Vacuum-Controlled Elevator Developed

Aenox writes "Vacuum Elevators of Florida have released a one-man elevator system that easily slots into buildings. It has gone on sale in the U.S. for around $20,000 and uses only electricity to power vaccum-inducing suction turbines that can lift 204Kg several floors up. They claim it provides a smooth ride but from the video it looks like it could use some oil."

Comments

Failsafes

[BWJones]

But O'Connor adds that a series of mechanical breaks will activate should there be a sudden loss of pressure, to prevent the capsule falling.

I'm glad to see this because this was my first thought on watching the video. I can imagine all sorts of overly dramatic Hollywood type scenarios...... Cut the power to the building.....drama ensues. Or, a couple of well placed bullets into the side of the plexiglas causing a sudden implosion and dramatic falling of the lift. Also, one would want to ensure there are no leaks from the capsule to the inside of the lift tube. That sort of thing could play havoc on your eardrums, sinuses and eustachian tubes. Ask anyone who has been in a plane when they open a cargo door before completely equalizing the pressure in the cabin...... Wow, talk about uncomfortable.

Re:Failsafes

[Richard_at_work]

Actually, depressurisation events are fairly common, as incidents go, and very survivable. United Airlines flight 811 suffered one of the worst when the front righthand cargo door opened in flight due to faulty wiring and none functional safety devices on it, at 23,000ft. The resulting depressurisation blew out most of the right hand side of the cabin before the wing and ejected a number of passengers. The aircraft landed safely. Funnily enough, this was the fourth instance of this happening, and Boeing hadnt even looked at the problem.

I don't get it ...

[Lemurmania]

SOmething's really odd here -- the people who would most need this are folks who are in wheelchairs. And yet the tube is clearly too narrow for any sort of handicapped person. Why invent a freaking elevator for the people who don't need one? Do they have a handicapped version? Looking at the size of the capsule, I doubt a person with arm braces could fit in there. It seems really cruel to make an easy-to-install elevator that won't fit the people who need it.

Does vacuum seem an odd choice?

[lazlo]

It would seem to me that there's a limit to the amount of vacuum you can get above an elevator, but no limit in the pressure you could generate below it. I mean, if the elevator is 4 feet across, then the absolute theoretical limit of wieght that could be pulled up by suction (assuming standard sea-level pressure) would be...

interesting. Google can't parse:

(pi * ((inches in 1 foot * 2)^2) * psi in 1 atm) / lbs in 1 ton

but substituting in values, you get:

(pi * ((12 * 2)^2) * 14.6959488) / 2000 = 13.2965812

OK. I guess that's not so very strange after all. In a 4 foot wide elevator, you can lift 13 tons with a hard vacuum above it. Damn. 15psi sure does add up quick.