TECHNOLOGY

A DIFFERENT CONCEPT
The relevé is a “climbing elevator.”  A climbing elevator is an elevator that operates under its own propulsion, not lifted by an external source.  As such, it uniquely holds the promise of eliminating the need for ropes, sheaves, counterweights, and even the hoist-ways of today’s conventional elevator systems.  In spite of these promised advantages, to date climbing elevators are not available for residential or commercial applications.  There are several reasons for the lack of change in the elevator industry.  Valid explanations include sticking to conventional wisdom, fear of change, excellent safety history, safety code restrictions, and numerous technology barriers.

THE HEART OF THE OPPORTUNITY
The relevé elevator has been in development for over two years.  During that time nearly 100 proposed drive systems have been evaluated.  Most of these were rejected due to issues involving performance, efficiency, manufacturability, maintainability, and cost. However, a new design approach developed by iVideoTrack finally has the potential of meeting all of the design goals for the relevé system.  The heart of the new system is called the Integrated Lift Module (ILM).  This module contains an entire mechanical drive assembly including all power amplifier circuits, batteries, charger circuits and cooling systems for one side of the elevator cab. The module is 14 inches on each side and only 2.5 inches thick. This allows it to be mounted inside the frame of the cab virtually taking up no passenger space at all.

SYSTEM DESIGN GOALS

1. Reduce total purchase cost and installation by 4X.
2. Reduce “work by others” by 80%.
3. Install time, 1-day (after prep).
4. Reduce maintenance by 75% Performance, use & safety status monitored remotely (logged internally).
5. 98% of on-site maintenance performed non-invasively (inside cab).
6. Drive unit (ILM) replacement in one hour.
7. Minimal external power requirements (less than 5A in most installations).
8. Introduce new Advanced Technology to the residential elevator market (alternative design).
9. Lightest and Greenest elevator available (no lead, oil or other ecologically harmful materials).
10. High strength, light weight materials and adhesives (carbon fiber, polyurethane, aluminum and glass).
11. “High touch” technology, psychological and physical comfort (tall cab, open space and external views).
12. High performance all digital power management (distributed micro-control and cell based power management) .
13. “Mission Critical” system design (redundancy, fault prediction, fault detection and isolation).
14. Create a new level of pride and responsibility in the residential elevator market through elegant industrial design and green technology

 

Notice:
The relevé elevator is not for sale at this time. However, the project has been in development at iVideoTrack for the last two years and the concept described herein is ready for "prototype" development when funding becomes available. Many variations of the basic concept have been evaluated and some of them are described on this site. If you are interested in this project or would like to comment on the approach, please send your input to:

ed@ivideotrack.com.