World`s tallest lift test tower will help to develop new technologies
Mitsubishi Electric has built what is claims is the world’s tallest tower for testing lifts. The 173m-high Solae tower – equivalent to a 40-storey tall building – will be used to develop and test technologies for high-speed lifts, including advanced motors and drives.
The tower (shown above and below), located in Inazawa City in Japan, cost ¥5bn (£24m) to build. A special anti-vibration system, combined with oil dampers, prevents the tower from vibrating in high winds.
Among the technologies that Mitsubishi plans to test in the tower are: large traction machines and parallel-driving power systems for high-speed and high-capacity lifts; safety systems; and technologies to reduce the vibration and wind noise generated when lifts travel at high speeds.
Mitsubishi manufactures more than 10,000 lifts and escalators a year, including what it claims is the world’s fastest lift, capable of travelling more than 1km per minute.
