How Do Escalators Work?
In 1859, Nathan Ames was granted a patent for his concept of the escalator, and Leamon Souder was later granted more patents for several of his own versions. Neither, however, ever built an actual working model. In the early 1890s, Jesse Reno was granted a patent for his version of the escalator, and produced a working model as an amusement park ride at Coney Island. A commercial model wasn’t produced until 1899, when Charles Seeberger built one. Seeberger was actually the first of these inventors to use the term escalator. The early commercial escalators were installed primarily in multi-story department stores such as Bloomingdale’s in New York City. Both Seeberger and Reno sold their patent rights to the Otis Elevator Company in 1910, which proceeded to dominate the escalator industry. Since that time, escalators can be found in many buildings across the world, but few people understand how they work. Escalators, while rather expensive and large, are actually relatively basic machin
The escalator, or moving stairs, you see in department stores, airports, and railway stations all work on the same principle, an endless belt moving around wheels. The stairs are attached to two side belts or to one central belt, which is driven by electricity. The moving handrails on both sides of the escalator work the same wa
