Residential Dumbwaiters

A dumbwaiter is used in many businesses today. They provide a means of moving goods throughout a building quickly and easily. With a history that dates back thousands of years, the dumbwaiter has long played an integral part of the business world.

Some of the earliest commercial dumbwaiters were used in construction. They were heavily used during the construction of buildings in New York and other cities. In fact, it was on a construction site that the idea behind the safety elevator was born.

Elisha Otis, who is often called the father of the elevator, was always a tinkerer and mechanic. After working as a mechanic at a bed manufacture for several years, he was given the opportunity to oversea the construction of a new manufacturing plant. Dumbwaiters were used extensively, but they presented some safety concerns, which largely revolved around the dumbwaiter rope breaking. A faulty rope would cause the dumbwaiter car and whatever it was carrying to come plummeting to the ground. At the very best, this would result in lost productivity and damage to property, but it could just as easily cause great harm to the workers.

Otis decided to develop a way of preventing these accidents and developed a safety device that stopped the dumbwaiter from falling. Large spikes were placed on the top of the car and kept in place with springs. In the event of a rope or cable breakage, the springs would be instantly released and forced into the dumbwaiter shaft. This would stop the car from falling and helped to prevent accidents.

By the time the construction of the factory was complete, other businesses had taken notice of Otis’s invention. He began manufacturing lifts for other businesses and eventually would go on to invent the first passenger elevator and was a pioneer in the industry, developing many innovations that are in some regards still used today.

Today, dumbwaiters still usually incorporate a safety device to prevent falls, but they do not us the spike stops. Instead, a track system is usually used and breaks are used to lock onto the track in the event of an emergency.

The dumbwaiter is used in many industries and remains an integral part of many manufacturing plants. They are also used in hotels, hospitals, restaurants, and libraries. There are many cases where a dumbwaiter can greatly improve the work process of employees, so they are often used to reduce labor costs.

Another advantage is that they are sometimes held to lower standards in regards to city and state zoning laws. Since it is not used to lift people, they often require less paperwork than an elevator would, but this depends on the city and the state, so it is very important to always check your zoning laws before installing a commercial dumbwaiter.