ELEVåTOR WÅRLDCOVER: MRL, Made in America

61 Events: Consultants VisitH-W Factory to See ElevatorProducts Made in America!by Robert S. Caporale, MScU.S. manufacturers host educationalevent.

FEATURES:79 Technology: Rack-and-Pinion Gear-Drive System for Spires of Steelby Todd Grovatt and Jim TinerA look at the new rack-and-piniontower-elevator system developed byTower Elevator Systems, Inc.

85 Events: The Elevator Industry in a Surfers Paradise: Part II by Bob JohnstonIn this second part of a three-part series,Johnston attends a seminar on KONEproducts in Brisbane.

100 Events: A New Association Is Formed by Robert S. Caporale, MScThe Vertical Transportation Conferencefor Colleges and Universities adopts anew name and a new mission.

117 APMs: Elevators & APMs:Are the Twain Finally Meetingover Safety Issues? by Lawrence J. FabianAutomated people movers are relativelynew, but their development is in someways parallel to that of elevators.

129 Public Safety: Elevator Safety: What to Do if Someone Is Trapped by Sally WilkThe methods of safely extractingtrapped passengers are examined.

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The Magazine of the International Building Transportation Industry SEPTEMBER 2006 – VOL. LIV, NO. 9

61

“Spires of Steel,” which was published in the

June 2006 issue of ELEVATOR WORLD, described the

application of traction-elevator technology to provide

access to broadcast towers standing as tall as 2,000 feet

above ground level. While this elevator technology has

been successfully utilized in towers for over five

decades, a recent innovation has made rack-and-

pinion-drive elevators viable alternatives for these

structures as well. Continued S

Rack-and-PinionGear-Drive System

SSppiirreessof Steel

by Todd Grovatt and Jim Tiner

for

Technology

September 2006 u Elevator World 79

Until fairly recently, the difficulty in distributing high-voltage electrical power to a moving elevator car or tothe top of an outdoor structure of such a great height haseliminated the possibility of using a car-top-mounted oroverhead hoist machine on a broadcast-tower elevatorinstallation. This has necessitated the use of a tractionmachine mounted at ground level, as described in “Spiresof Steel.” However, with the development of the Trac-Cab® TC-1000, which uses a 240/480-volt, three-phaseAC power and communication feed cable that runs to thecar and that is managed by a ground-level-mountedSmart-Reel® system, the use of rack-and-pinion driveson broadcast-tower elevators is possible.

The new rack-and-pinion tower-elevator system wasdeveloped by and is available from Tower Elevator Systems,Inc. of Austin, Texas. In addition to broadcast-tower-elevatorsolutions, the company provides rack-and-pinion elevatorsystems for all industrial applications.The system isASME A17.1 code compliant, and rated to carry both per-sonnel and materials to the top of tall broadcast towerssafely and reliably. The elevator system can be mountedon the inside or outside of the tower structure. On out-side-facing installations, the car travels all the way toground level. Advantages of outside installation are easeof loading the car, the ability to carry large items (such asENG or microwave antennae) and the elimination ofexpensive stairways to an above-grade elevator landing.Additionally, with this type of installation, the tower shaftarea is made available for mounting transmission lines,which can allow a smaller face-width tower, since theentire tower shaft is clear of the elevator apparatus.

Rack-and-PinionGear-Drive System

Above (top to bottom):• Ladder to above-grade landing• A conventional traction elevator

machine

At right:• Smart-Reel training

session led by Jim Tiner, CEO of TESI

Continued

of SteelSSppiirreessThe new rack-and-pinion tower elevator is powered

with a 20-HP electric motor coupled to a hydrostatic trans-mission driving two independent pinion gears. Each pin-ion drive has a spring-operated, normally closed automat-ic safety brake. The brakes are released by the hydraulicpressure to allow elevator travel. Standard capacity is5000 pounds gross load at 95 fpm. Useful load is 1750pounds. The cab is provided with lighting, 110-VAC duplexutility outlets and, optionally, a small boom crane mount-ed atop the car for equipment loading. The system is fittedwith a rescue mode to allow the car to safely lower itselfby using hydraulic bypass valves in the event of a powerloss. A small hydraulic hand pump can be used to applypressure to release the automatic brakes.

The car-operating panel uses a man-machine inter-face, (MMI), with a daylight-readable, vacuum fluorescenttext-display screen that enables the operator to view thecurrent operating status of the elevator as well as totalcar loading. The car floodlight illuminates the doorthreshold automatically whenever the car gate is openedto meet the ASME A-17.1 requirements for the lighting ofelevator cars and entryways.

The 240/480V three-phase AC power and communica-tions cable feed to the car is managed by a Smart-Reel sys-tem, which is mounted near the car landing area at groundlevel. The car is provided with a dial-tone-capable tele-phone/intercom unit that can communicate with the towerbase station and the broadcast-station transmitter building.Provision of dial-tone access is at the discretion of thebroadcast-station site manager.

Clockwise from upper right:• Car-operating panel• Smart-Reel enclosure and ground control panel• Smart-Reel adjustment and setup

for

Continued S

September 2006 u Elevator World 81

The car-travel guide rail uses a wide-flangeI-beam designed to minimize wind load andweight. The rail/rack attachment is rigid atthe tower base with universally fitting frictionties to the tower structure at each tower’shorizontal member, eliminating the need forpunching custom holes. The system windload will approximate conventional two-inchpipe rails, 5/8-inch lift cables and 5/16-inchinduction cable. The gear-rack track is weld-ed to the I-beam prior to galvanizing in unitsapproximately 12 feet in length. The systemcan actually “build itself” on new tower con-struction, and the Trac-Cab can be used assoon as the stub section is erected, allowinguse for crew access and/or transmission-lineinstallation.

The Trac-Cab TC-1000 system is comprisedof the following main components:u Motor Controller/Pinion Drive: The 20-HP

motor and controller are located on the caralong with the hydraulic pinion drives. Thehydraulic drive allows variable-speed controlof the car travel. The digital-display operatorpanel indicates both operation status andtotal car load. The drive system is fitted witha safety relief valve preventing system over-loading.

u Smart-Reel Cable Reel Drive: Housed in aprotected enclosure at the tower base, theSmart Reel provides for take-up and let-outof the power/communications cable as thecar travels, maintaining a constant electri-cal connection through a slip-ring device onthe reel. The control cable is stored on thereel in the weather-protected enclosurewhen the elevator is at the base landing.

u Hard-Wired Power/Communications Cable:Tethered to and traveling with the elevatorcar at all times, the cable furnishes ACpower and phone/intercom connection to

At left (top to bottom):• Smart-Reel system• Dual pinion drive and integral I-beam rail and rack system• Trac-Cab controller and communications system

82 September 2006 u Elevator World

Rack-and-PinionGear-Drive System

Continued

At right (top to bottom):• (l-r) Todd Grovatt, president, and Tiner• Grovatt at ground-level communications station• Smart-Reel cable guide and damping system

the motor controller and car-station oper-ating panel.

u Telephone/Intercom System: The tele-phone/ intercom system allows directcommunications for all telephone exten-sions on the system. Outside-line accessfor emergency calls or general use may beprovided at the discretion of the broadcast-tower site manager. The system incorpo-rates a user-friendly voice-message-infor-mation feature to supplement the writtenuser-operation documentation. Using thetelephone keypad, a user has access tovoice recordings for operation, emergencyprocedure and recordable site-specifichazard information, including radio-fre-quency hazards.This patented rack-and-pinion elevator

technology brings the broadcast industryanother alternative for the installation of ele-vators in broadcast towers rising thousandsof feet above the ground.

of SteelSSppiirreessfor

September 2006 u Elevator World 83

Gro

vatt

Tin

er

Jim Tiner is the inventor of theSmart-Reel cable-managementsystem, and is the founder andCEO of Tower Elevator. He is anNAEC certified elevator techni-cian and has over 30 years’ expe-rience with tower elevators.

Todd Grovatt is the presidentand chief operating officer ofTower Elevator. He holds aFinance degree from theUniversity of Tampa (Florida) andhas over 15 years’ experience inbusiness management sharedbetween the broadcast-towerindustry, the software industryand industrial elevator systems.