Freight Elevator Use and Controls

Although equipped with a closed cab that goes up and down between floors of a building, just like a regular elevator, a freight elevator does not carry people. It is exclusively intended to lift goods. It is also for this precise reason that the control buttons are outside of the cab, rather than inside it. The user can simply hit a button to call the freight elevator or send it to another floor.

Necessary Space

In contrast to passenger elevators, which require a lot of space to carry at least one person, there are small freight elevators with cabs smaller than one square meter. The latter kind, which often has varying depth and width, fit into smaller spaces, whether in a new or existing building.

Characteristics of a High-Performance Freight Elevator

The advantage of a freight elevator is that it can be customized. Therefore, depending on the circumstances, you could opt for one with:

• A load capacity from 1,000 to 4,000 lbs

• Speed up to 30 feet per minute

• Secure control buttons

• Cab floor and access ramp with 3/16-inch anti-slip coating.

Many practical and safety options can be integrated, such as:

• Free-standing metal shaft

• An electromechanical locking system for landing doors

• One or two telescopic cylinders attached to the platform, with anti-fall valves in case of breakage

• A pump with a variable flow valve to ensure smooth acceleration and deceleration

• Temperature, pressure and oil level sensors in the pump tank.

Depending on the model, dimensions may vary between 4 to 6 feet deep and 6 to 10 feet wide. To be better adapted to the activities of the business and optimize user safety, a freight elevator can be equipped with:

• Different types of doors: swing door, double swing door, vertical sliding door

• Different types of walls for the platform: solid wall, solid or mesh half walls or even a sliding/swing door.

Some models can even be installed right on the factory floor without a hoistway being necessary.

Although governed by Chapter IV of the Construction Code and Chapter IV: Elevators and Other Lifts of the Safety Code, industrial freight elevators and passenger elevators have different uses and must meet different standards. The law also requires that both types of equipment be regularly serviced and that all instances of maintenance are recorded in a register provided for this purpose.