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Laura vinha
Photo
and
IllustratIon
KONE
A
t first glance it doesn’t
look like much – a flat
piece of black licorice,
perhaps. But the super-
light KONE UltraRope is
a completely new take
on elevator hoisting. Made of a carbon
fiber core surrounded by a unique high-
friction coating, the new rope weighs
only about 19 percent of a similar
strength conventional steel rope.
Kone
shows
the roPes
Traveling a kilometer is no huge feat –
unless you want to make the journey
upwards in a single elevator ride. No
elevator manufacturer has figured out
how to do this. Until now. The KONE
UltraRope™ is a revolutionary technology
set to break high-rise elevator limits.
that is moved up or down every time
someone hops into a high-rise elevator.
Less deadweight means smaller energy
consumption and operating costs.
“When components are smaller,
the logistics are easier,” says Pihkala,
adding that installing huge components
inside relatively cramped skyscrapers is
always a challenge. “The environmental
impact is also smaller when materials
are lighter.“
“You wouldn’t think it, but rope
weight impacts everything,” says
Tomio
Pihkala
, who heads one of KONE’s
global research and development units in
Hyvinkää, Finland. “If you have a lighter
rope, you can have a smaller and lighter
elevator counterweight and sling. This
means the overall moving masses are
reduced.”
Put simply, the new technology
enables massive cuts in the deadweight
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