Manual Elevator

A manual elevator is a lift where a person, not a machine, runs the doors and moves the car. Automatic lifts open and close their own doors plus pick their own floors - manual lifts need a human to pull the doors shut, push them open, start the car, stop it and sometimes choose the speed or floor. Old buildings factories and a few special places still use them because a human hand suits the work or keeps the place safe. The control station is plain - a row of switches, a lever or a few buttons. The operator moves each one by hand. The doors slide on tracks but also must be pushed or pulled - the operator watches so no one trips or gets caught. A key or a twist switch starts or stops the motor - the car rises or drops only when the operator decides. The parts are tough and simple, but the lift needs a person on duty every trip. That extra work and the chance of human error push most buildings toward automatic lifts. Some freight warehouses, repair lifts as well as old landmarks keep the hand run type because a worker on the spot handles bulky cargo or because new wiring is not allowed. The lift holds the same basic pieces as any other - a car, a shaft, a counterweight, rails, a motor or hydraulic pump and a few safety catches. Every one of them waits for the operator's hand before it moves.