Innovation Continues Apace

New elevator features, remote monitoring, software, updates and more

Voice Recognition for Elevator Operation

Vancouver-based Picovoice has brought its on-device and private voice-recognition technology to elevators. Enabling touch-free voice interfaces for elevators and intercoms, the product is useful for both more hygienic interactions and improved accessibility. The company said that, in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, concerns about touching shared public surfaces such as intercoms and elevators are high, making these interfaces especially important in healthcare facilities where there is elevated risk of contamination.

Elevator Door Display System

Schindler’s Ahead DoorShow displays information, advertising and announcements on elevator doors. “Any elevator door transforms into an advertising and information space for your product” on multilayer doors, the company says. It involves a projector adjusting to the width of the door that shuts its blind immediately when the doors open and restarts automatically when they are fully closed. Its display content can be updated with various types and formats, including moving images, stills and movies in either landscape or vertical formats. They can be displayed in series as a playlist, allocated to certain times of the day or coincide with special events. All media is distributed wirelessly and remotely through Schindler’s Ahead Connectivity.

In April, Schindler Lifts Singapore Head of Digital Business Nima Bahadori said he partnered with one of his “customers in Singapore to leverage the high-impact #DoorShow channel to communicate #SocialDistancing messages to tenants in their building.”

Wireless Monitoring System

Gothenburg, Sweden-based SKF has collaborated with wireless specialist LumenRadio to develop the Enlight Collect IMx-1 System, a wireless monitoring system that measures vibration and temperature. When fitted to rotating equipment, the system can economically automate vibration data collection. The company says predictive-maintenance programs can be expanded with data captured more often, which increases defect detection rates. SKF employs its MiraOS operating system, which provides a “mesh network” protocol to enable sensors to wirelessly exchange data by navigating around obstacles, instead of trying to punch through them. LumenRadio’s patented cognitive coexistence technique scans the radio spectrum and switches frequencies to avoid busy channels and overcome interference. These features not only increase radio reliability, they also reduce battery power consumption.

SKF Product Manager Chris G. James explains:

“The technology not only provides high-precision timestamping of data, it also minimizes energy usage by knowing exactly when to switch the radio on and off. This means the sensor can work on a single battery for many years in tough wireless environments such as paper mills.”

The sensor network is self-forming, requiring no existing infrastructure like Wi-Fi, and can be deployed on a large scale. Precise timestamping of vibration data enables wider analysis capabilities in SKF’s strategy of reliable rotation as a service.

Steel Lift Shafts

Ferrari e Associati srl of Occhiobello, Italy, has produced a range of Corten steel lift shafts for more than 20 years. Corten steel is a ferrous-based material that rusts on the surface, creating a natural protective crust that leaves the internal part unchanged, the company says. It is considered a “living material that creates surfaces of uneven color, continuously changing the surface appearance over time.” All shafts are supplied with a dedicated calculation report according to European codes and CE UNI EN 1090 marking.

Survey App

Elevator-industry software-solutions company ElevatorPass offers its ElevatorPass survey app to help easily capture all elevator survey information digitally. Once a digital survey is completed, it can be shared with vendors or colleagues for reviews or quotes immediately. “The information is stored forever,” the company claims, so it can be reused for future jobs, repairs, etc. Equipment brand and model are stored, and a technician can send the survey report to a sales representative or service manager for review with instructions. Technicians can also help build comprehensive elevator surveys as part of their routine maintenance. Service managers may also request a sales representative to share the information with them to ensure the right equipment is ordered for modernization or repair.

Rotating Equipment Design Software

Gothenburg, Sweden-based SKF’s Bearing Module calculation service has been integrated into the analysis software of Nottingham, U.K.-based SMT to create the SMT MASTA software. SKF said the product helps engineers accurately and rapidly design and predict performance characteristics, in addition to helping them identify potential failure modes and undertake full-system simulations for any gearbox layout. The combined software allows bearings to be assessed within the context of full-system-level models and includes SKF bearing data (including its proprietary life calculations) for thousands of the company’s bearings, alongside ISO 281 and 16281 results. These results are fully integrated into the software.

New Option for Overspeed Governors

Delco Elevator Products of Vancouver, Canada, offers a new option for its Standard Overspeed Governor. A live shaft for adapting an encoder is available in diameters of 0.25, 0.472, 0.75 and 1 in. Encoder mounting flex is included. Available in 100, 150, 200, 250, 300, 350, 400 and 500 ft/min, each governor is code-compliant and comes with a rope retainer, full guard and base support, and CSA Group-approved limit switch.

Dual Brake Plunger Assembly Kit

Titan Machine Corp. of Long Island City, New York, now offers the Titan 1 Retrofit Brake Kit designed to convert the original single vertical plungers of Titan 1 machines to dual horizontal plungers. Offering a direct fit, the replacement reuses existing mounting hardware and pre-seated brake shoes. It does not require special tools and is available in 110- and 220-V coil configurations. It includes dual adjustable microswitches and a manual brake release. It is compliant with CSA B44.1 and ASME A17.5.