Subchapter E. PERSONAL SERVICE ELEVATORS
GENERAL REQUIREMENTS Sec.
7.131. Scope.
7.132. Removal from service.
7.133. Limitations.
7.134. Approval and operation.
SPECIFICATIONS
7.141. Hoistway enclosure.
7.142. Clearance.
7.143. Pits and overtravel.
7.144. Overhead support.
7.145. Pipes and wiring.
7.146. Counterweights.
7.147. Guide rail construction.
7.148. Protection of hoist cables.
7.149. Hoistway doors.
7.150. Elevator cars.
7.151. Limitations.
7.152. Machines and sheaves.
7.153. Limit switches.
7.154. Operation.
7.155. Suspension means.
GENERAL REQUIREMENTS
§ 7.131. Scope.
This subchapter applies only to the elevators installed for the personal use of an individual, and one attendant, who submits to the Department certificate of a physician stating that the individual is not physically able to walk up and down stairs and therefore requires the use of a personal service elevator, to be used exclusively by him.
§ 7.132. Removal from service.
Personal service elevators shall be removed or sealed out of service upon the termination of the service for which they were orginally installed.
§ 7.133. Limitations.
The following may not be exceeded:
(1) The inside area of car shall be 12 square feet or less.
(2) The speed with load shall be 50 feet or less per minute.
(3) The contract load shall be 700 pounds or less.
(4) The operation shall be only be means of key-operated pushbuttons.
§ 7.134. Approval and operation.
Plans and specifications for personal service elevators shall be filed with the Department and an erection permit secured in accordance with § 7.31 (relating to submission and approval of plans) and section 11 of the act of May 2, 1929 (P. L. 1518, No. 452) (35 P. S. § 1351), before the work of installation is started. On the completion of the elevators, they shall be inspected and tested by the Department and not placed in operation until the Department issues a certificate of operation. The elevators shall be subject to reinspection at least once every 12 months, in accordance with § § 7.15 and 7.16 (relating to inspection; and inspectors), and section 7 of the act of May 2, 1929 (P. L. 1518, No. 452) (35 P. S. § 1347).
SPECIFICATIONS
§ 7.141. Hoistway enclosure.
The hoistway shall be constructed and enclosed in accordance with § 7.51 (relating to shaftway construction).
§ 7.142. Clearance.
(a) There shall be a clearance of at least 3/4 inch between the car and the hoistway enclosure, and between the car and its counterweight.
(b) The clearance between the car platform and the landing threshold shall be at least 1/2 inch, but not more than 1 1/2 inches.
§ 7.143. Pits and overtravel.
(a) The structure at the bottom of a hoistway shall be sufficiently strong to withstand without failure the impact of the car with contract load and the impact of the counterweight, when either is descending at contract speed, or at governor-tripping speed if a governor-operated safety is used.
(b) A pit at least 2 feet in depth shall be provided at the lowest story served.
(c) At the top landings there shall be a clearance between the top of the car crosshead and machine supports, or another obstruction vertically above the car, of at least 2 feet when the counterweight rests on its fully compressed buffers and a clearance between the top of the counterweight and an obstruction vertically above it of at least 6 inches when the car rests on its fully compressed buffers. When no counterweight is provided, clearance between the top of the car crosshead and the machines, supports, or other obstruction vertically above it when the car is at its uppermost landing shall be at least 2 feet, 6 inches.
§ 7.144. Overhead support.
(a) Machinery and sheaves shall be so supported and secured as to effectually prevent any part becoming loose or displaced. The supporting beams shall be composed of steel, sound timber or reinforced concrete.
(b) In computing the loads on overhead beams and their supports, the total load on overhead beams shall be assumed to be equal to the weight of all apparatus resting on the beams plus twice the maximum load suspended from the beams. The object in doubling the suspended load is to allow for impact, acceleration, stresses and the like. The load resting on the beams shall include the complete weights of the machine, sheaves, controller and the like. The load suspended from the beams shall include the sum of the tensions of all cables suspended from the beams.
(c) No elevator machinery or sheaves may be fastened to the underside of the supporting beams at the top of the hoistway, except the idler or deflecting sheaves with their guards and frames. Supporting members for sheaves and other elevator machinery hung underneath beams may not be of cast iron in tension.
(d) The factor of safety for overhead beams and their supports shall be five for steel and six for timber and reinforced concrete.
§ 7.145. Pipes and wiring.
(a) Wiring shall comply with the requirements of Chapter 39, Subchapter B (relating to electric safety).
(b) No pipes conveying steam, gas or liquids, which if discharged into the hoistway would endanger life, may be installed in the elevator or counterweight hoistway.
(c) Voltage of control circuits shall conform with the requirements of § 7.72 (relating to electric passenger elevators).
(d) All live parts of electrical apparatus in the hoistway shall be suitably enclosed to protect against accidental contact.
§ 7.146. Counterweights.
(a) Counterweights, when used, shall operate in guides located within the elevator shaftway, in accordance with the requirements of § 7.52(d) (relating to shaftway equipment).
(b) If a car counterweight is used, it shall not be of sufficient weight to cause slackening of any car hoist cable at the start or stop of the car.
(c) The counterweight sections, whether or not carried in a frame, shall be fastened together to prevent rattle and displacement.
§ 7.147. Guide rail construction.
(a) Car and counterweight guide rails shall be constructed of steel.
(b) Guide rails shall be securely fastened in accordance with the following:
(1) Guide rails and their fastenings shall not deflect more than 1/4 inch under normal operation.
(2) Joints of guide rails shall be well-fitted and strongly secured.
(3) Guide rails and their joints and fastenings shall withstand the application of the safety when stopping the fully-loaded car.
(c) Guide rails shall extend from the bottom of the hoistway to a height above the top landing sufficient to prevent the guide shoes from running off the guides when the car or counterweight is at the extreme upper position.
§ 7.148. Protection of hoist cables.
Hoist and counterweight ropes or suspension chains shall be located inside the hoistway enclosure.
§ 7.149. Hoistway doors.
(a) Landing openings shall be protected by doors of the horizontally swinging or sliding type. Grille or lattice-type construction shall not be used when fire-resistive hoistway enclosures are required.
(b) When swing-type doors are used the clearance between the hoistway enclosure door or gate and the hoistway edge of the landing sill shall not exceed two inches and the distance between the hoistway face of the landing door and the car door or gate shall not exceed four inches. When sliding-type doors with door closures are used the clearances specified may be increased to 2 1/4 inches and 5 1/2 inches respectively.
(c) The hoistway face of the landing door or gate shall not project into the hoistway beyond the landing sill. No hardware, except that required for door-operating devices, locks, contacts, or signals shall project into the hoistway beyond the line of the landing sill.
(d) Hoistway doors or gates shall be provided with locking devices and electric contacts conforming to the requirements of § § 7.54 and 7.73 (relating to landing doors and locking devices; automatic control passenger elevators).
(e) No means shall be provided to open any landing door from the landing side when the car is not in the landing zone.
(f) Hoistway doors shall be so arranged that it will not be necessary to reach behind any panel, jamb, or sash to operate them.
(g) Means shall be provided to prevent hangers for sliding hoistway doors from jumping the track. Stops shall be provided to prevent the hanger carriage from leaving either end of the track, or suitable stops shall be provided on the door.
§ 7.150. Elevator cars.
(a) Construction. Elevator cars shall have metal or combination metal and wood suspension frames and platforms with a safety factor of not less than five, based on the contract load. Cast iron shall not be used in the construction of any member of the car frame or platform other than for guide shoes and guide shoes brackets, nor shall glass be used in an elevator car except for lights and appliances necessary to the operation of the car. Cars shall have only one compartment.
(b) Enclosure. Except at the entrance, cars shall be enclosed at the sides and top. The enclosure at the sides shall be solid or of open work which will reject a ball of 1/2 inch diameter. The car enclosure shall be secured in such a manner that it does not work loose or become displaced in regular service.
(c) Gates. A car door or gate shall be provided at each entrance to a car, as follows:
(1) The door or gate shall, when closed, guard the opening to a height of at least five feet, six inches, and, if on an electric or electrically controlled hydraulic elevator, shall be provided with an electric contact which prevents operation of the elevator unless the car door or gate is within two inches of full closure.
(2) The car door or gate may be manually operated, power operated, or closed by a weight or spring. Collapsible gates shall not be power-opened more than nine inches from full closure.
(3) Car gates shall be of such a design that when fully expanded they will reject a three inch ball.
(4) Car door or gate contacts shall be positively opened by a lever or other device attached to and operated by the door or gate.
(5) Car door or gate contacts shall be maintained in the open position by the action of gravity or a restrained compression spring or both, or by a positive linkage.
(d) Light. There shall be an electric light to illuminate the car, with its switch placed near the car entrance within easy reach of a person before entering the car.
(e) Safety. Elevator cars suspended by wire ropes or chains shall be provided with a car safety capable of stopping and sustaining the car with contract load, as follows:
(1) The car safety shall be of a type operated as the result of the breaking of the suspension means, or by a speed governor. If of the speed governor type, it shall operate to set the safety at a maximum speed of 175 feet per minute, except that on breaking the hoist ropes, the safety shall operate without appreciable delay and independently of the governor speed action.
(2) If a speed governor is used, it shall be located where it is not struck by the car or counterweight in case of overtravel and where there is sufficient space for full movement of the governor parts.
(3) The motor control circuit and the brake control circuit shall be opened before or at the same time the safety applies.
(4) The governor cable shall be of iron, steel, monel metal or phosphor bronze, not less than 1/4 inch in diameter. Tiller rope construction shall not be used for governor ropes.
(5) Elevators of the winding drum type with wire rope suspension shall be provided with a slack rope device of the manually reset type which cuts off the power and stops the elevator machine if the car is obstructed in its descent and the hoist ropes slacken. When the car is suspended by chains, slack chain devices shall be provided which cut off the power and stop the elevator machine if the car is obstructed in its descent and the suspension chains slacken. This device is not required to be of the manually reset type if the chain sprockets are guarded to prevent the chain from jumping off the sprockets.
(6) No safety device which depends upon the completion and maintenance of an electric circuit for the application of the safety shall be used. Car safeties shall be applied mechanically. Cast iron shall not be used in the construction of a car safety when its breakage might result in the failure of the safety to function to sustain the car.
(f) Tests. Tests of the car safety described in subsection (e), with contract load in the car, shall be made before the elevator is put into service. Governor operation of instantaneous-type safeties shall be tested at contract speed by tripping the governor by hand. Safeties operated as the result of the breaking of the hoist ropes shall be tested by obtaining the necessary slack rope to cause them to function.
(g) Capacity plates. A metal plate shall be fastened in a conspicuous place in the car stating the contract load in pounds, in letters and figures not less than 1/4 inch in height.
(h) Emergency signal. An emergency signal shall be provided, operative from the car, and audible outside the hoistway and may be a telephone connected to a central exchange.
§ 7.151. Limitations.
When the contract load exceeds 700 pounds or the contract speed exceeds 50 feet per minute, or the net inside car platform area exceeds 12 square feet, the elevator shall conform to all requirements of this chapter.
§ 7.152. Machines and sheaves.
(a) Winding drums, traction sheaves and overhead and deflecting sheaves shall be of cast iron or steel, of a diameter not less than 30 times the diameter of the wire hoist ropes. The rope grooves shall be machined. Where eight by 19 plow steel ropes are used, the diameter of drums and sheaves may be reduced to 20 times the diameter of the rope.
(b) The factor of safety based on the static load, that is, the contract load plus the weight of car, ropes, counterweights, and the like, to be used in the design of personal service elevator hoisting machines shall not be less than eight for wrought iron and steel, and ten for cast iron, cast steel, or other material.
(c) Set-screw fastenings shall not be used in lieu of keys or pins at a connection subject to torque or tension.
(d) No friction gearing or clutch mechanism shall be used for connecting the hoist drum or sheaves to the main driving gear.
(e) Gearing having cast iron teeth shall not be used.
(f) Electric elevator machines shall be equipped with electrically-released, spring-applied brakes.
(g) No single ground, short circuit, counter-voltage or motor field discharge shall prevent the brake magnet from allowing the brake to set in the intended manner during normal operation.
(h) An electric elevator machine shall be arranged for manual operation by crank in case of power failure, and a suitable crank shall be provided and kept near the machine.
§ 7.153. Limit switches.
Upper and lower normal stopping devices shall be provided, set to stop the car at the upper and lower terminal landings. Final stopping devices shall be provided and set to operate if the car passes the terminal landings. Such stopping devices shall stop the car before it strikes the overhead or pit bottom. The final terminal stopping device shall act to prevent movement of the car in both directions of travel. The normal and final terminal stopping devices shall not control the same switches on the controller unless two or more separate and independent switches are provided, two of which shall be closed to complete the motor and brake circuit in each direction of travel.
§ 7.154. Operation.
(a) The following methods of operation are permitted:
(1) Double-button control.
(2) Momentary-pressure operation with ‘‘up-down’’ buttons or switches in the car and ‘‘up-down’’ buttons or switches, or call buttons, at each landing. It is not required that the operation be selective.
(3) Single automatic operation.
(4) Car and landing operating buttons shall be key-operated. The use of such key shall be limited to the individual for whom the elevator was installed.
(b) A stop switch shall be provided on or adjacent to the operating panel. Stop switches shall be of the manually opened and closed type and shall be conspicuously marked ‘‘stop,’’ and the operating button or handle shall be of a different color from any other switch in the car.
(c) The control system shall be so designed that the direction of travel of the elevator may be reversed at any point in the hoistway after stopping the elevator from the stop switch or any other method. No control system shall be used which depends upon completion of maintenance of an electric circuit for the following:
(1) Interruption of the power and application of the electro-mechanical brake at the terminals.
(2) Operation of the car safeties.
(3) Stopping in response to the opening of the emergency stop switch.
(d) Hand-rope operation shall not be used.
(e) The sticking or freezing of any single electrically-operated switch, relay, or contacter, or the occurrence of a single accidental ground shall not permit the car to start if any hoistway landing door is open or unlocked, or if any car door or gate is not within two inches of full closure.
§ 7.155. Suspension means.
(a) Suspension means shall be wire ropes or suspension chains. There shall not be less than two such ropes or chains.
(b) Steel tapes or tiller rope as suspension means is prohibited.
(c) On elevators having a contract load of less than 450 pounds and operating at a contract speed of less than 30 feet per minute, ropes shall not be less than 1/4 inch in diameter. When the contract load exceeds 450 pounds, or the contract speed exceeds 30 feet per minute, ropes shall not be less than 3/8 inch diameter.
(d) The factor of safety of the suspension means shall not be less than seven. When the car and counterweight are suspended by wire ropes and the driving means between the machine and counterweight is an endless chain, the factor of safety of such chain with the rated load in the car shall be not less than eight.
(e) The arc of contact of a wire rope on a traction sheave shall be sufficient to produce adequate traction under all load conditions. The arc of contact of a chain on a driving sprocket shall not be less than 140°.
(f) Wire ropes anchored to a winding drum shall have not less than one full turn of rope on the drum when the car or counterweight has reached its extreme limit of possible overtravel.
(g) No car or counterweight wire rope shall be lengthened or repaired by splicing. Broken or worn suspension chains shall not be repaired but the entire chain shall be replaced.
(h) The winding drum ends of car and counterweight wire ropes shall be secured by clamps on the inside of the drum or by one of the methods specified in subsection (i) for fastening wire ropes to car or counterweight.
(i) The car or counterweight ends of wire ropes shall be fastened by return loop, properly made individual, tapered, babbitted sockets, or attached fittings as recommended by wire rope manufacturers. Clamps of the U-bolt type shall not be used.
(j) A metal tag shall be placed on all wire ropes or chain fastenings, or be permanently fixed on the car frame, upon which shall be stamped the size, the material, the ultimate strength of the rope or chain, as rated by the manufacturer, and the date of installation or renewal.
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