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A really fun lift would be for people to wear velcro overalls so they could stick themselves to a continuously revolving velcro strip. You stick yourself to one side to go up and stick yourself to the other side to go down, like those early Paternoster continuous lifts.
The challenge would be peel
yourself off at the right floor but that would add to the fun. Although if you failed to do this before the top floor you risk coming down on the other side upside down.
The velcro overalls already exist so people can throw themselves at velcro enhanced walls of inflatables. So all you need is strong enough legal waivers and reliable enough velcro so the legal waivers will not be necessary.
A Velcro Wall "Bouncy Castle" in action
http://www.celebrat...musements.asp?ID=59
Some background to this rather adhesive idea. [Aristotle, Oct 05 2004]
Treadwall
http://www.brewersledge.com/
[hippo, Oct 05 2004]
(?) "Pater noster" continuous elevator/lift
http://www.dartford...ied/cyclic_elev.htm
Fascinatin' [ConsultingDetective, Oct 05 2004]
[link]
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Have the velcro strip inversly inclined. This makes peeling yourself off a little easier, and you can only fall one floor if you peel yourself off at the wrong time. |
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Ha! Excellent idea! I'd get a little nervous somewhere around the fifth floor, though. |
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I once saw a paternoster-style lift in a mine shaft which consisted of little shelves that the miners would step onto. Went down a very long way, but with something under my feet, I'd feel a lot safer. |
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/only fall one floor / Doesn't sound much when you say it quickly, does it? |
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Disembark by swinging a little "scraper" between you and the lift, causing the two velcro parts to separate. The top floor would have a permanently affixed "scraper". |
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Have it be (# of floors) x 3 feet wide. Each 3' section is labeled as Floor 2, Floor 3, etc. At the appropriate floor there is a fixed scraper at that section. |
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Those that fail to remove themselves from the Velcro will be called stickees. Given that every so often a passenger will get stuck, before the day is out, every possible surface of the Velcro lift will be covered with these stickees, some begging for water...others for mercy... |
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...and some of us yelling to make it go faster. |
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That would during the final “cleaning cycle”, when residual stickees are sent on ballistic trajectories by greatly speeding up the lift. |
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Another way to clean the velcro strips would be to have a large velcro roller with even stronger hooks than that of the continuous strip. You engage the roller onto the struck traveller, transfer him or her onto the cylinder and then use a scraper on the other side of the roller for final removal. |
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On busy velcro lifts the roller would run continuously, probably using [Worldgineer]'s 3 foot wide strips for each floor. |
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[Aristotle] A lint brush for the Velcro? |
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rods_tiger: The early paternoster lifts were almost this challenging. I used one when I was doing some work experience in the 70s and you only used it if you dared as you needed to judge the right point to jump off as it really was in continuous motion and going over the top was an occupational hazard. Yes, this a shade more dangerous and a shade more bizzare but scientists have speculated that some people need a staple diet of danger to stop them from being compelled to indulge in more reckless risk-taking. |
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Don't underestimate the handicapped as the London Underground actually employed a one-legged man to demonstrate that escalators (which are also continuous) were safe when they were first introduced ... |
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Yes, but he had two legs when he took the job. |
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For added excitement, A velco-bungee lift system. Select the appropriate setting and project yourself at the right floor. |
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yeah sorry i don't know how many people you know who walk round in velcro suits but i'm pretty sure you wouldn't want to walk round in one all day anyway so how crap is that |
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How many people do you know who own a velcro suit? |
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I would be concerned about not clearing the jump-space. There's going to need to be a few feet between the edge of the floor and the velcro wall. It seems very possible that one could fall through that space if one fouls up during the attachment or detachment phase. Sounds very dangerous, actually. |
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Of course it sounds very dangerous! If this idea was marketable I would not be able to post it ... |
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However you could reduce the risk a little by making the stip follow a triangular path so you would both ascend and descend at an angle. This means that if you fell you would probably tumble on more velcro first before meeting Certain Doom. |
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You would get the velcro suits in the lobby of the building and before you get the suit you have to sign the strong legal waiver mentioned above. |
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I wonder if a rhombus track would be better, with the descent side angled downward, opposite the upward-angled ascent side. Perhaps the velcro wouldn't be strong enough to hold someone on that angle. |
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Maybe there could be bars strategically located at the optimum point of peeling off at each floor, to aid in the peeling process. It would extend horizontally across, made of nice stainless steal... like a handicap beam in the bathroom or showers. |
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Of course the real cool-person's way would be effortless-seeming self peeling without aid, and the rest would be considered "velcro-impaired," but at least they can get off in an emergency. |
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I'm sure we can fit some Möbius action in here somewhere. |
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w/r/t disembarking, as long as the
velcro loop is against a wall,
perhaps roll yourself to the side,
perpendicular to the direction of
travel. that should work. |
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w/r/t the danger of falling down
the chute, perhaps a trap door on
every floor that opens from below
via an electric eye, but stays closed
most of the time? |
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this would be a lot better than escalators or elevators! |
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Friggin' awesome, ya greek geek. |
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Incredible, why not put velcro on everything, imagine the 97 bus is nothing more then a huge velcro covered board running down the middle of the bus. It doesn't even need to slow down (well not much), you just throw yourself at it as it passes by, not sure how you get off though, some sort of giant scraper thingy I would think. |
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You could design it so the hooked side of the velcro is on the suit, and is able to somehow flex itself straight for easy departure. |
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Bad news if you visit a country
with a different implementation of
the hook/faster motive
system technology. There you'll be
in your (fluffy) velcro suit. You
fling yourself at the upwardly
moving velcro band only to
discover - Aaaagh! - in this
country they use fluffy velcro for
the moving band and hooky velcro
for the suit - as you plunge to the
bottom floor, and a ghastly
death... |
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Ah, but what if you only had iLoop 2000 when everyone else was running Velux? |
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This system would have to be used for a self-contained environment as if someone was to operate it you would have to carefully maintain each component - suits, belt and any unpeeling aids. Another key thing would be to make sure that any rollers have a very large circumference - if someone is going to run the risk of going over a roller backwards while stuck to a belt it has to be a gentle curve. |
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Anyone inspired by this idea should check out the continuous strip climbing walls that can be bought these days. One model not only has an endless roll of climbing hand and foot holds but it also can be tilted to whatever angle is desired. |
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(link added for [Aristotle]'s
climbing wall) |
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[+] <sort of related literary reference> Read Murr's
Collected Silences by Heirich Boll. Murr
(sp?) was this tape editor who collected the silent bits
between intakes of breath, pauses, the like, edited out of
shows to shorten for time. He had a weird habit. Every
day on his way to work, he would stay in the continuous
lift past his floor, so he could experience the thrill of the
lift compartment swinging freely as it made the journey
between going up and coming down. He then got off at
his floor on the going down side, invigorated and ready
for another mind-numbingly boring day at the job. <sort of
related literary reference> |
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