I have seen this type of lift in a parking garage in the US, for use by the garage employees. It was even more barebones than the pictures of paternoster lifts I've seen. It was more like a moving continuous ladder.
Is It Time for Germany’s Doorless Elevators to Move On?
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Re: Is It Time for Germany’s Doorless Elevators to Move On?
#32Thinking about them, can't they be made safish with a dectors for stuck limbs ? (Basically a big button the width of the elevator on top of the elevtor and on top of the ceiling.)
Re: Is It Time for Germany’s Doorless Elevators to Move On?
#33I think paternosters are really, really cool. I'd love to ride one. However, I must wonder whether they can be used by the elderly or disabled. How do you board one with a wheelchair? Or do they just run alongside modern elevators in buildings where handicapped accessibility is a requirement?
The paternoster in the article's video also has a sign that says children aren't allowed to use it.
Re: Is It Time for Germany’s Doorless Elevators to Move On?
#34I don't know how much truth there is to this, but my father once told me there had been very few fatalities on the original 7 mile bridge in the Florida keys. But since the new bridge opened in 1982, there have been fatal accidents every few years. The reason being the old bridge was so narrow (originally it was a railroad bridge), folks really paid attention driving it, but with the new wider bridge, drivers became…
I've heard a similar argument about bike helmets. It seems like there should be a fancier name for this effect.
Bike helmets are complex; there's a lot of factors driving risk including reduced cyclist volume/motorist experience with cyclists when you mandate helmet laws.
Risk homeostasis affects both the cyclist and motorist as well.
Clearly helmets protect people, but studies of helmet law implementation do not support the laws.
Re: Is It Time for Germany’s Doorless Elevators to Move On?
#35Thinking about them, can't they be made safish with a dectors for stuck limbs ? (Basically a big button the width of the elevator on top of the elevtor and on top of the ceiling.)
I don't know if it is typical or not, but at least some of them have that. I saw one in Prague, Czech Republic (there was an ACM contest hosted on Czech Technical University).
When you look at the frame, where you enter the elevator ("door", "door frame" or however it should be called):
- a part of the floor is on hinges, so if you had your foot stuck between an oncoming floor board and cabin floor while traveling up, it would "open" and trip the safety,
- upper part is actually a freely hanging piece of wood, so if you had your head or limbs sticking out while traveling up, you would lift the piece of wood and trip the safety.
No idea about the actual cabins -- for example if you kept hanging on the floor while the cabin travels down onto you -- but I suspect that the top of the cabin works similarly to the top of the "door frame". If my memory is correct, the cabins also had hinges near the edge of their floorboards (e.g., foot between the floor and the cabin traveling down), but no idea if these also stop the entire system.
Only the visible chain mechanism when overriding top or bottom looked unsafe to me, because I stick my hands everywhere :)
Re: Is It Time for Germany’s Doorless Elevators to Move On?
#36We have four paternosters in our office here in cologne and I'm using them every day. It's really cool, because you have mostly no wait time to get into it.
Two of them are out of order at the moment. I heard, that fixing one would cost about 900k €.
Re: Is It Time for Germany’s Doorless Elevators to Move On?
#37We have four paternosters in our office here in cologne and I'm using them every day. It's really cool, because you have mostly no wait time to get into it. Two of them are out of order at the moment. I heard, that fixing one would cost about 900k €.
There are several in Bremen and most are accessible to the public. There is a set of them in the Finanzamt (tax office) so any tax abiding or non-abiding citizen can go ride it!
Re: Is It Time for Germany’s Doorless Elevators to Move On?
#38I don't know how much truth there is to this, but my father once told me there had been very few fatalities on the original 7 mile bridge in the Florida keys. But since the new bridge opened in 1982, there have been fatal accidents every few years. The reason being the old bridge was so narrow (originally it was a railroad bridge), folks really paid attention driving it, but with the new wider bridge, drivers became…
Urban planners use this as a method to slow (or calm) traffic, specifically by narrowing lanes with protected bike lanes or diagonal parking on both sides of a street.
Both-side diagonal parking is an abomination. All it takes to block a road are two guys with long VW Sprinter vans and a regular dumpster truck can't maneuver through the hole.
Witnessed this once, the honking in front of my window went for ten minutes and I had to call the cops - total time needed over half an hour.
Re: Is It Time for Germany’s Doorless Elevators to Move On?
#391. > “Modern lifts are so idiot-proof you could use them in your sleep,” says Mr. Pfaff. “In fact, they are disenfranchising. Paternosters make you free to hurt yourself if you don’t pay attention.” For those thinking it is odd to want to have some potential pain in your life, keep in mind that Germany is the birthplace of the PainStation [1]. Wanting your elevator to be gunning for you then makes more sense. 2. In c…
And it utterly fails anyone in a wheelchair, pushing a pram, lugging a heavy suitcase etc.
Re: Is It Time for Germany’s Doorless Elevators to Move On?
#40Thinking about them, can't they be made safish with a dectors for stuck limbs ? (Basically a big button the width of the elevator on top of the elevtor and on top of the ceiling.)
I don't know if it is typical or not, but at least some of them have that. I saw one in Prague, Czech Republic (there was an ACM contest hosted on Czech Technical University). When you look at the frame, where you enter the elevator ("door", "door frame" or however it should be called): - a part of the floor is on hinges, so if you had your foot stuck between an oncoming floor board and cabin floor while traveling up…
PS: These safety parts looked almost as old as the elevator, so if they weren't a part of the original design, I would guess they were added a long time ago...
EDIT: I actually found a mention of regulation from 1982 stating that the sliding upper parts are mandatory both on the cabin and on the "door frame" and moving them must stop the elevator. The hinged floorboards on cabins and floors are also mandatory, but there is no mention that they should also stop the elevator. See [1] (in Czech) for pictures.