April 14, 2004—KONE, a global elevator and escalator company, has introduced a “radically new” technology platform, KONE MaxiSpace, that eliminates the need for counterweights in elevators. Elevators using this technology can have cabins as much as one-third larger than traditional elevators designed for the same hoistway space, claims KONE, while enhancing passenger comfort and improving wheelchair access. In many cases KONE will be able to offer a 6- or even 8-passenger elevator where previously only a 4-passenger unit could have been installed.
The new platform features “an incredibly small and powerful” hoisting machine, the KONE PowerDisc, and an innovative, flexible roping arrangement using high-tensile-strength ropes. KONE PowerDisc is a gearless motor that is substantially lighter and more compact than any existing elevator hoisting machine on the market, says KONE. Although it weighs only 70 kg and can easily fit into a tiny space in an elevator shaft, it is reportedly as powerful as machines many times its size.
In addition to adding useable space, the KONE MaxiSpace solution provides the performance, comfort and safety of the most advanced gearless equipment. Products based on KONE MaxiSpace technology also promise to be safer and faster to install than other elevators available today.
KONE technology eliminated the need for elevator machine rooms in 1996, with the installation of KONE MonoSpace elevators in new buildings. The product range based on this technology has been expanded to cover every kind of installation from heavy-duty freight elevators to high-speed passenger units for the world’ tallest skyscrapers.
Now MaxiSpace technology will enable KONE to supplement this product line with new offerings designed especially for the existing-building market. For example, of the 4.1 million elevators in service in Europe, more than two-thirds are over 20 years old (almost 45% were built before 1970). The majority of these are small units in residential buildings. According to KONE, the MaxiSpace platform is ideally suited for replacing these existing elevators or adding elevators to buildings by inserting slim hoistways into existing stairwells.
For more information, product photos, and an animation of how KONE MaxiSpace works, visit KONE.
