Elevator in words
Apron: A smooth vertical section extending downward from the threshold of the shaft door or the cabin door.
Available cabin area: The area of the cabin measured 1 m above floor level, disregarding the operating panel, that is available to passengers or objects during the operation of the elevator.
Balustrade: The sides on the right and left of the escalator/moving walkway (in glass or stainless steel) on which the handrail is fitted.
Brake lining: A component of the brake, made of a special material, that comes into contact with the brake drum and stabilises the elevator at the floor level.
Brake: An electromechanical device that prevents the elevator from moving when the cabin is stationary or when there is no current to the machine.
Breakdown: The services of a maintenance agreement with the customer include our response service in the event of a breakdown of the elevator or escalator.
Buffer Prosk: An elastically compressible element at the end of travel, incorporating a braking system using fluid or springs (or other similar means).
Cabin devices: A multitude of devices that are located and operate within the cabin, such as the cabin push-button panel, door mechanisms, the emergency button, etc., contributing to the operation of the elevator.
Car (Cabin): The part of the elevator through which passengers are transported, including the interior lining and the doors.
Chain elevator: An elevator with suspension chains or wire ropes, driven by any means other than friction.
Clamping device: A mechanical device which, when activated, prevents the descent of the cabin and holds it stationary at any point along its travel, thereby limiting the extent of slippage.
Compensation weight: A mass that saves energy by compensating for all or part of the mass of the cabin.
Control panel: A device consisting of numerous electrical and electronic components that issues commands for the elevator to operate and controls its correct and safe functioning.
Counterweight: A set of weights connected via wire ropes to the elevator cabin. These weights are approximately equivalent to the weight of the cabin when it is at full rated load.
Direct-acting elevator: A hydraulic elevator whose piston or cylinder is connected directly to the cabin or its frame.
Door lock: Any type of mechanical lock designed to prevent the opening of the elevator door when the cabin is not at the specific floor.
Down-acting valve: An electrically controlled valve placed in a hydraulic circuit to control the descent of the cabin.
Drum elevator: An elevator with suspension chains or wire ropes, driven by any means other than friction.
Electric safety chain: The entirety of electrical safety devices connected in series.
Elevator / Lift: A permanently installed lifting device that serves defined levels and has a cabin which, by virtue of its construction and design, is clearly accessible to persons. The cabin moves, at least partially, along vertical guides with an inclination of less than 15 degrees from the vertical.
Escalator: An electric stairway that automatically moves its steps and is used for the transport of passengers.
Flow restrictor: A valve within which the inlet and outlet openings are connected by a restricted passage orifice.
Full load pressure: The static pressure acting on the pipelines directly connected to the lifting unit when the cabin with its rated load is stationary at its highest stop.
Goods elevator with attendant: An elevator intended primarily for the transport of goods and generally accompanied by persons.
Guide rails: T-shaped steel sections placed vertically inside the shaft to guide and direct the travel of the elevator cabin and counterweights.
Handrail: The moving part on the upper part of the escalator balustrade, used by passengers as a grip, that moves together with the steps in the same direction.
Headroom (Upper shaft terminus): The section of the shaft between the highest level served by the cabin and the ceiling of the shaft.
Hydraulic elevator: An elevator in which the energy required to raise the load comes from an electrically driven pump. The pump transmits hydraulic fluid to a lifting unit that acts directly or indirectly on the cabin (more than one electric motor, pump, and/or lifting unit may be used).
Indirect-acting elevator: A hydraulic elevator whose piston or cylinder is connected to the cabin or its frame by means of suspension (wire ropes, chains).
Instantaneous safety gear with buffered effect: A safety catch that acts almost instantaneously on the guides, in which the reaction force on the cabin or the counterweight is limited by the intervention of a damping system.
Instantaneous safety gear: A safety catch that acts almost instantaneously on the guides.
Jack (Lifting unit): A combination of a piston and a cylinder forming a hydraulic unit.
Laminated glass: An assembly of two or more layers of glass, each of which is bonded to the others using a plastic membrane.
Levelling: A process by which the accuracy of the cabin’s parking at the stopping level is improved. It is the automatic movement the elevator makes towards the floor level to which it is moving when it is about to stop.
Lift machine (Drive mechanism): The totality of instruments that ensure the movement and stopping of the elevator, consisting of the pump, its motor, and the control valves.
Machine room: The space in which the machinery that operates and controls the safe and correct functioning of the elevators and escalators is located.
Minimum breaking load of a rope: The product of the square of the nominal diameter of the wire rope (in square millimetres) and a coefficient that dep
Non-return valve: A valve that allows free flow in one direction.
Passenger: Any person transported by an elevator in the cabin.
Pawl device: A mechanical device that stops the unintentional descent of the cabin and holds it stopped on fixed supports.
Pit (Lower shaft terminus): The part of the shaft located below the floor of the lowest stopping level served by the cabin.
Pressure relief valve: A device that limits pressure to a predetermined value by allowing fluid to escape.
Progressive safety gear: A safety catch whose action is achieved by braking on the guide rails, and which, through special means, ensures that the forces acting on the cabin, the counterweight, or the compensation weight are limited to permissible levels.
Pulley room: A space that contains the drive mechanism and in which the pulleys and possibly the over-speed governor and electrical devices are located.
Rated load: The load for which the equipment has been manufactured.
Rated speed: The speed of the cabin in metres per second for which the equipment has been manufactured.
Re-levelling: An operation that allows, after the elevator has stopped, the correction of the stopping position during loading and unloading, if necessary through successive movements.
Rupture valve: A valve designed to close automatically when the pressure drop within the valve, caused by an increase in flow rate in a predetermined direction of fluid flow, exceeds a predetermined value.
Safety gear (Safety catch): A mechanical device that serves to stop and hold stationary on the guide rails the cabin, the counterweight, or the compensation weight, in the event of their descent speed being exceeded or their suspension means breaking.
Safety rope: An auxiliary wire rope attached to the cabin, the counterweight, or the compensation weight, intended to activate a safety catch in the event of suspension failure.
Shaft (Well): The part of the building intended for the installation of an elevator. The shaft includes the pit. The construction of the shaft also determines the placement of the machinery in a corresponding location.
Shut-off valve: A manually operated valve with two orifices that can allow or prevent the flow of fluid in both directions.
Sling (Metal frame): A metal frame that carries the cabin, the counterweight, or the compensation weight and is connected to the suspension means. This metal frame may be integrated with the cabin enclosure.
Small goods elevator: A permanently installed lifting device that serves defined levels and has a cabin which, by virtue of its construction and design, is clearly accessible to persons and which moves, at least partially, along vertical guides with a
Technical specifications: The detailed description of designs, materials, dimensions, and all other elements required for the procurement and installation of elevators, escalators, and moving walkways.
Travelling cable: A flexible cable made of electrical conductors that provides electrical supply between the cabin of any type of elevator (passenger, freight, etc.) and the devices located either in the shaft or in the machine room.
Travelling cable: A flexible wire rope between the cabin and a fixed point.
Unlocking zone: The area above and below the stopping level of an elevator within which the floor of the cabin must be located to allow the release of the corresponding shaft door.
User: A person who makes use of the services of an elevator installation.