Home Forums General Discussion Technical Questions Elevator design -no electricity supply?

I hope someone can help me.

I'm designing a building for uni that requires several lifts (elevators) which transfer bicycles and pallets vertically.

My tutor suggested to look at energy efficient lifts. He mentioned that he had seen a lift, which movement depended on a weight imbalance almost like a seesaw effect. The movement was controlled by a weight being placed on another lift forcing one lift down and one lift upward. A counterweight system, that relies upon weight rather than a guy pulling on a pulley or an electric motor.

If anyone knows of such a lift please can you direct me. It would be ideal for my design which is for a cycle delivery hub, in which cycles unload and then collect new packages.

I am aware of magnets but just wish to see if my tutors approach exists!

Thanks in advance.

The design of the building is such that cycles transporting goods ride into the building at first floor level. The goods from the cycle trailer are then deposited in one lift and the cycle placed in the other lift. The weight of the deposited goods force the lift down to the ground floor, the lift is unloaded and the goods will be placed in ground floor storage. At the same time the empty cycle is taken up to the second floor, then the cycle is packed with new goods put back in the lift and descends back to the first floor and cycles out of the building.

And if you pardon the pun... the delivery 'cycle' repeats

You sound like you're re-inventing the wheel...The ancients used simialar means of vertical transportation....
A modern day version can be found on the cart carrier picture at the bottom of the page on the link below....One thing you got to remember about a human powered design...Gravity is a MotherF#$##^

http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Elevator

If you truly want to impress him look into your design around lenear induction motors powered by fuel cells.

most energy efficient design i can think of without human power is a city water pressure powered hydro. the city water pushes the piston up and on the down the water discharges and waters the lawn/landscape. add a turbine to the discharge to charge a battery that runs the valves and controls and you have the most energy efficient design i can think of. p.s. i want royalties.

Good example GP!!!!

Guys to avooid all the problems of electricity i think Solar Electricity is so much better then static or others .....
What you think ???

take one of the bikes, gerryrig it to a pump on a roped hydro, go to the YMCA, get some people out of their spin class and get pedaling.

that's to go up. to go down, hire a homeless person and give him a tutorial on manual lowering, have him sit in the equipment room for 8 hours, then he can sleep there and has a job and is no longer homeless. Your instructor is clueless on vertical transportation.

What's wrong with electricity? Seems to me that we should expolot our home grown energy. Electricity is very efficient, when used in newer units. We have an abundance of coal and natural gas in the U.S. why should we not use it? If you want to use solar, have your customer spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to put solar panels on their building. I guarantee that they will think twice about the bogus "Green Energy" business. Our government has pissed away billions of our tax dollars on failed green energy companies. Drill Baby Drill!!

Hurumph Hurumph.....hey, I didnt get a hurumph outa that guy