From May to October 2010 the Shanghai World Expo will showcase exhibits on the theme of “Better City, Better Life.” With 55% of the world’s population living in urban settings, the focus will be on improving the quality of life for people with “dignity, good health, safety, happiness and hope.” (As manifested by the United Nations Habitat II document). Schindler is the company responsible for displaying those themes while moving the crowds of visitors in China’s National Pavilion, and on Expo Boulevard. This will be accomplished through the use of 94 escalator lifts and powered walkways.

The main exhibition space of the Chinese pavilion is a raised 484,000 square foot base, topped by a traditional Chinese roof of interlocking beams. The pavilion is accessed by ten Schindler escalators to lift people to the podium, and traversed by two moving walkways. Two of the escalators are 60 feet long.

Expo Boulevard is a kilometer long travelway on three levels which connects the Expo pavilion area with the Shanghai subway and abuts the Huangpu River. The boulevard will be the primary means by which people move around the site. Environmentally sound technology will be showcased along its length, including six large funnels which refract sunlight to the two underground levels, and collect rainwater. The boulevard is being equipped with 80 Schindler escalators to facilitate the movement of the anticipated 70 million visitors to the Shanghai International Exposition.

Other global events which have benefitted from Schindler’s expertise in moving people are: the Beijing Olympics (2008), the World Expo Zaragoza, Spain (2008), the Athens Olympics (2004) and the Sydney Olympics (2000).

The Schindler Group is headquartered in Switzerland, and was the first (1980) industrial western nation to join China in a joint business venture. Schindler China now has four factories, three training facilities and a research and development center. The Schindler Group provides mobility products in over 140 countries, and is the leading supplier of escalators, worldwide. They are the second largest manufacturer of elevators. Schindler is known for ecologically sound, safe and reliable products. More than 900 million people ride a Schindler mobility product every day.

The world’s tallest building would be useless without elevators capable of transporting people to the various floors.

When the developers of the world’s tallest building, Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, which is 828 metres (2,717 ft) high sought out hydraulic lift companies, they were seeking the company that could break records.

As a result, visitors to Burj Khalifa can now ride the world’s fastest elevator, an Otis SKYWAY double-deck, to the 124th floor observation deck known as “At the Top.”

A double-deck elevators refer to lifts with two passenger compartments which are stacked allowing passengers from two floors to embark or disembark simultaneously. Each passenger compartment can carry 12 to 14 people.

Located in buildings world-wide, double-deck passenger lifts significantly increase the capacity of the hydraulic lifts and eliminates the need for the elevators to stop at every floor dramatically increasing efficiency.

Another benefit of the double-deck hydraulic lifts is the elevators require less core space resulting in a more efficient use of the floor space.

It is estimated that Burj Dubai will become a place of home, work and leisure for approximately 12,000 people.

Burj Khalifa’s specially-designed and world-record-holding elevator is engineered to lift it’s passengers at 10 metres (1,969 ft) per second or roughly 64 km/hr (40 mph) accompanied by the sound of dramatic music. It descends at about 18 metres (59 ft.) per second.

Otis elevators in Burj Khalifa garnered two other world records including the highest landing at 638 metres (2,093 ft.) and the longest travel distance at 504 metres (1,654 ft.).

During a more than five-year-process, thousands of Otis employees were involved with the Burj Khalifa project from the early negotiation stages to the completion.

A total of 57 Otis elevators and 8 escalators are installed at Burj Khalifa. The lifts include 25 energy-efficient Gen2 passenger lifts and seven SKYWAY systems. The Gen2 units do not require machine rooms. Two of the SKYWAY lifts are the double-deck elevators which transport visitors to the observation deck.

If you would prefer to take the stairs, there are 2,909 of them from the ground to the 160th floor.

Whatever its impact on the rest of the country, the UK’s 1995 Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) has been a huge boost for the lift industry. Even as the national and global economies have gone through a downturn, the lift industry has posted steady profits since 2000, especially after 2004, when the final part of the DDA went into effect. The DDA created a booming demand for lifts that has benefited all parts of the industry, from manufacturers to installers to maintenance. And while the boom has receded somewhat, the industry continues to benefit from strong demand.

In particular, the DDA has helped out small lift installers and contractors. This is because a great deal of the work created by the DDA is the result of building owners needing to retrofit small passenger lifts, platform lifts, or stair lifts to bring their buildings into compliance. These sorts of jobs are too limited to attract the attention of larger companies, and the small companies have stepped forward to fill the gap. Many are now advertising themselves specially as experts in satisfying the DDA’s requirements.

Besides the increased demand for lifts, the DDA has also created a demand for refitting existing lifts to make them more accessible, such as replacing existing controls with controls that are easier to read and use for the blind or mentally disabled, or adding hearing loops for the hearing-impaired.

The future continues to look bright. While demand for new elevators has dropped since 2004 as more and more buildings have been brought into compliance with the DDA, the new lifts installed will continue to produce revenue for the passenger lift industry in the form of maintenance contracts, which should continue to be lucrative for years to come. And new construction works will continue to need assistance from the lift industry in meeting DDA standards.

Hydraulic equipment is so well suited to emergency rescues that it has become the standard for a range of tools used to extricate people from damaged vehicles and ruined buildings.

Hydraulics work on the principle of transferring power through a liquid, usually oil, which is very incompressible, from one point to another. By decreasing the surface area at the working end, the power can be increased. This allows for a large work output compared to the pressure initially applied.

Rescue tools which use this principle fall into three main groups, spreaders, cutters, and hydraulic lifts. In actuality, most disaster situations require a combination of the tools to successfully effect a rescue.

Cutters act like large pincers which can cut through metal easily and safely. In contrast, saws create sparks which are extremely dangerous where gas and oil may be leaking. The noise of a saw can cause victims additional stress. Spreaders have a narrow nose which can be inserted in a small gap and used to spread or lift jammed, damaged or collapsed materials. These tools are compact enough to be handheld, yet the jaws can open to distances of six or more feet on some models. Power may be supplied from a generator or by battery.

Combination tools to perform both of these functions are found in almost every fire or rescue vehicle, and have become well known for the many successful rescues of people from wrecked vehicles.

However, in disaster situations, heavy objects often need to be lifted to find people trapped beneath rubble. In these cases, a progressive process must be applied, using all the hydraulic tools. Damaged materials may need to be cut out of the way, then an opening must be widened so that a hydraulic lift can be inserted into the space. Once a lift or lifting bag has been used to create a large opening, then the space may be stabilized by yet another tool, hydraulic struts, often made of aluminum.

Special training is required in both the use of the tools, and in lifting and moving damaged buildings and rubble.

Liftex 2010, the annual convention for Britain’s lift and escalator industry, returns to the ExCeL Convention Centre in south London on 12-13 May, 2010. Sponsored by the Lift and Escalator Industry Association (LEIA), Liftex has been a smashing success in years past, and looks poised to surpass itself this year.

Despite the worldwide economic downturn, the passenger lift and escalator industry has been doing steady business over the last year, and this healthy outlook for the field is reflected in the wide variety of companies that have already signed up to do exhibits at Liftex. This includes manufacturers of hydraulics and electronics, wire ropes, computerized elevator controls, elevator guide rails, motors, and many other lift and escalator components, both British and foreign. Hydraulic lift contractors and installers, architecture groups, health and safety organisations, and elevator and escalator trade publications will also be sending representatives to provide their own views on the opportunities and challenges facing the lift and escalator industry in the year to come. The convention organisers are also inviting trade groups in other countries to come and set up international pavilions to further facilitate the exchange of ideas and opportunities across national borders.

The ultramodern ExCeL Convention Centre will be equipped with the latest in technology for the convenience of attendees and to help facilitate interaction. This includes free wifi in the building, giant plasma screens for presentations and promotions, and an open “interaction area” where attendees can mingle and talk.

Liftex will also be providing entertainment for convention attendees. The organisers have rented the glass-walled “Symphony” boat for a nighttime cruise on the Thames, with fine dining, drink, and music while you enjoy the unique view of London from the river.

If you are interested in the UK passenger lift and escalator market, Liftex is a great opportunity to network, find sales opportunities, and learn about solutions to your lift and escalator needs. Mark your calendar now and make sure to attend!

Hydraulic lifts and cable systems are of the most basic technologies being put to use in urban transport systems. Both systems are a century in the works, and they have long been an industry standard for both passenger lifts and freight elevators, as they generate a great amount of force by manipulating rather weak pumps and pulleys. However, the drawbacks of these systems have been chronicled and widely accepted, and buildings designs looking for an optimum efficiency and aesthetic from their lift systems are rethinking the use of the simplistic designs.

All aspects of elevator design and production are being reconfigured. Advanced lift systems incorporate greater speed, braking control and efficiency, making for a faster, more comfortable ride while using less energy, reducing the carbon footprint of the building.

Many of today’s elevator systems make use of newer technology that eliminates the need for a large machine room by placing the lift’s motor either in a small cabinet or directly inside the elevator shaft. Additionally, destination-oriented systems increase the comfort and efficiency of passenger lifts: Instead of simple up and down buttons, the passenger selects their floor, and the designated elevator car appears to deliver the passenger to their destination in the quickest, most efficient manner possible.

With new technology comes new codes, and performance-based lift codes are being written to allow for these advancements in lift design to blossom. Without rewriting the intact code, the newly written performance-based code demands the same objectives without the old specifications. Safety, of course, is the primary concern, but without specific size and material requirements, lift designers have greater creative freedom designing the safest elevator possible.

The advancements we may see with an across the board acceptance of performance-based codes are already beginning to emerge: Mitsubishi has designed passenger lifts capable of a maximum speed of 540 meters per second, while Kone’s EcoDisk lift system places the motor inside the shaft, eliminating the machine room altogether and providing twice the efficiency of hydraulic lift systems. In the future, we may even see NASA assemble an elevator capable of propulsion to outer space.

Forklifts have been one of the breakthrough inventions during the industrial revolution, the origin of forklifts can be spotted back to the period of world war one where the U.S was becoming a hub for materials handling operations. The forklift gained it significance because of its low cost advantage in terms of the labor required to move heavy cargo from one place to the other.

The basic purpose for forklift usage was to lift heavy cargo from one point and to supply it to a destination.  It was used as an attachment to the tractor to lift the bale on to the truck, this process proved to be beneficial, because of the ease in transportation; the same concept was conceived by industrialists to develop superior forklifts with larger loading capacities. As time progressed, with increasingly superior technology forklifts were used for various purposes like construction of buildings, flyovers and other complex structures in industries.

With technological advancement, we can find many types of forklifts which are meant for different purposes and capacities. Usually a forklift comes in various versions, we have diesel and as well as gas powered forklifts in order to lift the load using the fuel energy. The latest advancement however is by the invention of electric forklift which uses electricity in order to lift the load.
Electric forklifts are cost effective and are very eco friendly in nature because of minimal emission of green house gases as compared to the diesel and gas forklifts which emit more pollutants.

With continuous innovation in science and technology, new types of forklifts such as ones powered by hydrostatic drive which is a more advanced type of forklifts available at the moment which helps to bring down the cost incurred in maintenance of the forklifts, hydrostatic drive usually uses fluid system to control the moment of the forklift and thereby giving a cost effective solution for the end-user.

When we buy a property we ensure that all the amenities that a house needs to have such as the provision for an air conditioner, the provision for a chandelier, curtain rods or Venetian blinds and  plug points for all our gadgets is provided.

Going further when you know and have the intention of installing a stair lift in the days ahead as it forms a part of a home now-a-days and is no luxury, why not buy a house with stair lifts which may cost a little more as a package deal rather than having to purchase one and install it separately.

Like you invest money in a bank or a financial institution and also insure yourself for your old age purchasing a stair lift is in itself a wise investment and imagine if you are getting it along with your property which is an investment too. Investments that are very intangible so long as you do not use them become very tangible in the need of the hour. Even if you buy a house which does not have the stair lift installed but has a provision for making a fitment straightaway whenever required without making major changes it is a blessing.

As properties are generally inherited by the next of kin and the stairlifts you installed in your property will later be used by your next generation too there is a value attached to it apart from the price alone. Instead of buying fancy items that serve little purpose go in for an investment that pays you rewards in your old age.

Stair lifts can be used even when you are young but have either met with an accident or are so feeble that you can barely walk in the same floor where the question of climbing stairs is ruled out. It may just be a passing phase but could be very helpful.