Elevators have been working on the same principle for 160 years: a cab hanging on a rope is transported up and down with the help of a motor. In Rottweil, the oldest town in Baden-Württemberg, change is afoot: here, Thyssenkrupp is testing innovations in elevator technology. In the 246-meter-high test tower, which the group officially opened in 2016, various technologies are being put to the test. Among them is the “MULTI”: the world’s first ropeless elevator. Its cabs glide through the shafts on magnetic cushions, reviving the technology that once failed on the Transrapid. The elevator not only goes up and down, but also sideways. This means that many cabs can travel through the shafts at the same time and can also overtake each other. The drive is provided by linear motors that move the cab along magnetic rails.
Fewer shafts, less energy consumption: the MULTI elevator system
“The MULTI reduces shafts and thus frees up valuable space in buildings. Space that can then be used for homes or offices,” said ThyssenKrupp project manager Michael Cesarz in Stern magazine. To reduce energy consumption during operation, special carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics were used – another major difference to conventional elevators. “The MULTI system has an entirely lightweight design. Everything to do with the cab comes from aviation technology,” Michael Cesarz continues. This, and the lack of ropes, reduces mass – and thus saves energy. The system was developed as a collaboration between elevator and drive experts, specialists in magnet technology, component manufacturers, and experts from the Group’s production facilities.
The revolutionary MULTI technology is set to be installed for the first time in
the Berlin East Side Tower. But until then, a few more test runs are necessary in Rottweil: up and down, right and left, backwards and forwards ...
To the website of the Thyssenkrupp test tower ...
(Image: peshkov – AdobeStock.com)
