Mitsubishi Monitor 0512 Inside Story

New Feature

Yasumasa Haruta
Manager of Escalator Engineering Section, Engineering Department

Passion fires creation of world's first spiral escalator
During the 105 years since the first escalator was installed at the 1900 Paris Exposition, escalators have had a tremendous impact on the relationship between people and how they move in a building.
An event that wrote a new page in Mitsubishi Electric's history and changed the image of the escalator industry was the development of the spiral escalator, which we first installed in 1985. We were looking for promising, wholly new products to boost growth, and we set our sights on a spiral escalator. But, there were many headaches. Actually, immediately after the first escalator debuted in Paris, there were attempts to create curved escalators, but none were actually put into operation. The technical hurdles were just too great. Nevertheless, our engineers were excited and motivated by the chance to create the world's first spiral escalator. This passion sustained them over the three long years it took from development to market launch.

A new twist on people-moving technology
In an escalator, the sections where passengers enter or leave are horizontal, while the central section, which carries the passengers up or down, is inclined 30 degrees. The steps must remain horizontal and evenly spaced as they move through the length of the escalator. This seemed to be way too difficult to be applied in the twisting motion. But our team never gave up. Finally, we made a breakthrough—we were the first to see this requires different radii of curvature for horizontal and inclined sections and invented and patented a totally new core mechanism. Because our escalator uses different parts in more complex shapes, we also developed strength-analysis software and improved the processing technique.
To date, 36 spiral escalators have been sold in Japan and 41 overseas. In taking them overseas, we overcame permit problems, too, by promoting the necessary, regulation changes through special provisions. Currently, we are actively marketing spiral escalators in the European Union.

Point 1 First and Only This unique product has provided a lasting testimony of the technological excellence of Mitsubishi Electric for two decades.	Point 3 150 Japanese and 35 Foreign Patents The various new technologies necessitated by the complex spiral structure have made Mitsubishi Electric the world's only spiral escalator supplier.
Point 2 New Beauty for Architectural Space The elegant, opulent curves of spiral escalators, seen principally in front entrances and atria of public buildings, continue to fascinate people.	Point 4 Intangible Brand Value Enhancement Our spiral escalators have featured in dozens of print and TV stories, greatly contributing to enhancing Mitsubishi Electric's corporate image.