ElevatorIn 1861, the safety elevator was patented as a “Hoisting Apparatus”by the American inventor, Elisha G. Otis, of Yonkers, New York. (No. 31,128). His invention was designed to arrest a fall in case of the lifting rope breaking. It used spring-loaded pawls that would release and engage in a mortised track in the walls of the shaft. In 1853, Otis had demonstrated a freight elevator equipped with a safety device to prevent falling in case a supporting cable should break. This increased public confidence and Otis established a company for manufacturing elevators. The first elevator for public use was a steam driven type installed by Otis Brothers (1857) in the five story Broadway department store of E.W Haughtwhat & Co. |
