§ 7.294. Double-button control freight elevators.
(a) Permit. Double-button control freight elevators shall not be constructed and installed unless a special permit is obtained from the Department. Their use is at all times subject to special regulations applied to them by the Department for the protection of the public employes.
(b) Wiring. Means shall be provided to prevent any interference from hall buttons or switches. When an elevator is being operated from within the car, such means shall be automatic, or provision shall be made to enable the person operating the elevator from within the car to prevent interference from landing buttons or switches, and to maintain complete control of the car.
(c) Emergency stop switches. In addition to the directional buttons in the cars of double-button control elevators, an emergency stop switch shall be provided in the car to enable the person operating the elevator from within the car to stop the car at any point of its travel.
(d) Speed. Double-button control freight elevators shall be limited to a speed not exceeding 100 feet per minute.
(e) Landing doors. Landing doors shall be provided as follows:
(1) All installations. The shaftways of double-button control freight elevators, when required to be of fire-resistive construction, shall be equipped at floor landings with approved manually-operated, fire-resistive landing doors. Such doors shall be mounted on the interior walls of the shaftway, except that they may be mounted on the exterior walls of the shaftway if entrances to such shaftway are further protected by standard gates, as specified for use with double-button control freight elevators. The width of the shaftway opening, when the landing door is in the fully open position, shall not be greater than the width of the car opening.
(2) New installations. When vertical or horizontal-sliding landing doors are located on the inside of the shaftway, shaftway gates may be omitted, and such shaftway landing doors shall be provided with an approved interlock and retiring cam so that the door may not be opened unless the car is at that landing and shall prevent the operation of the car while any door is open.
(3) Existing installations. Landing doors on existing installations shall be equipped with approved automatic locking devices.
(4) Locking devices. When springs are used in locking devices to create and maintain a condition of safety, they shall be of such strength as to insure against a hazardous condition through breakage or misplacement.
(f) Landing gates. Landing gates shall conform to the following:
(1) Location. Gates shall be provided at each landing of all freight elevator shaftways where the shaftways are not required to be constructed of fire-resistive materials. Gates shall also be provided at each landing of freight elevator shaftways constructed of fire-resistive materials when the fire doors are located on the exterior walls of the shaftway.
(2) Specifications. Gates shall be made of metal or of wood of at least as great a fiber strength as ash, and shall be rigid. When gates are made of slats or strips, the distance between such slats or strips shall not exceed 2 inches and the joints of wood gate frames shall be reinforced with metal. When gates are made of wire mesh construction, the mesh shall be of such dimensions that a ball 2 inches in diameter will not pass. In all instances they shall be so constructed as to be able to resist 150 pounds pressure at the middle without permanent deformation. Gates shall be not less than 5 feet, 6 inches in height from the floor to the top of the upper horizontal member, and the clearance between the floor and the lowest horizontal member shall not be greater than 6 inches. When the story heights are such that a gate 5 feet, 6 inches in height with 6 inches underclearance is not practicable, the gates may be of the telescoping type made in two or three sections. Gates and counterweights shall be properly balanced.
(3) Permissible types. The following types of gates are permitted with double-button control freight elevators:
(i) Manually-operated, vertical-raising balanced type.
(ii) Manually-operated horizontal type.
(iii) Manually-operated swing type.
(4) Locking devices. All new landing gates shall be provided with an approved interlock and retiring cam, so arranged that the gate cannot be opened unless the car is at the landing. All existing landing gates shall be equipped with an approved automatic locking device.
(g) Gates at outside entrances. When there are outside entrances to elevator shaftways from streets, alleys or other thoroughfares, all such gates shall be not less than 6 feet in height, and the clearance between the lowest horizontal member and the floor or landing shall not exceed 2 inches. When such gates are of wood, metal, or other open construction, they shall be covered with a wire mesh such that a ball 1 1/2 inches in diameter will not pass. The gates of shaftway entrances of freight elevators shall not be fastened in an open position, or otherwise rendered inoperative. Counterweights for such gates shall be entirely closed with wood or metal, or they may operate in open guides otherwise effectively guarded.
(h) Car gates. Openings on double-button control freight elevators shall be provided with car gates equipped with electric contacts so constructed and installed that the car is held immovable when the gate is in an open position.
(i) Pushbuttons—prohibition. Pushbuttons shall not be permitted to control the operation of elevators in school buildings, sanitariums for the weak-minded, and similar classes of building where there is danger of the abuse of the purpose of such buttons, unless the pushbuttons are made inaccessible to the occupants or are key operated. A decision on this point should be made at the time of the approval of the plans for the elevators.
Cross References This section cited in 34 Pa. Code § 7.291 (relating to general).
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