The elevator of the future may be just over the horizon thanks to German company ThyssenKrupp. The firm has invented a cable-free elevator (called MULTI) that can go up and down like traditional lifts, but the magnetic motors allow it to go side-to-side, too. The designers speculate that buildings implementing this technology could increase the carrying capacity of existing architecture by as much as 50 percent. Plus, it looks really neat.

ThyssenKrupp plans to use light-weight materials to build its elevator cars of the future, and the lack of a cable winch will reduce weight as well. The cars wouldn’t just move up and down the elevator shaft like they do now, but would instead go in a loop that allows more cars to sneak in right behind the next. The result is that you might only have to wait 10 seconds for the next one to arrive, rather than wait for the one you just missed to come back down.

The technology backing ThyssenKrupp’s MULTI elevator is very similar to magnetic levitation systems used in high-speed trains. Each car has two magnetic linear motors — one for vertical movement and another for horizontal. This system can also deliver power to the car’s internal lighting and electronics through wireless induction, so no physical tether is needed.

A traditional cable driven elevator has mechanical components that can hold the car in place in the event of a power outage. ThyssenKrupp didn’t go into detail about safety measures in its announcement, but it’s safe to say the magnetic levitation elevator will have some sort of system to hold it in place if the lights go out.

ThyssenKrupp is working on a test tower that will be used to develop the MULTI into a real elevator technology.

This should be up and running by 2016, but it will probably take at least a few more years before you get to climb inside a magnetic elevator car.

下一代电梯将用磁力取代缆索

多亏有了德国蒂森克虏伯公

司，未来的电梯已指日可待。这家公司已研发出一款名为MULTI的无缆线式电梯。这种带磁力马达的电梯不仅可以像传统升降电梯那样上下移动，还可以水平移动。

设计者预计，应用这种技术后大楼的电梯运载能力将提升50%之多。此外，电梯看上去也赏心悦目。

蒂森克虏伯公司计划用轻质材料制造这种未来的电梯轿箱。由于没有钢缆绞车，重量也会减轻。这种电梯梯箱不再拘泥于像现在的电梯那样上下移动，还能够环线运行，于是更多梯箱能紧跟上一班电梯循环移动。这样一来，你或许只需等待十秒钟就能够坐上下一趟，而不必再苦等刚刚错过的电梯回来载你。

蒂森克虏伯的MULTI电梯采用的技术，与高速列车运用的磁悬浮系统原理非常相似。每一台电梯都配有两个磁力线马达，分别用于垂直和水平运动。通过无线感应，该系统还为电梯内部的照明以及电子设备提供电力，无需再使用物理缆线。

传统缆绳牵引的电梯有一些机械零件，在断电时可使电梯停在原地。虽然蒂森克虏伯公司在产品的发布声明中并未就安全措施作出详细介绍，不过可以肯定的是，一旦停电也会有某种系统保证磁悬浮电梯原地不动。

目前，蒂森克虏伯公司正在开发一座实验塔，用于研发未来电梯的MULTI技术，预计2016年将得以实现。不过，可能至少还需要几年时间，人们才能坐上磁悬浮电梯。

Words to Learn 相关词汇

   【预计】

    yùjì

    speculate

    conjecture, guess, surmise, suppose, theorize

    【停电】

    tíngdiàn

    outage

    an interruption or failure in the supply of power, especially electricity