The History of Elevators

Today's cities rely on an incredible amount of moving parts that, without any single one, would cause some pretty big problems. The modern elevator is one such thing. The architecture of the city relies upon tall buildings and skyscrapers, and without them, there wouldn't be cities as we know them today. Towering apartment buildings are necessary to house populations while multi-floored commercial constructions are essential for combining businesses. But there is one thing that these types of large buildings require to operate, and that is the modern elevator and its elevator batteries. 

It is because of the modern elevator that cities can run smoothly. The modern elevator enables people to quickly move and up down their home building, work place, and social locations. Meanwhile, businesses rely on the modern elevator to move heavy products, employees, clients, and vendors. Without elevators and the elevator batteries that power and offer backup energy supplies, life would move a lot slower. To understand just how important elevators and elevator batteries are to modern society, let's take a look at where they came from:

The History of Elevators

The very first elevator we know of was created by ancient Greek mathematician, engineer, and physicist Archimedes around 236 BC. Archimedes used a water wheel as the base mechanism and tied together animals with hemp rope to create a simple lift mechanism capable of carrying people and goods up and down. Animals as elevator batteries. This idea, this simple elevator system, was effective and its construction spread far beyond Greece. By the 17th century, you would see this system in use throughout Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. By 1000 CE, Europeans were using more streamlined versions in a variety of ways, like using lifts to raise large battering rams. 

However, the next single biggest improvement to the elevator came in 17th century when the palacial estates in France and England incorporated personal elevators in their homes for the express purpose of moving people up and down the floors. This change from a machine used primarily for war and agricultural means to personal expediency, changed everything. Due to their need to be inside, this generation of elevator phased out animals and were instead operated by humans using counter weights. 

Less than 200 years later, starting in 1867, the United Kingdom's Stannah Company began creating and manufacturing elevator and lift systems for businesses and buildings of all types. These new generation elevators were based off of a hydraulic crane system introduced by Sir William Armstrong. This version surplanted the at-the-time competition method of using steam.

But just as quickly as hydraulics overtook steam, electricity overtook hydraulics. The first electric elevator was built in 1880 by a German inventor, and the first patentened electric elevator was applied for in 1887 by the American inventor, Alexander Miles. It was from Miles's design that the elvator most of us are familiar with was evolved from.

Modern Elevator Batteries for the Modern Elevator

Of course, elevators have evolved as much from that 1887 design to today as that 1887 design differed from Archimedes's first sketch in 236 BC. With each new design means new safety standards and new ways of integrating the systems with buildings. One of the most important advancements was the integration of backup electric systems powered by elevator batteries. Backup elevator batteries have helped prevent incidents like getting stuck in an elevator during an emergency or blackout, thereby making these systems safer and more effective than ever.

To learn more about the importance of elevator batteries or to order elevator batteries for your building, contact our team today.