Elisha
Graves Otis (August 3, 1811 - April 8, 1861) was an American
businessman, founder of the Otis Elevator Company, and the inventor of a
safety device that prevented the elevator from falling if the lift cord
failed. He worked on this security tool while living in Yonkers, New York in 1852, and then had a finished product in 1854.
Biography
Otis was born near Halifax, Vermont. He
left his home at the age of 19 and eventually settled in Troy, New
York, where he lived there for 5 years and worked as a cart driver. In 1834, he married Susan A. Houghton. They have two children, Charles and Norton. Susan later died, leaving behind two sons, who were 8 years old and a toddler.
The discovery of Otis
When
Otis was 40 years old, while working at the bed factory, he was
cleaning the factory, he wondered how he could grab all the old debris
that was at the top of the factory. By then he had heard of lifting platforms, but the platform was often broken, and he did not want to take any chances. He and his children designed their own "safety lifts" that have been successfully tested. At that time Otis did not think to make a patent and produce his findings.
After
making some sales, and after the bed factory declined, Otis took the
opportunity to create an elevator company, originally called Job Union
Elevator and then Otis Brother & Co. In 1854 the New York World Fair offered great opportunities for publicity.
At
New York's Crystal Palace, Elisha Otis made many people marvel when she
asked for the only rope that sustains her footing cut off. The rope is cut by the axeman (Axeman) and the footing only drops a few inches before it stops. This new security brake has stopped its footing from falling ashore and revolutionizing the elevator industry.
After World Fair, Otis receives orders continuously, doubling every year. He developed various types of engines, such as a three-way steam valve
engine, which can transition the elevator between top to bottom and
stop quickly.
In
his spare time, he designed and experimented with the design of his old
bread-cake oven and rail brake, and patented a steam plow in 1857, a
rotary oven in 1858, and, with Charles, an oscillating steam engine in
1860. Otis contracted diphtheria and died on April 8, 1861 at the age of 49.Otis fell freely, a safety demonstration in 1853
Elisha Graves Otis not only created an elevator, he created something
that might be more important that is the elevator brake that makes the
skyscraper into something that is possible.
Otis
sold his safe elevator in 1953. The first elevator was installed in New
York in 1857. After his death in 1861, his son Charles and Norton,
through his inheritance established Otis Brother & Co in 1867.
Otis's creation enhanced public confidence in elevators and allowed the emergence of new trends of multi-storey buildings that are Skyscrapers. The company he founded was known as Otis Elevator Company, the largest elevator company in the world. Now this company is a division under United Technology Corporation.
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Biography of Elisha Otis - Inventor of Elevator Brakes / Lifts
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