A German company has invented a cable-free elevator that can move horizontally as well as vertically, much like the lift in Roald Dahl's book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
The 'Multi' system, invented by ThyssenKrupp, uses magnetic force instead of cables, which the company says will save power and be more economical.
The characters in Dahl's adventure are "flung off their feet on to the floor" as Willy Wonka's glass elevator leaps sideways, swerves around corners and later flies off into the sky. Although the ThyssenKrupp Elevator can only go up, down and sideways the company says it will allow multiple lifts to occupy a single shaft, increasing transport capacity by up to 50 per cent.
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When it reaches the top of the shaft, it moves horizontally before descending in a separate column, explains the Financial Times. "It is this loop concept that enables the use of multiple cars in a single column, and avoids the need for a large block of lift shafts such as those found at the centre of today's skyscrapers."
The Daily Telegraph says the cabins will travel at around five metres per second using a "multi-level braking system". Cabins will also weigh 50 per cent less than current models as the company will use new lightweight materials. "All this means that passengers will have to wait just 15 to 30 seconds for the next available lift," says the Telegraph.
Andreas Schierenbeck, chief executive of ThyssenKrupp Elevator, explained that as the nature of construction evolves, it has become necessary to adapt elevator systems to better suit the requirements of buildings and high volumes of passengers.
"Per year, New York City office workers spend a cumulative amount of 16.6 years waiting for elevators, and 5.9 years in the elevators," he says. "This data provides how imperative it is to increase the availability of elevators."
The company hopes to have a prototype Multi lift up and running by the end of 2016.