Inclined Elevators

The name alone tells us that inclined elevators are constructed at an angle sloping from one point to another. Of course, what comes to mind when we think of inclined elevators and is probably the most common type would be what we refer to as an escalator. However, it is just one type of inclined elevators built to carry passengers and there are also inclined elevators which are manufactured to carry cargo. They can be used both indoors as well as outdoors and can be made to handle extremely heavy loads quite safely.

Some Common Types of Inclined Elevators

As mentioned earlier, the most common type of inclined elevators is an escalator. Another type of inclined elevator commonly in use is a ski lift. When you visualize a ski lift you see a passenger car being moved up and down the mountain on a chain with a pulley. This type of inclined elevator generally works with a pulley mechanism above the passenger car. However, when you visualize an escalator to pulley mechanism is actually under the moving staircase which move around and around in a continuum. Other types of inclined elevators for passengers are those which you see moving passengers or freight from the ground to an airplane, although these have much less common. Then there are the types which move cargo such as those you would see on a construction site.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Inclined Elevators

Unfortunately, inclined elevators such as an escalator are actually quite expensive which at first what appeared to be an extreme disadvantage. However, when looked at carefully it is possible to see that there are many more advantages than disadvantages which helps significantly to offset the difference in cost. Consider for a moment a traditional elevator that perhaps can hold 10 people safely based on weight limit. Any busy location such as a mall it takes altogether too long to bring those 10 people up to the next level and then return down to collect another load of people. Escalators, by their very nature, continue moving so within that same period of time are able to move perhaps five times that amount of people safely up the stairs if not more than that. Because inclined elevators are based on some type of variation of a conveyor belt, they are continually moving people or cargo without the need to stop for any great length of time, if at all.

Inclined elevators are more common than you might at first believe and doubt and although they might be more expensive than some types of elevators the advantage is often far outweigh the cost differentiation. Some people do not like to be in confined spaces such as in elevator and this is a safe way to transport them up and down various levels within the building. Of course an elevator would be unrealistic to use on a mountain as a ski lift so an inclined elevator would be the only option. Whether to transport people or cargo that are a great number of options and inclined elevators on the market.