the safety of our lifts.
Precision Aligned Track:
- The major component of the tracks are two 3" "C" channels held facing each other a fixed distance apart
- They are built in 20' sections in the shop and are fitted and welded together in the field
- The tracks are held in place by a system of braced welded legs with an inherently stable and rigid geometry
- The legs are fixed to bedrock with cemented anchor bolts where possible and by a unique footing system when bedrock is not available
- The car rides on a dolly that rides inside the rails
- The dolly has four wheels which ride inside the channels
- Our goal is to build tracks straighter than our raw materials to provide a smooth comfortable reassuring ride every time: each 20' section is located horizontally and vertically to within ±1/16" at the legs before being welded in position
- We can set the track so that the centerline of the car door is within ±1/4" of the target position when the car floor is even with the station floor at both end stations.
Suspension cable:
- 5/16th" galvanized wire aircraft cable is used on all lifts except the light cargo-only
- it's safe working load is 11,000 lbs.
- it's breaking strength is 44,000 lbs.
- a fully loaded 4-passenger lift exerts a force of about 1,500 lbs. * sin(track angle) < 1,500 lbs.
- this is typically 10% of the safe working load and 2.5% of the breaking strength.
Captured wheel system:
- The car rides on a dolly which runs between the two C channels that comprise the track
- The wheels on the dolly are locked into the track
- The dolly cannot derail and
- With appropriate attention, the lift can be used in all seasons.
Variable Speed Motors
- Industrial Duty variable speed motors from Nord Gear are used on all passenger models
- Variable speed motor accelerate passengers smoothly from stop, cruise along the track at about 50 feet per minute, and decelerate to a smooth stop
- The variable speed drives that run the motors are protected from voltage spikes by line reactors
- The motors are seamlessly coupled to the winch drum through a "hollow shaft output" industrial duty helical bevel-gear Nord Gear reducer running synthetic lubrication
- the winch drum, reducer, motor assembly is attached to the track through Sealmaster pillow block bearings.
Single speed motors
- Leeson Industrial Duty single speed motors are used on the standard cargo-only lift
- These motor start at and stop from full speed, leading to a small jerk at either end of the run
- The motor is protected with our proprietary Safety Contactor Assembly that exceeds CSA standards (new in 2010 and optional retrofit recommended for all single speed lifts)
- The motors are seamlessly coupled to the winch drum through a "hollow shaft output" industrial duty helical bevel-gear Nord Gear reducer running synthetic lubrication
- the winch drum, reducer, motor assembly is attached to the track through Sealmaster pillow block bearings.
Slack Cable Motor Shut-off:
- All lifts have a mechanism which stops the motor from lowering the car if the suspension cable goes slack
- On our lifts the car can be raised even if this switch is triggered, our Slack Cable Braking System cannot pinch, weaken, or cut the suspension cable.
Slack Cable Braking System:
- If the car stops when being lowered (say by a fallen branch) the suspension cable will become slack. When the slackness represents one in of travel the automatic slack-cable emergency brakes fire
- The heart of the brakes are frame-hardened 4140 steel brake dogs that dig into the track with progressively increasing force and the car stops within a fraction of an inch
- The brake dogs are driven into the track by the weight of a heavy steel trigger arm and by a prestressed coil spring.
Overspeed Braking System:
- if the car exceeds 0.5 m/s the overspeed braking system fires, driving the brake dogs into the track
- The heart of this system is a German made elevator governor
- The typical running speed of an inclined elevator is 50 f/m or 0.25 m/s
- A car in free fall would drop only 2 cm before this brake fires
- This system activates the same braking dogs as the slack cable system.
Suspension Geometry: Our suspension cable attaches to the top end of the car, above the center of gravity. Therefore
- The car hangs below the suspension cable
- The ride is inherently stable, smoother, and safer
- There is less wear on the wheels
- There are no rough spots in the ride
- The suspension cable cannot be pinched if the emergency brakes fire so the car can be lifted back to a higher station.
PLC-Based Lift Control System: Between the buttons you push to move the lift, the track mounted sensor switches that trip in the presence of the car, and the motor sits a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC), running our proprietary Lift Control System (LCS), the brain of the operation. Our PLC based LCS has the following advantages:
- The lift is turned on and off with a simple UP/DOWN/STOP sequence coded into the station buttons or the (optional) remote controller
- We can program your lift to turn itself off after a chosen period of inactivity (15 min, two days, never?)
- It can listen to and control optional interlocked gates
- You can control your dock, and/or garden, and/or track lighting on and off using the optional remote controller and/or extra buttons on the fixed control boxes
1-2 Person Combo car
- On cantilevered cars, where the car attaches to the bottom end of the dolly, we have added a storage area which is ideal for cargo (see here, here and here for photos)
Other Standard Features
- "Dolly flanges", are a second, independent, fail-safe way to ensure the cars will never derail
- Top-of-the-line electrical and mechanical components
- Major electrical components manufactured by Telemecanique and Schneider Electric
- Our CSA approved panels are built by Control Max, Barrie
- Rider wheels keep the car centered on the track for a soother ride
- Passenger seats fold up to stay drier and to increase volume for cargo
- Red cedar seats, floors, walls, and top rails on passenger cars are held in place with brass screws and blind nuts
- Track exceeds CSA standards for strength (as measured by deflection under load)
- Cars run at a comfortable 50 to 60 feet per minute.
Warranties: Provided that all maintenance and repairs on the Inclined Elevator have been performed by Inclined Elevation Inc. or by a qualified company or individual previously approved by us, and excepting damage caused by misuse or acts of nature:
- 5-years on all static components including the track and car
- 1-year on all dynamic components including motor, gearbox, and electrical control systems