Explaining Pulleys and Counterweights

Interesting Engineering is a great site for learning the basics about engineering principles. In “Machine Design 101: Pulleys and Counterweights,” these devices so important to elevator systems. “In typical elevators, there is a counterweight attached to the other end of the pulley system equivalent to about the weight of the car at 50% loading,” it explains. “Counterweights don’t do all of the work in modern elevators, but they help stabilize the system and reduce the load on the elevator motor.”

More recently, Interesting Engineering reported on the elevator world, including this poston the Bailong elevator in Zhangjiajie National Forest Park in Hunan, China. For more on this amazing installation, see the October 2014 issue of ELEVATOR WORLD.