When considering a residential elevator, one of the first questions asked is about security. When envisioning a home elevator, what typically comes to mind is the image of traditional elevators, cables, pistons, grease, maintenance, etc…
First note that our vacuum elevators are CE marked and meet the legal requirements and technical security of the Member States of the European Union.
Our Residential elevators have PVE car locks, which are responsible for anchoring the cabin on each level. They are composed of two steel levers located on the top of the cab.
During ascent they remain closed, and once the cab reaches the desired landing sensor, the car lock engages and firmly anchors in the columns of the lift structure. For this reason, our residential elevator always stops at the exact level, to facilitate entry and exit of passengers, especially those with mobility problems.
The cab will remain in that position until the next time it is prompted. One of the unique aspects of our home lifts is that before descending, the cabin goes up a few inches in order to close then reléase the car latches, then allowing the car to freely descend.
Using our normal operation to our benefit, in the event of a power failure, our lifts always descend to the ground floor at a safety speed, at which point the passenger is always able to get out because the doors are operated by mechanical door locks.
What happens in the event of a vacuum loss?
Our air driven residential elevators have mechanical safety brakes which come into action only if an extreme circumstance arises as a result of the detection of loss of vacuum over the top seal.
These mechanical safety brakes are activated within the first 5 cm of free fall if vacuum loss is detected, and the cabin immediately anchors to the columns of the structure at that point.
If vacuum loss and safety brake engagement is to occur, there are a few simple methods of rescue, as in a traditional elevator.
With all of these security features, our elevator has been called “the world’s safest residential elevator.“